St. Michael and All Angels (observed)| Angels and Demons| Matthew 18:10| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| September 27, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.\u201d Matthew 18:10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Nicene Creed we confess, \u201cI believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.\u201d We confess that God created not only what we see, but also what we do not see. By this we confess the existence of angels. Angels are spiritual beings, whom God created sometime during the six days of the creation week. They are powerful and wise. Scripture often depicts them manifesting themselves as men or some other creatures, but strictly speaking they do not have bodies. God created many angels, more than we can count. Scripture uses phrases like ten thousand times ten thousand (Daniel 7:10) and innumerable (Hebrews 12:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, every angel ever created is the same age. They were all created at the beginning, and they have not had any children. Jesus says that the angels neither marry nor are given into marriage. They do not have a sexuality like mankind does. And so, those who claim from Genesis 6, that the sons of God who married the daughters of man were angels who had carnal relations with human women and so produced the Nephilim, who were supposed half-angel, half-human hybrid giants, are engaging in a silly, unbiblical teaching. Angels cannot have carnal relations with humans, because angels do not have flesh. The sons of God in Genesis 6 were the believers who married unbelieving wives, and so they and their children abandoned the faith. The Nephilim are not even said to be their offspring. They may have been men of tall stature, and certainly were tyrannical and evil men. But they were not the descendants of angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angels can be divided into two groups: the holy angels, and the evil angels. In the beginning, all angels were holy and good. When God saw everything that He had made, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). Sometime after God finished creation and before Adam and Eve sinned, of which Satan was the instigator, there was a rebellion in heaven and Satan, who originally was a good and powerful angel, fell along with a host of angels who followed him. Jesus said in Luke 10, \u201cI saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.\u201d (vs. 18) And Isaiah 14, appears to use the king of Babylon to illustrate Satan\u2019s fall from glory, when the prophet writes, \u201cHow you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.\u201d (vss. 12-15) This is why Satan is sometimes called Lucifer, because Day Star is sometimes translated as Lucifer, which means, light-bearer. St. John writes in Revelation 12, that when the great dragon was cast from heaven, his tail swept a third of the stars and cast them on earth, indicating that about a third of the heavenly host fell with Satan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rest of the angels remained faithful to God. They will not and cannot rebel, but are God\u2019s elect angels (1 Timothy 5:21). They are holy and mighty and always stand in the presence of God. All their desire is to do the will of God, to praise Him, worship Him, and serve Him at all times (Psalm 103:20-22). Seraphim, which are fiery six-winged angels fly around the throne of God singing, \u201cHoly, holy, holy, LORD God of Sabaoth! The whole earth is full of your glory!\u201d (Isaia 6:3) In service to God, they perform many tasks. As their name angel denotes, they are messengers. Angels announced the conception, birth, death, and resurrection of Christ, and they foretold His return in judgment. Yet, angels also serve as mighty warriors. Angels defeated the Egyptians and kept them from capturing Israel as they escaped through the Red Sea. Numerous times, angels fought the battles of Israel, so that God\u2019s people won when they were greatly outnumbered. In one night, a single angel killed 185,000 of Sennacherib\u2019s soldiers who surrounded Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah. Psalm 91 states concerning those who trust in God, \u201cHe will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike a foot against a stone.\u201d (vss. 11-12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n While God\u2019s holy angels protect and defend God\u2019s people from physical harm, their main task in serving us regards our salvation. Hebrews 1:14 states, \u201cAre they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?\u201d So, the greatest concern for angels is to guide us away from sin, to fend off Satan and his demons, and to bring us to everlasting life. In fact, God charges angels to carry us to heaven when we die, as Jesus speaks of Lazarus whom angels bore to Abraham\u2019s bosom (Luke 16). Jesus also says in Matthew 13, \u201cThe Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.\u201d And so, it will be the job of the holy angels, not only to bear the faithful to paradise, but to cast the unfaithful into hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The evil angels follow their leader Satan. Satan means adversary. He is also called the devil, which means accuser or slanderer, because he not only tempts us into sin, but he then accuses us of sin and tries to convince us to despair of God\u2019s love and forgiveness. Satan\u2019s followers are also called devils, because they follow his same tricks. The evil angels are also called demons, unclean and evil spirits. There are very many demons in the world, so that thousands took possession of a single man and called themselves Legion (Mark 5:9). While most people are aware of demonic possession, when an evil angel takes control of a person\u2019s body and moves it to its will, demons do a lot more damage than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Satan and his demons wreak havoc on this world, causing injuries and diseases, insanity, depression, murder, suicide, and all sorts of other evils. Yet, as it is the holy angels\u2019 greatest endeavor to usher you into the kingdom of heaven, it is the evil angels\u2019 greatest endeavor to drag you into hell with them. They do this most effectively by lying. Jesus calls Satan a murderer and the father of lies. He lies to get us to follow the course of the unbelieving world, to obey our sinful flesh, and to despair of God\u2019s promises in Christ. Satan even raises false prophets and anti-christs to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. And so, we must always be on guard against Satan, whom Peter describes as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). While Satan is doomed to hell with his fellow demons (Matthew 25:41), he still exercises great power on this earth. Jesus calls him the ruler of this world (John 14:30).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, God does promise to protect His elect from Satan. Satan is still God\u2019s stooge, whom He uses for good. God will permit Satan to tempt us and even harass us to an extent, so that we will draw closer to Him and be saved, as He did for Job and St. Paul (Job 1:7ff; 2 Corinthians 12:7). In the end, Satan and his evil angels, will be condemned to hell, while the holy angels, after ushering us before God\u2019s throne, will rejoice in our salvation for all eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The teaching of angels, both the holy and the evil, is not just an interesting discourse in Scripture. We must be aware of the spiritual battle we are apart of, as St. Paul writes, \u201cFor we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.\u201d (Ephesians 6:12) We cannot be ignorant of Satan and his evil plans against us, which is why every petition of the Lord\u2019s Prayer is against the evil one. And we should be mindful of the angels God sends to serve us, so that we do not take them for granted, but take full advantage of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we take full advantage of the help of the holy angels? Jesus tells us not to despise one of these little ones who believe in Him, for their angels always see the face of His Father in heaven (Matthew 18:10). That means that their angels always stand in God\u2019s presence ready to do His holy will. These are the same angels who will carry the righteous to heaven, but cast the unrighteous into hell. So, you see why it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and to be dropped in the depth of the sea than to cause one of these little ones to sin! The word for sin there is stumble, literally, to scandalize. Those who scandalize children by exposing them to evil, leading them into sin, or keeping them from hearing God\u2019s Word and worshiping Him are fighting against powerful spiritual warriors, who will execute God\u2019s vengeance upon such evil-doers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we must not only see that we do not despise one of these little ones who believes in Christ nor lead them into sin, but we ought also to see that we are<\/em> such little ones. Jesus says, \u201cUnless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.\u201d (Matthew 18:4) This means that we ought to humble ourselves before God, repent of our sins, and receive His grace by gladly hearing and trusting in His Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We take advantage of the help of the holy angels much in the same way that we guard ourselves against the evil angels. The holy angels are sent to serve those who trust in God. They gladly hear and proclaim His Word and are always present when God\u2019s Word is proclaimed, so we should gladly hear and learn God\u2019s Word and join the angels in praying to God. St. John says that the saints have conquered the devil with their testimony and with the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). And so, it is Christ Jesus, who suffered and died to make atonement for our sins, which casts demons away from us. The evil angels fear the blood of Christ, because it washes away all their work by erasing our sins and giving us power to resist their temptations. When Jesus\u2019 disciples asked Him why they failed to cast out a demon, Jesus answered, \u201cThis kind can only be cast out with prayer.\u201d (Mark 9:29) And so, with the Word of God and prayer, we know we have power over all Satan\u2019s armies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, when we persist in sin and forsake God\u2019s Word, we repel the holy angels from us and invite the demons. Obviously, participating in satanic arts like witchcraft, conjuring the dead, or using psychics invites demonic oppression and possession. Yet also getting drunk, smoking pot or getting high on other drugs, sexual immorality, including looking at pornography, gambling, slandering, lying, and cheating are all activities that will push God\u2019s holy angels from you, and invite Satan\u2019s minions to control you. Like a boa constrictor tightening its grip around its prey, so it becomes more and more difficult to escape these besetting sins. Yet, even doing nothing but ignoring God\u2019s Word invites these unholy angels, as Jesus tells the parable of the unclean spirit bringing seven more eviler spirits with it when it finds the place it formally dwelt swept clean and empty (Luke 11:26). And so, mindlessly scrolling the internet and ignoring God\u2019s preaching and Word makes space for demons to creep in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10). When you recognize that you are participating in the works of darkness and plead to God for the sake of Christ\u2019s blood for forgiveness, the holy angels forget your shame and celebrate with God that one of His lambs has been rescued from Satan\u2019s jaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we take advantage of the help of the holy angels by holding fast to the Word of God, which they obey, by praying to the Lord to whom they pray and praise, and by appealing to the blood of Christ by which they cast Satan out of heaven. The angels always stand in the presence of God. And we come into God\u2019s presence whenever we gather around His Word and when we receive Christ\u2019s body and blood in the Sacrament, and so we join with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven in praising our God for His victory over the demonic forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we confess to believe in the invisible, we confess our awareness of the great heavenly battle going on around us and in us for our immortal souls. And with the humble faith of a little child, we can wield the most powerful weapon against the evil angels, the atoning death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, and so, send Satan and his demonic hoards slinking away and emboldening the holy angels to fight for us. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I walk with angels all the way, Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" St. Michael and All Angels (observed)| Angels and Demons| Matthew 18:10| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| September 27, 2026 \u201cSee that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.\u201d Matthew 18:10 In…<\/p>\n
They shield me and befriend me;
All Satan\u2019s pow\u2019r is held at bay
When heav\u2019nly hosts attend me;
They are my sure defense,
All fear and sorrow, hence!
Unharmed by foes, do what they may,
I walk with angels all the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n