Spiritual Warfare – Angels & DemonsOriginally preached by Dr. David Platt at

Secret Church 7 on 11/06/09

Adapted by Rev. Chas. Pendleton

for

Fitchburg Nazarene Church

February 01, 2015

(These are the Pastor’s notes. He may have said more which is not noted here. He could have ignored certain portions of these notes in our actual service.)

What do angels do?

How do angels relate to us?

First and foremost, angels glorify God’s name.

They minister directly to God by glorifying Him.

Psalm 148:2

“Praise Him all His angels. Praise Him all His heavenly host.”

They glorify God for His greatness.

This is a picture of those seraphim crying out in

Isaiah 6, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God Almighty.” The whole earth is full of His glory, so they glorify God for His greatness and for His goodness.

They glorify God as they see the plan of salvation unfolding.

When Christ is born, they sing. Saviors come and glory to God in the highest.

And then we already saw, when people are saved, Luke 15:7, they rejoice.

This is the picture. They glorify God for His greatness and His goodness.

So, they glorify God’s name.  

2nd,

Angels obey God’s will.

Listen to Psalm 103:20-21

“Praise the Lord, you angels, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His Word. Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.”

They obey His will. They do that in a variety of different ways.

They carry out God’s plans. There are times in Scripture when we see angels administering God’s judgment.

2 Samuel 24:16“When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved because of the calamity and said to the

angel who was afflicting the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’”

2 Kings 19:35“That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!”

You do not want to mess with that angel.

They administer the judgment of God.

They serve as God’s representatives. Zechariah 1:10 talks about the ones the Lord has sent to go out throughout the earth. They accomplish God’s work.

Matthew 28:2“There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

So, angels again, powerful. Rolled back the stone. Sat on it. They accomplished God’s Work. 

They influence God’s creation.

“I saw another angel coming up from the east having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea. Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the forehead of the servants of our God.”

So, we see angels interacting with creation, and then one day, they will announce Christ’s return.

1 Thessalonians 4:16“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

So, these are just some of the things that angels do.

The question is, how does that relate to us?

Okay, angels are doing all of these things in the heavenly realms, but does our knowledge of angels, our awareness of angels, really have any kind of affect on our lives?

I want you to think about how it does. I want you to think about how – and I pray this will be the case – when we walk away today, that even our knowledge of angels will help us think through different facets of our lives differently.  

Now, we’ve also got to realize thatthey’re different from us in many different ways.

1.We reflect God’s image.

Genesis 1:26 - 27.“Let us make man in our image.” God created man in His own image.

Genesis 9:6 said “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.”

But this is not the picture with angels. There is a sense in which we are made in the image of God that angels are not.

That we are in that sense more like God than even angels. So, we reflect His image.

2.We can reproduce. We talked about this earlier. Angels cannot bear children. Genesis 5, “Adam had lived 130 years,” – fairly old – “he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image.” Angels can’t do that. We reflect God’s image. We can reproduce and 3rd, we can be redeemed.

3.We can be saved from sin.

Evil fallen angels cannot. The Scripture’s pretty clear on this one. In Hebrews 2:16, “Surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.”

2 Peter 2:4“If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.”

Jude 6, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

This is huge. I want us to realize in this picture of unredeemable fallen angels that God could have let every single one of us go on our path towards self-condemnation.

He could have let every single one of us in our sin continue on a path to eternal hell, and He would have been completely just in doing so. Completely right in doing so. This is sheer grace, brothers and

sisters, that brings us to this room tonight. Sheer grace.

And as a result of that kind of grace, there are songs we sing that angels do not sing…

“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy;

His child forever I am.”

You will not hear an angel singing that song. It’s a song that God has given to us by His grace. 

We reflect His image. We can reproduce.

We can be redeemed. And 4.We will one day reign. Listen to these pictures from Paul and the author of Hebrew.

Hebrews 6:3“Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”

Paul says. Hebrews 1:14, “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

In some sense, one day God will give us some kind of authority over angels. That picture in 1 Corinthians 6. Even now they are ministering spirits sent to serve us. 

So these are some differences between us and angels.

But, what does our relationship to ANGELS look like?In what ways are we similar?

1.Angels join us in worship. I love this picture in

Hebrews 12:22-23 “You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.”

When we worship, we come into a heavenly assembly with thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.

Get that picture. They join us. Better yet, we join them in worship. They join us in worship.

2.They observe our obedience.  

When Paul is stressing a command to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, listen to what he says, 1 Timothy 5:21“I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.”

And the picture is that Timothy’s actions, his obedience or lack of obedience to these instructions, will be carried out in the presence of angels.

And if angels see his obedience, they will glorify God. If angels see his disobedience, they will be grieved.

Now, hear the implication. Just feel this for a second. Even when we think our sins are done in secret, obviously, clearly God knows , but it is very likely that angels are observing our disobedience and are grieving over our sin.

In the same way, when you are walking through a difficult time and you are attempting to walk faithfully before God and it is tough, and it seems like you are alone, just remember this picture.

Yes, no doubt, God is with you. And at the same time, the same time, angels just may be looking upon that obedience and glorifying God for it. What a picture.

3.They administer God’s protection.

In Daniel 6:22, it was angels who shut the mouths of lions.

In Psalm 91, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” 

So, you may ask; how does this look in our lives?

We really don’t know. We really don’t know exactly how this looks in our lives when maybe we find ourselves in a dangerous or distressful situation.

Maybe we’re driving down the road and a car’s about to hit us and immediately

swerves, or something here or there happens to protect us from this or that, do we know if it’s an angel involved in that or not? It’s possible. It’s possible.

Now, we could drive ourselves crazy when it comes to conjecture, but it’s certainly possible.

We know that God uses a variety of different ways and means, including angels, to administer His protection.

They administer His protection, and 4.

They deliver God’s plans.

God sent an angel to Cornelius, a gentile, a centurion in Acts 10.

An angel to Peter in prison to give him a message. So, they deliver God’s messages, God’s plans. 

They deliver God’s plans and

5.

They give God’s provision.

1 Kings 19:5, 7 when Elijah is running from Jezebel, it is an angel who comes and touches him and says, “Get up and eat,” and he gives him food and drink. And the angel of the Lord came back and touched him and said, “Get up and eat. The journey is too much for you.” And this is a picture of the angel of God. An angel of God bringing nourishment to the prophet of God. It’s an incredible picture. 

We already saw this in Hebrews. This is exactly what the angels did after Jesus was tempted in

Matthew 4:11

“Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

They bring God’s deliverance. Check out how it happens when the apostles are arrested by the high priest. “The high priest and all of his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people the full message of this new life.’” The angels delivered them. 

In Acts 12, check out Peter. I love this story. Now, you remember, James had just been beheaded, and that’s exactly what was about

to happen to Peter the very next morning. “The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.” Which even there I love this. Peter, the night before he’s about to get beheaded, not devising a jail break; not got a plan to get out of here. He’s supposed to die the next day, and so he decides to get a good night’s sleep in preparation. “Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.” Now, notice, Peter’s still asleep here. Imagine the scene. It’s like movie-like. Angel comes into the cell. This brilliant heavenly light, “Ahhh!” Peter, not even paying attention, snoring, so the angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said,

and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.” Peter groggily stretches, comes to his senses, and “the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes and sandals.’” He felt the need to remind Peter not to run out of prison naked – I love this! – so, Peter did so. “’Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,’ the angel told him.” Can you just picture the angel rolling his eyes? “This guy doesn’t get it. Put your cloak on. Let’s go.” Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the Iron Gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then

“Peter came to himself” – that’s my favorite phrase.

That’s why I love Peter. He is so slow.

It took a shining light, an angel to poke him in the side, tell him to get dressed, lead him out of the city past guards, past gates, and then he realizes, “Hmm, I think I’ve been rescued.” Then he says, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me.” So, even when we’re slow, angels bring God’s deliverance.

They supply God’s guidance. 

Matthew 24 says they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, and He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. Just get that picture.

Angels all around us

joining us in worship, observing our obedience, administering God’s protection, delivering God’s plans, giving God’s provision, serving God’s people, bringing God’s deliverance,

And one day they’re going to gather us together from the four winds.

Just think about how this understanding really does impact our lives.

Just think about if we believe this. Angels are an example for us. Don’t miss that. Angels remind us of the wonder of worship.  

Revelation 19 is one of the most majestic pictures of the Glory of God in all the Scripture. “After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.’” Again, later they

shouted “Hallelujah!” And they cried later, “‘Amen, Hallelujah! Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great!’ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like” – just imagine the sound – “like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!’” 

Think about it, if angels find their highest joy in giving continuous praise to God, should we not also absolutely delight in giving our God praise? If this is the picture that surrounds the throne room of God, then how can we stand at His assembly together and worship with our arms crossed and a

bored look on our faces? We are worshiping the great God and King and majestic Ruler of all creation. Give Him the affection and honor and the glory and praise He is due.

Angels remind us worship is not boring, and they remind us of the importance of obedience.  

In light of what we just looked at, just listen to the Lord’s Prayer. “

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Angels who are constantly and perfectly doing His bidding to perfection. Humble servants before God day and night, who live to obey God.

We need to have this attitude here at the Fitchburg Nazarene Church.

God, may your will be done in my life.

God, may your will be done in this church and among people like that. 

Next week we will start with three

cautions with angels before we move on to demons.

Closing Prayer