1. “Ministered to Him...stood before Him” (Dan. 7:10; see also 1 Kings 22:19).
It is the duty of angels to minister to God; therefore, they always stand before Him. God does many things in the universe through angels. Apart from His salvation and His gospel, God carries out most of the affairs of the universe through angels. God accomplished His salvation through His Son, and God preaches His gospel through His children. God carries out almost every other matter in the universe through angels.
1. “Angels...are greater in strength and power” (2 Pet. 2:11; see also Rev. 5:2; 18:21).
The power and strength of angels are very great. Many portions in the Bible tell us this fact. We cannot know exactly how great is the power and strength of the angels, but they have enough power to do whatever God wants them to do, no matter how much power it requires. If they did not, they would be unable to carry out their commission from God to do many things in the universe.
1. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth for service for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14).
Saints are children in God’s household who inherit His salvation; angels are servants in God’s household who serve the saints. They are ministering spirits, sent forth by God to serve those who inherit God’s salvation in every matter.
2. “The angel of Jehovah encamps / Around those who fear Him, and He delivers them” (Psa. 34:7).
When God sends angels to work for the saints, their principal job is to save and protect the saints. Here the psalmist says that the angel of Jehovah encamps around those who fear God and delivers them. In 2 Kings 19:35 an angel of Jehovah went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers. The angels of Jehovah do not come only when we encounter difficulties; they encamp around us to deliver us. They are always encamped around us to protect and deliver us. It is as if we have our own personal bodyguards. Therefore, we who fear God should not worry, because in every situation we have angels encamped around us to protect us.
3. “For He will give His angels charge concerning You / To keep You in all Your ways. / They will bear You up in their hands” (Psa. 91:11-12).
God charges His angels to protect us not only in one matter but in all our ways. They bear us up in their hands. This is something that we should believe as we follow the Lord. This should free us from anxiety in all our ways.
4. “It is his angel” (Acts 12:15).
According to this verse Peter had “his angel.” This shows that every child of God has his angel. Although we do not see or feel the angels, we should believe that each one of us who have inherited God’s salvation has an angel who serves and cares for us. We each have our own angel. Since we each have our own angel, the angel who protected Peter was called Peter’s angel.
5. “Their angels” (Matt. 18:10).
We may think that Peter had his own angel because he was an apostle, but in Matthew 18:10 the Lord said that each of the little ones who believed in Him had their angels and that these angels continually behold the face of the Father in heaven. Therefore, we should know and believe that each believer has an angel.
1. “I fell to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, Do not do that! I am your fellow slave...Worship God!” (Rev. 22:8-9).
People may have the thought that angels should be worshipped since they are heavenly, spiritual, and much higher than earthly, fleshy men. We are not the only ones who have this thought; even the apostle John had this thought. He wanted to worship the angel who showed him the visions on the island of Patmos, but the angel said, “Do not do that! I am your fellow slave...Worship God!” The angel said that he should not be worshipped. This word was spoken very clearly and definitely, and it shows that the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching concerning the worship of angels is heresy. The angels themselves say that we should not worship them but should worship only God. Although angels are spirits in heaven, who are continually before God’s face and who protect and care for us, they are still creatures. They are not the Lord Creator. They are servants, not the Master, so they cannot receive worship from men. If angels receive worship from men, they usurp God’s position, and if men worship angels, they blaspheme God.
2. “Let no one defraud you by judging you unworthy of your prize, in self-chosen lowliness and the worship of the angels” (Col. 2:18).
In Colossians 2 the apostle Paul shows that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ in order to be received by us (vv. 9-10, 2-3). After we receive Christ, we should walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him (vv. 6-7). If we hold on to Him, we will enjoy all the riches of the Godhead in Him and grow with the growth of God (v. 19). If we were to follow others to worship angels, we would leave Christ and lose the prize we obtained through faith in Him, which is all the riches of the Godhead. Because Christ is the mystery of God, the embodiment of God, and the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, we should worship Him. Angels are merely the servants of God. Today they are inferior to us who inherit God’s salvation, possess Christ, and are one with Him. To us, they are only ministering spirits, sent forth by God to serve us. For these reasons, how could we, who are one with our Head, Christ, the Lord of all, worship these ministering spirits? If we worship them, we lose the divine riches and the honor that we have obtained in Christ. This is truly inexcusable! It is a great error and sin for the Roman Catholic Church to teach people to worship angels. Since we possess Christ and have obtained all the riches of the Godhead in Him, we must not participate in such practices.