The Angels of Christmas (Message 1)

Two Lessons for this Series

Angels are an ESSENTIAL part of the Christmas story.

The words of the angels help us to understand WHO God is and HOW He relates to man.

What Do We Know About Angels from Scripture?

Angel appearances in the Bible are INFREQUENT. The exception is the BIRTH of Jesus and His resurrection.

— There are 17 references to angels in the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke. There is ONE mention of them at Jesus’ temptation, and not ANOTHER appearance of an angel until Jesus’ death and resurrection.

— There are 5 appearances of angels in the first 12 chapters of ACTS, but not another throughout the REST of the book.

Angels are sent to MINISTER to and for those who are BELIEVERS.
Heb. 1:14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

No angel in Scripture has WINGS except the Cherubim and Seraphim and they have SIX.
Is. 6:2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

Angels in the Bible are pictured as MALE.
Mark 16:5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

Angels don’t SING in Scripture except BEFORE the earth’s creation and AFTER the second coming of Christ.
Luke 2:13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

Angels are working AMONG us though we normally wouldn’t RECOGNIZE them as angels.
Heb. 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

The First Angel Appearance of Christmas

An AGING Couple
Luke 1:5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

a. Zechariah and Elizabeth were an OLDER couple who obeyed the LORD and the traditions (decrees) of men. They were GOOD people who were barren, and UNKNOWN.

b. God designed it so that Zechariah would LIGHT the incense on a particular day. He was from the division of ABIJAH.
— Each of the 24 divisions of priests served for ONE week, TWICE each year. (1 Chr. 24:4-6)
— There were HUNDREDS of priests in each division.
— Zechariah was chosen by LOT for this honor.

An ANGELIC Appearance
Luke 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 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 the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

a. Zechariah was both startled and TERRIFIED, but the angel told him he didn’t need to FEAR. (Last appearance?)

b. The angel was sent in RESPONSE to Zechariah’s prayers for a child. It would be a BOY whose name would be JOHN. The baby would be a joy to his parents and to MANY others.

c. John would be UNIQUE as he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from BEFORE his birth, and he would begin to draw Israel back to God. He would be like the Old Testament ELIJAH.

d. Most importantly, John would PREPARE the world for Jesus.

An APPEAL for Proof
Luke 1:18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

a. Even now, this prophecy seems IMPOSSIBLE.

b. Zechariah explained why it COULDN’T be so.

An ANSWER from Gabriel
Luke 1:19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

a. Gabriel introduced HIMSELF and his purpose. He basically said, “NOW you should be afraid”.

b. Gabriel had come to share the good NEWS, but because of his doubt, Zechariah would not be allowed to SPEAK about it until after the child was born.

c. God’s words were GUARANTEED at their appointed time!

Some Application Thoughts!

The angels were a SIGN that God was doing something big and these angels had the JOY of sharing it.

Everything God does is at the PERFECT time!
Gal. 4:4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Walk The Talk

What did you learn about angels particularly in view of the world’s understanding?

Do you think you might have had an angelic appearance in your life? If you are comfortable doing so, share it.

What is the best lesson you learned from this angelic appearance to Zechariah?