The Angel Gabriel – Part 2 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Christmas carols tell of a vast multitude of angels flying over the sleepy town of Bethlehem. They came to make the announcement of all time that unto you a Savior is born. Today, the apex of all angelic appearances as a night sky was ablaze with light.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, I only wish they had video cameras back then to document this, the sky show of all sky shows. Well, Dave, many of us have been to the shepherd's fields just outside of Bethlehem. And of course, as you stand there, you begin to visualize the angels coming to the shepherds.

And you're right, it would have been the sky show of all sky shows. And yet it's a true story, angels coming to the shepherds. And of course, they had the first opportunity to see the baby Jesus.

That's why it is in the heart of every Christian, there's a very soft spot, if I might put it that way, not only for Christmas as such, but also for the town of Bethlehem. But in addition to that, what we have to do is to make preparation for the new year that is just around the corner. And we're making available for you a devotional entitled God's Best for Your Life. The subtitle is Daily Inspirations for a Deeper Walk with God. Now this will give you the opportunity, a further opportunity to begin each day with God with some nuggets of truth that you can take with you throughout the whole day. This is one of the last days we're making this available. Here's what you do.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And let me, from my heart to yours, thank you in advance for your prayers and for your continuing support of this ministry. In this all too brief series that we've had on the topic of angels, we've learned, first of all, that angels have independent existence. Angels have a mind. They have an emotion. They have will. They can choose. They can think.

They can travel. And then we've also learned that there are good angels and there are bad angels. The good angels are referred to in the scripture as the elect angels, the holy angels of God. But there are other angels, fallen angels, evil angels, deceitful angels.

They also exist. And there's no doubt that some people who think that they are in touch with good angels are actually in touch with the other kind because there are angels of deception. But I suppose of all the stories of the angels in the New Testament, there is none as great, as wonderful, nor as often told as the one that took place on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Luke chapter two, of course, is the scripture as we often read during the Christmas season. And we don't know whether or not the angels actually chanted these words or whether they sang them, but either way, the angels came to bring some good news to shepherds. And last time we learned that angels actually model obedience for us. When the angel Gabriel was sent, by the way, that really means one who is mighty with God.

It's a wonderful name. And when those angels came to the shepherds, undoubtedly they also modeled the same kind of obedience. We have every reason to believe that they came to the shepherds because they were sent there by God. Because remember, the good angels don't do anything unless they're commanded to do it.

They do the bidding of the Almighty. And in this, they are also our examples because of their obedience. They went where they were sent. God chose shepherds to receive the news. And why the shepherds?

Well, first of all, because of what they did. Shepherds were lowly. Shepherds were considered to be the basic bottom line of society.

You could almost say the scum of society, they were not highly regarded. And so God here bypasses Athens with its philosophers and Rome with all of its architects, Jerusalem with its rabbinical schools. And God goes to some shepherds and he says, I'm giving you the news first. The scripture always says that God stoops to those who are lowly of heart.

And most assuredly, he did that in this instance. There's another reason why they were sent to the shepherds, possibly because of who they were. They were shepherds. And no matter the fact that their profession was not highly regarded, they represent that Jesus himself is the good shepherd. In fact, in the New Testament, it says that the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. So maybe God was thinking now, angels, I want you to find some shepherds because my son who is born, he himself is a shepherd, the good shepherd, and he's going to die as a shepherd. So go talk to some shepherds. As a matter of fact, it might be that these shepherds were actually taking charge of sheep that were going to be slaughtered in the temple.

That would make a lot of sense. Recently, I've been reading the book of Leviticus and I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the number of animals that were killed. In fact, when you read that book as an adult and you're finally looking at it with some perspective, it's difficult for us to really even understand it. In the morning, there were to be lambs slain. In the evening, if you sin, you bring this lamb and on and on it goes. So they needed a lot of lambs. They needed a lot of sheep. And it might be that these shepherds were taking care of sheep that were going to be slaughtered. And God was thinking, when my lamb is going to be slaughtered, these sheep will no longer have to die in the context of sacrifices because the one who has been born is going to be the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

So angels go to the shepherds. As far as the angels are concerned, it wouldn't matter to them at all where they were sent. That was not important. Whether it was a lowly position to a king or to a lord, that did not matter. What really mattered is that they pleased and they obeyed the one who sent them.

And you and I should not really care as to where we are sent, where we are called to. As long as we're pleasing the one who has given us directions, we should be glad to fulfill his orders and his commands. Then secondly, they gave the message they were given.

Let's look at the text now. Verse eight, in the same region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord has shown around them and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, and we'll look at the rest of the text in just a moment. Remember these angels were there at creation. They saw the beauty of Jesus even before creation took place and they saw his exaltation. They saw his glory before he came to Bethlehem.

What were these angels doing throughout all of these centuries? You read Isaiah chapter six. There they are in the presence of God saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. And you say, well, uh, but that was Jehovah who was on the throne. When you read the new Testament, you discover in John chapter 12 that Jehovah was Jesus on that throne. So they, they saw the splendor and the wonder of Jesus. Then they saw man's humiliation, his fall into sinfulness and being in league with Satan in rebellion.

They saw the depths of man's sin and helplessness. And then for God to become a baby, for him to assume human flesh, and then of all things to be born in an inn and laid in a manger for that to happen. This, this must've just made the angels filled with awe, filled with awe. And so the lead angel and angel of the Lord came. Now we don't know who that angel was.

Maybe it was the angel Gabriel, the same one who had given the message to Mary, but an angel came and he indeed was the bearer of good news. And immediately with him, the scripture says the glory of the Lord is shown around them. This is the Shekinah glory. That glory left Israel centuries earlier. You can read about it in the book of Ezekiel where the glory of God, the Shekinah glory left the temple area, went over the Mount of Olives and then disappeared as a judgment because God says I'm leaving you because of your sin and your idolatry. Now that same glory appears on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The glory of the Lord comes and then the whole host participate and they sing and they chime in.

Someone has said there is no place where earth's joys and sorrows are more felt than in heaven. And notice the specificity of the message. Born unto you this day in the city of David, Bethlehem was considered the city of David because David grew up close to Bethlehem, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, that strips of cloth that are wrapped tightly around a baby to restrict movement and to give the child, the infant a sense of security. You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. That's how you will identify this child so that the shepherds could not mistake who it was that they went to see. And so the message comes to them. It is Spurgeon who says all the attributes of God were in that little child most marvelously displayed and veiled.

Conceive the whole sun to be focused to a single point and yet so softly revealed as to be durable by the most tender eye. Even thus the glorious God is brought down for man to see him born of a woman. So the angel knew where Jesus was born. They knew the city. They knew the manger.

They knew how he was dressed. And they said that's where you can now go. The angels, remember, accepted and gave the message that they'd been given. And then let's notice also they glorified the God that they loved. You'll notice that when the multitude of the heavenly host comes, they praise God and say glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Glory to God in the highest in the highest heaven of heavens. God is to be admired and he is to be glorified. God is glorified in every single drop of water. You look at that water and you know that it was put together by a creator.

And he's magnified in every single flower. But someone has said but single universe until you have exhausted thyself thou canst not make a song as sweet as the song of the incarnation. And most assuredly there is no song that is sweeter than the good news that Jesus was born. And so they they bring glory to God and then you'll notice they add this and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. Many of us who grew up with the King James Version of the Bible know that in the King James it says peace among men.

That isn't exactly accurate. The other translations translate it the way in which I think Luke intended it to be understood. Because it is not true that Jesus came to bring a universal peace at least not now. There are some people who are not better off because Christ came. Simeon said this child is set for the rise and the fall of many in Israel. And that there are some people who are going to stumble over Jesus.

Judas is far worse off because Christ came than he would have been if Christ had not come. And so it is not true that that Jesus just brought universal peace. I happened to turn on the news as I was coming to the church this morning the seven o'clock news.

I was listening in the car. Another suicide bomber in Iraq killing 13 people many of them women and children. There's no peace in Iraq today. And there's no peace in Israel today. And there's no peace in Yemen and some of the other countries.

There was no peace in Angola today or Osiri the refugee camp. There is no peace in this world universally. Now eventually Jesus will bring peace to all men. Then it will be true that he rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the wonder of his righteousness. But that verse that stanza of joy to the world is not fulfilled in this era. But it is true that there is peace for those with whom he is pleased or with those upon whom his favor rests. You say well I would like to be among those who have the favor of God.

That can be true if you come through Jesus Christ and you believe on him whom he has sent. That's the way we receive God's favor. It is not something that we deserve.

It is always a gift just like the garden and the vegetables in a garden. They may not deserve the rain. They cannot create the rain but all that they can do is to enjoy the rain that comes in the very same way we can't create it. We don't deserve it but we make ourselves available to be people upon whom God's favor rests. Now when the angels are finished their song what do the shepherds do? Verse 16 and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. And when they sought they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart and the shepherds returned to glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen as it had been told them. The angels give glory to God and now the shepherds are giving glory to God. Let me help us understand and to apply this when we think of angels because this will be the last message I'm preaching on this topic on this very very brief series. First of all keep in mind that angels exist for God. God does not exist for angels. Angels exist for God. Angels never say to themselves I wonder what I want to do today and now that I've made up my mind I'm going to pray and ask God to bless me while I do what I want to do. No angels who don't have to wake up in the morning by the way because they're never tired, ceaseless energy.

Angels never think in those terms. The good old angels have only one question to ask and that is what does God want me to do? They have one responsibility to find out what the almighty asks of them and then to do it because they do not exist for themselves. They exist for the God who created them, who sends them and who uses them according to his will. I would say that most of the problems that we face in the Christian life are problems that we get into because we think that God exists for us.

So we decide what we want to do and then we pray that God will bless these pre-made plans instead of laying it all out in God's presence and asking one question Lord what will you have me to do? I think that you and I need what could be called a Copernican revolution. Remember Copernicus? In those days, centuries ago it was always believed rather reasonably so, it appeared reasonable, that the sun revolved around the earth. The earth was stationary and the sun revolved around it and that's what we're thinking isn't it? I'm here, God you're here to bless my plans and if you listen to a TV preacher that I heard snatches of this past week, God exists in order for me to be rich and healthy and well and to be able to have a wonderful life and all that I need to do is to send in money to the TV preacher and somehow it's going to happen.

So we have that kind of mentality when we have to understand that it is not the sun that revolves around the earth, the earth revolves around the sun. The sun, the s-o-n, he is the one that is the focus and we have one question that we ought to ask him every single day and that is this, Lord show me the orbit, show me the orbit because I exist for you. Imagine the freedom that would come, imagine the lack of jealousy, imagine the sense of contentment that there would be even in the midst of difficulties. If you knew that you existed only for the will of God and you are doing God's will there is nothing else that would be more important to you than saying God you led me, you cared for me, I lay it all before you because you exist, you exist and I exist that I might glorify you that's what the good angels are thinking all the time. And my friend today every single day we should exist to bring glory to God and from the bottom of my heart I want to wish you a very blessed Christmas. Nothing encourages us more than the knowledge that there are so many of our friends who pray for us you know oftentimes when I'm out speaking someone will say Pastor Lutzer I pray for you regularly that warms my heart and I'm reminded of the fact that we are totally dependent upon God but we also know that God uses people. So as you contemplate the end of this year and the beginning of the new year would you consider supporting the ministry of Moody Church Media. Now we're making a devotional available to you and this is one of the last days that you have that opportunity. It's entitled God's Best for My Life. It will enable you every day of the new year to begin the day with some nuggets of truth that you can take with you.

Here's what you do go to rtwoffer.com that's rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. But once again from my heart to yours I pray that this Christmas season will be a blessing to you to all of your friends. Reach out to others our world is so needy make sure that included in your family celebrations there are others who perhaps don't have the same opportunity. At Christmas time we worship the Lord Jesus Christ of course we worship him all year but we're especially thankful that God included us in his family. Now let's take that motivation and let's include others in our family. Once again the name of the devotional is God's Best for My Life and here's how you can connect go to rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call 1-888-218-9337 and thank you in advance for your support. I always like to think of the Running to Win family as a great group of people who are helping us get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. The message of Christmas the heart of Christmas and the birth of our Savior let us continue to exalt him as Lord of Lords. You can write to us at Running to Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614. The angels who announced the message of salvation over Bethlehem were part of a larger company of angels that surround the throne of God. Next time on Running to Win a look at the role of angels in the plan and purposes of God who they are and what they do. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.