Angels we have heard on High may be the oldest of all the Christmas carols we sing. There is evidence, somewhat disputed, that this carol was sung in the Church at Rome as early as 129 AD. It is interesting that we may be singing a carol nearly 2000 years old. Of course, when first sung, it was sung in Latin – “Gloria en excelsis Deo. The message of the carol is even more inspiring than its history. It transports us to the time when the angels of God appeared in chorus to bring the message of the birth of Jesus Christ to lowly shepherds caring for their sheep. The carol celebrates the message of the angels. Now, angels have a very prominent and an important part of the Christmas story. Angels are from the heavens they are not from this world and are not confined by our natural laws. They can appear and disappear at will giving the illusion they travel at unimaginable speeds.

Joan Anderson is one of the most prolific American authors on the subject of human experiences with angels. She wrote Where Angels Walk, the book remained on the New York Times Best-Seller List for over a year. This vocation was inspired by her son’s personal encounter with angels. They saved his life. She tells of some…

I. Very Significant Stories

1. She tells the story of the two pilots in a very small plane flying in fog, and unable to land. A voice came over the speaker and talked them down into a small airport, where they landed safely. They discovered as they got out of the plane that the airport was closed, and no one was on duty. Further, they were so off course that no other airport could have contacted them.

In another true story, a lost 2 year old was safely carried to his front door by angels. He told his parents that he wasn’t afraid because the angels said they would protect him. They found no one at the door or anywhere in site.

2. In yet another true angel encounter, two women were in a basement cleaning out the belongings of a deceased friend. A brightly lit, white figure appeared in the middle of the basement, pointed toward a door and told them to get out! When they returned, the basement had fallen in. I believe these are very common experiences of man in regards to angels.

3. Whether it’s a rescue from a life threatening situation or just a comforting spirit in a time of need, angels are often there right when you need them. But, you may not always see them, an angel could just simply be that soft voice in the back of your mind, you know, that little voice we’d rather call intuition!

According to a Gallup poll, over 75% of Americans believe in angels – even more than attend church regularly. This says to me that many people are looking back at the coincidences in their lives and are beginning to see something else – perhaps a certain protection or comfort coming at just the right time. They are always dispatch by God for significant assignments. God angels are his secret agent as describe by the late Dr. Billy Graham and the gospels tell us that God sent these angels at the cross roads of time and on…

II. Very Significant Missions

1. The angel Gabriel was a chief messenger of God because he delivered several very important messages from God to human beings. He communicated crucial information concerning the future of Israel and the Messiah to Daniel (Dan. 8 and 9).

He informed Zacharias the priest that he would be the father of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah (Lk. 1:5-20). Gabriel revealed to the virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah (Lk. 1:26-38). We will look at these in detail later.

Thirty-four of the 66 books of the Bible refer to angelic beings by the simple term angel (singular and plural), which occurs more than 300 times. The Scripture also refers to them by other terms. The term angel simply means “messenger. It refers to a being that is sent by another with a commission.

Although the Bible does not tell us the total number of these Angels, it indicates an enormous host of angelic beings exists. The apostle John saw hundreds of millions of holy angels around God’s throne in heaven, according to the Greek text of Revelation 5:11. The prophet Daniel saw a similar sight (Dan. 7:9-10). (These sights of holy angels did not include all the fallen angels who serve Satan.)

Hebrews 12:22, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. I tell you this because at this time of the year you will see classic movies like “A Wonderful Life” and it is not biblical that humans die and have to earn their wings… Hallmark channel isn’t helping either…

The scriptures seem to indicate that all angels were created before the third day…Genesis 1:13 and Job 38:1-8.

Now, Gabriel and Michael are two of the four highest angels. The church calls them by the term Archangels. The Jewish Talmud teaches that God created four archangels to be the heads over all other angels and to surround His throne. The Talmud means: “instruction learning rituals, customs and history. According to this tradition, the names of the four archangels are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael.” The names Uriel and Raphael, however, are not applied to any angels in the inspired books of the Bible.

These angels often are called by God for…

III A Very Significant Purpose

1. As we turn to the Christmas story, angels play more than a cameo appearance. Almost everywhere you turn in the Christmas story, you see an angel. The angel Gabriel visited a priest named Zechariah to tell him that he was also going to have a child, John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-19).

When God wanted to send out a birth announcement for His Son’s birthday He chose Gabriel to speak to Mary.

2. Gabriel tells Mary about her situation, “Thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women” (1:28).We meet still another angel who visits Joseph on two different occasions to explain things to him as well in Matthew 1: 21 this angel instructed Joseph that the child was to be called Jesus, a name full of meaning, the Greek equivalent of Joshua, meaning that Jehovah saves His people. In Matthew 1:22 the angel instructed Joseph, “Mary son is Immanuel God with us.

3. Angels share the message of Christ’s birth with the shepherds as well… But of all the great assignments that angels have done throughout time, none were as important as the assignment given to Gabriel at this moment. Finally in the Advent account we witness angels protecting the baby Jesus by telling the Magi to go home a different way to avoid Herod. Joseph was warned in a dream by another angel, to take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.- Matthew 2:13

Conclusion:

Angels did God’s bidding for us to receive Christ. God has giving a gift that will never stop giving. It is the gift of eternal life. It is a gift that you cannot lose it is a gift that keeps on given. Even now we are given unfathomable gifts.

I Corinthian2: [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.