ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

Merry Christmas!
 
We are all so familiar with the Christmas story; it’s one we love to read over and over this time of year. We know of the amazing journey that Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem to have the baby Jesus. And this was one special event like no other in history. So it’s one where we see the participation of heaven; specifically the presence of angels.
Angels are heavenly beings. They are seen all through the Scriptures; I found 280 references for angel in the Bible. And in this story, let’s see the angelic activity recorded in the Scriptures concerning the Christmas story. Most of these are found in Matthew and Luke. Here we see the function of an angel is to bring a message; they are heavenly messengers.
 
1. First, the angel Gabriel came to visit Zacharias.  
 
 Luke 1:11-20 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But 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. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
 
We know this angel’s name was Gabriel, and he came to prophesy to Zacharias that he would have a son, and name him John.  Angels can bring prophetic messages from God.
 
2. The next time we see angelic presence in this story is with Mary. Again the angel Gabriel came to visit Mary.
 
 Luke 1:26-38 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36  Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
 
What can we see from these two encounters so far?
 
1. Well, first we see that when God wants to bring special messages, he can use an angel. Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist came to change the world. Things would be different now. God was saying get ready for a new thing. No longer would He dwell in temples made of stone but in the temples of our hearts.  Like John, we too are called to prepare the way for the Lord; that is, we are to lead people to Jesus.

2. Both times, the angel says, “ Do not be afraid”. Do you think that if we had an angel come to visit you, you might be afraid? Of course it would be frightening.

3. After the angel calms them down, he gives them the message from God. Now he also prophesies to both Zacharias and Mary; he not only tells them that there will be a child born, but he also tells them what they will do in their life, or why they will come into the world. (I put those prophecies in bold). I believe that each one of us is born with an assignment from God, a special purpose. Yours might be to feed the poor, or to teach the Bible. Maybe you are called to evangelize, or to be a light in your workplace. Many christians have received prophetic words over the years concerning the assignment for their lives. Many of these words are yet to come to pass, like the prophecy over Jesus: He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. It is interesting that God spoke the beginning and the end. He said that Jesus would be born, and then went on to describe His life, to the very end of the age. God knows how to speak a word that will last a long time. What are the words spoken over your life? Are you contending for your prophetic future?

4. When someone receives a word from God, how should they respond? Well, we have two different responses from Zacharias and Mary. Zacharias had a hard time believing what the angel said. He questioned the word. “How is this going to happen? I am an old man!” So, he didn’t believe; and he became mute; the Lord shut his mouth so he couldn’t speak negative words. However, Mary received the words gladly in her heart. She also asked how, but her heart was open to believe. She simply responded, “ Let is happen to me, as you have said.” How have you received the words prophesied over you? Are you in faith, or having a hard time believing? Perhaps it is time to brush the dust off of those words and believe again.

5. Lastly, the message from the angel was:  For with God nothing will be impossible. This is an important word for all of us. For a woman to have a baby without the intervention of a man—well, this is impossible. God explained to her how it would happen. Then, for a woman like Elizabeth who was well advanced in years, this too would be impossible, in the natural. But not with God! It reminds me of another birth—the birth of Issac. Genesis 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Again, it came to pass just as the Lord said, for with God, nothing is impossible. What impossibilities are you facing? Do you believe that with God nothing is impossible? I believe. I also had a child in my older age—when the doctors said it was impossible.
 
3. Next, we go to the book of Matthew for the next encounter.

Here Joseph also has an encounter with an angel, but in a dream. This was different from the first two encounters where the angel came to Mary and Zacharias not in a dream but in a visitation. Again the angel prophesies to Joseph; he reassures Joseph that Mary did have an encounter, and that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. But he also tells Joseph what the purpose is for this baby, and how it lined up with the prophecies in the Scriptures.
 
Matthew 1:20-25 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. 21  And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying; 23  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.
 
4. Joseph has another encounter—again in a dream. Only this time, it was to warn Joseph, and to protect the baby.
 
Matthew 2:13-15  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”14  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
 
5. The angel spoke to Joseph a third time in a dream. This time it was to give him direction and tell him to go back to Israel.
 
 Matthew 2:19-21 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
 
The encounters that Joseph had with the angel came in a dream. All three times, the angel came to speak to him; first, to reassure him, second, to give protection and thirdly to give direction. Why did God send an angel in a dream and not in a visitation? I think it is because God knew what way to reach Joseph’s heart. When He came in a dream, Joseph couldn’t argue with God. Many times we have angels in our dreams. They are usually those faceless people we see helping us in our dreams. Dreams are easier because we can’t argue with God. Plus, Mary was given a bigger assignment; it was to give birth to Jesus, so her encounter was a higher revelation.
 
6. The last encounter of an angel in this story is with the shepherds. Again, the angel brings a word from God. He tells them about Jesus being born and where to find Him.
 
Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 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. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14  “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”
 
So we see from this encounter that the shepherds must have known about Jesus’s first coming. Now the angel comes to them and tells them what is happening.
 
1. First, again the angel says not to be afraid. It must have been a pretty big angel for all the shepherds to see him.
​
2. He tells of Jesus’s birth, and tells them where to find Him. But we see something even more majestic here. After the one angel speaks, we see “a multitude of the heavenly host”. Wow, that’s a lot of angels! How many is a multitude? It’s a great number. Probably too many to count. Wow. This group of angels came to earth, praising God. It must have been a marvelous sight! The angels gave glory to God, and declared peace and goodwill on earth. Wow again; this is the good news— God’s not mad at us! He proclaims peace and goodwill over us. Jesus is the prince of peace; and He brings peace in our lives. God’s desire for us is good; He has only good things in store for us. Have you received that peace in your heart? Have you received the grace and goodness of God?
 
These were amazing days; this is an amazing story of the birth of our savior. But we need to realize that those same angels are still around today. They are still bringing messages to us— sometimes in visions, sometimes in dreams. Let us receive these messages and believe the words that God has brought us. For we each have an assignment and purpose on earth. Merry Christmas!
 
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6