Angel Worship - Revelation 1:17

Let’s look at Revelation 1:17 this week were it says, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” When John sees the Lord Jesus, he falls at his feet as if dead. This is a proof text that this is Jesus speaking because He does not refuse John’s worship of Him.

We also find later that John tried to do the same thing with an angel that refused John’s worship. It says in 19:10 “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant,…” Notice that John received just the opposite response from this angel.  He refused his worship of him. 

Listen to me very closely; the first angel in history that sought to be worshiped was named Lucifer. It says of him in Isaiah 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Paul says of Lucifer in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” Lucifer paid a very heavy price for seeking to be “like the most High” and desiring to be worshiped “as God”. A true angel of God will never accept worship from a mortal.  If you find one that does; it is a demon. By the way, a demon is a fallen angel who chose to rebel with Lucifer and was kicked out of heaven with him when he decided he wanted God’s job. We see this event described in Revelation 12:7-9 where it says, “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  

We read more about Lucifer’s fall in Ezekiel 28:11-18 when it says, “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God;…Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee…and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,…Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.”

I am amazed at how willfully ignorant people can be on the clear teaching about angels and demons (fallen angels) in the Bible. Do you know how many false religions and cults have been started because someone said that an angel came and told then something? The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:6-8, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

That means that if an angel, heavenly or demonic, (it will be demonic) was to stand at the foot of your bed tonight and tell you something that is not in the Bible; don’t you believe it because he is lying and he is cursed by God.