Angels Among Us!

Intro: Isaiah said it best “Prepare the way of the Lord.” We often think of Advent as a season to celebrate the birth of Jesus and that is true, but Advent is also about Him coming back! And The Celestial Realm. Graham Cooke says “Angels are heralds of eternity sent to help mankind breakthrough when they cannot break out.” We need to Remember As the Apostle said in Philippians 2:10 At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” … and Luke picks up the story about this Angels Among Us. In Malachi 3:1 God says, “I am sending my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.” And to prepare God sends a Messenger

Billy Graham “Just as millions of angels participated in the dazzling show when the morning stars sang together at creation, so will the innumerable hosts of heaven help bring to pass God’s prophetic declarations throughout the time and into eternity.”

I. In His Presence God Gives Revelation

a. Genesis to Revelation! Every time you turn the page it’s like the brush of angel wings! Genesis when the angels are present in Eden when God said this far and not further,

b. then Abraham and on to Jacob and again the angels are appearing ascending and descending a spiritual ladder

c. Angels are present as God delivered the 10 Commandments to the Deliverer of a Nation

d. And then moving to the prophets from Elijah to Elisha to Isaiah and on and on throughout the Old Testament these otherworldly appearances, bring the outside of heaven into the inner sanctum of our Humanity.

II. God uses Human Agency to further His Kingdom

a. Zechariah, a priest, and his mother Elizabeth the daughter of a priest. They lived in the hill country surrounding Jerusalem,4 miles to the center of belief of Faith, Zechariah, and Elizabeth a Childless, Faithful couple.

c. Zechariah performing the sacred honor of keeping the table of incense burning. While in there an angel of the Lord appeared and said, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.

a. “Your prayer has been heard…”For years he must have prayed, again and again, that Elizabeth would become pregnant, but most likely, he had stopped praying and had given up hope now that they were both getting older. I wonder if there are things you have prayed for a long time, for years perhaps but have seen no answer?

b. Our prayers are always heard, even if we don’t see the results, our prayer is heard even if we don’t believe the answer, our prayer is heard it doesn’t depend on us. Our prayer is heard even if the time frame is not when we had hoped, even if the answer was not what we expected, even if …

c. It happened according to God’s will, God’s plan, God’s way, and God’s divine messenger! God heard Elizabeth’s and Zechariah’s prayers all through the years, and He was waiting for the right time,

d. The apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God“ (Galatians 4:4-7)

e. I love what the angel Gabriel told Zachariah, your son… “He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord…he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born…He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of righteousness—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” The Angel shared the heart of God.

In Malachi Chapter 3, God says, “Return to me and I will return to you.”

The author of “Angels Among Us” made famous by the group Alabama, was written by Becky Hobbs, who had an encounter with an Angel on her own. It was her birthday on January 24th, 1986, felt that an unseen force ( an angel) took her by the hand and “lookup because this may be your last birthday.” … She awoke from her encounter and didn’t think a lot about it until she was with her band the next day… They were traveling in their van… She saw an 18-wheeler barreling through a stop light… She told the driver to stop at the same moment… it hit the van, the trailer immediately turned over the Hobbs band escaped with just some minor scratches… immediately when Becky got home… She started pounding out the chorus … Oh I believe there are Angels Among us sent somewhere up above

10 years go by… Don Goodman… tears in his eyes… he helped finished up the song…. “They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places To grace us with their mercy, in our time of need, To guide us with the light of love.”

Angels, God’s Gift which leads us as they led Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Kings, Prophets, and a Priest, During this Advent time may we feel the brush of Angel’s wings.