Reply To: Angelology Discussion Board 1

[Pchris]

THE MINISTERING OF ANGELS IN THE THE EARLY CHURCH AS SEEN IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
The ministry of angels did not stop with the ascension of Jesus . During its early period, when the church was growing , we find angels ministering to God’s people. The church itself is a testimony to angels of the wisdom of God.
There are many scenes in the book of Acts of the Apostles that describe the angels’ presence in the life of the young church. The book of Acts was written by St. Luke whose Gospel describes with great beauty and precision the appearances of the Angels of God from the first pages to the last.
1)TO DIRECT THE FOCUS OFTHE APOSTLES
When the Lord ascended into heaven ,two men dressed in white believed to be angels were in the midst of the apostles to remind them of their duty ; ‘Men of galilee. Why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Jesus ,who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven’(Acts 1:11). After hearing these words, the apostles went back to Jerusalem and there in the upper room together with others of like mind, They awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost . After the arrival of the Holy Spirit the apostles
with bravery and conviction , began to preach Christ in all His Glory and truth. In this way and with help of the Holy Spirit, they converted many to Christ.
The angels must have looked on with great joy as they witnessed the beginnings of the Church.
In this book of Acts , we see the angels coming and going with ordinariness that shows us how the natural and supernatural are woven together in the life of the Church.

2) TO SECURE PETER’S RELEASE
St. Peter , the first pope , had a particularly powerful experience with the ministry of angels .
(Acts 12:1-7) : In this passage, we see the early church strengthening Peter with their prayers on his behalf and GOD heard the prayers of the church.
The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers , bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison ; and behold an angel of the Lord appeared , and light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying ‘Get up quickly’. And the chains fell off his hands.
Peter thought that he was still asleep and that the angel was revealing to him a pathway through death. But instead , he was about to be restored to the church. Just as once the Lord had sent His angel to protect Daniel from the lions den and just as once the Lord had sent His angel to protect the three young men in the fiery furnace , so now the Lord sent His angel once more to the first Pope , a servant of Christ , to protect him and to ensure that the nascent Church might continue to grow and to be strengthened .

3) IN THE CONVERSION OF THE FIRST GENTILE TO CHRISTIANITY
As the book of acts continues, we see another wonderful episode in which the angels intervened in the life of the Church. While Peter was staying in Joppa, he heard the Lord Jesus’ voice commanding him to eat non –kosher food. This was a preparation for the next chapter in Peter’s mission . Shortly thereafter Peter was informed that a group of gentiles was outside , calling him to go to the house of a certain Cornelius , a Roman centurion in Caesarea.
He said to them , ‘you yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation ; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. So when I was sent for , I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me. And Cornelius said ; four days ago, about this hour , I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house ; and behold a man stood before me in bright apparel saying, Cornelius ,your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God .’ (Acts 10 :28-31). And Peter , impressed by this angelic message that confirmed the revelation made to him in joppa, replied in (Acts 10:34-38).
God uses His angels as messengers in this crucial moment when the first gentile convert to christianity, together with his family , was received and baptized by Peter . A centurion was a proud and feared soldier , a leader whose men obeyed him unquestioningly, and was formed by the violence and discipline of an often brutal military culture.
The conversion of such a man required nothing less than an overwhelming transformation. Grace had already invaded his soul . since he told Peter that he was keeping a time of prayer when the Angel appeared to him.

4) IN THE BAPTISM OF A EUNUCH
In the story of St. Philip the deacon, we see another instance in which an angel arranged all things for God’s plan and purpose . Philip was one of the seven original deacons , together with St. Stephen , and he preached in Samaria among the people the Jews considered to be heretics . His preaching was marked by many miracles , especially by the casting out of demons . But as he completed his work there , an angel appeared and said to him ; Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (Acts 8:26).
Philip followed the angels message immediately . Along the road , he came across an important servant of the queen of Ethiopia. This man was a eunuch who had come to know the Jewish faith , He was seated in his carriage reading aloud ( As was the custom of the time ) from the scroll of Isaiah , but he was confused about the meaning of the passage . Philip immediately realized that the reason he had been brought to that place at that moment by the angel was to speak to this man; to answer his need and to preach to him the Gospel of Christ . The man immediately responded to this grace and asked for baptism, which Philip conferred.
This passage is especially important because , in enlightening and baptizing the eunuch , Philip did something extraordinary for the building up of the Church.
Eunuchs were outside the community of Israel (Deut. 23:1), and so this baptism initiated the extension of the preaching of the Gospel to all peoples of the world.