In Jesus Holy Name September 29, 2024
Text: Luke 1:26-38 St Michael & All Angels Redeemer
“Angels Among Us”
St. Michael and All Angels
In 1993 The Country Western Music group, Alabama, released a song entitled “Angels Among Us.”
“I was walking home from school on a cold winter day
Took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way
It was getting late and I was scared and alone
But then a kind old man took my hand, and led me home
Now, mama couldn't see him, oh but he was standing there
And I knew in my heart he was the answer to my prayers
[Chorus]
Oh, I believe there are angels among us
Sent down to us from somewhere up above
They come to you and me in our darkest hours
To show us how to live to teach us how to give
To guide us with the light of love
When life held troubled times and had me down on my knees
There's always been someone to come along and comfort me”
Angels sent from above.
Today we celebrate St. Michael and All Angels day. What can we learn from the Bible about angels?
The Bible tells us that God created angels before He created the world. The Book of Revelation reminds us that angels are servants of God and give Him praise and glory. Michael, Gabriel are probably the most familiar to us. Gabriel approached Mary and said: “I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God.” Gabriel brought God’s message to Mary, explaining that soon she would give birth to the Savior of the world, in the person of Jesus.
Gabriel had previously brought God’s message to Zechariah that he and his wife
Elizabeth would become the parents of John the Baptizer. Gabriel brought the message to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus.
Michael is called the Archangel, he is in charge of God’s army of angels. Jude 9 refers to an event which is found nowhere else in Scripture. Michael had to struggle or dispute with Satan about the body of Moses whose body Satan wanted to claim. We also learn from the vision of Daniel that angels and demons fight spiritual battles over the souls of men and nations, and that the demons resist angels and try to prevent them from doing God’s bidding. Michael is called the “Archangel” for he carries out God’s justice, leading God’s army at the end of human history to defeat Satan and his evil hosts.
Angels are everywhere in our popular culture. They are in mail order catalogues and decorate our Christmas trees. There are popular TV shows and books written about “angels”. James Steward in the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” had a guardian angel. Michael Landon came to earth to give heavenly advice in the show “Highway to Heaven”. George Washington is said to have seen an angel at Valley Forge.
One survey stated that 77% of Americans believe that each person has a guardian angel. Why is that? Well, you can go to Amazon and buy hundreds of books with titles like: “365 Prayers to Your Angel. Sub title: “Get your prayers answered and fulfill all your dreams with the help of angels.”
Then there is “My Guardian Angel Prayer Book” for children. Unfortunately, these books promote idol worship. If you are trusting and praying to angels then you have broken the 1st commandment. You cannot worship angels. In Revelation 19:10 & Revelation 22:8-9 John receives a message from an angel. He writes: “I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me: do not do it I am a fellow servant with you. Worship God.” And of course we are reminded of the words of Jesus who said that Satan will at times masquerade as an angel of light to deceive the world.
The Bible never tells us that each person has a guardian angel, although He may send angels to protect us for they are at His beck and call. We know from the book of Revelation that God had angels were watching over the 7 churches. Angels were created to worship God and serve His creation. God is our protector. His angels are on call at all times. They don’t take vacation days. They don’t take sick days. They don’t take off for holidays. They never age and they are always ready and available to carry out God’s plans!
Read Hebrews 1:3-7
Angels carry God’s message to His people when and where needed. so that His will can be accomplished in our world. It was two angels that protected Lot and his family, while carrying out the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Colossians 1:16, Paul wrote: “For by Christ, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” This verse makes it clear that the angelic realm was not created as an end in itself. The myriads of angels that God created were made to fulfill His divine purposes.
We can not talk about angels without getting into the issue of spiritual warfare. . In Ephesians 6:12, Paul describes these fallen angels as “spiritual forces of wickedness”: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This answers the question, “Why do I need to know about angels?” They are fighting against each other, and you are the prize they’re fighting for us.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.” [Who is the dragon?] Rev. 12:7
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. [4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” Rev. 12:3-6
Lucifer was his name at that time, and he was bright, beautiful, and full of wisdom. He had a position of authority over other angels. But he wanted more--the throne of God! And there’s been war ever since, raging in the heavenly realms and on earth. That’s where Satan got into trouble, because he wanted to be worshiped as God rather than serve God (Isaiah 14:12–14).
When Jesus was in the wilderness this same “angel of light” Satan tempted Jesus to disobey His mission. While in the Garden of Gethsemane, burdened with the cup of God’s wrath against humanity’s broken commandments, an Angel appeared to Him and ministered to Him. (Luke 22:43) On the night Jesus was arrested didn’t Jesus say: ‘don’t you think I can appeal to My Father in heaven and ask for 12 legions of angels?”
A legion is 6000 Roman soldiers. 12 legions would be 72000. Don’t you think that many angels could handle the soldiers that came out to arrest Jesus? But if Jesus had that sort of power at his disposal, why didn’t he use it? When Jesus hung on the cross, those who passed by hurled insults at him: “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:40). On one level, the insult made sense. Everyone knew that crucifixion was the worst way to die. Through years of practice, the Romans had perfected the art of killing. They had many ways to kill undesirable people. But they reserved crucifixion for the worst of the worst—thieves, rebels, terrorists, or anyone they regarded as a threat to their rule.
By crucifying Jesus, the Romans were saying, “This man is a public menace.” They didn’t think they were crucifying the Son of God. When the soldiers nailed him to the cross, they were just doing their job. If Jesus had 72,000 angels ready to come to his aid, why didn’t he use them? Why put up with the horror of crucifixion? Why go through the torture?
J. C. Ryle puts this in perspective: “Jesus did not die because he could not help it; he did not suffer because he could not escape. All the soldiers of Pilate’s army could not have taken him, if he had not been willing to be taken. They could not have hurt a hair of his head, if he had not given them permission.” There was no miracle of angels to deliver Jesus from death on Calvary’s Hill. The miracle that delivers us from our broken commandment, the judgment of God was the death of Jesus in our place. That’s why we call the day of His death, Good Friday.
Even though angels take on human appearance and become visible on occasion, they are spirit beings who do not have flesh and blood. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” When necessary, God will direct one of His invisible angels to become visible in the life of a believer in order to accomplish a divinely ordained purpose. This is exactly what happened on the day Jesus rose from the dead. Two angels were stationed at the tomb, rolled away the stone and gave the message of the resurrection to the women.
After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were preaching and healing people in the temple in the name of Jesus. King Herod ordered the arrest of James and Peter. James was killed and Peter was placed in prison, chained between two guards. In the middle of the night an angel appeared, kicked Peter awake, the chains fell off and he was lead out of the prison through locked gates. The angel was sent to rescue Peter.
1. The primary purpose of angels is to worship God. They are His servants.
2. The second purpose of angels is to bring God’s message to Mary, or Zechariah, or to us.
3. Angels will on the order of God protect believers as the angel rescued Peter. It is not unusual to hear stories from fellow Christians about how suddenly their car steering wheel or brakes where activated and they were saved from a wreck. It is not unusual to hear stories of believers who have been lost, but someone appeared and guided them to safety.
4. Angels carry out God’s judgment. Angels were sent to Sodom and Gomorrah to rescue Lot then destroy the cities.
5. Angels will carry out God’s judgment at the end of the world when Christ returns.
6. Michael the Archangel will sound the trumpet at the return of Jesus at the end of the world.
7. Angels will gather the elect from the earth on that final day. (Matthew 13)
