About this sermon
Luke 2 tells of an angel announcing good news of great joy to the shepherds, followed by a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Scripture teaches that angels are created spirits, holy or fallen, mighty yet subordinate to God. Through redemptive history holy angels carried new revelation from God at decisive moments, as at Christ’s birth. They also praise God for his mighty acts of salvation and serve his people. Heaven will not be idle: God’s people will join the angels in praising and serving him forever.
Sermon transcript
Well, this morning we’re going to, again, continue taking a brief break from our exploration of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, and we’re going to consider a very familiar passage this morning, but we’re going to consider this passage from a slightly different angle. So turn with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2, I’ll read verses 8 through 20. That begins on page 1018 in your Pew Bibles. Luke chapter 2, verses 8 through 20. Luke records this account after he has recorded the event of the birth of Jesus. Let us hear God’s holy word. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told them. Dear friends, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for the Lord to bless the preaching of his word. O heavenly Father, we would pray that by your Spirit you would once again open our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word. And we would pray that your word would find a lodging place in our souls and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives.
Spiritual fruit that brings glory to your name and bears faithful testimony to Christ our Savior. For it is in his name that we pray. And all of God’s people said, Amen, you may be seated. My sermon this morning is the role of angels in redemptive history. And if you’re following along in your sermon outline, you’ll notice that there are four words that the children, children of all ages, if you find it helpful, can keep track of. Those words are angels, revelation, redemption, and praise. Angels. People are just fascinated by angels. And not only are folks fascinated by angels, they’re fascinated about the supernatural in general. Just go into your local bookstore or do an online search of your favorite booksellers website and you’ll likely find numerous books on angels and other supernatural and paranormal topics.
This is not just true by the way of Christian booksellers, but also about secular booksellers as well. Last week I happened to get onto the Barnes and Nobles website and I put in the search engine books on angels and it came up with quite a number of different topics having to do with angels. Or go into your local Hallmark store, especially this time of year, and you can buy Angel Stationary. In terms of the entertainment media, some of you will remember the TV series Touched by an Angel. And Hollywood of course periodically produces movies about angels and about other supernatural themes. The famous evangelist Billy Graham once wrote a popular book on angels and I believe that book is still in print. And the famous Christian musician Amy Grant in the 1980s wrote a popular song about how angels are watching over us.
Contemporary Christian literature seems to be filled with references to spiritual warfare in the angelic and the demonic realms. And furthermore, books have been written and numerous conferences and lectures have been produced on subjects related to how we believers are to engage in spiritual warfare against Satan and the evil angels, the demons. Well dear ones, while it is true that angels are popular today, we need to remember that as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we need to recognize that there are a lot of misconceptions out there about angels and about the ministry of angels. You know, it used to be that numerous atheists and other skeptics confidently predicted that mankind would soon outgrow its so-called superstitious beliefs about God and angels and the supernatural. It was believed in some skeptical circles and I believe it continues to be held to today.
The idea is that mankind would eventually throw off its old religious superstitions and would enter into a period of atheistic enlightenment fueled by scientific discoveries and ushering in an age of secular humanist utopia. However, my friends, the spiritual hunger of the human heart continues to survive and persist. It does so even in our highly secular age. There is still a deep longing within the human heart for the transcendent, for the supernatural, for a connection to and a communion with ultimate reality. Reality with a capital R, the reality that undergirds and stands behind the daily reality that we are confronted with in the material world and through our physical senses. There is that hunger. And so, friends, the fact that not only Christians but even non-Christians and the highly secular are fascinated by angels and by the supernatural, this, my friends, is a testimony to the truth that we human beings are not merely highly intelligent animals living in a universe without God, animated meatbags destined to take an eternal dirt map.
As the scriptures testify, we were created in the image of God for the purpose of communion, of fellowship with our Maker. As our shorter catechism reminds us, our chief end is what? To glorify God and praise God to enjoy Him forever. Since we are God’s image bearers, God has implanted within our souls a longing for eternity and eternal things. God has put eternity in the hearts of men, a longing for the transcendent, ultimately a longing for Him. And though the spiritual disease of sin has twisted and distorted and misdirected this inner longing in idolatrous directions, nevertheless, the fact that man continues to be a religious animal who longs for the transcendent and the supernatural is evidence that the image of God in man, while it has been distorted, twisted, and besmirched, it has not been utterly destroyed by man’s fall into sin.
The fact is, brothers and sisters, that everybody worships something. Even the atheists worship something. You’re going to serve or worship something or somebody because God has created us to be worshippers. Biblically speaking, this is a foundational reason why so many are fascinated by the supernatural, including fascinated by angels and their ministry. However, once again, what popular culture tells us about angels and the ministry of angels on the one hand, and what the word of God teaches us about angels on the other hand, are often very different, even contradictory. And so this morning, we’re going to consider the vital role that angels play in the history of redemption as recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture. But we are going to do so with a special focus on what we can learn about angels from this very familiar passage from Luke’s Gospel account.
But before we dive into the details, and I’m going to have to lay some general biblical foundations before we look at some of the specifics of our passage for today, let’s first of all consider general Bible truths about angels. Let us briefly consider some general Bible truths about angels. This is the first point on your sermon outline. Now it’s important to understand that angels are not God. They’re not gods. They’re not divine beings. They’re not eternal beings. They are revealed in Scripture to be created beings. That is implied throughout the Scriptures, but it is brought out to the forefront in passages like, for example, Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 16. I preached on this passage on the Last Lord’s Day, but let me just remind us of what it says here in Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 16.
And in verse 15, the focus is on Christ and who he is. And it says of Christ, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created. And what are those all things that were created by him or through him as the divine agent of creation? It says by him all things were created in heaven and on earth. All things that exist in the universe were created through him. And then he goes on to say, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. Now here in this passage, Christ is presented as the divine agent of creation. Notice that there is clearly an invisible realm of creation, which in the context of Paul’s letter to the Colossians is clearly, it would seem, speaking of the angelic realm.
The heresy that Paul was confronting in the church at Colossi was a heresy that included worship of angels and an obsession with the angelic hierarchies. And so clearly these thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities are most likely referring to angelic hierarchies such as might exist. And so angels are created beings. And that’s important. You see, in the scriptures, angels are glorious. They are revealed as glorious and powerful beings. They are not like those little chubby cherub babies that you find on Hallmark stationery. One of those little cherub shows up, it wouldn’t scare anybody. But what happens in the Bible when angels show up? More often than not, when an angel shows up, people freak out. They say, oh no, I’m going to die. And the angel has to say, it’s okay, fear not, be not afraid, I’m not going to hurt you in other words.
Angels are glorious and powerful beings, but at the same time, they are created beings, which means that they are limited in their power, limited in their knowledge, limited in their age, although I think the scriptures give indications that they have existed as long as the physical creation has existed. So they’re very, very old beings, multiple thousands of years old at least. But again, they are created beings. We also learn in the scriptures of angels that angels are spirit beings. They are immaterial beings. They have no bodies, although they are capable of taking upon themselves a temporary human form when God calls them to do so. In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14, the author of Hebrews refers to angels as ministering spirits, ministering spirits. So by their angelic nature, they have no bodies, they are immaterial beings.
And yet at the same time, angelic spirits are capable of temporarily taking upon themselves human form when needed in their communications with men. And to give you an example of that, think back to the days of Abraham. Remember before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, how the Lord came to Abraham along with a couple of angels to remind Abraham of and assure Abraham of the promise of the birth of a son, Isaac, the promised seed of the covenant that would be born of Sarah. Remember that. And how did these angels show up? Well, Abraham saw them in physical form. In fact, Abraham and Sarah prepared a meal for them. And these angelic beings along with the Lord were in human form and were capable of eating food. And yet angels in and of themselves in terms of their intrinsic being are immaterial.
They are spirit beings able to take upon themselves human form temporarily. So angels are created beings. They are spirit beings. And all angels we learn in the scriptures, all angels were created holy and good. All angels were created in a state of righteousness. How do we know that? Well, we know that based on Genesis 1 verse 31, where it says that God created all things how? Very good. God does not create evil. In fact, there’s a very real sense in which evil is not a thing. Evil is the absence of or the distortion of that which is good. God created all things very good. God would not create the evil angels. He would not create them as evil beings because God himself is intrinsically infinitely good. And he created all things in the heavens and on the earth very good.
But what happened? What else do we learn about the angels? Well, we learn that some angels remained good and holy and obedient. They maintained by the grace and help of God, they maintained their original state of righteousness. While other angels, sadly, tragically, freely chose to rebel against God and became wicked. Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 21, 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 21. I know we’re jumping around a little bit, but this is important to kind of give the broader biblical picture here. 1 Timothy 5 verse 21, the apostle Paul writing to his son in the faith, Timothy says this, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Now, it’s interesting, he not only mentions God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he also mentions the elect angels.
The angels who remained good and holy, who maintained their original state of righteousness are described as elect angels. In his electing grace, God chose to preserve these angels from falling into sin and rebellion. But the scriptures also indicate that there are other angels as well. Turn with me, if you would, to 2 Peter 2 and let me read verses 4 through 11. 2 Peter 2 verses 4 through 11, it says this, and again, Peter is confronting an antinomian heresy in this second epistle of his, and he writes this, for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah a herald of righteousness with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.
Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. Now there’s a lot in that passage, but I just want to point out that in verse four we read of these fallen angels, these angels who sinned. So there were elect angels who preserved their original righteousness by the grace and help of God, and then there are evil angels who freely chose to rebel against God and fell into sin. So in terms of what we learn generically in the Bible about angels and their ministry, we learn first of all from these passages that angels are spirit beings who were created good and holy.
The elect angels persevered in their original state of righteousness, but other angels such as Satan fell from their original state of righteousness into rebellion and into damnation. And by the way, God has provided no savior for the fallen angels. Satan and those who followed him in his rebellion have absolutely no hope of salvation. We can praise God that though we are fallen in Adam, God has provided a perfect, all-sufficient savior for us sinners, and that we have, by the grace of God, we have the hope of salvation in Christ who died to save his people from their sins. Now the fallen angels are often called demons, and in terms of the good angels, at times in redemptive history, they are called and enabled by God to take on the temporary human form in order to communicate God’s revelation to his servants, though they don’t always show up in human form.
So that brings me to my next point, and here we’ll begin to get into some of the details of our passage for today. We learn, and this is the second point in your outline, holy angels were frequently called to be bearers of new revelation from God. At pivotal points in redemptive history, God often sent forth his angels to be the bearers of new divine revelation, new revelation from God. So again, holy angels were frequently called to be bearers of new revelation from God. The Bible teaches us that God revealed his word to his prophets and apostles in many different ways. As it says in Hebrews chapter one, verses one and two, in that important passage it says long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world, and so forth.
In that passage, beloved, we learn that God revealed his word in many ways. These many ways included things like visions, dreams, direct verbal communications, and so forth. But frequently in the scriptures, we read of God revealing his word at crucial times in the history of redemption through the agency of the holy angels. God frequently used his holy angels to communicate his word to his prophets and apostles. And that is precisely what is happening in our passage for this Lord’s Day. As we dive in and just look at some of the details in verses eight through twelve of our passage for today, which teach us about angels, I need to remind us that the angels are not the main point of this account here. Jesus is the main focus of this account, but nevertheless we can still learn some important truths about the angels from this passage.
And so it says this in verse eight of Luke chapter two, and in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. Probably a very ordinary scene in that context at that time. But something extraordinary was about to happen. Look at verse nine, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them. Now the term angel indicates messenger, and this was a spirit messenger. This was a holy angel sent from the Lord. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, so they have a revelation of this angelic being. And what happens next? And the glory of the Lord shone around them. You think God had their attention at this point? Absolutely. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. The glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
No chubby cherubs there. They were filled with great fear. And what does the angel say to them? Look at verse 10. And the angel said to them, fear not. Fear not. He doesn’t bring a word of judgment. He doesn’t bring a fearful word. He brings good news. He brings a new revelation from God. This is a very pivotal point in redemptive history, because the Savior has been born. The eternal Son of God has clothed himself in our humanity. The incarnation has occurred. Jesus has been born. And so it says, the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. And what is that good news? That good news, this new revelation given by the angel to these poor shepherds watching their flock by night.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ, in other words, the anointed one, the Messiah, who is Christ the Lord. And then to give them a sign that what he is saying is to be relied upon, the angel says, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host. An angelic chorus shows up all of a sudden. And what are they doing? They’re praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. And so verse 14 here is actually the culmination of the angelic praise that we read of in this passage.
Friends, as we see in our passage for today, angels were often dispatched by God to communicate his word to his people at pivotal points in redemptive history. And there were few pivotal points as pivotal as the incarnation and birth of our Savior. But since we now live in this new covenant era that was ushered in by the coming of Christ, should we now expect angels to be showing up and showing themselves to us as part of their regular ministry to us today? Well, no. We live in a time when we have God’s completed word recorded for us in the Bible. In these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son, as the author of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 1 verse 2. And we have the apostolic testimony to the Son of God in the New Testament scriptures.
We have the completed word of God. And therefore, we should not expect to have angels showing up for the purpose of communicating new divine revelation to us, though I’m sure there are many so-called prophets and apostles out there today claiming to have angelic visions and revelations. But don’t believe them for a second, my friends. See, it is because we have the completed word of God, this is why we ought to be suspicious of anyone today who claims to be receiving messages from angels. Remember that the Bible says that Satan can disguise himself as what? As an angel of light. He can deceptively persuade people that, hey, he’s the good guy. But in reality, he’s the great deceiver. Folks who claim to have contact with the spirit world and with angels included, many of them are, quite frankly, frauds, charlatans.
But those who sincerely believe they’ve received such communications are poor souls who have either been deceived into thinking that they’re in touch with holy angels when, in fact, they may actually be in touch with demonic spirits. Or perhaps they’re individuals who are psychologically imbalanced and need some psychological help. But the point is, my friends, that when it comes to what we are to believe about angels and the supernatural realm, let us always go to the law and to the testimony. Let us always turn to the pages of God’s word to get our instruction on the angelic realm, on who angels are and what they do today. But finally, not only are angels revealed to be bearers of new divine revelation at pivotal points in redemptive history, we learn from this passage and many others like it that holy angels praise God for his mighty acts of redemption, and they provide us as God’s people with an example of praise to God.
This is the final point in your sermon outline. Holy angels praise God for his mighty acts of redemption, and they provide God’s people with an example of praise to God. Again, notice in our passage, after the shepherds receive this wonderful news, this glorious news from the mouth of the angel, what happens next? Again, verse 13, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. There is an explosion of praise at this glorious good news that the angel of the Lord has just announced. My friends, the holy angels delight in the privilege and duty of praising and worshiping God. The worship of Almighty God should not be an act of drudgery, a mere duty, though it is a duty, but it’s not a mere duty.
It should be a delight. And if you’ve tasted that the Lord is good, if you know Christ is your savior, you know that though you are a wretched, vile sinner, Jesus took your sin upon himself, that your sin was nailed to the cross and buried in his tomb, and that you’ve been forgiven through his blood and clothed in his perfect everlasting righteousness. If you know this to be true, how can you help but burst forth in praise and gratitude? The angels delight in the privilege and duty of worshiping and praising God, and they were created for this very purpose, and guess what? So were you, and so was I. When we offer our worship and praise to God, we are engaging in our highest duty and privilege. We are fulfilling our highest calling, and we are practicing here on earth for our life together with God in heaven.
Most times in the scriptures, we read of angels praising God not only for who he is and for his mighty works of creation, but praising him as well for his glorious works of salvation and of judgment among the sons of men. Their heavenly praises ought to be an inspiration and an example to us believers today. And as we pray in the Lord’s prayer for God’s will to be done, we say, what, thy kingdom thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven? Well, as we pray that prayer, we should reflect upon what the angels in heaven are doing. What are the angels in heaven doing? They are praising God. The heavenly praises ought to be an inspiration and an example, and as we pray in the Lord’s prayer for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we should note that in heaven the angelic hosts are continuously glorifying God in their praise and worship and song.
Heaven’s not going to be a boring place. It’s not like floating around on a cloud, strumming your harp. That looks kind of boring to me, I don’t know about you. Maybe you’re a harpist and you like to play music, that might be interesting to you, but to me that sounds awfully boring. No, heaven’s not going to be a boring place. We are going to be busy in heaven, but with a restful busyness. We will be praising God forever. Praising and serving the Lord both now and forevermore. And so the angelic hosts who praise God, continuously glorifying Him in their praise and worship, they are an example to us here on earth for our worship and our praise. The praises of the angels should fuel and inspire our praises to God. Notice what the heavenly host was praising God for in verse 14.
Did they say, glory to you Lord for all that you’ve done for me? Well certainly we can praise God for what He’s done for us, but what is their focus? What do they say? They say, glory to God in the highest. God’s glory is the chief end of all things. You know I quoted earlier, as I often do from our shorter catechism, that man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, but did you know that God’s chief end is also to glorify God and to enjoy Himself forever? You might say, well that sounds kind of egotistical, doesn’t that make God kind of self-centered? No it doesn’t. I think it was John Piper who pointed out that if God were to prioritize anything above His own glory, then God would be guilty of idolatry.
He’s the greatest and He knows He’s the greatest, but here’s the thing about God. How does God most glorify Himself? How does He magnify and display His glory? Well the chief way, the chief and greatest vehicle for doing so is by graciously redeeming His chosen ones from their sins by giving His Son the Lord Jesus Christ for their redemption. God is most glorified through our redemption. God magnifies His glorious grace by giving of Himself for us and for our salvation. Again as we are reminded in that well-known passage of John 3.16, for God so loved that He did what? He gave. He gave agape love, self-giving, self-sacrificing love. So they say, glory to God in the highest, but what about on earth? And on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased. Now some versions say more generically, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men, towards men generically.
But it would seem that this translation and translations like it are more accurate. The NIV translates it as, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests. In other words, peace does not reign among all men generically, including the wicked reprobate and the unrepentant, no. Most scholars again seem to agree that this probably represents here the best translation. Verse 14 in the ESV, and those like translations like it, on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased. That brings an important implication. You see friends, God is not pleased with all men. His gracious favor is sovereign and particular. He has chosen His people to be saved in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And you may say, well, Pastor Jeff, if that’s the case, how do I know that God is pleased with me?
Well, let me ask you, dear listener, are you in Christ? Are you in union with Christ? Have you trusted Christ and Christ alone for your salvation from sin? Have you received and rested upon Christ as your Lord and Savior? See it is only if you have turned to the Lord Jesus Christ in penitent faith and are thus in Christ that you can know that His favor rests upon you. And if you’re here today or if you’re listening through the internet and you’re not sure whether you’re right with the Lord, seek the Lord while He may be found. Turn to Jesus today. He will not turn you away. If you come to Him burdened by your sin, honest about your sin and cast yourself upon His mercy, He will receive you. Jesus says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Come to Jesus, trust Him as your Lord. He was crucified for the forgiveness of sins and raised from the dead so that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. Believe that in Jesus you have a merciful, forgiving God and you will be saved by the grace of God. And so friends, as we wrap up our time in the Word today, angels, we need to remember angels are not the main actors in the drama of the Bible, God is. But angels play an important supporting role. Angels play an important role in the background scenery of the drama of redemption that is revealed in the Word of God. The holy angels serve as guardians of God’s holiness. They serve as agents, God’s agents of divine revelation and they serve as examples of heavenly praise and worship.
By the grace of God, let us in imitation of the angels seek to guard God’s holiness in our lives and in His church. Let us treasure, guard and propagate the Word of God and its divinely revealed truths. And let us imitate the heavenly liturgy in our earthly worship, seeking in our worship for God’s will to be done on earth even as it is in heaven. Again, as the heavenly hosts proclaim, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased and all of God’s people said, amen. Let’s pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, the scriptures tell us, Lord, that even the angels, the holy angels do not need to be redeemed as we do, and yet they are fascinated and study and are interested in that which you have done to save your people from their sins.
Oh Lord, we would ask that you would help us to share in the fascination of the angels for the way of salvation that you have revealed in your Word. And we would pray that by your grace, like the angels, we may strive to guard your holiness in our hearts and in our lives, that we may seek to propagate your Word, the Bible and its truths, and that we may also seek to imitate them in praising you for who you are and for all that you have done for us. Lord, indeed, we pray that you would be glorified and magnified in our hearts and lives, both now and in the coming new year. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, amen. Dear ones, let’s close our time of worship by rising and we’ll sing together 313, angels from the realms of glory, 313.
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