Angels and YouSample

Angels Who Carry Us to Heaven

In Luke 16, Jesus tells about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus, who had both died, with the rich man ending up in a place of torment and Lazarus finding himself in paradise. The story teaches about how people should treat each other in this life and what happens to them in the afterlife.

But there’s a passing reference that caught my attention. In verse 22, Jesus said that when the beggar died, “the angels carried him to Abraham’s side,” that is, to a place of bliss.

What struck me is that people in the throes of dying quite often get a glimpse of the next life, as I detail in my new book, Seeing the Supernatural. Acts 7:55 describes the stoning of Stephen, who “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” And frequently, what dying people see are angels who are coming to take them to their heavenly rest, much like Jesus said they carried Lazarus to paradise.

For example, Billy Graham told the story about the passing of his maternal grandmother. “The room seemed to fill with a heavenly light,” he said. “She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, ‘I see Jesus. He has his arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier] and I see the angels.’ Then she slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord.”

Graham’s former pulpit partner, Charles Templeton, became the most famous agnostic in Canada after losing his faith at a liberal seminary. However, one of his close friends believes he returned to Jesus before he died.

Just before he closed his eyes for the last time, Templeton called out to his wife: “Madeleine, do you see them? Do you hear them? The angels! They’re calling my name! I’m going home!” Later he cried out: “Look at them, look at them! They’re so beautiful. They’re waiting for me. Oh, their eyes, their eyes are so beautiful.” Then, with great joy, he exclaimed, “I’m coming!”

This phenomenon even happens to children. “The angels – they’re so beautiful!” exclaimed one child before she passed. “Mommy, can you see them? Do you hear their singing? I’ve never heard such beautiful singing!”

Often these children don’t see angels as they are routinely depicted in drawings for kids, where they have big wings. Instead, they see them without wings. Incidentally, nowhere does the Bible teach that all angels have wings.

In one case, a dying preschool girl asked her mom if she could see the angels in the room. The mother bluffed by saying, “Yes,” and then described them as having big wings. Her little daughter scoffed: “Mama, you don’t have to lie.” Then she provided specific details about the angels, including this observation: “They don’t have wings!”

Since childhood artwork routinely depicts angels as having wings, you would expect children to see wings if their brains were merely conjuring up a vision of an angel that fit their expectations. The fact that the wings are unexpectedly absent suggests that these youngsters really are getting a glimpse of a spiritual realm.

It’s a beautiful thought – that at the moment Christians transition into the next world, we are greeted by loving and tender angels, who gingerly transport us into the presence of the Lord. Even if we don’t see angels in our worldly lifetime, they will be part and parcel of our everlasting existence in Heaven.

—Lee Strobel

YOUR RESPONSE

1. Finish this sentence: These are the three emotions I will feel when I get a glimpse of the angels coming to take me to paradise….
2. Why did you specify the emotions that you listed in the first question? What is it about the dynamic of angels carrying you to heaven that evokes such a reaction?
3. At this moment, are you sure that you will enter into Heaven after you die? The first verse I memorized as a new Christian was 1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” In other words, you can be certain of your eternal destination! Says Acts 2:21: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
   
   What would that look like in a prayer? How about this prayer that you could express to God right now: “Jesus, thank you for helping me see the reality of the supernatural. Right now, as best I can, I do believe that you are the Son of God; you proved it by returning from the dead. And I admit the obvious: I’m a sinner. I confess this and turn from my wrong beliefs and actions. In an attitude of repentance and faith, I receive your free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Thank you for paying the penalty I deserved so that we can be united forever. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live the kind of life that you want me to live, because from this moment on, I am yours.”

Meet Lee Strobel

Former atheist Lee Strobel, who was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times best-selling author whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. With a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, Lee won Illinois’ highest honors for investigative reporting from United Press International.

He has been a teaching pastor at three of America’s largest churches. His books include The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, Is God Real?, and Seeing the Supernatural. He and Leslie have been married for more than fifty years. Visit LeeStrobel.com to learn more.

Looking for More?

This reading plan was derived from Seeing the Supernatural: Investigating Angels, Demons, Mystical Dreams, Near-Death Encounters, and Other Mysteries of the Unseen World by Lee Strobel. Learn More