Angels, Ministering Spirits

(by Rev Hien Nguyen)

Text: Heb 1:13-14

Today, we will learn about angels, what they are and what they do. The atheists do not believe the existence of God or angels. Many are like the Sadducees, who “say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit” (Acts 23:8). Many ignore God and His Word but believe in angels and even worship angels as their guardians. How do we know the truth about angels so that we may have proper attitudes toward them? Thank God for His perfectly inspired and perfectly preserved Word, through which we may know the truth about God and man and today about His angels.

Angels, God’s Created Spiritual Beings

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament mention angels. The term “angel” in Hebrew, malak, with 214 occurrences, KJV translates as “angel” 111 times, “messenger” 98 times, “ambassadors” four times, and “variant” once. And in Greek, aggello, with 186 occurrences, KJV translates as “angel” 179 times, and “messenger” seven times. Then, angels are God’s messengers sent to do His will and His work.

God created innumerable angels by His Word (Ps 148:2-5; Col 1:16; Heb 12:22) at any time during the 6 literal 24-hour days of God’s creation. God did not create angels as robots but as immortal spiritual beings, “ministering spirits” (Heb 1:14; Luke 20:36) without corporeal bodies or marriage like human beings (Mark 12:25; Luke 20:36). They have their own will to choose to obey God (Ps 103:20) or to rebel against Him, e.g. Satan and fallen angels (Isa 14:12-17; Jude 6). They have greater knowledge and wisdom than men (2 Sam 14:20) but not all knowledge and all wisdom as God (Job 4:18; Matt 24:36; Ps 147:4-5). They have greater power than men (2 Kings 19:35; Ps 103:20) but not all power as God (Jude 1:9; Rev 19:6). They have their desire, “which things (God’s salvation for mankind) the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:12) and have their emotion, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).

Although human beings are “a little lower than the angels” (Ps 8:5; Heb 2:7), they were created after God’s image directly by God’s hands and breath (Gen 1:27; 2:7) while angels were created by God’s Word (Ps 148:2-5). Therefore, God’s salvation in His Son Jesus Christ is for human beings and not for fallen angels. And when having been saved in Christ, human beings are regenerated to be God’s children and partakers of God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:1-2), so in the future they shall even judge the world and angels (1 Cor 6:2-3). How we thank God and praise Him for His great salvation for mankind, including us!

Through God’s Word, we know the names and the high rank of some angels: the archangel Michael, the defender of God’s people (Dan 10:13; 12:1; Jude 9), the angel Gabriel, the announcer of God to His people (Dan 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26), and Lucifer, the light-bearer became the cursed Satan, the Devil, due to his pride and rebellion (Isa 14:12-17).

As beings created by God, obedient angels or “elect angels” (1 Tim 5:21) dare not receive the glory and worship duly and exclusively reserved for God alone (Rev 19:10; 22:9). Only Satan and fallen angels proudly and deceitfully tempt others or mislead others to worship them (Matt 4:9; 1 Cor 10:20). Therefore, even when we are enjoying the ministry of angels, we only need to thank God for them and worship God alone, the Creator and Maker of everything, including angels and human beings.

Ministry of Angels

Toward God: Angels worship God (Neh 9:6; Heb 1:6) and sing praises to God and the Lord Jesus Christ (Ps 148:2; Luke 2:13-14; Rev 5:11-12). They fulfil God’s will, purposes and commands (Ps 103:20-21; Matt 13:39-42). They execute God’s judgments (2 Sam 24:16; Acts 12:23; Rev 16:1). They (especially the angel Gabriel) announce God’s Word and convey His will to His servants and children (Dan 8:1; Luke 1:19, 28).

Toward Jesus Christ: God sent the angel Gabriel to announce to Mary that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and bring forth a son who would be named “Jesus” and be called “the Son of the Highest…the Son of God” (Luke 1:26-38). God sent His angel to announce to the shepherds the birth of the Saviour, Christ the Lord, and a multitude of the heavenly host (angels) praised God (Luke 2:9-14). God sent His angel to Joseph telling him to take Jesus and Mary to flee into Egypt as well as to come back after Herod’s death (Matt 2:13, 20). God sent His angels to minister to the Lord Jesus after the temptation (Matt 4:11), to strengthen Him when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43), to roll back the stone in front of the tomb (Matt 28:2) and to announce His resurrection to the women (Luke 24:4-7; John 20:12-13). After the Lord Jesus’ ascension, two angels announced His return in like manner (Acts 1:10-11). In heaven, angels are singing praises to the Lord Jesus (Rev 5:11-12). When the Lord Jesus returns, His angels shall gather His elect from every part of the world (Matt 24:31), and all the holy angels shall be with Him (Matt 25:31). Truly, the Lord Jesus humbled Himself to be a Man, “a little lower than the angels” (Heb 2:7), but He is the very God, the Creator, who is far superior to His created angels (Heb 1:2-14).

Toward Believers: It is so encouraging and comforting to know that angels are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb 1:14). “Ministering,” from Greek term leitourgikos, which is used only once here, denoting the performance of service, employed ministering. “Sent forth” in Greek, apostello, denotes sending forth on a certain mission to fulfil. Angels are sent by God to fulfil His purposes and work, and this shows the full sovereign control and direction of God upon His angels. God has sent His angels to minister to/serve “them who shall be heirs of salvation” or to them who are saved in Christ Jesus, including you and me! It is amazing that the ministry of angels toward believers is still ongoing as the verb is in the present tense.

- Protection: God sent His angels to protect David and those who fear Him, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Ps 34:7). God sent His angels to shut the lions’ mouths and preserve Daniel’s life (Dan 6:22). God sent His angels to deliver the apostles out of prison (Acts 5:19) and Peter from prison (Acts 12:7-11). Our Lord Jesus says, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt 18:10), and this refers to the guardian angels of God’s little children. It is so vital to have God’s presence in our hearts and our lives or else we are only helpless victims of Satan and his fallen angels. Truly, we have God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in us and with us (John 14:17, 23) and His angels encamping around us. How safe we are in our heavenly Father’s care! This truth really encourages and comforts us when we take a trip to an unsafe place, doing a mission work or a ministry over there. However, we should not tempt God by going to a perilous place full of dangers or temptations according to our own will or Satan’s challenge and then expect God to protect us or His angels to keep us and bear us up in their hands (Ps 91:11-12; Matt 4:6-7). I really thank God every time I recall His protection when a Christian brother and I took some mission trips around our country, even to faraway rural areas and border regions to share the Gospel during our summer vacations in the 1980’s. Truly, God’s angels still encamp round about those who fear Him and trust in His Word.

It is so comforting to learn that God even sends His angels to minister to His children until death, carrying their souls home when they die. Lazarus “died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Even the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses (Jude 9). In my country, I witnessed some Christian families, when a Christian grandparent or parent passed away, some unbelieving children contended with Christian children in the family to bury their loved one according to Buddhist rites, but through the prayers of Christian children and of the church, in the end their loved one was buried according to Christian rites. Here, we can see Satan and his fallen angels even want to harm our bodies when we die, but thank God for the ministry of His angels.

- Guidance: God sent an angel to direct Philip to minister to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26) and the Holy Spirit said to him as well (Acts 8:29), so it is not by accident when we are directed to meet someone and share with him or her the Gospel. Thank God that we may enjoy the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ, our good Shepherd (John 10:3-4) and that of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; Acts 8:29; 16:7), and that of God’s Word (Ps 119:105), and that of His sovereignty and providence through His angels. Praise the Lord!

- Provision: God sent His angel to bring some food and water to Elijah to sustain him for his journey to Mt Horeb (1 King 19:5-8). Thank God that He is our Shepherd and we may enjoy His provision and loving care (Ps 23) and sometimes He may send His angels in the form of human beings to minister to us without our awareness (Gen 18:2; Heb 13:2).

- Encouragement: God sent His angel to encourage Paul in his perilous journey at sea during the storm (Acts 27:23-25). We may enjoy timely encouragement and comfort from God the Father (1 Cor 1:3-4), from the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 9:22; Acts 7:55-56; 2 Tim 4:17), from the Holy Spirit our Comforter (John 14:16; Acts 9:31), from God’s Word (Ps 119:50; Rom 15:4), from God’s servants and children (2 Cor 7:6,13; 1 Thess 3:2), and from His angels in the form of human beings without our awareness.

Conclusion

Dear friends, angels are real as God is real. We thank God for creating us after His image, redeeming us in Christ our Saviour, granting us eternal life, taking care of us and sending His angels to minister to us while we are living in the sinful world of darkness full of snares, temptations, and attacks from Satan and his fallen angels. We only need to worship God and thank Him while enjoying all His blessings including the ministry of angels. Amen.