The subject of angels has long fascinated most
people. Books have been written about them. Movies
and TV series have been based upon their existence.
And frankly, students of the Bible are no less
curious than the population in general when it
comes to the matter of the angels. Inquiring
minds want to know. about these beings from another
realm who can on occasion appear and who witness
human events. Who are the angels? Hebrews chapter
1 is a chapter that tells us something about
the angels. I invite you to turn there with me
as we begin our study of scripture this morning
and our theme, the meaning of Christmas to the
angels. Hebrews chapter 1 is, in its context,
a chapter about the superiority of Jesus Christ
over the angels. He is superior to, supreme over,
the angelic realm. In verse 6, the writer says,
And when he again brings the firstborn into the
world. a reference to the coming again of Jesus
Christ, he says, and let all the angels of God
worship him. And of the angels, he says, who
makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame
of fire. And then in verse 14, are they not all
ministering spirits? sent out to render service
for the sake of those who will inherit salvation."
You see several things about the angels here.
In the first place, angels are God's servants.
They do His bidding. We also see that they are
spirits. That does not mean that they don't exist,
the figment of imagination. But it means they
exist in a different realm than the one that
we live in. We live in a physical, material realm.
Their realm of being is the spiritual, and so
they are spirits. They are fitted to live and
to serve God in that realm. And we see that angels
render service, it says in verse 14, to the heirs
of salvation. I would take that to mean you and
me. Here is a text. that at least suggests the
concept of guardian angels, which some of us
hear about occasionally in our growing up years.
Angels have some ministry of service to those
who will be the heirs of salvation. In Hebrews
chapter 12 and verse 22, we find out one more
fact about the angels. In contrasting us in this
age, to those who were related to God in the
past age, the age of the law. He says in verse
22, but you have come to Mount Zion and to the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem
and to myriads of angels. The thought here is
that angels are many in number. And when John
sees them in the book called the Revelation of
Jesus Christ, he says that there are too many
to number, at least from his perspective. We
also learn from the New Testament that angels
are organized into hierarchies or systems of
authority. They are not all created equal. Some
have greater authority than others. And some
have particular responsibilities. The seraphim
and the cherubim seem to have a special relationship
to the throne of God. They seem to be a special
class or kind of angel. They are described as
having wings. But angels in general are not necessarily
pictured as having wings, except on our Christmas
cards, of course. But as much as we know of angels,
they do not, the general kind of angel that appeared,
they do not possess wings. Only a few of them
are identified for us in the Bible. There are
three of them specifically. One is Michael. Not
all angels are Michael and not all Michaels are
angels, that's for sure. But this Michael is
an angel. He is named in Jude verse 9, Daniel
chapter 10, and also Revelation 12, a passage
we're going to look at a little bit later. Michael
is called the Archangel, which means that he
is a very powerful angel, perhaps the most powerful
of God -serving angels. And then there is another
angel that is named, and that is Gabriel. who
had the privilege of announcing the birth of
John the Baptist to Zacharias, and then the announcement
to Mary also of the birth of Jesus. And then
a third angel is named, and that is the angel
called Lucifer in Isaiah 14 -12. His name means
morning star or bright one. This is the angel.
that fell from heaven because of his pride and
rebellion against God. He has now been renamed
as the devil and as Satan. So who is Satan? He
is an angel who fell because of his rebellion
and pride against God. Now the angels are deeply
involved in the flow of history, human history.
Their efforts in the angelic realm affects the
direction that human history takes. This is clearly
stated to us in the tenth chapter of Daniel,
a place that we don't have time to read this
morning. The angels were involved in the coming
of Christ to the earth, just as in the future
they will be involved in his return to the earth
in glory. He will be accompanied by an army of
these angelic beings. Now to the angels, the
meaning of Christmas might include three ideas.
This is a sermon, of course, so there have to
be three ideas. First, the idea of work. Secondly,
warfare. They all begin with W, too, because
this is a sermon. Work, warfare, and wonder.
Those are the three key words I want us to think
about this morning as we consider the meaning
of Christmas. to the angels. In the first place,
to the angels, Christmas means an assignment
of work. An assignment of work. The angels were
created by God and are employed by Him in carrying
out His divine purposes in the universe. As I've
already suggested, they assist God in providentially
and sovereignly overseeing the events of time
so that God's plans are ultimately realized.
Don't ever think that somehow God's purposes
are going to be derailed along the way by any
human effort or any effort of Satan. All of that
is limited. God's sovereign purposes will ultimately
be accomplished, and the angels are employed
by God in causing those purposes to come about.
Keep in mind that the angelic realm is another
whole reality, which we know very little about.
But we are given some windows of insight here
and there in the scriptures. As I've also already
said, the angels were dispatched to announce
Christ's birth. Now we want to look at the announcement
that was made in Luke chapter 2. So would you
turn there with me to the Gospel of Luke as we
come to a rather strange bunch of people who
hear the first announcement of the birth of Christ.
And we look at verse 8. There were some shepherds
staying out in the fields and keeping watch over
their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord
suddenly stood before them, and the glory of
the Lord shone round about them, and they were
terribly frightened." And so we see a singular
angel who appears to the shepherds to make the
announcement. And as he suddenly stands before
them, notice he is not flying up in the air.
He is standing before them. There is light all
around them. It's called the glory of the Lord,
which would be the Shekinah, one would think,
of God, or at least the reflection of that. The
glory of God was there to lit up the whole area
where the shepherds were camped. And the angel
said to them, do not be afraid. That was important
to say because at the end of verse 9 it says
they were terribly frightened and it's hard to
put into English what the original says but it
says that they feared a great fear. These men
were scared out of their wits just like you would
be had you been there that night. And so the
angel tries to calm them and he says do not be
afraid for behold I bring you good news. of a
great joy which shall be for all the people.
For today in the city of David there has been
born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you, you will find
a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
So although the angel did not specify that they
were to go to Bethlehem, at least he implicated
that by what implied that by what he said here
and how to find the baby and as soon as he had
spoken that suddenly just as suddenly as that
first angel had appeared and God turned on the
light bulb just that suddenly there was another
group of angels that appeared with the first
one and they were saying something different
they were praising God and this is what they
said verse 14 Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased."
Notice the rendering of the last part of verse
14. It's much better than the King James, which
has led to some misunderstanding about what the
angel was saying here. In the first place, they
direct a message toward heaven. Glory to God
in the highest. And then they direct a message
to the earth. And on earth, they say, peace.
Glory to God, peace to men. But not to all men.
Not to all men. To those with whom God is pleased.
And who are they? Well, they are the ones who
are in obedience to God. They are the ones who
have believed God. They are the ones who are
trusting Him. Those who have pleased Him in that
sense. To those, God gives peace. G. Campbell
Morgan says, the heavenly host was chanting the
anthems of welcome not merely to that baby but
to a new race, the race that will spring from
that baby. From that child, that son of God,
child of Mary, born and laid in a manger, will
spring the race which will satisfy the divine
demands and please the heart of God. Peace there
is, peace for them. The old prophetic word rings
its minor chord of solemn warning down the ages.
There is no peace, saith my God to the wicked.
First pure, then peaceable. Now Morgan's point
is that that evening as the angels made their
announcement they were proclaiming peace to a
new race of people. A new family, a new entity,
those who belong to God through this babe that
was born, his death and resurrection. Peace to
them who would be related to God through this
child in his saving work later at the cross.
But to those who remain in unbelief and in sin,
there rests that ancient word from the prophet
that says there is no peace to the wicked. In
our world today there are those who are at peace
with God because they have believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ and there are those who have no
peace with God because they remain in their sin.
And every one of us in this room this morning
is in one group or the other. There's no middle
ground. Either we have peace with God or we have
no peace with God. And the whole difference rests
upon what we do with Jesus Christ. and what our
response to Him is. Well, the angels then slowly
withdrew from the shepherd's field back into
heaven. Now, how they did that, we are not told.
But they slowly went back, they withdrew, until
finally they were taken out of the sight of these
shepherds. They went back actually to their normal
realm of existence, which is the spiritual realm.
Can you imagine the joy that was the shepherds
on that first Christmas night? As they heard
the good news and then went to Bethlehem and
found the situation just as the angels had said
to them, they went away rejoicing and sharing
with everyone that they met what had happened
and what an example they give to us. that having
come to the Savior and found in Him all that
God says we'll find in Him, we should then go
out and spread that news to all who will listen,
just as did the shepherds. But coming back to
the angels, can you imagine the excitement that
was in their ranks that night as at least a group
of them were given this assigned work of coming
into the realm of the material and announcing
to us the birth of a Savior who is Christ the
Lord. To the angels Christmas means work, but
to the angels it also means warfare. It means
an intensification of warfare. We're going to
turn now to the book of the Revelation in the
12th chapter. As we read this text, keep in mind
that the language here reflects what John literally
saw. We can only try to imagine the difficulty
that he had in attempting to relate this vision
to his vocabulary and experience. But he is led
by the Spirit of God in doing that, and what
he writes he literally saw, but also keep in
mind that what he saw is somewhat symbolic and
representative of actual entities. In other words,
what we see here represents something else. As
we'll see, a great sign appeared in heaven, a
woman clothed with the sun. and the moon under
her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
And she was with child, and she cried out, being
in labor and in pain, to give birth. And another
sign appeared in heaven, and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and
on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail
swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and
threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood
before the woman who was about to give birth,
so that when she gave birth he might devour her
child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child,
who is to rule all the nations with a rod of
iron." and her child was caught up to God and
to His throne. And we'll stop there for the moment
because this part of the chapter is historical.
In other words, these things are indicators,
are symbolic of events that have already taken
place. Now we need to identify these people or
these characters or these entities. Who is the
woman? Commentators have a variety of descriptions
for this. I believe that the best one, for a
number of reasons, is that the woman represents
the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel. The
nation of Israel here is said to be pregnant,
to be great with child. And who is this male
child? Well, the identity of the child helps
us to identify the woman. The child's identity
is very clear to us in verse 5, for this child
will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
Furthermore, this child was caught up to God
and to His throne, and so the child is the Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom birth was given by the
nation of Israel. He came from the Jews. And
then the great red dragon, well again that's
identified for us in the text a little bit later
on in verse 9. It is Satan, the devil. And finally
there is in verse 7 another important character
here that is Michael and his angels who waged
war with the dragon. Now let's talk about verses
1 through 5 just very quickly. We learn from
this in the first place that Christ's lineage
naturally is from the Jews. He is an Israeli.
A lot of us like that little Christmas carol
the children sing. Some see him lily white, the
baby Jesus born this night, and then the verse
is gone. Each child pictures him like himself.
I think it's a beautiful carol, and it's true.
But if you stop to think about it at the moment,
our Savior is probably not light -skinned with
blue eyes and blonde hair, as we often see Him
pictured in our Caucasian paintings, depictions.
But rather He is probably dark -haired, olive
-skinned, with dark eyes, being a Jew. He was
born of the woman. And just as it says here,
the dragon was waiting to destroy the child,
so we see throughout the Old Testament, as well
as at the very birth of Christ, the attempts
of Satan to cut off the Christ. Time and again
he sought to kill the possibility of the Savior
being born to the Jewish people. And then when
the Savior was born, he worked through Herod
to try to literally kill the child himself. All
of that is history. And then we see the child
being caught up to the throne of God in verse
5, and that is a description of his ascension
back to heaven. And so certainly it's a sweeping
and broad description of the child. It does not
include the cross or the resurrection. but it
picks out some of the important things and it
puts him back in heaven. All of that is history.
That's where Jesus is today. Now in the chapter,
there's no indication of a time separation between
verses five and six, but that is the case. Because
in verse six, what is described is something
that yet takes place in the future. It's elaborated
upon later in the chapter. We don't have time
to go into all of that. But this woman, and who
is the woman again? Israel, fled into the wilderness
where she had a place prepared by God, so that
there she might be nourished for 1 ,260 days.
You say, are those literal days? I take them
that way. And the same period of time is again
repeated later in the chapter. Oh, it's called
differently there. Now in verse 7, John moves
his description to the angelic realm. He says,
there was war in heaven. Now that doesn't mean
in the New Jerusalem, in the abode of God, but
it's talking about the heavenly realm, the realm
of spirits. There was war in heaven. Michael
and his angels waging war with the dragon. And
the dragon and his angels waged war and they
were not strong enough. And there was no longer
a place found for them in heaven, that is, in
the realm where they are at the present time
in their activity. Satan is called the prince
of the power of the air. So his realm of operation,
his activity is in the atmosphere. And he has
access, in some sense, to this spiritual realm,
the heavens. But in verse 9, things change. Now
remember, we're talking prophecy here. We're
talking about what will happen in the tribulation
period yet to come. The great dragon was thrown
down, the serpent of old who is called the devil
and Satan who deceives the whole world. What
a dreadful description of him that is. But how
accurate. He deceives the whole world. He was
thrown down to the earth and his angels were
thrown down with him. And so however this is
accomplished, What it tells us is that Satan's
realm of operation is limited at this particular
point in the future to the earth. He no longer
has the kind of access that he has today and
he responds very angrily. A loud voice was heard
in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God and the authority
of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our
brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them
before our God day and night. And they overcame
him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because
of the word of their testimony, and they did
not love their life even to death. For this reason
rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.
Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil
has come down to you, having great wrath. knowing
that he has only a short time. So there is a
statement here in these verses anticipating that
final victory that will come. Satan's being thrown
down just one step toward that. In verse 13,
when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to
the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth
to the male child. And so this is that yet future
persecution that will come to the Jewish people
in the tribulation period. which will exceed,
I am sorry to say in its ferocity, the persecution
that Hitler plagued them with in World War II.
But God supernaturally intervenes and protects,
and in verses 14 through 17 that is further prophesied
to us. Now I read this chapter because it tells
us of that warfare that is constantly taking
place in the heavenly realm. And it mentions
the birth of the male child and then his being
caught up into heaven at his ascension. And it
mentions the woman and it mentions the persecution
that will come to her and the anger, the wrath
of the great dragon who was thrown down to the
earth. All of this suggests to us that to the
angelic realm Christmas means and intensification
of spiritual warfare. The point here is that
the birth of Christ signaled to the angels the
coming defeat of Satan. Now when I say to the
angels, I mean to the holy angels as well as
to the fallen angels. The birth of the Christ
signaled to both groups the coming defeat of
Satan. And it undoubtedly caused the warfare
in that realm of the heavenlies to be intensified
and to grow worse. And one day, when Michael
and his angels finally succeed in casting Satan
and his angels down to the earth and limiting
them, that warfare will even become more intense,
particularly as it affects human beings. and
the Jews in particular. We need ladies and gentlemen
to be aware of spiritual warfare. If we do not
become aware of the warfare that is going on,
we become the witless victims of it. There are
cosmic forces of good and evil that are battling
for supremacy. Now, we know already who is going
to win. The Word of God tells us that. But Satan
does not believe it. Not only is he able to deceive
the whole world, but he is thoroughly able to
deceive himself. He is the most deceived of all
and is convinced that somehow, in the end, he
is going to be able to destroy the male child.
and take the place of God on the earth. He is
convinced of that. Therefore his warfare is very,
very intense. And so as the angels of God think
of Christmas, I believe they must surely identify
with Christmas, with the incarnation, the intensification
of their struggle against angelic evil beings.
I believe that's part of what Christmas means
to the angels. So as you and I enter into Christmas,
we ought to be aware of some facts too. That
around this whole event that we commemorate at
Christmas, there is unseen warfare taking place
which has intensified because of it. And if you
and I do not learn to enter into that warfare
by prayer, if we do not learn to put on our spiritual
armor, we will become the victims of the enemy
and not the victors that God wants us to be in
this world. A Christian who is living for the
world, who is living carnally, is a Christian
who is just begging to be defeated by the enemy.
In fact, he's already halfway there by the lifestyle
he's choosing, by the disobedience in his life.
So what this tells us is that as we come to Christmas,
you and I need to be alert. We need to be on
guard. We need to be obedient. Our lives need
to be right. We need to be living purely so that
we are standing. in spiritual warfare and through
prayer entering into it. You say, how does that
affect it? I don't understand all of that. I
just know that as we pray it makes a difference
in the successes that the angels have. So as
we pray for the advance of the gospel into the
darkness of heathenism, it makes a difference.
It makes a difference. And so I exhort all of
us to be involved in that as we come to Christmas.
Finally, to the angels, Christmas means wonder.
A source of wonder. You say, are the angels really
capable of wondering? Well, I believe they are.
They are described as having personality. We
can point to places in the Bible where it says
they have emotion. There's great joy in the presence
of God over a sinner who repents. They have intellect.
They know. And they learn. And by the way, they
learn from watching you and me. I wonder what
they're learning. And in addition to that, they
have will. They can choose. For example, Michael
chose to do battle with Satan over the body of
Moses, according to a very mysterious verse in
the book of Jude. So they have personality and
they are able to wonder. I believe that in the
first place they wonder at God's appearance in
human form. I think they must, by wonder, by
the way I mean astonishment. I think they are
astonished. at God's appearance in human form.
Turn with me back to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and
verse 16. We find here a condensed statement
that the Apostle Paul draws from some source
in his day. Perhaps a hymn or perhaps a doctrinal
summary of some sort. But he says, and by common
confession great is the mystery of godliness.
1 Timothy 3, 16. He who was revealed in the flesh,
we know who that is, was vindicated in the Spirit,
beheld by angels. Isn't that interesting? That
in the middle of these brief statements it says,
he who was revealed in the flesh was beheld by
angels. Now angels live in the very presence
of God. They're able to look upon, as much as
we know, the essence of God. And yet, now they
see God coming in human form. He was revealed
in flesh. He was incarnated. I believe that that
night at Bethlehem there must have been a scrambling
for room. to look into that stable to see God
incarnated. You say, how many angels have to
scramble to look in? I don't know. If you can
tell me how many can stand on the head of a pin,
I'll tell you how many have to scramble to look
into the stable. But the point is that I believe
that they were absolutely amazed at what they
were seeing. That the eternal God who had created
them, who dwells in magnificence, and majesty
on high should now be found here in the body
of this baby. I believe that Christmas to them
is a source of wonder. And I also believe it's
a source of wonder because of God's display of
grace towards sinners. Turn over to 1 Peter chapter
1. For what is our last reference this morning?
1 Peter 1 Peter says in verse 10 as to this salvation
the prophets who prophesied of the grace that
would come to you made careful search and inquiry
seeking to know what person or Time the spirit
of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted
the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow
What these verses say is that the prophets themselves,
as they were inspired by God to write their words,
did not understand fully what they were writing.
And they sought diligently to try to understand
what the Spirit of Christ in them was saying.
And it says in verse 12, it was revealed to them
that they were not serving themselves, but you.
You. Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Moses. They were
not serving themselves as the Spirit of Christ
was prophesying. They were serving you in these
things which now have been announced to you through
those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy
Spirit sent from heaven. Now notice the end of
verse 12. Things into which angels long to look.
The language here suggests that the angels are
bending forward and stretching out and gazing
intently with deep desire that they might seek
to understand and comprehend the gospel of the
grace of God. They wonder. They are amazed at
the grace that God has poured out upon you and
me through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So what does Christmas mean to the angels? It
means that it's a source of wonder. A wonder
that the infinite God would come in form of a
baby. Wonder the display of the grace of God
for sinners like us. And yet, And yet, how else
could God teach the angels of His grace except
that it be displayed for unworthy sinners whom
He has chosen? As for the angels, I believe that
Christmas ought to be a source of wonder to us.
We too ought to be amazed at what God did 2 ,000
years ago when He came into the world. We ought
to consider the grace of God better. We ought
to receive the grace of God that was manifested
then. What was a wonder to the angels is an opportunity
for us. You see, the Savior was not born to save
angels. Angels cannot be saved if they have fallen.
The Savior was born in the likeness of human
flesh to save human sinners. So what is a wonder
to the angels is an opportunity for every sinner
to be saved. Dr. Andrew Bonar of Scotland was
on one occasion saying goodbye to a medical missionary
friend of his. happened on that occasion to be
accompanied by his sister. It was to her that
the aged servant of Christ, Dr. Bonar, said,
well, my dear, what is your name? And she replied,
Christine. What a lovely name, he said. You see,
my dear, you have Christ in your name. But have
you Christ in your heart? The missionary's sister
remained silent, but she could not escape the
question. And that night, after a long talk with
her brother, she received Jesus Christ and her
heart was saved. And then she went on to serve
in Edinburgh, students, and was a great servant
of the Lord Jesus Christ. My friend, the issue
this Christmas season is not Christ in the manger.
But it is rather whether Christ is in your heart.
That's the question. You may wonder, as the angels
did, but have you received personally by faith
this Christ who was born that He might later
die and be resurrected for you? Is Christ in
your heart this morning? Let's bow together.
With our heads bowed, our eyes closed. I wonder
how many can say this morning with assurance
that only the Spirit of God can give that Jesus
Christ is living in your heart. Would you lift
your hand? Yes, He's there. That's wonderful.
I wonder if there is someone this morning who
would receive the Savior though. You know, the
angels are watching. And somehow the angels are
able to perceive who is and who isn't a child
of God. And it says that there's joy in their
ranks when even just one, just one sinner repents
and trusts the Savior. Would you be that one
this morning that would cause the angels to rejoice
at this Christmas season? And how much greater
your joy? than theirs should you do that. Will
you in your heart of hearts right now pray and
by faith tell the Savior that you know you're
a sinner, one of those He came to save, that
because He loves you, and died for you and rose
again, you're giving yourself to Him and receiving
Him for yourself. If you've done that this morning,
I hope that you'll come by the front door here
as you exit and shake my hand and say to me this
morning, I receive Christ. I'd like to be able
to mail some things to you that will help you
to grow in your Christian life. Father, I pray
that having learned something of what Christmas
means to the angels, we will learn something
more of what it can and should mean to all of
us who are yours by faith. I pray that we will
be busy with our assignment of work, sharing
the good news. Thank you that you've given us
that privilege. I pray that we will be involved
in spiritual warfare, realizing the intensity
of it because Christ has come and is coming again.
God make us faithful and good soldiers of Jesus
Christ. to stand on the front lines and not to
be defeated. And then I pray that we will all
find Christmas a source of wonder and amazement
and worship as we recall and remember what you've
done, the amazing things that you've done in
coming into this world to save us. We pray in
Jesus' name, amen.