Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham. When God became a man, when God chose to deliver his people from tyranny and sin and darkness and depression, the war was on, and Satan was the enemy, and he is about to be defeated. On today's PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about why Christmas and Jesus' birth are gifts just for you.
Now here's Dr. Graham with his message, when angels sing. Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Luke, Gospel of Luke, one of the hallmarks. of the Christian faith is that we are a singing Faith. I know this, praise is the language of heaven.
Angels and the echo of the praises of angels extend to the earth. And that's what we see in this well-known passage of Luke chapter 2. It is a heavenly invasion. It is when heaven comes to earth. And the angels declare, the angels deploy the message of God.
They declare the meaning of Jesus' birth and why he came and how he can change our lives. And so many of these songs that we sing as Christians at Christmas in particular, these great hymns, have endured for generations because they have such an endearing message. One of my favorite hymns at Christmas. Is harkened. The Herald Angels See.
Now, I've written a book about angels, and I was fascinated to discover that angels are throughout the scripture. You may think of angels as being an aside, but in fact, while they certainly are, for the most part, invisible and behind the scenes, they are present at the great epic events of scripture throughout both Old Testament and New Testament. And angels specifically pop up again and again at the birth of Jesus.
Now, they were throughout the life of Jesus. We see an angel announcing his second coming when Jesus ascended. Of course, angels were present at the empty tomb when they declared he is not here. He is risen. Angels folded their wings.
He could have called 10,000 angels at his cross, but they held off because Christ was dying for the sins of the world. We see an angel ministering to Jesus at his temptation and throughout his ministry. They show up at times of miracle. These majestic and ministering spirits created by God for the worship of God and the benefit of believers. These are the angels.
But they especially are present in the Christmas story. Whether it was an angel speaking to the old man Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, or whether it was an angel bringing the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary, or certainly on the hillsides outside of Bethlehem. Where the night exploded with light, and the angels sang, to the glory of God. as I looked at the hymns of faith and the carols of Christmas. I realize that not only do the songs like Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Angels We Have Heard on High, Angels from the Realms of Glory, titled songs featuring angels, but when you read the great carols of Christmas, Silent Night, and others, almost every one of them, Joy to the World, and many of the new songs we sing about Christmas, angels are present.
Lyrics and great words regarding the ministry of angels and the announcements of angels when Christ was born. They're laced through and through the lyrics. This one, Heart the Herald Angels Sing, was written by a man named Charles Wesley. He is the brother of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Charles was the youngest of 18 children.
Can you imagine that? Mama Wesley had 18 to care for, and she prayed for each one of them by name every day, and she taught them God's word. It is said that Susanna Wesley, when she would pray for her children and pray daily, when she wanted to get a quiet place, a secret place, how do you find a quiet place with 18 kids running around? She would throw her apron up over her head. And pray by name for her children.
She got it done, and her children grew up to be powerful instruments in the hands of God, and in particular, John Wesley, the preacher, and Charles Wesley, his younger brother, who became a great hymn writer and ultimately gave us many hymns of the Christian faith. He ended up writing 6,500 hymns of faith. And many of these have endured through the generations. Classic hymn should endure. Great hymns should endure.
Now, we love the new songs, but. The words were written to hark the herald angels sing in 1737. Wesley was concerned that the church in that generation, particularly the Anglican church, the church of England, lacked heart in their worship. They lacked passion in the singing of songs. They were just routinely and ritualistically going through the motions.
He feared that, quote, heart, religion, and living faith was dying in the church of his time. And so he said this. Beware of singing, this is good for our generation. Beware of singing as if you were half dead. or half asleep.
But lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard than when you sang the songs of Satan.
Songs of the world. The song Hark the Herald Angels Sing was originally called a hymn for Christmas Day. And it contained, watch this. Ten stanzas. And they sang them all.
But in this great hymn, Is the story of Jesus and the story that we read in Luke chapter 2.
So look at Luke chapter 2. And let's read together, beginning at verse 8, this familiar story, but with fresh eyes and open heart.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were greatly afraid. And then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you.
You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes 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, goodwill to all men. That's the story. Wesley captured it in the song. Hark.
The herald angels sing. What happens when angels sing? This was a heavenly announcement. Wesley put it this way: Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king, peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled. That's taken right out of the scriptures.
Now, when the angels announced the birth of Jesus that night. I have to think, what were those angels thinking? After all the preparation from eternity to announce the birth of Jesus, and they light up the heavens, the glory of God is shining because they came right out of heaven and the very presence of God's glory. And they're there to make this world announcement of the birth of Jesus. Salvation has come, the Messiah is here.
And when they show up to sing it, they're just some good old boys out in the field with pickup trucks and gun racks. A few smelly, stinky, sleepy shepherds. Shepherds, I mean, it may sound cool to be a shepherd, but in that day at least, shepherds were considered outcasts, social outcasts. For one thing, they did smell like sheep. It wasn't always pleasant to be around them.
And They were considered religiously, unceremonially unclean. Because they couldn't even go into the temple. They were considered such worthless. People. The shepherds.
So sometimes we romanticize the idea of the shepherds, and they are heroes of the story ultimately, but. When that night happened, When the angels showed up and said, Glory to God in the highest. To just a bundle of shepherds. Could have been a letdown. But that's the way God did it.
The announcement came to these shepherds. Not to kings or emperors or Roman legions. Not to Herod, not in a majestic place, not in Rome. Not even in Jerusalem. Not even in Bethlehem A small little town, a village, the home and birthplace of David, not even in Bethlehem, but outside of Bethlehem.
God spoke to unknown, unnamed shepherds. Outside a small little town. Bethlehem. and brought the greatest message the world has. has ever heard.
What an announcement. Hark, the herald angels see. What a contrast were these majestic, mighty angels when the scripture says in Luke 2 that they manifest themselves as the heavenly host. That means they appeared as an army from heaven.
Now I know when uh We put angels on top of our Christmas trees or have little porcelain angels or little woven angels or little cuddly cherubs. They look so sweet. They look so nice. They're blonde and they're beautiful and they're lovely. But these angels were not blonde and beautiful per se, but the glory of God was upon them.
And they were dressed not in robes, but most likely, but they were dressed in Battle fatigues. They were dressed for battle. Because they were coming with this heavenly announcement of triumph and victory of our God. We hear a lot today about. The war on Christmas, and there is a war.
On Christmas. The silence. The true message of Jesus and of Christmas, and to call it the holiday season or something else. But the fact is that the song of Christmas goes on. You can't stop the real message of Christmas.
We just keep saying it, and the songs of Christ and of Christmas just keep echoing through the generations. And that's because that night the battle was on when God became a man, when God chose to deliver his people from tyranny and sin and darkness and depression. The war was on, and Satan was the enemy, and he is about to be defeated by the power of God.
So, when you see or hear these angels singing in your mind, don't see them so much as a choir, but as a glorious army from God. The angels. are saved. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message when angels sing. We're excited to share that we have a new way for you to connect with us.
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Now let's get back to today's message, When Angels Sing.
Now I know if you want to get technical. It doesn't say the angel sang. It says the angels said. And I've always thought that was sort of a crazy point to make. Because we know angels are worshipers of God.
They are great witnesses of the gospel. They are worshipers of God. They are warriors. And so when you think of angels, certainly you first and foremost think of angels worshiping God 24-7 around the throne of God. It's never about the angels.
It's always about the glory of God. It's always about the message. of the gospel. And So they are worshipers, and you can't imagine, in my view, angels worshiping without singing. The songs of heaven, the language of heaven, echoing.
From heaven to earth. And so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna Get into a little Battle with you as to whether or not they were singing or shouting or praising or worshiping or saying, but the ultimate thing is they were giving glory to God. The fact is We're reminded that as these angels gave the announcement to these shepherds, the shepherds. Like you and me are just common ordinary people. God uses people like shepherds and people like you and me.
1 Corinthians 1.26. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of this world and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring into nothing, to bring to nothing the things that are. Charles Wesley in his great hymn. Invites us to join the song.
He writes, join the triumph of the skies, and with. Angelic hosts proclaim. Christ is born. in Bethlehem. Think about it.
These shepherds Startled, stunned by the shock and awe of that night, so afraid. And yet they run And Neil. And worship the Lord and go away, witnessing and telling everyone what they had seen. Our wonder turns to worship. and our worship.
To witness. And what was Their message and the witness of the angels, and of those who hear the message of Christ from the angels. Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men. The angel who originally announced it, one angel before the heavenly host appeared and ignited the night, he said, Fear not. Those shepherds were so afraid.
They were shaking in their sandals. These were hardened men, and yet they are in the presence of the power and the majesty of the glory of God.
So they were afraid, and yet the angel said, Don't be afraid. The message of Christ Banishes fear. Ray Stedman, a great Christian theologian, said this: that Christian faith is the absence of fear and the presence of God. The absence of fear and the presence of God. There is so much fear in our world today, isn't there?
People are unsettled, upset. All the division, all the hate, all the strife. And even Christians can become anxious and afraid. But the message that we have to experience And to share with the world. is do not be afraid it's the message of the angels God is with us.
God is for us. God is in us. This message not only banishes fear, but it brings joy. The angel said, I bring you good news of great joy. The gospel is good news.
Don't let anybody tell you that God is out to get you. God loves you. God has a plan for your life. And the message of Jesus Christ is the good news of Jesus Christ. Billy Sunday, the great evangelist, used to say: if there is no joy in your Christianity, then there's a leak in your faith.
He gives us great joy, the joy of Jesus. There's celebration, and not only banishing fear and bringing joy, but blessing all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, and peace and grace to all. The message of the Savior is. And on earth, peace, goodwill.
to all people everywhere. It's just not the American gospel. Or the Western European gospel is the gospel for every continent. It's the gospel for every person. And it's the gospel of grace.
It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see not only this heavenly announcement, but there is in this text and in this great song, Hark the Herald Angel sing God's human appearance. Because the message of Christmas is that God became one of us. Wesley said it this way, Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord. Late in time, behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail incarnate deity.
Please as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn king. There's such great theological, biblical truth in some of these great classic songs of Christ and of Christmas. Here is the deity of Jesus. He is the everlasting Lord.
He is our Emmanuel, God with us. The world waited long, a long time, late in time, behold him come. But in the fullness of time, in time and in the destiny and history of mankind, Jesus became a man, incarnate deity. Jesus is God. I say it all the time.
Not half God, half man, not a man who became a God. That's totally impossible and ridiculous. He is God who became a man, 100% God. 100% man, 100% deity, 100% humanity. The miraculous merging of the holy with the human.
That is Jesus. Just as much God as if he were not man at all, and just as much man as if he were not God at all. This is the true confession. of the Christian and of the Christian faith. That Jesus is not God number two or three or four, or Jesus is not one among many great men, but He is one and only God.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
So it speaks of the deity of Christ. This passage and this hymn speaks of the purity of Jesus, offspring of the virgin's womb. Born of Mary, the Virgin. The gospel proclaimed 700 years before in Isaiah said that Jesus would come, Isaiah 7, 14, and he would be born of a virgin. You say, what difference does it make whether Jesus was born of a virgin or not?
It makes all the difference between heaven and hell. If there is no virgin birth, there is no sinless Savior. And if there is no sinless Savior, there is no suffering, sacrifice, and Lamb of God on the cross for us. And if there is no sacrifice on the cross, there's no resurrection. And if there's no resurrection, we are of all people most miserable.
Our faith is nothing.
So yes, it is foundational. Don't allow anyone, liberals and unbelievers and progressives and all the like, say these great miracles of the Bible don't matter. They matter eternally and they matter personally to you. He is deity. He is purity.
He is humanity. He is God, but he is also man. And therefore, according to Hebrews 4:15, he is able to sympathize with us. He was tempted as all points as we are tempted. And yet, without sin, Jesus bridged the gap.
As Wesley put it in, Hark the Herald angels sing, God and sinners reconciled. Jesus took the holy hand of God and the sinful hand of man, and He brought us together. Emmanuel. God who is with us. You say, well, I don't understand that.
Welcome to the world. The most brilliant thinker of the Christian faith, the Apostle Paul, wrote of the mystery of godliness. Yes, it's a mystery. Yes, it is a miracle that deity and humanity could be imparted in one person, but that is the message of our Lord. That Christ has come, and Christ, therefore, brings us together, and He tears down the walls that divide us.
The Carol teaches the bodily resurrection. Risen with healing in his wings. His love has reconciled God to man and therefore should reconcile man to man because the love of Christ is now in us. Jesus will tear down the division. Jesus will tear down the division in your home.
The hate that is in a person's heart. Jesus will rip that right out. Because that's why he came. to reconcile God to man. and to one another.
He brings healing for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Wesley closed his hymn with these words: Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them. Second birth. Jesus was born, so you can be born again. He came to earth so that you could be.
could go to heaven. The song of angels. Do angels sing? Yes, they do. And what they sing.
is the message of the gospel. Never about the angels. It's always about The Lord. And our prayer. this Christmas that it will not just be about the songs.
And The services And Uh The words that we say at Christmas. Not just Merry Christmas. but that Jesus is Lord. and that we share that message with our family, with our friends, and with the world. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message when angels sing.
with just a few days left in 2025? We want to invite you to give a year-end gift to help ensure PowerPoint steps into the next year of ministry in the strongest position possible. The good news is that a generous friend has provided a $250,000 matching grant, which means any year-end gift you give by December 31st will be doubled to take the life-changing message of the gospel to more people around the world, people searching for the peace only Jesus gives. Your tax-deductible year-end gift, doubled by the match, will take the message of peace in Christ into more homes, hearts, and lives than ever before. As a thanks for your gift, we'll send you a copy of Dr.
Graham's book, Breaking Free from Stress, to help you defeat stress and anxiety and rest in God's care. To give your gift, just text the word MATCH to 59789. That's MACH to 59789. We now have a texting service designed to keep you connected with everything happening here. Imagine getting all the latest news, inspirational devotionals, and helpful reminders for the Bible in the Year podcast, all delivered right to your phone.
You'll be the first to know about upcoming events, special announcements, and truly enriching content. To join, start a new text conversation by texting Connect to 59-789. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Why did God choose to announce the most important birth in human history through song? Because a song does something a statement never can.
A song gets inside you. You can't unhear it. Those shepherds went to their graves humming that melody. and God knew that for two thousand years we'd still be singing these truths when we might have forgotten mere words. But here's the uncomfortable question.
Are you singing? I don't mean vocally. I mean with your life. Is there evidence that heaven has invaded your ordinary? Those shepherds were nobodies doing nothing important when glory showed up.
They didn't wait to get their act together or clean themselves up. They ran toward the miracle exactly as they were. And then the They couldn't stop telling everyone. What would it look like for you to run toward Jesus instead of managing him at a safe distance? What walls are you maintaining that Jesus died to tear down?
That grudge you're nursing, that division you're comfortable with, that person you've written off as unreachable? The angels sang to outcasts because this gospel is for outcasts, which means it's for everyone, because we're all outside until Jesus brings us in. Stop waiting to feel qualified. Stop waiting to have it all together. The shepherds smelled like sheep and the angels didn't care.
God specializes in using the unlikely, the overlooked, the overwhelmed. This week, be part of someone else's angelic announcement. That co-worker who's barely holding it together, that family member who thinks they're too far gone, that neighbor who's never darkened a church door. You carry the same message those angels delivered. Don't be afraid.
God is here. God is for you. Everything changes now. And if you're sitting here thinking you need this message yourself, that you're the one who's afraid, the one who's unsure if God really shows up for people like you. Let me assure you, the whole point of Christmas is that God didn't stay distant.
He got close. dangerously close. close enough to bleed. The angels sang because they couldn't help it. when you truly grasp what happened in that manger.
that the infinite became finite so you could be forgiven. Silence becomes impossible. And that is today's PowerPoint. Join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how the arrival of Jesus turned the world upside down.
That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
