Summary: Angels are not to be worshiped. They are God’s servants who carry out His business in the world. Angels have one primary job, one occupation, one eternal calling, and that is to serve God and to do His pleasure.

The Ministry of Angels

A young boy named James had a dream to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese. He began his career with a little wagon pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy was not making any money.

One day he pulled his pony to a stop. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. I am afraid our priorities are not correct. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives." The boy drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life that he would first serve God and work as God directed him.

Many years after this, the young boy, now a man, stood as Sunday School Superintendent at North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago and said, "I would rather be in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus."

So, every time you take a bite of Philadelphia Cream cheese, a sip of Kool-Aid, a slice of Pizza, a pot of Macaroni & Cheese, or eat an Oreo cookie, remember a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God.

And more than humans, who knows how to serve God better than the angels? The word angel means “messenger.” Angels are God’s messengers. They are created beings. That is why they are not worshiped. Only the Creator God is worshiped. Although these angels are immortal, they are not eternal because they have a starting place. God created them, but they do live forever. Some people may ask: how many angels are there? We do not know. But we do know that there are vast numbers of angels. Revelation chapter 5 talks about “the number of them was ten thousands times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” - Revelation 5:11. In Hebrews chapter 12, it tells us that there was “an innumerable company of angels” - Hebrews 12:22.

But like I said, angels are not to be worshiped. They are God’s servants who carry out His business in the world. Angels have one primary job, one occupation, one eternal calling, and that is to serve God and to do His pleasure. In Psalm 103, all of the creation is told to bless the Lord. Angels are also part of God’s mighty creations. They are powerful, but they do His command. They obey His Word; they do His will. They are God’s obedient servants, and they exist to bring Him pleasure.

Now understand that the Scriptures say that God created us for that very same purpose. “For His pleasure we are and were created”, Revelation 4:11. God has created us to serve Him, to bring Him pleasure. Now, may I ask a question for you? How well are you fulfilling your calling? We know that the angels do what they were created to do. They obediently serve God. The question is: Are you fulfilling your created purpose to serve God and to bring Him pleasure?

Let's look closely in the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer was taught by our Lord to His disciples saying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10 KJV). We are praying that we will also have the strength to do on earth what the angels do in heaven. What do the angels do in heaven? The angels worship God; they bless Him; they serve Him; they obey Him, they glorify Him.

We are praying: “Lord, help us to be as faithful in fulfilling our calling here on earth, as the angels are in heaven.” When we pray that prayer, we are expressing our desire, our intent, to obey God, to worship Him, as His holy angels do in heaven. Today let's meditate on the work of angels.

I. Angels fulfill their created purpose:

They fulfill their created purpose through the worship and the praise of God in heaven. In Revelation chapters 4 and 5, we see a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. We hear these angels day and night stand around the throne of God and they cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Rev. 4:8; 5:12–13).

They worship God for His greatness, His power, His splendor, His majesty, for His redemptive plan. They worship God in heaven.

The prophet Isaiah saw this same vision of heaven in Isaiah chapter 6 as he was allowed to look into the throne room of heaven. There he saw the seraphim, a class of angels whose full-time occupation was to worship and praise and bless the Lord. They serve God and please Him by worshiping Him and blessing Him.

Angels also carry the purpose of helping God to execute His judgments here on the earth. Angels have carried out judgement in the past and they will carry out judgement during the end of this earth when God sends His angels. We read about this, in the book of Revelation, as the judgments of God unfold. Many times it is the angels who are actually executing the judgments of God on the earth. And they do this for the glory of God.

Angels protect us, guide us, enlighten us, deliver us and empower us. Matthew 2:19-20 “An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.”

II. Angels are God’s messengers

Angels are God’s messengers sent by God to minister to believers here on the earth. They worship and praise Him in heaven. They execute His judgment on the earth when He gives them direction—they take it and fulfill it. Then God also sends His angels to minister to the children of God, to minister to believers here on the earth.

The first thing that we see in the Scriptures is that angels rejoice when we repent. When we repent, the angels rejoice. Remember the passage in Luke chapter 15, where Jesus told parables about people who lost things that were very valuable to them. When they found what they had lost, what they had searched for so diligently, they went back to their home and rejoiced. They called their friends and neighbors to rejoice with them.

Jesus says in the same way, Luke 15:10, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When one sinner repents, the angels rejoice. They celebrate. Every time a sinner repents on earth, the angels are thrilled because God is being exalted. His will is being done here on earth as it is in heaven.

Now understand there will be many moments of repentance that take place in our lives after the moment of conversion, because we are human and born of sin. But God intends that we should continue being repenters. The Holy Spirit within us convicts us that we have sinned against God. We should have a lifestyle of repenting before God as He reveals issues and needs in our lives. And when we repent, the angels rejoice.

But just as the angels rejoice when we repent, they grieve when we harden our hearts and refuse to repent. We know that God grieves. We know that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. The Scripture doesn’t tell us whether or not angels grieve, but as much as they love and worship the Lord Jesus, it would seem that they might grieved when we reject His right to rule in our lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, This is a matter for great rejoicing, and it is one of the ways angels are involved in our lives as believers. But we ask ourselves: Are we giving the angels cause for celebration or could we be giving them cause for grief by our unrepentant hearts? Are you as excited as the angels are when you see sinners repenting? Do you get that kind of joy and celebration in your heart when you see sinners coming to know Jesus?

After serving as a missionary for 40 years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ship docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home President Teddy Roosevelt. He received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari. Frustration overcame Henry Morrsion and he turned to God in anger, "I have come back home after all this time and service to the church and there is no one, not even one person here to welcome me home."

Then a still small voice came to Morrison and said, "You're not home yet."

God has intended for us to serve Him on earth as the angels serve Him in Heaven. And soon, when we enter into His kingdom, all of us and His angels will exalt our Lord together. Amen.