The Most Important But Forgotten Role of Angels.

When someone says the word “angels” immediately our minds jump to the winged angels of Hollywood or to the heavenly messengers from the scriptures and church history. The bible dictionary teaches that angels have two classes, those with resurrected bodies, and those without (spirits either not yet born, or awaiting the resurrection), it teaches that these angels are “heavenly messengers sent forth to minister to the inhabitants of the earth.”  When someone asked you, “Have you experienced the ministering of angels?” Most members would pause and need to think. They often are thinking “have I seen or heard something from an angel before?” This pause is because the most important role of angels, while taught, it is often not understood.

Angels Deliver Messages For The Holy Ghost.

Have you ever noticed how everyone in the room can say they ‘felt the Spirit’ but each person felt it differently? Have you ever wondered how the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead who has a spirit body, can minister to everyone in the whole world? Or have you ever wondered what Nephi meant in 2 Nephi 32:3 when he said, “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost?” The answer to these questions is actually all the same. Angels are the messengers who convey the messages of the Holy Ghost.

Nephi explained this to his brothers in 1 Ne. 17:45 when he told them that the Lord sent an angel to them who spoke unto them in a “still small voice” though they were “past feeling” and “could not feel his words.” Here are a few quotes on this topic by the prophets and apostles:

“From the beginning down through the dispensations, God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children…Usually, such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“The action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive … revelations from the eternal world”
John Taylor (Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1987], 31).

“The ministering of angels can also be unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by a voice or merely by thoughts or feelings communicated to the mind.”
Dallin H. Oaks

“I testify that angels are still sent to help us.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen.”
Dallin H, Oaks

Elder Holland stresses this point to the Church Education System when he gave a CES Fireside and said: “May I suggest to you that one of the things we need to teach our students, and one of the things which will become more important in their lives the longer they live, is the reality of angels, their work, and their ministry: “Obviously I speak here not alone of the angel Moroni, but also of those more personal ministering angels who are with us and around us, empowered to help us, and who do exactly that. …Perhaps more of us, including our students, could literally, or at least figuratively, behold the angels around us if we would but awaken from our stupor and hear the voice of the Spirit as those angels try to speak. …I believe we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony to the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do. They constitute one of God’s great methods of witnessing through the veil.”
Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Standard unto My People,” CES Symposium, BYU, 9 Aug. 1994, 11–13

All these quotes and teachings are clear, over the pulpit and just make sense! Add to the fact that everything in the church is done via delegation; IE Heavenly Father created the world through Jesus Christ. It just makes sense that the Holy Ghost, who has a spirit body and can only be at one place at a time, uses angels to minister and deliver messages to people all over the world. And the fact that those angels are unique individuals who are custom delivering their messages easily explains a possibility as to why we all feel the same Spirit differently.  But more important than how the message is delivered is the fact that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to receive messages!

The Keys of The Ministering of Angels

The Aaronic Priesthood “holds the keys to the ministering of angels” (D&C 13:1). But unless you understand that the ministering of angels is one of the main ways that we can feel the Spirit, that makes little sense. However, once you understand the connection between feeling the Spirit and the ministering of angels, then you can finally realize the link: The Aaronic Priesthood administers the Sacrament. The Sacrament cleanses us, renew our covenants, and to enable us to “may always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). aka the Sacrament is the key to having the Spirit in our lives. Therefore the Aaronic Priesthood holding the key to the sacrament means they also hold the key to the ministering of angels! President Oaks taught this clearly when he said: “Those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood open the door for all Church members who worthily partake of the sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the ministering of angels.”

Who Are The Angels?

Once you realize the simple truth that the majority of the time we are feeling the Spirit that the message is being delivered by an angel, the next question becomes:  “Who are the angels who minister to me?” The answer once again is simple and just makes sense! The angels who minister to us, are those who are concerned with our welfare, IE Ancestors who have a vested interest that we are worthy and do their work, or descendants who have a vested interest that we make and keep temple covenants so that they can be born into the covenant.

President Joseph F. Smith gave us some insight about angels who minister to those on the earth: “When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and fellow-servants. The ancient prophets who died were those who came to visit their fellow creatures upon the earth … In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.” (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1970, pp. 435–36. bold and italics added)

Within Family History the notion that our ancestors are helping us is commonly talked about and accepted, but it applies outside Family History also. My Mission President once told us, “No one joins the church without their ancestors helping them.” It just makes sense! If their ancestors have accepted the gospel on the other side, then they are the ministering angels who have a vested interest in making sure one of their descendants joins the church and does their work. Who better to delegate the task of delivering a prompting to than someone who deeply cares about the person?

Direct Access To The Godhead.

Whereas prayers are often answered via ministering angels, it is vital to understand that we do not need to petition an angel, pray to a statue or cross, or even a saint to intervene on our behalf! We have Jesus Christ, the great intercessor, mediator, and advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ commanded us to “pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19) and implores us to “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him” (D&C 45:3 ). Because He is our advocate. Yes, He may delegate tasks to others, but the task of being our advocate is one task that can not be delegated.

“The Savior forgives, heals, and advocates. He is our helper, consoler, and intercessor—attesting to and vouching for our reconciliation with God.”
Dale G. Renlund

Special thanks to Brian Kershisnik for allowing me to use his artwork: She Will Find What is Lost, and Annie Henrie for allowing me to use Angels to guide thee, and Angels among us.