“What are you doing here?”, Raub the treacherous said to the angel.

Seph looked at him for a little while but did not answer. Raub became indignant and took threatening steps forward. “What are you doing here?”, he roared yet the more.

Seph continued to pay him no attention until Raub was standing literally in his face.

Seph answered quietly and said, “This is a church you know.”

“Yeah right!” was the demon’s tartly response. “A church indeed,” he continued, “but your Master does not come here anymore.”

“I run this place now and the likes of you are not welcome here anymore! Get out!!!”

The other demon spirits in the building saw or more like sensed the presence of the angel and hurriedly drifted over. None of them were happy to see him. They all joined Raub in asking him to get out.

Seph looked at all of them and looked away sadly. He made to enter the hall, and they blocked his way immediately.

From where he stood though, he could see what was going on inside. The praise and worship session was going on quite boisterously and the people were having a good time of it. A lot was missing though. Normally at such a time, the airways would have been full of the flows of the Spirit and you would have angels go in and out through the congregation, doing the Spirit’s bidding. But today, even though the music was of an excellent quality and the people praised with all their hearts and might, there was nothing to be seen.

The demon was right, the Master had not been here for several years. The people had over the years continued to draw away from the Saviour and had gradually forgotten how to honour Him. His presence had waned and waned until the fire had gone out completely. The worst part was that they had not even noticed.

Or maybe, someone had. He had been sent here with a message. He had not been here in years either and was rather surprised when he found out he was being sent here.

“I have a message to deliver”, he said to Raub.

The demon snickered at him. “Why should I let you pass?”

Seph smiled. His smile made the demons red in the face with anger. Some of them reached for weapons but Raub raised a hand to still them.

Seph looked him straight in the face and said, “You know you cannot stop me? And you and I do not have the time to find out if you really can.”

“I would counsel that you let me go about my assignment and I would be out of your hair.”

“And if I refuse to?” Raub replied.

Seph smiled again.

“How long do you want to continue to have any influence in this place?”, the angel asked him.

“You are in no position to threaten me”, the demon responded, the look in his eye not matching the tone of his voice. “There are far more of us here than you.”

Seph ignored them for a moment. He had seen her. While everyone else was dancing and jubilating, she stood quite still. There was obviously some kind of struggle going on in her but his insight into such things was limited.

Tesa was just tired. The hall was full of people but she had never felt so alone. It was a really large congregation and she had enjoyed the past five years in the church; but in the past few months, she had begun to feel that she did not belong there anymore. It was a really strange feeling. Church used to be fun, inspiring, and refreshing but somewhere along the lines, something had changed.

The overall experience was still awesome to behold; the organization, the flow, the dressing of the church workers, down to the eloquence of the Senior Pastor. It was all exquisitely delivered; but deep inside she could not quite figure out why she felt something had been out of place for a while. The feeling had become like a burden in her heart and had consumed her devotions. “God help me”, she thought fiercely.

Seph had had enough. He raised himself to his full height and immediately was clothed in a blaze of glory. Raub snarled and grabbed for the angel, and suddenly found himself on the floor with the angel’s foot on his neck and a fiery sword pointed at his neck.

“Tell your minions to back down or else I can make this worse for you”, the angel commanded.

The demons had even started to draw back of their own volition. Seeing their liege at the angels feet in a matter of seconds had weakened any resolve to fight that they had.

The angel stepped over him and entered the hall of congregation and headed for Tesa. He laid his hand gently on her shoulder.

She felt as though someone had touched her and looked around to see who it was. The people around were too engrossed in the praise and worship to have touched her.

“You do not belong here anymore and it is time to leave. Your time here is up and the Lord is calling you out. LEAVE NOW and do not come back”, she heard. She looked around in panic but could not see who had spoken to her.

She suddenly felt a keen sense of urgency and grabbed her purse and started walking out of the church. Nobody paid her any attention.

Seph accompanied her as she left. The demons parted as they came out and they passed without incident.

She looked back at the Church with the words still ringing in her ears. “Do not come back”, was a bit hard to fathom considering how long she had been here, but deep inside she knew it was what she had to do.

Two other angels Miza and Rosh, met with Seph as he came out with her. Their presence had been concealed from the demons to avoid causing a major incident.

“That went well”, Miza said with a wry grin. Rosh just looked at him and rolled his eyes.

“You both know what to do”, Seph said to the pair. “Keep a close eye on her and direct her to where she needs to go. I will see you later.”

They nodded and turned their attention to their new charge.

“Where do I go from here”, Tesa was asking herself as she entered her car and began to drive off, but there were no immediate answers.

Seph watched her go. His assignment was done for the moment. As quick as thought, he was soaring through the skies on his way to a debrief.

…

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”‭‭ Revelation‬ ‭3:1‬ ‭NIV

‬‬“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.”‭‭ Revelation‬ ‭18:1-2‬ ‭NIV‬‬