Characters of Christmas 2 Angels
- Read Luke 1:1-38
Last week we began a series called, Characters of Christmas, and we looked at Elizabeth and Zechariah, the parents of John the Baptist and relatives of Jesus’ mother Mary. This morning I would like us to examine a second group of figures that play an important role in the Christmas story, and they are angels. In this account we are introduced to an angel who plays an important role in both the announcements to Elizabeth and Mary, the angel Gabriel.
This morning we will not have time to do an extensive study on angels, as perhaps we may take the time to later in 2024, but this morning I would like to examine them briefly. First I want you to know that angels existed before man.
I. FACTS ABOUT ANGELS
1. Angels existed before man.
> Genesis 2:1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.
> Colossians 1:16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him.
Angels have not existed forever. They are created beings, created by God, but they were created before mankind was.
And since they are created beings, created before men were, you do not become an angel when you die.
It breaks my heart when I hear people tell children that when they die they are going to become an angel. What a bunch of foolishness.
I remember the year after my dad was killed we went to the annual law enforcement memorial event in Washington DC, where they honor law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty the pervious year. We were surrounded by people wearing pictures of their lost loved one, calling them their guardian angel.
Or, you go to a funeral and someone says, “Well, I guess God needed another angel in heaven.”
How sad is that? God doesn’t need to take a loved one in order to have another angel in heaven.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:3
> 1 Corinthians 6:3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?
How in the world are we going to judge angels if we are angels? No if you want to comfort someone who has lost a loved you you tell them the truth. You tell them that if their loved one was a follower of Jesus Christ, that they are now in the presence of Jesus Christ Himself, for we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:8, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
You want to comfort me, you tell me that my loved one who is gone is now present with the Lord, and you tell me that if I am a follower of Jesu Christ, that when I leave this world that I am going to be in the same place and that I will see my loved one again. And on that day, according to Revelation 21:4, Jesus will wipe away every tear.
Ruth Fles called me yesterday and told me that my friend Jim passed away yesterday. I cried a bit.
Last night at Christmas in the Country, when I saw Teri, I just went up to her, we hugged and cried a bit together.
Back in the day, Jim and Neil and Teri would go out to eat together almost every Friday night. After Neil passed, whenever Jim would come down, Jim and Teri and I would always make a trip or 2 to a Chinese restaurant to eat together. Now he’s gone. So we hugged and cried together a bit.
You want to help dry my tears, don’t tell me some foolishness about God needing another angel in heaven. You tell me that Jim is now with the Lord and that someday I will be too. You tell me about reunions, and seeing old friends and family members again. You tell me about seeing Jesus, and being healed, and not having to struggle with sin anymore, and having a new body. No, you want to comfort me, you tell me about a God Who loved me so much that He sent His Son into the world, to pay a price for my sin, so that one day I can join Him in heaven. Don’t tell me some foolishness made up by someone who doesn’t know their hat from a hole in the ground.
Angels existed before men.
2. Angels are powerful
Second, I want you to know that angels are powerful.
- Read Luke 1:19-20
Some of you know that I don’t care for pictures depicting angels as women, or plump little babies with wings and such. Some much of what passes for art these days depict angels as girly men. Nothing could be further from the truth. Angels are powerful.
Gabriel told Zechariah, that he was going to be a dad. That Elizabeth was going to have a baby. Zechariah said, “How can I know this is true, after all, my wife and I are old.” Gabriel said, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and tell you this good news. Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
Zechariah, do you know who I am? I am the angel Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to give you a message, and you question me? Here’s the deal, because you didn’t believe me, because you questioned me, you won’t be able to speak until this stuff takes place, until your son is born!
Do you know who I am? You question me?
Gabriel got irritated, and Zechariah paid for his mistake by being mute for more than 9 months. That’s power.
Listen, there’s a reason why almost every time an angel shows up he begins his interaction by saying, “Fear Not.”
Do you remember when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria threatened to destroy Jerusalem? In 2 Kings 19, we are told that he mocked God, the God of Israel. So, God sent His angel against the army of Sennacherib, and in 1 night killed 135,000 of his soldiers. 135,000 killed by 1 angel and the Bible tells us in chapter 5, verses 11-12 of John’s Revelation, “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.”
Thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. That’s a lot of angels.
We sing a song, “He could have called, 10,000 angels. To destroy the world, and set Him free. He could have called 10,000 angels, but He died alone. For you and me.”
No my friend. Jesus could have called a lot more angels than that. And those guys are powerful.
Angels existed before men. Angels are powerful. Third, angels are not to be worshipped.
3. Angels are not to be worshipped.
Paul, writing to the Christians in Colossae, says in
> Colossians 2:18 Let no one condemn you by delighting in ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual mind.
In Ethiopia today, and around the world through the years, history tells us that people have worshipped angels. How silly is that? Paul tells us that such people are inflated by empty notions of their unspiritual minds.
In Revelation 22, John got so enthralled by his vision, and so mixed up in what was going on that he actually fell down before the angel that had been teaching him stuff, and in verse 9 and 10 we read,
> Revelation 22:9-10 And I am John, who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. 9But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
The angel said, “Don’t worship me! What are you doing? I’m only a servant, just like you. Worship God!
It concerns me some times, when I walk in to people’s homes and they have statues and pictures of angels all over the place, unscriptural and unbiblical pictures most of the time, I might add, all over the place. I’m like, are these people treating angels like good luck charms or something?
Angels are not good luck charms, and they are not to be worshipped. They are servants similar to how you and I are.
Among their other duties, angels protect us.
4. Angels protect us
> Hebrews 1:14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
God uses angels to protect His children.
Do you remember in 2 Kings, when the King of Aram kept trying to ambush the king and army of Israel? Elisha kept warning the king of Israel where the ambushes were, do the king of Aram was unable to capture Israel’s army. So the King of Aram decided to send his army to surround and capture Elisha.
What kind of logic that is, I don’t know.
But anyway, when Elisha’s servant woke up the next morning, he saw that the city was surrounded by the horses and chariots of Adam’s army. He got all upset and asked Elisha what they were going to do. In 2 Kings 6, verses 16-17 we read;
> 2 Kings 6:16-17 Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.”Then Elisha prayed, “Lord, please open his eyes and let him see.” So the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Oh my word. God has angels all around us, and the only way things can get past them to us is if God’s allows it.
Some of your know my brother Dusty. If you have worked around here much, or have been at Christmas in the Country, you have probably seen him around. He’s the one who limps all the time. He walks like an old man. He’s also rude, crude and socially unacceptable.
You know what he told me last night? He said, “Gene, I know you’re supposed to be an inn keeper and everything, but trim your mustache before you go to church tomorrow. It’s uneven.
Rude, crude and socially unacceptable. No one can hurt you like family.
Anyway, he volunteers with FB Disaster relief. Teachers Sunday School at his church. Leads a small group and sometimes preaches there. He leads mission trips and comes down here to help us a lot. He helped us put the roof on this thing, and build the mountain down the field.
About 15 years ago, he was in an automobile accident. After the accident he hurt so bad for a year he was unable to do anything but sit in his easy chair and go to therapy. Now, after a number of surgeries, he walks like an old man, starts and ends each day with prescription strength ibuprofen, and has to take a pain pill every 2 or 3 nights just so he can get a nights sleep.
If there are angels all around us, why in the world would God allow something like that to happen to him? I don’t know. Maybe God allowed it, so the rest of us would quit making excuses for what we cannot do, and get up and get going, trying to find some way to serve the Lord.
I don’t know the mind of God, but I do know the Love of God, and since I know God loves me, and I know that His angels have watchcase over me, I can know that nothing can come in to my life that God does not allow.
Angels existed before we did. Angels are powerful. Angels are not to be worshipped, and angels protect us.
Angels aren’t always recognizable.
5. Angels aren’t always recognizable.
> Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.
Do remember that scene from ghostbusters when they try to grab the ghost that’s the librarian? And she transforms and scares them to death? I wish the Lord would allow some of His angels to do that to some of these mobs that are ransacking and looting stores across our nation.
My friend, be careful. Be hospitable, because sometimes we may be in the presence of one of God’s messengers and not even know it. Not all angels have wings.
There are many ways they are different than we are. But there are some ways we and angels are similar.
II. WAYS WE ARE SIMILAR
1. Once created, we will always exist.
The Bible tells us that 1/3 off the angels followed in a rebellion against God and were kicked out of heaven by God. They did notecase to exist. They did not stop being. They will go on forever. Once created, angels, fallen or otherwise, will live forever.
The same is true of you and I. You and I are going to live forever. The only question is, where are you going to live?
- Read Matthew 25:31-46
Oh my friend, once God created the angels, and once you were born, none of us cease to exist. We live on forever, and ever, and ever, and ever. The only question is, where will you live forever? That is determined by whether or not you have a relationship with Jesus Christ or not.
A college student once complained that that was unfair of God. If He was truly a loving God, that He should let everyone into heaven. Really?
That’s like you refusing to have anything to do with the nice couple across town, refusing to talk to them, or interact with them, or even acknowledge them, and then one day you suddenly show up on their front step and say you want to move in.
My friend, you can’t spend a lifetime telling God no, and then one day suddenly show up at HIs door and say, “Let me in.”
Once you were born, you will always exist. You’ll be here fort a while, following and serving the Lord and enjoying His fellowship, or choosing not to. But whatever choice you make in this life will continue into the next.
Once created, we will always exist. That leads us directly into a second important truth. Both we and angels will face judgment some day.
2. Both we and angels will face judgment some day.
When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he was irritated with them because the church members were taking each other to court. He said, what in the world are you doing? Ya’ll can’t work this out among yourselves? Then in 1 Corinthians 6:3 he says,
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:3
> 1 Corinthians 6:3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?
We will judge the angels. They will be judged. Someday, so will we.
> Romans 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
One day we will be judged. One day we will giver an account. So we are warned in
> Ephesians 5:15-21 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time,[d] because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
Oh my friend, we only have such a short time to make an impact for the kingdom. We only have a short time to reach people for the Lord. Make the most of every opportunity.
Once created, we will always exist. Both we and angels will face judgment one day. Third, we have a great opportunity and a great responsibility.
> Luke 2:1-14
E. V. Hill tells of the day the angels come to announce the birth of Christ,
Let me build Him a palace. No. He will have no place to lay His head.
Let me store up great feasts for Him. No. He will know hunger and pain.
Gabriel heads out the door. Where are you going? I gotta at least tell someone He’s coming.
At this Christmas season we are reminded that you and I have also been given a great honor and a great responsibility, to go and tell a lost and dying world that Gods loved them enough to Send His Son,. Jesus Christ into the world. For them . . .
