Angels at Church

It never occurred to me that angels attend church. It was something I never even considered. Why would I? When I am at church, I am focused on four things in this order:

• the people

• the coffee

• the music

• the sermon

Angels were at the bottom of that list (if they made the list at all.) But it seems to me that I need to re-prioritize my list. According to Scripture, angels do, in fact, attend church.

Now you might be wondering, why would angels attend church if they already are in God’s presence? What more is there to learn of God?

Paul talks about that in Ephesians 3:

“God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Ephesians 3:10-11 NLT

Apparently, angels do not have the same understanding of God’s plan of salvation that we do. The rest of Ephesians 3 explains how God chose not to reveal His plan to the angels. We humans received knowledge of salvation through the Holy Spirit, but angels did not. Instead, angels learn about salvation by watching the church. This is the reason angels go to church. They are viewing Christians to see the plan of God in motion. They don’t know the full story of salvation yet, as you and I do. The angels need to see it in action.

In other words, the church is called to be a light to humans and display the wisdom of God to the angels. That is a pretty big task!

But before we delve into this task, let's first talk about what angels are and why they are important.

Scripture says that angels are servants of God. They have power from God. They come to earth to help us with various problems or responsibilities. They give messages to us from God, and they also are tasked with carrying our souls to heaven or to hell.

For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. – Psalm 91:11-12 NLT

“The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” – Matthew 13:41-43 NIV

That being said, angels are not God and should never be worshipped as God.

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.” – Colossians 2:18 NIV

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!” – Revelation 22:8-9 NLT

Angels are servants of God the same as you and I. They are not God. In fact, Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:3 that the followers of Christ will someday judge the angels!

Not all angels are good. There are evil angels too. These angels are known as Satan, which literally means, “The adversary."

“And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.” – Jude 6 NLT

Satanic angels probably also go to church, because they too want to learn about the mysteries of God. However, these angels are ones to be avoided, since their whole goal in life is to destroy souls.

Now that we know what angels are, how do we handle their attending church with us?

Know that angels are real

Angels are not seen nor heard (usually), but they are certainly there. Even Jesus Himself mentions angels on many occasions! If Jesus told us of their existence, certainly, we should also believe in their existence. Other disciples, like Paul, Peter, and John, also wrote of their existence (and their interest in attending church.)

"It was revealed to [the prophets] that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look." - 1 Peter 1:12 NIV

“For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.” – 1 Corinthians 11:10 NLT

Worship God correctly

I recently heard Brandon Lake say in an interview that the song “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,” is “Christianese” and not appropriate for worship music. How ridiculous! That phrase is what the angels sing in front of the throne of God!

"Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'” - Revelation 4:8 NLT

If it’s appropriate for angels to sing that God is holy, it is appropriate for us! Our worship of God should be worshipful to Him. Not worshipful of ourselves. Not concerned with what others think. Fully and completely worshipful of Him, just as the angels do when they stand before His throne.

The angels know the reality of God on His throne. They know when our worship is half-baked or focused on the wrong thing. Interestingly enough, angels get offended when the church does not correctly worship God the way it is supposed to.

“Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the Lord demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”” – Numbers 22:31-33 NLT

In light of this verse, the last thing I want is an angel getting offended at me!

Evangelize

The best way to demonstrate salvation to the angels is by evangelizing to others. Jesus tells us in Luke 15:10 that there is “Rejoicing in the presence of the angels whenever one sinner repents.” Notice in that verse it is not the angels rejoicing. It is God rejoicing in the presence of the angels. Every time a person gets saved, the angels watch how God rejoices. In that way, they learn a little more about the mystery of Jesus’s sacrifice.

"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” - Luke 15:10 ESV

Treat angels with respect

Though angels are never to be worshipped as God, it is clear that angels should be respected. In fact, it is foolish and even dangerous to disrespect angels. Angels are messengers of God. They have power and strength far greater than us. Both Peter and Jude talk about this:

“In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.” – Jude 8-10 NLT

“He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling. But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.” - 1 Peter 2:10-11 NLT

Both men wrote that even angels understand how foolish it is to disrespect other angels, including the evil ones. If angels, who are much more powerful than us, are weary of disrespecting each other, that should be a warning to us never to do it.

In leu of all this, our responsibility as the church is far greater than we think. It’s not only about people (though that is a main part of it.) We also have the job of demonstrating to the angels the wisdom of God’s plan. We, individually, should take this responsibility very seriously. We do this by worshipping God at full capacity, serving others, and evangelizing to the best of our ability.

We have a big responsibility. Let’s not shirk it.

So, from now on, I think I going to focus on five things at church:

• the people

• the coffee

• the music

• the preaching

• the angels

Question:

Have you ever considered angels attending church before?