PROCLAMATION: The Significance of Angels
Luke 2:8-15 - Victory Fellowship
December 11, 2022 Rev. Roderick Grabski
3rd Sunday of Advent
INTRODUCTION: (The Simplicity of Christmas)
“As you can tell, angels had a very important role to play in the birth of Jesus. Throughout scripture the presence and actions of angels have changed events.’ ‘All of heaven will light-up as we approach heavens gates. It will be filled with the glory of God, along with hundreds of thousands of angels praising and glorifying the name of our Lord and our King—Jesus Christ!”
This morning, I want to talk about some biblical facts relating to the significance of angels.
1. God created angels
Angels haven’t always existed. According to Scripture, they’re part of the universe God created. In a passage that refers to angels (the “host” or “armies” of heaven), we read in Nehemiah 9:6 “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host . . . and the host of heaven worships you!”
In the New Testament, Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16, that God created all things “visible and invisible,” and specifically includes the angelic world with the phrase, “Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities.”
2. God created angels to excel and to do, and proclaim, God’s Word.
Psalms 103:19-22 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word! Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul! (NAS95)
The fact is, “When you proclaim God’s word over everything you do, angels excel to do God’s Word for your behalf!”
3. Throughout the Bible, angels can’t usually be seen by humans unless God reveals them. —And at times He does! In Numbers 22:23, 31 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way…Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed all the way to the ground.
2 Kings 6:17 Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In today’s text, Luke 2:13-14 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
4. Angel’s proclaim what God says and bring joy, encouragement and excitement
Again notice from today’s text, Luke 2:15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
These shepherds were moved to action by angels; I’m sure these men were never the same.”
5. In the Bible, Only three angels have names.
Michael is mentioned in Jude 9, Revelation 12:7–8, and Daniel 10:13 and 21.
Gabriel is another angel named in the Bible. He’s mentioned in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21 as a messenger who comes from God to speak to Daniel.
He’s also identified as God’s messenger in Luke 1, He tells Zechariah, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God” Luke 1:19.
Then we read in Luke 1:26-28 “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin . . . and the virgin’s name was Mary”
Michael seems to be a warring angel; Gabriel, a messenger sent from God.
Does anyone know the third angel named in the bible?
Job 1:6-7 One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord,
“I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
Luke 10:18 And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
Re 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
6. From time to time angels took on a bodily form and appeared to various people in Scripture.
Matthew 28:5 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be frightened!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified,
Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
7. There are three types of angels in the Bible.
1. Cherubim. 2. Seraphim. 3. Living creatures.
Cherubim are mentioned in several places throughout Scripture:
In Genesis 3:24, they guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden.
Ezekiel 10:1–22, God is enthroned above them.
Psalm 18:10, God rides on them.
In Exodus 25:18-22, two golden figures of cherubim sit above the Ark of the Covenant, where God promised to dwell among his people.
In Isaiah 6, another type of angel, the Seraphim, are only mentioned once where they continually worship the Lord and say: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 4, speak of other kinds of heavenly beings known as “living creatures” around God’s throne. They appeared like a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, representing various parts of God’s creation (wild beasts, domesticated animals, human beings, and birds).
They, too, worship God continually, Revelation 4:8 “Day and night they never cease to sing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
8. Angels are not omnipresent.
Angels frequently appear as messengers in the Bible, traveling from one place to another. In Luke 1, Gabriel, “Was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.”
This also means that Satan is not omnipresent.
9. We don’t know how many angels exist
The Bible doesn’t tell us how many angels God created. But apparently, there are a lot of them. Here are a few of the ways the Bible tells us how many angels there are:
On Mount Sinai, God “came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand” (Deuteronomy 33:2).
We also learn that, “the chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands” (Psalm 68:17 NIV).
When we come to worship, we come into the presence of “innumerable angels” (Hebrews 12:22).
Every biblical reference to the total number of angels suggests that they’re beyond counting.
We love to talk about angels at Christmastime. But the bible is clear that there are angels all around us all the time. Angel proclaim the glory of God.
Prayer
Song: Holy Emmanuel
Luke 2:8-15 NLT
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
