Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

There are few stories more exciting than escape stories.

One of my favorite kinds of movie when I was a kid was prison escape movies.

They are so full of suspense, and the obstacles to overcome are enormous.

There is a great need to be clever, and best of all, they are not fiction, but are based on fact, for history is packed with true prison escape stories.

Sometimes the key is simplicity.

Leon Daudet walked out of a French prison in 1927.

It was thought to be escape proof.

He had a friend telephone the warden and tell him that Daudet had been pardoned.

The warden believed it, and without double checking he released him.

Sometimes the key is love.

In Charles Reade's book The Cloister And The Hearth he tells of how his hero Gerard was imprisoned in a tower.

All at once and arrow came whistling through the tiny window high up in the cell.

His first response was fear that someone sought to assassinate him.

But when no other arrow came he crawled about in the dark to find the mysterious arrow.

When he found it he was puzzled because of a silk cord attached.

What good was a silk cord to him?

Then it flashed in his mind that the hand of Margaret his sweetheart was behind this arrow.

He lowered the silk cord from his window, and when he felt a tug he pulled it up, and at the end was a thicker cord.

As he continued to pull a heavy rope was attached, and by means of that heavy rope he was able to escape.

The stories of escape are near endless, and the Bible is a great resource for escape stories.

1.

There is Lot's escape from Sodom.

2. There is Isaac's escape from death on the altar.

3.

There is Joseph's escape from the pit and Potipher's wife.

4.

There is Israel's escape from Egypt.

5.

There is Moses's escape from Pharaoh.

6.

There is Elijah's escape from Jezebel.

7.

There is David's escape from Saul.

8.

There is Jonah's escape from the whale.

9.

There is Jeremiah's escape from the dungeon.

10.

There is Daniel's escape from the lions den.

11.

There is Paul's escape from assassins, prison, and shipwreck.

12.

There is Peter's escape from prison.

All of these escape stories have something in common.

They are stories of successful escapes do to outside help.

There are times in life when you just cannot do what needs to be done to escape bondage and be free.

You need someone else to be there on the outside who can lend you a hand.

Sometimes we need to depend on a friend, lover, or family member, and sometimes we need to depend on resources that go beyond what any man or woman can supply.

We need to depend on the supernatural means that God alone can supply.

In Peter's case it was a guardian angel.

As we face another year with all of its potential for conflict and victory, bondage and freedom, I thought is would be of value for us to explore what the Bible says about these unique beings that can be our allies in the battle of life.

Hardly anyone ever preaches on this special class of beings called guardian angels.

They have been around a long time, and the Jews developed the idea that everyone has a guardian angel.

The early Christian leaders like Origen and Chrysostom also believed that every Christian has such a guardian.

Many felt that the guardian was actually a look-alike of the one he was guarding.

Angels were seen as doubles.

If this theory is true, then it means everybody does have a twin; if not on earth then in heaven.

This theory is based on Peter's experience in verse 15.

Rhoda ran to tell the Christians praying for Peter that he was at the door.

They had some debate and told her she was crazy.

When she insisted she saw Peter, they responded that it must be his angel.

These Christians felt that this person at the door who looked like Peter must be his guardian angel.

In other words, they felt Peter had an angel that looked just like him.

It is a fascinating theory which the early Christians used to give dignity to the individual.

Every age struggles with self-esteem.

They stress that every person is of such worth to God that He has another one just like them in His presence.

If one just like you is good enough to stand in God's presence and serve Him, then who are you to belittle yourself?

Not all Christians accept this theory, and not all Christians believe that every Christian has a special guardian.

Calvin felt that angels in general are assigned to minister to man, but not specific angels for specific men.

B.B. Warfield felt that the assignments of guardian angels were temporary for a specific time and need, and not a permanent assignment for life.

There is a host of different ideas about these beings, but all Christians have had some conviction about them.

They are not too unlike the creatures today which we call viruses.

Everybody believes in these creatures that we do not see, and there is a host of different ideas about them, even among doctors.

They have a great effect on our lives even though we never see them, and they are really tough to figure out.

They come in so many varieties that they are hard to nail down and classify.

Science has its mysteries, and it deals with materialism.

So it is not surprising that theology should have its mysteries, for it deals with the spiritual realities of life.

Just as no doctor would presume to stand up and try to tell us he knows everything about viruses, so no theologian will presume to tell you all about guardian angels.

But I can tell you something worth knowing and exploring as we focus on three points.

I. THE REALITY OF GUARDIAN ANGELS.

Our first and highest source of support for the existence of such beings is the Bible, and the most authoritative word is that of Jesus Himself.

Jesus had to know He was opening up a door to endless speculation by saying what He did, but He said it anyway.

In Matt.

18:10 He said, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

Jesus gives a great deal of dignity to the life of every child by this saying.

This becomes the foundation for the idea that every little child has been assigned a guardian angel.

Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the lost sheep; the one that wanders away from the fold.

The shepherd will leave the 99 and go find that one lost sheep, and be so glad when he does.

Jesus says the Father in heaven is not willing that anyone of the little ones be lost.

The implication is that angels are the heavenly shepherds who watch over the children.

The mind goes wild with questions at this point.

Why then do children die, and why do millions grow up and go astray, and be lost to the kingdom?

At this point we are not addressing the problem, but just addressing the issue of the reality of such beings as guardian angels.

This text simply puts the testimony of Jesus on the side of the evidence that they do exist.

Psa.

91:11 opens up this idea to a wider sphere of influence.

It lets us see the possibility of adults also having their guardian.

It says, "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."

It is of interest to note that the very next verse is the one Satan used to tempt Jesus.

It says, "They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone."

The red light should flash in our minds if Satan's first try to trick Jesus was by a focus on the role of guardian angels.

It means we are dealing with one area of truth in which it is easy to be deceived.

It is possible to make some very presumptuous and dangerous choices based on guardian angels.

Satan thought maybe even Jesus would blow this truth out of proportion and take a chance that would benefit the kingdom of darkness.

They are real, but we need to be cautious about what we do with their reality.

These beings are very active in the book of Acts, and jail breaks are their specialty.

Peter and other Apostles are put in jail in Acts 5, and verse 19 says, "But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out."

There is no doubt that a guardian angel is a prisoner's best friend.

No phone calls, no waiting for bail, no trial; you just walk out as the door opens, and go free.