R573 The Hark of The Herald Angels, PT.2

God has an encouraging word for you and me today, through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton, as we continue this study on angels.

That's right, it's the heart of the Herald Angels. We'll study that with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment, but I pray that you would know we're available for you. Available 24 hours a day at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. As Dr. Don mentions, we all need some 2 a.m. friends, and we'd be happy to be one of yours. Jot the number down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673. We'll always connect with someone ready to talk and listen and pray with you. That's 866-899-9673, or online at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org.

Now, Dr. Don Wilton. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, just by the way, where do angels live? Anybody know? In heaven. They're in heaven. I wish I had time to get in the book of Revelation, do some eschatology here this morning. But I want you to know that when you get into the book of Revelation, we find time after time after time after time after time that the heavenly hosts, the gathering of the angels, the number of humuses of the sand of the sea, gather together around the throne of God. And they sing and they praise his name and they fall down and they worship him. But you know something, friends?

It's true. I'm just going to tell you something. When I look out across the congregation and I see someone standing there at Christmas time and looking like they're recovering from hookworm treatment. And we singing glory to God in the highest and hark the herald angels and I say to myself, my, oh my, oh my.

Are you going to be in for a surprise? Because when you get to heaven, you are going to sing your voice out. Because that's what the Bible teaches. Well, look what happens here. When the angels had left them, gone back into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

Friends, did you notice that? Did you notice here that the shepherds didn't say which the angel told us about? Remember that angels are not a substitute for God. We are never given permission in the Bible to ever magnify, revere, worship or adore angels or saints or anybody else in between.

It runs in the face of God. It is idolatry. The Bible says it is idolatrous. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. The shepherds did not have the permission of Almighty God to revere the angels or to even refer to the angels because they understood that anything that the angels did is attributable in totality to Almighty God. That's what the Bible teaches.

Well, look what happens. Bible says, let's go to Bethlehem, see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. They weren't even corrected. One of the angels didn't say, excuse me, it wasn't the Lord, it was an angel. They knew it was the Lord. They knew that angels couldn't say anything without the Lord. They knew that they were the emissaries of the Lord. They only spoke with the authority of the Lord and they could only acknowledge who God is. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. And when they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them. But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they'd heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Nothing more accurate than that. Well, there's much to be said about angels. We've discovered three truths, which I believe to be the overriding truth. Number one, that angels are not a shortcut to God. Number two, angels are not a substitute for God. And number three, angels are not a safe haven from God.

They can never protect us or prevent us from all that God is. Angels are not a shortcut to God and they not a substitute for God and they can never be a safe haven from God. And the shepherds here, I think, understood that more than we do, perhaps. And so it is that when we look at angels and Christmas, we discover a number of things. I want to share them with you. Number one, we discover that angels are individual.

They come one at a time on one select item at a time with one specific purpose at a time. They are singularly significant and stand at the express commandment of Almighty God. And once again, that is reinforced here when the angel appears to the shepherds. Number two, angels are a company.

They gather. There is such a thing as a heavenly host. There is a herald of angels, a company of the committed. Number three, they speak with the voice of God. The shepherds reinforce that. This is nothing that the shepherds would do anything less than to give absolute glory and honor to the words which God had spoken to them.

And number four, they have something very important to say. Now, I want to just say this to you before we go on. Hasn't it been remarkable to note that every time an angel appears, whatever it is that the angel has to say is very, very important?

I think we can conclude that. In fact, I haven't found a time of frivolity as far as the angels are concerned. I have never found a time in scripture yet.

I hope I don't. I have not found an instant yet where the angels came around and wallowed in their own self-pity or wasted someone's time. There was always an express purpose with a monumentally significant and important message that they had to transmit to the person God had sent them to speak to. And so it seems to me that there must be something very important about the hark of these angels.

I want to submit two things to you this morning. I want to say to you that their hark, the hark of the angel is very important in message. It is a message and it is important, number one, perhaps first and foremost, because it is designed for people just like you and me. What is the message of the angel?

Hark, the herald angel sing. What is important about this message? It's important lies in the fact that it is designed for people just like you and me. I've got an announcement to make, which is not my announcement. God has given to us this announcement for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not die, but should have eternal life. What God is saying to us is that his message is designed for people just like you and me. It seems to me, my friends, that God has always had a plan with people like you and me and mine.

What kind of people? Well, just think about these shepherds for a moment and then try and think about who we are. How did Jesus Christ appear through the angels to the shepherds?

Why did God do this? Well, we are a people, first of all, carrying out life's assignments. That's what verse eight says. Verse eight says there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Shepherds, shepherds back in these days were very, very ordinary people. I tell you, they were very ordinary people. They were not doctors and lawyers. They were not teachers and pastors. They were not people from regular society. Shepherds, in fact, in many regards were regarded somewhat as the lower portion of society. Most of the shepherds had never had a day even in a kindergarten. They were somewhat uneducated people and if you'd gone up to some ordinary shepherd out there in the shepherds field and said to him, what's your life comprised of? He probably would have said, well, I began tending my father's flock when I was just three years old.

I've done nothing else and I know how to do this and that's what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. And God in Christ Jesus was coming to this earth for people just like you and me. It's not without significance that the Magi also received the same message.

You see, when the Christmas child was born, God was reaching out to people just like you and me. People carrying out life's assignments. All of us are engaged in trying to meet the needs that we have, the need for work and the need for food and the need for shelter.

And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem's manger and when that Shekinah glory came down upon those shepherds, what the hark of the herald angels was all about was the fact that God designed a plan to bring his heavenly glory down upon a people no different than you and me. But there's a second thing we can say about ourselves as a people. We are a people overcome by life's challenges. Don't kid yourself about these shepherds. They had challenges, perhaps something of which we cannot appreciate.

It was wintertime, so we know that it must have been rather nippy out there in those fields. There were dangers everywhere, not just from wild animals, but from robbers and people who would come to deprive them of everything that they had. They were faced with all kinds of uncertainties. They had to try and meet the needs of their families. These shepherds had families and children and had to feed young ones. They had sickness and health. They had all kinds of challenges.

I wonder what kind of challenges you and I are facing today when we worship the Lord today on this Christmas Eve. I don't think we're any different. We are a people who are carrying out life's assignments. We are a people who are overcome by life's challenges. But we're also people who are captured by life's emotions. Bible says when the angels appeared to them in verse nine, they were terrified. The King James Version says it even better. They were sore afraid. I love that. That means they were scared to death.

I would have been as well. I can just imagine what they went through. Listen, friends, we are captivated and captured. We are in bondage to our emotions.

We're up in one minute and down the next. We're on an emotional roller coaster. I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone here this morning who is bent out of shape. I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone here today who is facing all kinds of problems. Listen, folks, you need to pray for your ministers, for your pastor, for counselors. Christmas is a wonderful time, but can I tell you something about Christmas?

It is a time, my friends, that accentuates the emotional challenges of life. Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But Dr. Don wants you to know we're here for you. We're available at the phone, 866-899 word number 24 hours a day.

That's 866-899-9673 or online at www.tewonline.org. We also want to thank you for the many of you who are here with us lifting up the name of Jesus. Many of you are prayerful and financial supporters of the ministry. If you haven't heard, I want to share with you a remarkable gift from a couple who are great friends of the ministry who have given a $200,000 matching challenge gift here at the end of the year. And the challenge is this, is that each of us would give our best gift. Now for this sweet couple, $200,000 is their best gift. Your gift might be $2, and it's just as valuable. Maybe it's $20. Maybe it's a commitment to $20 a month. Whatever it is, if you would pray about that, this is the ideal time to give.

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That's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. You know that I know people who were married for 50 and 60 years. This is the first Christmas that they don't have their husband or wife, life's partners. There are people who have suffered tragedies. There are people who are in hospital. There are people who have been diagnosed with all kinds of illnesses. There are people whose lives are threatened.

There are people incarcerated in prisons. There are people who are lost and hurt. There are people in every walk of life. Listen, we are a people carrying out life's assignments, overcome by life's challenges, captured by life's emotions. So what is so special about this design, about the Hawk of the Herald Angels, about the message that they bring?

It's threefold. Number one, it brings good news. That's what the angel says, do not be afraid. I bring you good news. It's good news.

It means that at Christmas time, my friends, no matter what my circumstances, I know that God's design, purpose and plan for me brings good news. Number two, it balances our emotions. I need that. I'm an emotional person. I tell you what, I'm a very emotional person. I get excited about things.

I get excited about most things. I become the victim of my own emotional state. We are the victims of our emotions and guess what God by his spirit does for us. He helps us to balance the predicament that is presented to us by our human emotions. He brings balance to us. Number three, it beckons all people.

Did you see what he says here? He says good news of great joy that will be for all the people. God's good news in Christ Jesus is designed for everybody. Nobody is left out. All people. This is the whosoever of John chapter three and verse 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Here it is. That whosoever, black and white, rich and poor, old and young, up and down, people from every walk of life. What about this? What about the hark of the herald angels? This message, it is singularly significant. It is important what the angel has to say because it is designed for people just like you and me. I love that.

I love that. That's why everybody's welcome in this church, folks. Everybody. This is not a church for the rich or a church for the poor or a church for the young or a church for the old or a church for the in between or a church for this or a church for that. This is God's church. And, friend, when you have God's church and the main thing is the main thing, the main thing has to do with Jesus Christ, the one who was born in Bethlehem's manger. And when you talk about the manger and the hark of the herald angels, friend, you come into a fresh understanding that the glory of Almighty God is made available to all people in every walk of life, under every circumstance, God in Christ Jesus reconciling the world unto himself. Do I hear an amen this morning? That's what Christmas is all about.

It is designed for people just like you and me. Number two, it designates all God's authority to the Son. What is the hark of the herald angels? What is the significance of their message? Their hark is very important as a message because it designates all of God's authority to the Son.

Verse 11 is singularly significant. He is Christ the Lord. What exactly does this mean at Christmas time of the year 2000? It means, my beloved friends, that this baby boy carries sovereign authority by virtue of four things. It means that this baby boy, this is what the angels are trying to say to us. This baby boy carries sovereign authority. That is God's authority by virtue of four things. Number one, his equality with the Father in foundation, in the beginning, God. Number two, his equality with the Father in jurisdiction. He has control over all the affairs of mankind. Number three, his equality with the Father in love. When God said he loved the world, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. And number four, he carries sovereign authority by virtue of his equality with the Father in the dispensation of his wonderful grace.

Listen to me, beloved friends. When the angels and the heavenly host came together, what did they sing? Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men upon whom the favor of God rests. How did this happen?

Why did it happen? Because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And in John chapter five, the Bible explains that to us, the Son has God's authority to give life. In John chapter five, the Bible tells us the Son has God's authority to judge. In John chapter five, the Bible tells us the Son has God's authority to receive honor and praise and glory.

That's what the hark of the herald angels is all about. What about you? Who is this Jesus? Is he tied up in a box? Does he sit at the foot of a Christmas tree?

Is he reduced to a shopping mall mentality? Oh, all of these things are wonderful. But friends, surely there is nothing more wonderful than to think about the message of Christmas.

Why? Because it is designed for all people. And it designates God's authority to the Son. No wonder Jesus Christ said on God's authority, I am the way. I am the truth.

I am the life. No man can come unto the Father but by me. How was it that God the Son could claim such a distinctive honor?

It's simple. The hark of the herald angels announced it when they said glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Upon whom and through whom and by whom and because of whom that baby that was born in Bethlehem's manger. It's because of him. It's because of him.

It's because of him. And because of him, the favor of Almighty God will rest upon all people all over the world who will bow their head and will bend the knee and will repent of their sin. And by faith, invite Jesus Christ to come into their hearts and lives. What an incredible Christmas message. Would you bow your heads with me this morning?

I'm going to ask every head bowed and every eye closed. Father, as we bow our heads together at the end of this message, we thank you Lord that the message which the angels brought never comes to an end. It is never bound by a timetable or a clock. It is never dictated to by lunchtime.

It is never adduced to gift wrapping. It is a timeless truth, an eternal truth. It is the most wonderful message ever given. Father, only you by your grace can speak to our hearts at this Christmas. You're the only one who can change our lives and make the difference. And it is into your hands that we commend ourselves.

Praying all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Perhaps as Dr. Don was praying even then, the Lord has stirred your attention to say there needs to be a course correction.

We need to make a change today. You've heard Dr. Wilton from the pulpit. Now open your heart to what he wants to share as he steps into the studio next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. And in just a moment I'm going to come back with a final word. If today has been the day that the Lord has stirred your heart and you have given your life to Christ, perhaps praying along with the pastor moments ago or maybe earlier in the service, the Lord has just told you that He loves you, has a plan for your life, and you're ready to make a change, a fresh commitment.

Dr. Wilton has wonderful resources. He wants to put in your hands if you've given your life to Christ today or rededicate your life to following Jesus. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. And we'd love to put these free resources in your hands. We'd love to pray with you and for you and help you grow in your faith. As a matter of fact, if you'd rather connect on our website, it's tewonline.org. That's tewonline.org. And what a joy it is for all of us on our prayer team to pray for you, but also for Dr. Wilton to pray for you. If you'd like to email him and let him know what God's doing in your life, don at tewonline.org is his address. That's don at tewonline.org. And right now, as we wrap up this wonderful 2021 and look ahead to 2022, there are some remarkable things going on here at the ministry.

Here's Dr. Don with the details. Wow, God has done incredible things again this year through the encouraging word broadcast ministry. Do you know that over 135,000 people have called us, telling us what this ministry means to them in their spiritual life?

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In London recently, someone came up to me and said, thank you for the encouraging word and for what it means. Would you help me do this? If all of us participated, even a $2 to $3 to $4 each, God will help us to reach this goal together.

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