Lesson Summary June 2, 2013

 Kathy Chee gave her lesson from the BYU Devotional by Donald W. Parry (July 31, 2012)
   

"Angels, Chariots, and the Lord of Hosts" 

 

 

    The ministry of Angels has been on the earth since the days of Adam and Eve. They have had significant responsibilities in the Lord's great plan of happiness. Angles figure prominently in ancient and modern scripture. They have ministered to or communicated with such notables as Daniel, Mary the mother of Jesus [Luke 1:26-38] Mary Magdalene, Salome, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, other women [Mark 16:4-6; Luke 24:2-4; John 20:11-12], Peter, Paul, John the Revelator, and many others. Angels have also ministered to the prophets in the Book of Mormon.

 

        In our own dispensation prophets and apostles have testified of the eminence and considerable standing of angels. It has been a period of extraordinary angelic activity. Joseph Smith received dozens of communications from angels. Additional Church authorities and others have been recipients of angelic communications. The Gospel was restored, in part, when angels imparted revelations and truths to the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the Doctrine and Covenants it tells of the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood. [D&C 128:21]

 

         The title "Lord of hosts" is so important that it is found some 250 times in the Old Testament; Isaiah alone used the term about fifty times. This title, then, is a frequent reminder that the Lord has hosts of angels. "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne . . . :and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." [Revelation 5:11] 

 

          We have help from both sides of the veil. When disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--we need to remember that if our eyes could be opened, we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see, riding at great speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed. Joseph Smith wrote that Elder Roger Orton saw a mighty angel riding upon a horse of fire, with a flaming sword in his hand, followed by five others, encircle the house [Temple], and protect the Saints, even the Lord's anointed, from the power of Satan and a host of evil spirits, which were striving to disturb the Saints.

 

 

          Most of us will never be protected by angel in a lions' den, nor will the majority of us be privileged to see horses and chariots of fire. But we should bear in mind that angelic communications are not reserved for those who lived during the time of Old Testament or the Book of Mormon. Church authorities have clearly taught that we who are laypersons may receive angelic communications or help from them according to the divine will of our loving Heavenly Father.

           It is my testimony that angels are agents of love, light, and power. The Lord's angels exist because of Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement. I testify that angels appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. I also testify that the sacred work of angels continues in our day.
 
Thank you Kathy for your very interesting and enlightening lesson.