There is the true story of a family who was desperately trying to sell their house, which was located on a busy street. Their real estate agent decided to have open-house nearly every day to promote the sale. And they instructed the children not to talk to anyone about the house. One evening a man took their seven-year-old daughter aside and asked if the house had any secrets he should know about. Her first reaction was to smile and ignore his question. But he became more persistent and, finally, she confessed that there was one secret but she could not tell it to him. “Ahh, come on,” he said. "Tell me the secret. I promise I won't tell anyone." She leaned forward and whispered, "We have angels watching over us here."
There’s an old Gospel hymn I remember from years ago… (SING)
Chorus: “All night, all day, angels watching over me my Lord; all night, all day, angels watching over me.
Verse: “I went down to the valley to pray - angels watching over me my Lord. Soul got happy and I stayed all day - angels watching over me.”
Verse: “When my heart is sad and blue - angels watching over me my Lord. I call on Him to see me through - angels watching over me.”
Verse: “Angels standing all around me - angels watching over me my Lord. They tell me how much God loves me - angels watching over me.”
Now, that’s a really nice song - but is it true? Do we REALLY have angels watching over us? Well, that’s what our story tells us today. Angels watch over God’s people!
Apparently, the King of Syria had discovered that Elisha had been warning the King of Israel about ambushes Syria had set for Israel’s armies, and he was not happy about it. So he sent a “huge army” to seize Elisha and bring him back to his city. Horses and chariots and a great army came by night, and in the morning Elisha’s servant goes out to the well and is frightened because the enemy have surrounded the city.
In a panic he goes back to Elisha. And Elisha smiled (pause)… and said “‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see." So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” II Kings 6:16-17
THIS is a repetitive theme throughout Scripture. God sends His Angels to watch over us.
Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.”
Psalm 91:11 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
And in the New Testament God tells us “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14
God sends Angels to watch over us - to serve YOU and Me. They are our servants. That means you’ve got friends in high places!!!
So when Elisha prayed “Open his eyes that he may see!” suddenly the servant’s eyes are opened and he saw that the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire. (PAUSE) And that is what is all around us right now.
As Elisha said: Those who are with you are more than those that are with anyone who opposes you! And the reason those who are with you are more than those who oppose you is because “Greater is He who is in you, than he that is in the world.” I John 4:4
ILLUS: Chris Tomlin wrote a beautiful worship song that says (SING) “I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies, is always by my side. The one who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies, is always by my side.”
Where did Tomlin get that idea? He got it from the Bible. The Bible talks about God being the LORD of hosts. In the story of David and Goliath (for example) David tells Goliath “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:45
WHO are these HOSTS that David referred to? WHO are these armies of Israel that David relied on? THOSE hosts and those armies were Angel Armies! And that’s why he could confront Goliath with confidence. Not only was Goliath outnumbered. And so was the entire Philistine army. They didn’t stand a chance.
(PAUSE) Now, let’s think about that story of David and Goliath for a minute - how come that ANGEL ARMY didn’t step up for King Saul and the Israelites before this? Well Psalm 34:7 tells us: “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” You have to be looking for God’s power in order to receive it. And David was the only one that trusted God enough to BELIEVE God could deliver him.
Now, I’m not sure David ever saw an angel. I’m not sure he even gave angels a 2nd thought. Why? Because David had his attention so fixed on God that he knew God would take care of him.
One of the dangers of preaching about angels is that we can tend to forget Who gives power to the angels. And angels are not really the source of our protection – God is. And David knew that. That’s how he could fix him mind on God as the source of his power and protection.
Angels probably surrounded David just like they did Elisha, (PAUSE) and just like they surround you and me!
Now, a question: DO YOU BELIEVE IN ANGELS??? I DO! In fact, I think I might have seen one years ago. But I don’t need to see angels to know they’re there. It’s enough to know that God says they’re there.
Now I don’t rely upon angels – I rely upon God… but I know they’re there.
Now, just a few thoughts about angels. 1st - We don’t pray to angels! Notice that Elisha NEVER prayed to the angel army. Who’d he pray to? (GOD) “Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’” II Kings 6:17
And so ELISHA prayed to God amd not to the angels. And that’s because that vast army of Angels… didn’t belong to him! The angels may have been his servants but they didn’t BELONG to him! Who did those angels belong to? They belonged to God, because God was the Lord of hosts. So, why would I want to talk to angels when I can talk to their commander? Why would I want to talk to the 2nd in charge when I can talk to their leader.
Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us that since “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Why talk to angels when we boldly approach God’s throne and talk directly to Him? I have permission from God to go directly to Him.
Now, there are people out there who SAY they pray to angels. In fact, there are a number of websites on the Internet who say they can TEACH you how to pray to angels. Don’t trust those people! These are not godly people… they’re pagans. If they claim to be Christians they’re lying to you. By trying to talk with angels, they’re attempting to do an end-run around God. They don’t want to entrust themselves to God because maybe He wouldn’t want to things “their way” and so they want to get the angels off to the side and get them to help… where maybe God would not.
Don’t pay those people any mind because they don’t know what they’re talking about. DON’T PRAY to angels - it’s a bad idea! It’s paganism at its worst, and it’s heresy.
2nd - When your loved ones die, they don’t become angels. Your mama MIGHT have been an angel, but she’ll never be one of angelic beings that God created. Uncle Fred and Aunt Susie (when they died) didn’t become angels. In fact, they might not have been all that angelic to begin with.
BUT real Angels are wayyyy more powerful than any human could ever be. A little later in 2 Kings we read that Sennacherib - the King of Assyria - came and surrounded Jerusalem with a mighty army. And intending to dishearten the defenders, Sennacherib mocked Hezekiah (the King of Judah) and then… he made the mistake of mocking their God. That’s when we read “That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” 2 Kings 19:35
Sennacherib went home… and he never came back.
Angels are intimidating creatures. That’s why every time an angel shows up in Scripture, the first words out of their mouths is “Don’t be afraid.” Because they can be scary. But WE don’t have to be afraid of them because Angels are OUR SERVANTS and they’ve been sent to watch over us.
Now, Psalm 8:5 tells us that God has “made (us) a little lower than the angels…” (in other words, we weren’t created to be angels), but, through the blood of Jesus Christ we’ve been elevated to a place HIGHER than angels, so that now - not only are they our servants, but 1 Corinthians 6:3 tells us that one day “… we will judge angels.” So, don’t have to be afraid of Angels. They’re on our side! They’re our Servants… they’ve been sent to watch over us.
That brings me to the comment of Elisha’s servant when he saw the Assyrian army. He goes to Elisha and he said “What shall WE do?” Now, that’s a DUMB question. The answer was obvious: There wasn’t anything they can do!
The city was surrounded by a massive army…and there’s only 2 of them! There was NOTHING that they could do! It’s a dumb question.
But as dumb as that question is… we all ask it at one time or another. “What can we do?” We get surrounded by situations we can’t control, overwhelmed by troubles and difficulties and tragedies. And we feel trapped, and there’s no way out. And so, in despair, we ask: “What can we do?” And deep inside we KNOW – there isn’t a thing we CAN do. So we feel hopeless, and desperate… and miserable.
(THOUGHTFULLY) Not a thing we can do. (Pause) Well… no, that’s not true. There is ONE THING we CAN do. We can pray to the Lord of Hosts/ the God of angel armies. When we’re faced with situations we can’t control, we need to remember that God has not abandoned us. He’ll not leave us or forsake us.
Now I’d love to tell you that every time we pray to God for help the heaven’s open, angels come down, and all our troubles are swept away. And… that does happen. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen God act with majesty and power and I was pretty sure there was some angelic stuff going on. But it doesn’t happen every time.
Jesus said “In this world you WILL have trouble, but take heart because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
There’s time when – no matter how you act, or what you say, or where you go – things don’t come together the way you want them to. Well… if that’s true and angels don’t stop the trouble I face - what good are they? When TROUBLE comes, and it doesn’t look like its going away, WHERE are these angels at? Where’s this mighty force that Scripture talks about?
Well, they’re the same place they were when Jesus was betrayed. When the mob came to arrest Jesus on the Mt. of Olives, Peter drew his sword and attacked one of the men. But Jesus rebuked him and said “Don’t you think that I could appeal to my Father, and he would at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53) That’s 1000s upon 1000s of angels.
Where are they at? What were those 1000s upon 1000s of angels doing? Were just up there in the heavens DOING NOTHING? No. No, they weren’t doing nothing. Luke 22:39-43 tells us “(Jesus) went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, STRENGTHENING HIM.”
Jesus was about to be arrested, put on trial, beaten, mocked, and then crucified. Thousands upon 1000s of angels don’t come down to rescue Him from this… but ONE angel does. And that’s all Jesus needed. One ANGEL came to strengthen Him, to comfort Him, to prepare Him for the suffering He was about to face on our behalf. You see, sometimes
Now, here’s the deal – did you notice what Jesus said before that angel came to His side? “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” You see, there’s going to be times when we’re not going to be able to figure out anything that’s going on in our lives… and we’re going to wonder “Where is God?” “Where are His angels?” “Where is all that stuff I’ve been depending upon?” Jesus KNEW what He was going to face. He knew what was coming. And He knew the angels couldn’t “fix” it for Him.
But ONE angel came, and that was all He needed. Someone said “when it doesn’t look like God isn’t doing anything… He’s always doing something.” He’s doing things even when you don’t realize He’s at work in your life. But that’s the deal – God doesn’t always fix things the way you want them fixed. “Not my will, but THINE be done.” But the angels are still there.
Now, one of the dangers of preaching about angels is that you get caught up in the “bright bauble” thing. You see, angels are powerful, they’re massive, they’re impressive. And they’re cool. “Open his eyes” and there’s horse and chariots of fire all surrounding Elisha – I LIKE THAT! But the problem is – you can get so focus on THAT type of thing – and you forget that it’s not the angels that have the true power. It’s God that has the power.
You can get to the point where you get distracted, and you begin to pay attention to the side issues. That’s why so many people pray to angels, and they have a list of the names of the angels and descriptions of what each angel stands for. It’s all pure heresy, but that’s what they do, because they’ve been distracted from the true power. That’s why in I John 4:4 it says that “Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world.”
Angels are cool. They are part of the “toolbox” that God uses to accomplish His will. But don’t ever be misled – don’t be deceived into believing that angels are we should focus on, because they’re not. They are simply one of the tools God uses to serve us and protect us.
We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus. On Christ and Him crucified. Because without Him… you have no angels. You’ll have nothing because the angels are sent to serve those who are heirs of salvation – that’s us. Everyone who has been bought by the blood of Jesus.
Unless, of course, you don’t belong to Jesus. And that’s why its so important that we start by stressing that we need to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That we acknowledge that we’ve sinned and need the forgiveness that only Jesus can give. That we be willing to turn our lives completely over to Him and allow ourselves to be buried in the waters of Christian baptism and rise from that watery grave to live a new life for Him.
INVITATION
