Video Study 2 “Angels and The Bride”
Reading: Revelation 2-3

Who here has ever seen an angel? The rest of us shouldn’t worry or feel unspiritual, for if we are patient we will see more angels than we will ever be able to count. Having said that, it is important to remark that there are other ways of seeing angels than with our physical eyes[1]

Background

The subject for this teaching comes from a conversation I had in Kusadasi on the west coast of Turkey, the “Gateway” to the magnificent ruins of ancient Ephesus. I was talking with the American missionary who with his wife had replanting the Christian church in the area. He was an apostle. I sensed a leading to ask him an unusual question, “Do you believe there is still an angel of the church in Ephesus?” Rather surprised he told a story of how on two recent occasions visiting intercessors from other countries had cried out in prayer gatherings, “Angel of the church in Ephesus, wake up!”  From that point on I sensed the Lord giving me some insight into the angelic world[2]. The angels are important because they belong to Jesus[3] and are sent to tell us what they know about our Husband-in-waiting. Before I teach about the ministry of angels I need to begin with an encounter here in Perth 9 years ago.

The Angel of Perth and the testimony of Jesus

On the final morning of three days of prayer, fasting and repentance for the state of the church in I was aware of a dialogue between Jesus and the angel of the Church in Perth, I am sharing some of what I wrote at the time because it is still on the Lord’s mind[4].

… as the first husband and wife Adam and Eve clothed their shame in fear (Gen 3:7-10), the Church as the bride of Christ is tempted to cover over in the presence of her Husband (Eph 5:26-27, 31-32). Yet the Lord was saying: “Naked but not ashamed.” (cf. Heb 11:16).

I saw a picture… of a person covered with layer upon layer of clothing.  This represents all the human ways in which we seek to cover over our shame.

“I’m stripping (my) people of their lustful sensual experience that goes on in the church and masquerades as spirituality….”  God is taking his people through a tunnel of darkness as he himself went through the tunnel of darkness on the cross (Mark 15:34).  God is sovereignly stripping many in this city of their false glory, he is disturbing us.

He is against the message that says you are attractive if you possess this or that.  People in churches are being held captive because of shame… the whole system of prosperity, ease, affluence, enjoyment, is holding people captive through covering over shame without taking it away.  This is going to change.

“I have appointed this city to unmask this evil spiritual power… you are not attractive because you possess this or that or are prosperous or rich… you have antidotes to feeling your spiritual adultery (James 4:4) and other sins… antidotes to feeling sick about your sin and the sin of your city.  You have covered it all up and tried to relieve it.  This will not prevail….”

“I am raising up that golden lampstand of the church in the city that is more precious in my sight than any natural wealth, and I am causing it to shine the light of Christ so that it shines above every idolatry of affluence and prosperity (Rev 1:12, 20; 2:1).  I am going to show that this light is greater than the evil spiritual power of prosperity that is gripping this city.” Jesus was saying to his angel, “Elevate the golden lampstand of the church in Perth.”

The true prophetic destiny of this church in this city… is to carry a warning to others… not to follow the way we have taken in the past.

“I will send people into the nations and the people in the nations will marvel at the sacrifice of the people in Perth.  They will say, ““You’re from a Western country, you have so much wealth how can you give up so much to be with us?””  And you will have authority to speak to them about Jesus.” “The spiritual authority is in proportion to the sacrifice.”  ”… I am about to release the revelation of the inner spiritual beauty of the church in this city and take it into its true prophetic destiny.”

Angels understand with great clarity the inner glory and beauty of the Church.

Angels who Reveal

The very first verse of Revelation introduces us to the role of angels; “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.” (Revelation 1:1-2 ESV).  Then at the bridal climax of the book, “the angel said to me, “… Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb….  Then came one of the seven angels… and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit… and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” (Revelation 19:9; 21:9-11 ESV). Angels are powerful agents of revelation sharing insights that the Father has given to Jesus to communicate to his Bride[5]. Angels move seamlessly between heaven and earth and seeing the goal to which all creation is moving are passionate to move us towards this End (Eph 1:10; Col 1:16). Hence the ministry of “the angels of the seven churches” (Rev 1:20).

Angels and Churches

Jesus letter to each church begins with, “To the angel of the church in [x], write….”[6]  The prophet John is to write to the angel of the church in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, rather than directly to these congregations. This order makes it clear to each assembly is being watched by heavenly powers.

An awareness of these realities is normal in the New Testament[7]; “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.” (1 Corinthians 11:8-10 ESV)[8]. Angels are present in the churches as guardians of God’s cosmic order which will find its End-time completion in the submission of the Church as Bride to Christ as Bridegroom. As passionate communicators of God’s mysterious End-time plan angels are particularly attached to prophets and prophecy. In the tenth chapter of Revelation, ““the angel swore by him who lives forever and ever… that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call… the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”” (vv. 5-7 cf. Amos 3:7; Rom 16:25-27). Angels, prophet s and the people of God are united in bearing witness to Jesus.

Angels as Witnesses

The companionship of humans and angels in prophetic testimony comes out most powerfully in the angelic promise about Christ’s coming marriage to his Bride. “And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:9-10 ESV).

In their oversight of the churches in the New Testament and their presence around the throne of God (Rev 4-5 etc.) angels are guardians of pure worship. The ultimate issue in the warfare between holy angels and the satanic host is over who is worthy to be worshipped (Rev 12). The mystery unveiled through the ministry of angels to the prophetic Church in Revelation is that pure worship is devotion to the Lamb of God standing as slaughtered, slain from before the foundation of the world (Rev 5:6; 13:8)[9].  At the climax of history the Lamb has a Bride who will adore him in Spirit and truth forever because this Bride shares the witness of the angels.

The angels are supremely qualified as witnesses because they have been intimately involved in the life of Jesus from his human beginning[10]. Angels proclaim joy in heaven at Jesus’ birth, strengthen  him in the wilderness and in Gethsemane for the ordeal of the cross, are actively involved in proclaiming  the resurrection and are present at his ascension into heaven testifying about the Second Coming, ““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.”” (Lk. 2:9-15; Mk. 1:13; 16:5-8; Matt. 4:11; 28.2-7; Lk. 24:4-7; 22:43; John 20:12; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Tim 3:16 cf. 1 Pet. 1:12; Eph. 3:10).

The angels are still loving and adoring Jesus now he is with them in heaven[11]; “you have come… to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV). The angelic host in heaven ceaselessly celebrates the triumphs of Jesus! And they long for us to join in.

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”(Revelation 5:11-14 ESV). The enthusiasm of those close to the throne of God and the Lamb radiates out to fill the whole universe. Angels understand that God’s first and last word for this universe is joy.

If “all the sons of God/angels shouted for joy” when the earth’s foundation was laid how much more their celebration at the new creation that has come in Christ (Job 38:7)?  And how intense their bliss in anticipating the consummation of creation at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (1 Pet 1:23). All these visions of angels are a deep comfort to the harassed church on earth[12].

Angels and Sonship

Angels are not only servants and witnesses they are also sons of God[13]. It is because God communicates his life to both angels and humans and makes us together members of his family that we can witness together to Jesus.

While talking to the apostolic church planter in Turkey about the nature of the angel of the church in Ephesus I sensed the importance of the faithful apostolic witness to that city at the foundation of its church in the days of Paul. One of the clearest examples of the union between angels and human witnesses is found in the inspiration of the letter to the Ephesians. The heavenly perspective of Ephesians is just like that of Revelation.

“God… has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…raised us up and seated us with him in the heavenly places… so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Eph 1:3; 2:6; 3:10 ESV). By its sacrificial mode of life the Church on earth bears witness to the victory of the Lamb to the evil angelic powers in the heavenlies.

Paul has yet more to say in Ephesians about the intimacy our union with the angels; “I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its name… that you might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:14, 19) Paul is aware of a unity between the earthly and angelic sons of God that will fill the universe with the glory of God in Christ[14].

It is from his exalted perspective into heavenly things that Paul makes this incredible statement about marriage; “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32 ESV). Angels have a great interest in the life of the church; they desire to see glory in the church that their own joy will be complete when the eternal marriage of the Lamb has come. We must listen to the messages to the 7 churches in Revelation from this perspective[15].

The great desire of the angels who stand watch over each church in a city is to see that every community of faith is in a state worthy to be wedded to God-in-Christ forever. The angels of the 7 churches each hear the report of Jesus concerning the spiritual state of their church and all the others, in this way they become witnesses for or against the Church in each city. This is a vital part of their role in what the Old Testament calls the “divine council,” the heavenly assembly where God gathers the angelic host around him and executes decisions in relation to earthly affairs[16]. It is this assembly which is recorded in John’s vision in Revelation 4 and 5. Angels are intimately involved in what Jesus is doing amongst his churches (cf. Rev 1:13).

Seeing the Angelic

Only Revelation speaks about a specific angel for each church in every city, and it is clear that the angels of the 7 churches were invisible to the believers in that church. The angel of the church in Perth is meant to be just as undetectable to our natural senses. Whilst there is no biblical justification for wanting to see angels with our natural eyes it is the will of God that we see what they are seeing and hear what they are hearing in the divine assembly in the Spirit.

In the New Testament[17] Paul describes himself as a master builder of the church, the architect and chief engineer who was given the blueprint for the structure and function of the body of Christ. In every city the apostle was seeing and hearing the same message that Jesus was giving to the angel of the church. As the letters of Paul evaluate and warn the church as to its faithfulness to Christ, so the angels of the churches in Revelation receive promises and warnings for the church in the apostle John’s day. At the climax of the letters to all seven churches are references to rewards on the Last Day; “the one who conquers I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.” “I will give some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” “I will give authority over the nations—“ I will never blot out his name from the book of life” “I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.” “I will give the right to sit with me on my throne” (2:7, 10, 17, 26; 3:5; 3:12; 3:21).

Paul uses typical apocalyptic language in warning of shoddy church building in Corinth, “¹³ on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. ¹⁴ If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.” (1 Cor 3:13-15).

In a similar way the angels of the 7 churches hear Jesus’ warnings of a lampstand removed, being warred against with the sword of the Lord’s mouth, the striking dead of the sexually immoral, a visitation like a thief and being spewed out of Christ’s mouth (2:5, 16, 23; 3:3, 16). Such is the holiness of the Lamb and the holiness he seeks for his Bride. As Paul cautioned the Corinthians, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV), so the angels of the 7 churches will bring an account of the state of the churches to the Lord at the Judgement. This is very sobering but the Lord has given us a witness to steer our lives.

The vision which apostles and prophets share with the angels is of the state of the church yet to come[18]. Beyond the warnings against the churches in Revelation is a vision of the perfected Bride coming down from heaven fit to marry the Lamb of God (Rev 2:4; 21:2, 9-10). Whereas someone today might look at the Church in Perth today through the lens of a megachurch, or even the state of the church in the early parts of Acts, a true prophetic vision, the one Jesus has shared with the angel of the Church in Perth, measures the works of the people of God in this city in the light of the lamp of the Lamb whose glory will fill the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:23).

Having made a comment about megachurches I need to pause here to pass on a warning associated to something that was shared with me a couple of days ago. Brian Houston the senior leader of Hillsong has been in New York speaking at a conference sponsored by their church in that city. It happens that a choir director at that church has appeared on national TV with his gay partner[19].  What is the message that church is giving about the marriage between the Lamb and his Bride. What are the words Jesus is delivering to the angel of that church and who is hearing it?

Application

The followers of the Lamb have much more in common with the angels than we generally realise.   As heavenly or earthly sons of God our common goal is the glory of God; glory revealed in the life of Christ. The testimony of Jesus is what binds holy saints in earth and holy angels in heaven together as one army, an army that together will accompany the Word of God when he descends from heaven to marry his Bride the Church; “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.” (Rev 19:11-14)

Like the angels we can have a perspective on our lives from the vantage point of the Judgement and from that standpoint we can understand that all of God’s purposes, however severe they may seem to be (Rom 11:22), have one great goal – the pure endless worship of God in Christ.

In the light of such great things what is the angel of the Church in Perth seeing about our personal and corporate testimony to Jesus. What is he saying to the Jesus and what is Jesus saying to him? Such revelations can be known.

It may seem to us to be a privileged thing to be a sinless angel glorying in the immediate presence of God. Yet there are “things into which angels long to look” but are unable (1Pet 1:12). The one thing in which the angels cannot share is “the tribulation…and the patient endurance” (1:9) which prepares the Bride for her husband (Rev 21:2). Angels can only see the sufferings of the Lamb of God from the outside, we however can share in them by our suffering flesh and blood (Phil 3:10; Col 1:24; Heb 2:14-15). The mystery of suffering love is at the heart of the Bridal witness of the Church and the means by which she is made beautiful for Jesus. Triumphant suffering love is the final beauty of the world.

I sense that the Lord is asking us to take some symbolic steps on behalf of the often sleeping Church of our city. Can we speak together in the Spirit “Angel of the church in Perth, wake up!”, for we are surely in his company.  And can we submit to his mission of revealing Jesus Christ so that the golden lampstand of the church can be raised high in this city.