Plain talk about ...

Angels, demons,

and other supernatural visitors

Note: this article is not intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive. Readers are alerted to the book, Angels: God's Secret Agents, by the Rev. Billy Graham, for a much fuller treatment of the subject.

What are angels?

Angels are created beings, which God created to praise Him. That they have free choice in the matter is evident from the fact that some chose to rebel.

What are demons?

Demons are the angels that "left their former estate," that is, chose to deny the Lordship of God and exalt themselves and follow Lucifer, the Devil, Satan.
Satan is chief of the demons, having chosen to rebel against God, and to exercise all the authority which God gave him for his own purposes.

How can you tell the difference?

Since angels and demons come from the same mold, so to speak, they both can do the same sort of things. They can appear as people, being familiar with the people who live and those that have already died. They can also likely appear as other beings, whether as beings of this earth or representing beings from other realms.

To tell the difference, you need to look at their character, not their characteristics. I'm not just playing with words. Characteristics are those things that set them apart as being from the supernatural world. Character defines whether they are good or evil.

Remember that demons are in rebellion against God. Their aim is to scare, seduce, vaunt themselves against man, to lie, to deceive, and to otherwise thwart God's plan for man.

True angels are meant to uplift and exalt God's name and to aid people is following Him. As such, they will not point to their own activity.

If you are seeking information about angels, you will find lots of it on the 'Net. Some will purport to tell you how to get in touch with your own personal angel, to listen to that angel as a "wise guide." But a true angel of God would not exalt his own wisdom, but rather would exalt God. Therefore, if you try to get in touch with your own personal angel, what you are more likely to get is a demon, a familiar spirit masquerading as a personage from history or your own relative that has passed from this life.

The only reliable way to know more about angels is to study them as scripture portrays them. Again, we recommend Dr. Graham's book which we mentioned at the beginning of this article.

About the Plain Talk Series

As one of the Plain Talk series, this particular article has not been written from the perspecitve of knowing God, but more out of concern that believers and others be warned about abuse of power in spiritual realms.

Dear reader, God loves you and paid a great price to purchase you out of the hands of the evil one, and to redeem you from eternal judgment. He wants you to live in joy with Him. When the angels exalt God, they are honouring His goodness. God is not a tyrant, but a loving heavenly Father worthy of our praise and adoration. As you get to know Him this truth will become more self-evident.

You may hear voices telling you to beware, that God is out to get you and make your life miserable. These voices are not to be trusted. It is the enemy of God and the enemy of your soul trying to keep you from worshipping and trusting God. Don't listen to those voices. Instead, simply ask God to help you read His word, the (Holy) Bible.

If you need help finding a good translation of the Bible to use, I would suggest that you visit your nearest Christian bookstore.