Sermon: "Do You Believe in Angels?"
Many years ago there was a girl in our church by the name of Judy Hege. For a while her parents served as Youth Advisors. She is now Judy Stayman. Here is part of an email she sent to me.
After you and I spoke yesterday and you stated that you were doing a sermon on angels, I thought you might want the details of our accident. Feel free to use this in your sermon. Larry and I want to make sure that we give the Lord the praise He deserves for sparing our lives.
Larry and I were heading north on I-81 on February 6, 2006 around 7:00 p.m. Larry was driving and it was rainy. We hydroplaned, between the Wayne Avenue and Lincoln Way exits into the median strip where we did a 1 ¾ turn before ending up in the south bound lanes. A southbound car hit the passenger front corner of our SUV. No one was injured! Praise the Lord! I thought we were going to die.
There was a tractor trailer behind us before we hydroplaned that could have hit us. When we entered the southbound lane, we could have been hit at the passenger door which probably would have injured me. After being hit, we could have gotten hit from behind, but Larry was able to steer us off to the shoulder of the road.
There are so many things that could have happened but we believe that the Lord had His guardian angels around us that evening.
Judy believes in angels. Do you believe in angels?
This is the third and final message in our series of lessons called, THE MIGHTY ONE, GOD, THE LORD.
In our first lesson called – IN GOD WE (NEARLY) TRUST – we saw that God can be trusted because he is sovereign (supreme in authority) and good. We saw that when we understand and accept God’s sovereignty it makes it possible for us to say, “In God I Trust.”
With trusting The Mighty One, God, the Lord, as our foundation we moved to our second lesson called – A LIFE FREE FROM WORRY.
In this lesson we saw that we can obey Jesus’ command, “Do not worry,” if we will do our part and accept what The Mighty One, God, the Lord is willing to do for us.
Our part in learning not to worry can be summed up in three words – REMEMBER, THANKS, PRAY.
Count your blessings by remembering all the good things God has done for you.
Take the time to thank him for each of your blessings.
Pray and give yourself and your problem to God.
After you do that – God will give you a great peace that goes beyond our understanding. We may still have to deal with the problem and face some difficult circumstances, but we can do it without worrying because of the inner peace God gives us.
That peace can be yours as you trust God, the Mighty One; the one who is supreme in authority and is good.
This morning we are going to look at something else The Mighty One, God, the Lord does for us. It involves angels.
You can come to love God more and feel more secure in life as you come to understand the ministry of angels.
We will begin by looking at …
I. TWO TRUTHS CONCERNING ANGELS
A. THERE ARE MANY ANGELS
There are over three hundred references to angels in the Bible and one of the things these references show is that God created many, many angels. Let’s take a few moments and examine some of these references.
The first one is a little peek into heaven.
HEBREWS 12:22 – But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.
In heaven there are thousands upon thousands of angels.
While we are peeking into heaven, let’s look at another reference that shows that God created a vast number of angels.
REVELATION 5:11 – Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
I don’t know what all those numbers mean, but we do know ten thousand times ten thousand equals one hundred million. That is a lot of angels.
Let’s just look at one more reference to help get “many” firmly implanted in our minds when we think about angels.
The night Jesus was arrested Peter drew his sword in an attempt to protect Jesus. Here is what Jesus told Peter.
MATTHEW 26:52-53 – 52“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
In the time of Jesus a Roman legion was 6,000 soldiers. Jesus told Peter that more than 72,000 angels could come to rescue him if he wanted them.
Now that we have seen that The Mighty One, God, the Lord has created many angels, let’s take a few moments and look at the truth that …
B. ANGELS ARE MIGHTY
We know that angels are more powerful than human beings because the Bible tells us that God created us lower than the angels – but how powerful are they? Let’s see what the Bible tells us about their power.
II THESSALONIANS 1:6-7 – 6God is just: he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.
This is one of those times when looking at the original language in which the Bible was written can be helpful. In the case of the New Testament that is Greek. In the Greek language there are ten different words that in our English Bibles are translated as mighty or powerful. The one Paul choose to use here is “dunamis” (doo’-nam-is) and it means – special miraculous power.
In fact, many times this word is actually translated as “miracles.”
Angels are, indeed, mighty creatures. Here is an illustration of just how mighty one angel can be. The Assyrian army had Jerusalem surrounded and was demanding King Hezekiah surrender. Hezekiah prayed for the Lord to deliver them.
II KINGS 19:35 – 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!
Most of you are familiar with Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den. Listen to it again and look for a mighty angel.
DANIEL 6:19-22 – 19At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. 20When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
21Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! 22My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.”
Let’s look at one more scripture which talks about angels being mighty and which also opens the door to our next topic. It is a verse that was written by King David.
PSALM 103:20 – Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Mighty ones who do God’s bidding. What does that involve? In other words …
II. WHAT DO THE MANY, MIGHTY ANGELS DO?
First we see that part of God’s bidding means …
A. THEY WORSHIP GOD
The first part of our scripture text for this morning says ..
HEBREWS 1:14a – Are not all angels ministering spirits.
Angels are ministering spirits under God’s control. I don’t think there is any value in human’s calling out to angels for help because they listen only to God’s voice. They are “spirits who serve God.” They respond only to his commands.
As the eyes of a servant are upon his master, so the eyes of angels are upon the face of God waiting to do what he wants done, and they do it quickly. Here is how Ezekiel described the movement of some of the heavenly creatures.
EZEKIEL 1:14 – The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
We could say that the only thing that matters to angels is God’s desires. That’s why they worship him. Angels not only worship God …
B. THEY OBEDIENTLY SERVE GOD
Turning again to the book of Hebrews we read …
HEBREWS 1:7 – In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.”
Angels are mighty creatures that God created to be his servants. Like the wind they come and go unseen, and like the wind they can be as gentle as a summer breeze or as violent as a tornado.
Like fire they can bring warmth and comfort. Or like fire they can destroy whatever is in their path.
These many, mighty creatures take great delight in obeying their Creator and in obeying God …
C. THEY SERVE HIS PEOPLE
If you are a Believer in Jesus that means that these many, mighty creatures we call angels are serving you when God tells them to do so.
Let’s go back to our scripture text for this morning.
HEBREWS 1:14 – Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Angels are ministering spirits of God who he sends to serve those who will inherit salvation.
- Angels serve us by opposing the evil desires and power of evil spirits.
- Angels serve us by protecting our physical well being.
- Angels serve us by “pitching their tents” near us.
Here is how the Psalmist describes what angels do for you.
PSALM 91:9-13 – 9If you make the Most High your dwelling – even the Lord, who is my refuge – 10then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
It is important to take note of the first words in this passage. “If you make the Most High your dwelling.” In other words, “God is with you, while you are with him.” You should not expect God’s angels to be serving you if you are not walking with God.
When you walk with God, when you use good judgment then God sends his angels to guard you in all your ways.
Listen to what some Christians have written about angels ministering to us.
One angel armed with the power and glory of God is stronger than a whole country. – Robert Horn
How many falls and bruises have they saved us? How many times have they turned us away from evil? - Thomas Adams
You may expect the Lord’s protection and the angels’ attendance if you are walking in the light. – William Bridge
CONCLUSION
As you leave here this morning, what impact should this lesson on angels have on your daily life and how it is connected to the two previous lessons in this series of lessons called – THE MIGHTY ONE, GOD, THE LORD?
Here is how it should impact your daily life.
It should cause you to desire to live close to the Lord and make good decisions based on what God’s Word teaches so God’s angels will be with you. It should also take away many of your fears since you know you have many, mighty angels watching over you.
How does this lesson connect to the two previous lessons?
If you aren’t completely trusting in a God who is sovereign – supreme in authority – and good, you will have a difficult time believing that he would actually have angels watch over you.
But if you are aware that there are many, mighty angels watching over you, it helps you obey Jesus’ command not to worry and shows you that you can live “a live free from worry”.
The Mighty One, God, the Lord will be your God if you will humble yourself and receive Jesus as your Lord. Listen to what John wrote about Jesus.
JOHN 1:12 – Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
If you will receive Jesus as your Lord some of God’s many, mighty angels will be sent to watch over you!