My dear readers,

1.  Do "angels of light and children of the devil" refer to those who preach and teach anything that is against the Word of God? How about the people who are in churches where these people preach and teach these doctrines? How should we relate to them?

The two phrases, "angels of light" and "children of the devil" refer to God's perspectives of the unbelievers in the world in terms of their work and their status.

The phrase, "angels of light" -- 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

The word for "angel" means "messenger". The "angels of light" are professing Christians who pretend to be Christians, preaching and teaching God's Word, claiming God sends them. The best place to do maximum damage to the causes of God and the witness of Christ is while in positions of leadership, such as ordained ministers, seminary professors, and Bible College teachers, thereby corrupting the present and future generation of church leaders. Their teaching would not be all unbiblical, as that would be easily recognised to be false and thus rejected even by a babe in Christ. The more subtle their doctrinal poison and errors are to the truth of Scripture, the more effective is the deception. For example, if someone taught that the whole Bible contains mistakes, no professing believer would accept it. But if they teach that the mistakes are less than 1 % and "carnalise" it by teaching that sinful man's salvation is not affected but only mistakes in names of places and people and numbers, many self-centred sinners would readily accept. The fact that God's Word has mistakes, which is a direct attack on God's character, means little to these self-centred sinners as long as these false teachers assure them that their salvation, i.e. place in heaven, is guaranteed.

Throughout the history of the local church, God's Word has been attacked most severely from within Christendom by these angels of light. They usually enter unsuspecting churches as pastors, holding theological degrees from respected Bible Colleges and seminaries that these churches blindly trust. Many churches and fundamental denominations that began on a strong "earnestly-contending-for-the-faith" stance have been destroyed through infiltration by these angels of light.

The phrase "children of the devil" -- 1 John 3:7-10 “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."

From God's perspective, humanity is divided into two groups: the children of God who are truly born again in Christ as evidenced by their lives of righteousness, and the children of the devil who are born in sin and whose lives are characterised by sin, evil and wickedness. The former continue to serve God knowingly as they are spiritually made alive and able to see and reflect the holy image of Christ in all they say and do. In contrast, the latter serve the devil unknowingly as they are spiritually dead and blind, doing his evil work in thwarting the work of God in Christ in the lives of God's children who have been saved and left behind to tell the world of His love for them so that they do not need to die in their sin and be cast into hell. 

Other groups of the children of the devil are also angels of light, for they are enemies of God, distorting the name of Christ by attacking God's Word and undermining the faith of believers and deceiving sinners through the false gospels and doctrinal errors. The Pharisees were such individuals in Jesus' time as revealed in John 8:42-45 "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not."

2.  At what point can we call someone an "angel of light," especially in terms of the false doctrines they teach?

Since "an angel of light" is a false teacher, and not a teacher who teaches incorrectly and is grateful to be corrected, he will persist in teaching falsehood. All doctrinal errors hurt the Christian's life and testimony. It is a matter of the nature and degree of damage. If it is an error about the gospel, then it is a false gospel preached by a false preacher who ought to be anathema by God. If it is an error that pertains to the believer's holy life, such as the abolishment of the Ten Commandments, the holy testimony of the believer is weakened and badly affected. All believers must ensure, to the best of their ability, that every doctrine of the Bible they believe in and obey is correct as they are living for Christ in obedience to God’s Word. All teachers and preachers of God’s Word must make sure that all that they preach and teach is correct, for they are claiming to be speaking on behalf of God.  

3.  When a leader sins, would it take 5 or 15 years to restore him, or is the number mentioned in this morning's sermon arbitrary? For this matter, did the Bible specify any period it would take for someone who fell into adultery or plagiarism to be allowed to serve in the same ministry again?

The period of 5 to 15 years mentioned in the message is not about the restoration of the sinner but the repairing of the holy name of Christ that the sinner has severely damaged in the eyes of the people he stumbled. When someone is regarded as a holy and mature believer, the image of Christ in him is that he is godly and holy in Christ. If he falls into a serious sin, the holy and godly image of Christ in his life is damaged. To repair and regain it will take time. A lot depends on the seriousness of the sin committed. The transgressor can be restored to take the Lord’s Supper and serve in a diminished capacity again after a year, perhaps, depending on the nature of his sin and whether he was a leader in the church when he sinned. After he has truly repented and affirmed that he will not commit that sin again, it will take time for the people to see him in a new “repented-fruit-bearing” light.

The consequence of the sin of adultery committed by a leader of the church while in office will be far more severe than that of an ordinary member or someone who may have committed adultery before salvation. The sinner who committed adultery as an unbeliever will not be judged based on Christian principles, as he did not profess to be a Christian. After salvation, he can serve in any capacity in the church. He may even become an elder in later years, just as Saul, who persecuted Christian as an unbeliever, became an apostle after his salvation. But if a Christian commits adultery, he will not be allowed to hold a leadership position such as a deacon or elder. If a deacon or an elder commits adultery, he will not be permitted to serve as a deacon or an elder again. His service after restoration will be in a diminished capacity.

The consequence of the sin of plagiarism, which is bearing false witness or stealing, will also be similar to the above. If the preacher plagiarises in his preaching by taking someone else’s message or outline and passing it off as his own, and is caught, his integrity will be severely affected. All future messages would be suspect. This also applies to the theological writing. It will take time for the person to bear the fruits of repentance and for the image of Christ he has damaged to be restored. Once he has evidenced the fruits of repentance, he may be allowed to serve again. The nature of his return to service will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

4.  With this morning's quoted example of the minister who got himself involved with a 20+ year old female member in his later years in mind, is it then safer and appropriate for any married person to avoid encouraging/counselling one of the opposite sex, but leave it to the same gender? Lest the constant contact and communication turn a mutual encouragement relationship into one that is deeper and wrong.

Counselling must always be done with due care and with much prayer. It is always best to counsel all genders with due diligence so that the counsellor will not find themselves in a compromising situation that may lead to sin. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:13 “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” If the pastor is visiting or counselling a woman outside the church premises, he should bring his wife along. If counselling is conducted on the church premises, he must ensure that other church office staff are present so they are never alone.

 Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, Pastor