Text: “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:7).
How many of you really believe that angels exist?
How many of you believe each one of us has a guardian angel?
I believe there are many, many angels who watch over God’s children. They not only watch over God’s children, but they watch over all that God has created.
I also believe these angels are working all the time on the planet earth as well as on the other planets God created. They don’t work 8 hours per day and 5 days per week. They are constantly working and they never get tired. They never complain like we do.
There has been talk in the past about unidentified flying objects. I’m not sure, but I believe in the 1960’s there was much talk about these unidentified objects being inhabitants from Mars or other planets. Could these unidentified objects have been angels carrying God’s messages to mankind? I think there is a good possibility.
Is there anything in the New Testament concerning angels?
Let’s look!
How did Joseph feel when he found out Mary was pregnant and they were only engaged? Engagement at this time was as good or binding as the actual marriage and could only be broken by getting a divorce. He did not want to make a public example of Mary so Joseph thought about doing it secretly, but then something interesting happened.
Matthew recorded these words: “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy spirit’” (Matthew 1:20).
God works in mysterious ways and sending a messenger or angel is one way to make sure the correct message is received by the right person.
One day when Zacharias was serving as priest before God in the temple “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:11). As you recall, “…the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Luke 1:13).
What a wonderful way to announce a pregnancy. Elizabeth did not have to have Zacharias run down to CVS and buy a quick pregnancy test. When God speaks there is no doubt. I wonder how many men and women in this day and age have had this type of experience.
Is it possible? I think it is because God is the same yesterday as He is today and He will be tomorrow. People just do not listen and if they do, they do not believe.
Do you remember the announcement of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds who were out in the fields watching their sheep by night? I can imagine the night being clear, cool and crisp. The sheep were all gathered together under the light of the moon.
The shepherds were probably sitting around the campfire perhaps have something to eat and something to drink. I can hear them talking about the events of the day. Maybe they had to rescue a sheep or two that strayed from the fold.
As they were talking some strange and exciting happened. Luke puts it this way: “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid” (Luke 2:9).
If you had been one of those shepherds would you have been afraid? Would you have been terrified? Would you have been startled? Would you have thought it was a dream? What would you have done?
I believe we would have reacted just like the shepherds. This was an experience like none other they had ever witnessed. I have a feeling these shepherds were special because God chose them to reveal the birth of His Son.
Is it possible that these shepherds were the ones responsible for supplying the lambs that were used for sacrifices in the temple?
I don’t know because Scripture does not tell us this, but I do think it is possible. Perhaps the shepherds had a very close relationship with God and God was giving them the opportunity to see “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
To make this announcement of the birth of “The Lamb of God” the angel, God’s messenger, appeared to the shepherds and stood before them in a light that was indescribable. It was a natural thing for the shepherds to be afraid, but “Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people’” (Luke 2:10).
The message or announcement was to the shepherds, but would bring joy to them as well as to all people in that time period and all people throughout the ages. The message spoken by the angel was: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
The Jewish people had been waiting for a savior. The savior they were awaiting would liberate them from under the thumb of the Roman government. They were looking for a military type savior, but little did they know this savior came to take away the sins of the world.
After the angel made the announcement and said, “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12) a multitude of angels appeared before the shepherds singing “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14).
The angels left just as quickly as they appeared and the shepherds were off to Bethlehem to see what the angel had told them. The fear the shepherds had now turned to joy. They were the first witnesses for “The Lamb of God”.
We have been talking about angels, but what are they? Psalm 148 talks about God’s creation and verse 5 says, “For He commanded and they were created.” All things were created by God including angels.
To go one step further, Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
Scripture does not record when angels were created, but general consensus is they were created before mankind. Angels are ministering spirits in Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels have several functions. First of all, angels serve “those who will inherit salvation” as indicated in Hebrews 1:14. Matthew 18:10 reads: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”
In other words, guardian angels are protecting children and childlike believers. Their second function is that of protection.
Revelation 14:6-12 tells us that angels proclaim God’s message to all mankind everywhere. So, their third function is to proclaim God’s message.
The fourth function of angels is to carry through God’s judgments. Acts chapter 12 talks about James the brother of John being put to death by Herod Agrippa while Peter was freed from Herod’s prison by an angel. Why was James put to death and Peter freed? We do not know, but we do know this was a judgment call by God and was carried forth by one of his angels.
Angels do not have bodies, but at times they appear in bodily form. Listen to this story and then you can draw your own conclusions.
Billy Graham wrote a book, published in 1975, called,
Angels – God’s Secret Agents
Mr. Graham tells the story of Dr. S.W. Mitchell, who was a well-known Philadelphia physician. It was one cold wintry day when Dr. Mitchell finally finished his work and decided to go to bed.
Just as he dozed off, someone knocking on his door suddenly awakened him.
Upon opening the door, Dr. Mitchell found a little girl, poorly dressed and deeply upset.
She told him her mother was very sick and asked him if he would please come with her.
It was a bitterly cold, snowy night, but though he was bone tired, Dr. Mitchell dressed and followed the girl.
Upon arriving at the home, he found the mother desperately ill with pneumonia. After arranging for medical care, he complimented the sick woman on the intelligence and persistence of her little daughter.
The woman looked at him strangely and then said, “My daughter died a month ago.”
She added, “Her shoes and coat are in the clothes closet there.”
Dr. Mitchell, amazed and perplexed, went to the closet and opened the door. There hung the very coat worn by the little girl who had brought him to tend to her mother.
It was warm and dry and could not possible have been out in the wintry night.
THE QUESTION:
Could the doctor have been called in the hour of desperate need by an angel who appeared as this woman’s young daughter?
Was this the work of God’s angels on behalf of the sick woman?
Angels are spirits but at times have revealed themselves in human form. In the Old Testament there were three people who entertained angels and they did not know it.
In Genesis chapter 18 Abraham sitting at the door of his tent “lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground” (Genesis 18:2). These three men were two angels (19:1) and the Lord (18:17).
In the Judges 6:11, 12 we read that Gideon was visited by an angel in human form. The angel had to be in human form because in the spirit form they cannot be seen. Scripture (Judges 6:11, 12) states: “The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.’”
An angel of the Lord appeared to the wife of a man by the name of Manoah. Manoah’s wife could not conceive and have children, but the angel appeared to her and told her she would have a son. “The woman went to her husband and told him, ‘A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome’” (Judges 13:6).
The woman prayed the angel would come again to tell her how to raise the child. The woman was in the field working when the angel appeared the second time. The woman went to find her husband Manoah to have him come and see the man who gave her the news about the child to be born.
“Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, ‘Are you the one who talked to my wife?’ ‘I am,’ he said.
When the baby boy was born, he was given the name Samson. Again, the work of God carried forth by one of his messengers, an angel, who appeared in human form. We never know when we might be talking to an angel.
Angels are not a race like human beings. I say this because angels are created beings and they do not reproduce to continue their existence as does mankind.
Jesus tells us that angels do not marry and they do not die (Luke 20:34-36). Angels are a company or an order whereby human beings are a race.
There are various ranks of angels, but Michael is the only one called an “archangel’ (Jude 9).
Seraphim Angels – these angels seem to be closely connected to the throne and the praising of God. These were the angels Isaiah saw when he was called to the prophetic ministry (Isaiah 6:2, 3, 6, 7). They glorify God and are in charge of heaven’s worship.
Cherubim Angels – these angels appear to be “guarding angels.” As you may recall, the cherubim and a flaming sword were placed at the East of Eden to keep the way of the tree of life, after Adam and Eve were removed from the garden (Genesis 3:24).
Psalm 99:1 tells us: “The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim let the earth shake.” This indicates a guardian type angel.
Here is another story told by Dr. Graham in his book: Angels: God’s Secret Agents
This story illustrates the protective nature of angels.
The Reverend John G. Paton, a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands, tells a thrilling story involving the protective care of angels. Hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night, intent on burning the Patons out and killing them. John Paton and his wife prayed all during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. Then daylight came they were amazed to see the attackers unaccountably leave. They thanked God for delivering them.
A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Jesus Christ, and Mr. Paton, remembering what had happened, asked the chief what had kept him and his men from burning down the house and killing them.
The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men you had with you there?”
The missionary answered, “There were no men there; just my wife and I.”
The chief argued that they had seen many men standing guard – hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords in their hands. They seemed to circle the mission station so that the natives were afraid to attack.
Only then did Mr. Paton realize that God had sent His angels to protect them. The chief agreed that there was no other explanation.
Could it be that God had sent a legion of angels to protect His servants, whose lives were being endangered?
It is a fact that there are many references to angels in the Bible.
Angels played a very important role in the life and ministry of Jesus.
The angel Gabriel said to Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1:31).
When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant and did not know what to think or what to do, “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).
After Jesus was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds notifying them of the birth and the place where they could see the baby.
This was the beginning of the angel involvement in the life and ministry of Jesus.
After Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights He was tempted by Satan three different times. After the last temptation, Matthew records these words in chapter 4 and verse 11: “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”
When Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and entered the Garden to pray Scripture tells us: “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:43, 44).
Jesus was not trying to get out of His mission when He said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42), but He was concerned about the agony of total separation from God that would occur so that He could die for the sins of all mankind. The angel came to strengthen Jesus in His time of need.
As you remember, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb after the Sabbath, they found the stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb. How did this happen?
Scripture tells us, “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2).
Again, an angel played an important part in the life of Jesus. The angel did not roll the stone back so that Jesus could come out, but instead as a witness that others might see the empty tomb.
As Jesus ascended into Heaven, Luke records these words in Acts 1:10, 11: “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heave, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’”
Angels were again with Jesus. It should be evident by this time that angels were present with Jesus throughout His life and throughout His ministry. These angels are also present with us each and every day of our life. They are present to guide us, lead us and protect us. We never know when they appear to us in human form. We have experienced the presence of angels many times, but we have chosen to call it luck or chance or something else.
Angels are real spiritual beings sent to us by God to minister to us – His redeemed children.
Angels are spiritual beings who do appear in visible human form.
Angels appear at just the right time in our life, but often we do not recognize them. Sometimes angels appear in forms other than human form. People have been in situations where death seems to be imminent, but something unexplainable happens and they survive.
Here is another story told by Dr. Graham and is found in his book entitles, Angels, God’s Secret Agents. Listen to this story.
During World War II, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. For weeks nothing was heard of him. The newspapers reported his disappearance and across the country thousands of people prayed.
Mayor LaGuardia asked the whole city of New York to pray for him. The prayers were answered and Captain Rickenbacker returned safely. The Sunday papers headlined the news, and in an article, Captain Rickenbacker himself told what had happened.
“And this part I would hesitate to tell,” he wrote, “except that there were six witnesses who saw it with me. A gull came out of nowhere, and lighted on my head – I reached up my hand very gently – I killed him and then we divided him equally among us. We ate every bit, even the little bones. Nothing ever tasted so good.”
This gull saved the lives of Rickenbacker and his companions. Dr. Graham said, “Years later I asked him to tell me the story personally, because it was through this experience that he came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.” He said, “I have no explanation except that God sent one of His angels to rescue us.”
God works in mysterious ways. Angels are real.
When the soldiers came forth in the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, “one of those who was with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus said, “Put away your sword in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:51-53).
One legion was 6000 soldiers. Twelve legions of angels would be 72,000 angels. I believe these angels were present just waiting for orders from their Commander and Chief. Jesus knew His mission and He was going to carry through to the end.
Angels certainly do exist.
Angels are created beings.
Angels are powerful and they react to the commands of God.
If you don’t believe they are powerful just think about these incidents:
Two angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19)
One angel rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb.
(Matthew 28:2)
One angel killed the first born in Egypt in one night. (Exodus 12)
One angel will bind Satan for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1, 2)
I don’t know what you think, but I am convinced angels have a lot of power.
Has an angel ever appeared before you?
Have you ever been in a life threatening situation and everything work out just right?
Give God credit because He sent his angels to care for you.
I want to close with this poem entitled:
“Angel on Highway 109”
A drunk man in a Volkswagen,
They said, had run the light
That caused the six-car pileup
On highway 109 that night.
When broken bodies lay about
And blood was everywhere,
The sirens screamed out elegies
For death was in the air.
A mother, trapped inside her car,
Was heard above the noise:
Her plaintive plea near split the air:
"Oh, God, please spare my boys!"
She fought to loose her pinioned hands;
She struggled to get free,
But mangled metal held her fast
In grim captivity.
Her frightened eyes then focused on where the
Back seat once had been,
But all she saw was broken glass
And two children’s seats crushed in.
Her twins were nowhere to be seen;
She did not hear them cry,
And then she prayed they’d been thrown free,
"Oh, God, don’t let them die!"
Then firemen came and cut her loose,
But when they searched the back,
They found therein no little boys,
But the seat belts were intact.
They thought the woman had gone mad
And was traveling alone,
But when they turned to question her,
They discovered she was gone.
Policemen saw her running wild
And screaming above the noise
In beseeching supplication,
"Please help me find my boys!
They’re four years old and wear blue shirts;
Their jeans are blue to match."
One cop spoke up, "They’re in my car,
And they don’t have a scratch.
They said their daddy put them there
And gave them each a cone,
Then told them both to wait for Mom
To come and take them home.
I’ve searched the area high and low,
But I can’t find their dad.
He must have fled the scene, I guess,
And that is very bad."
The mother hugged the twins and said,
While wiping at a tear,
"He could not flee the scene, you see,
For he’s been dead a year."
The cop just looked confused and asked,
"Now, how can that be true?"
The boys said, "Mommy,
Daddy came and left a kiss for you.
He told us not to worry and
That you would-be all right,
And then he put us in this car
With the pretty, flashing light.
We wanted him to stay with us,
Because we miss him so,
But Mommy, he just hugged us tight
And said he had to go.
He said someday we’d understand
And told us not to fuss,
And he said to tell you, Mommy,
He’s watching over us."
The mother knew without a doubt
That what they spoke was true,
For she recalled their dad’s last words,
"I will watch over you."
The firemen’s notes could not
Explain the twisted, mangled car,
And how the three of them
Escaped without a single scar.
But on the cop’s report was scribed,
In print so very fine,
"An angel walked the beat tonight
On Highway 109."
Author unknown-----------
Yes, angels are real and they surround us all the time. Their Commander and Chief is our Heavenly Father.
Amen.
