Hello and welcome to this
message from Calvary Church we're excited to hear
from our guest speaker Dr. Jack Graham, pastor of
Prestonwood Baptist Church and host of PowerPoint radio. We pray this message
strengthens your relationship with the lord. If it does, let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And if you'd like to support
the ministry of Calvary church financially, you can
get online securely at calvaryabq.org/give. Myths about angels
are everywhere. We get many of our ideas
about them from the media. But it's important to
understand what they really are. In the message, Angels:
Who They Are, What They Do, and Why It Matters,
Dr. Graham walks us through scripture to
reveal the truth about angels, and what they offer us. Now please open your Bible
to psalm 91 as he begins. Well, I do want to bring you
a message called, Angels: Who They Are, What They
Do, and Why It Matters. Who they are, what they
do, and why it matters. And I want to say
at the outset just to put you at ease, in
case you're ill at ease, this message is not about
the book that I wrote. It's about God's word and what
God's word says about angels. It doesn't matter what
my book says if it's not saying what the Bible says. And so this is not Jack
Graham and the book. This is God's word. And this unique and very
unusual subject of angels. You know, we talk a lot in
our generation about Satan, about demons and demons spirits,
and there's been a focus-- and we should be prepared. Knowing that we're in spiritual
battles all around us. That there is a devil and there
are demon spirits and forces all around us that engage
us in spiritual warfare. So to be forewarned is to be
prepared, to be fore armed. And so that's important. But I began to think,
you know, there's a lot of talk about
the devil, there's a lot of talk about demons,
but what about the angels? What about God's angels? Not just Satan's demons. I wrote a book called
Unseen, and in it we talked about the unseen world. Heaven and Hell, spiritual
warfare, the mind, the soul, things like that. And in it, I had a
chapter on angels. And apparently there
was so much interest in that particular
chapter on angels that the publisher
came to me and said, would you write a book
just about angels? Do an angel book. And I said, absolutely not. Because I thought,
number one, I've said pretty much all I need to
say right now about the angels. I had a chapter on that. And then to some people, it's
somewhat a fringe subject. There's been so much
fanaticism about the angels. And if you read an angel
book typically today, it's a lot of stories
and stuff that you wonder whether it's real or unreal. Not a lot of biblical-based. Billy Graham wrote a book that
I highly recommend on angels back in the 70s or 80s. It's fantastic. Called Angels:
God's Secret Agents. You should get that. You should get all of Billy
Graham's books, in fact. And God bless him and
thank God for his ministry all those years. Yeah, that'd be a
good place to do that. Anyway. So there are a few
good things written. David Jeremiah, my friend,
wrote a good book on angels. But not a lot there. So I saw it a little bit as,
OK that's a fringe topic. And then it seemed,
frankly, with all apologies to you ladies, kind of
like a feminine subject. It would be a book guys, they
don't care about the angels. And I don't want to
be angel boy, the guy out there writing the
book about angels. And, you know, woo woo. And so I said, absolutely not. I'm not going to write
a book about angels. I don't think there's one-- if
you're going to do something, it really ought to
grip your own heart. So I said no. Several weeks later,
a month maybe, I'm with dear friends of ours. And she's dying of cancer. And she's related to
my publisher and so on. And she says to me, Jack
you just really need to reconsider this and
write this book about angels because I'm dying. I'm going to be
with the Lord soon. I'm going to see
the angels soon. I want to know more. Just like I want to know more
about what heaven is like, I want to know about
who's in heaven and all about these angel beings
that the Bible talks about in heaven. And oh, by the way,
are angels going to come and get me when I die? What does the Bible
say about that? And what about the comfort that
I need in times like these? Will angels be there to
guard and guide me home? We talked about that a while
and I thought, well my goodness, I got to reconsider at least. I mean, how can
you turn that down? So I go home, I get my trusty
legal pad out, and a pen, and my Bible. And I begin to write all
the angel references that I could find in the scripture. And it took me quite a while. Because when you
add it all up, there are right at 300
specific references to angels in the Bible. From Genesis to
Revelation and in between. And in particular,
around, surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus. Angels are everywhere around
Jesus and His ministry. And so when I began writing
it out, 300 references. And if you add in the times
that it speaks of the Lord as being the Lord
of Hosts, that's another 200 plus references
to the Lord of Hosts. Who are the host? Who is the host of the Lord? That's the angel armies of God. Love the Chris Tomlin
song, Lord of Angel Armies. The Lord of Hosts means
the Lord of angel armies. The Lord God Almighty. And these hosts,
these heavenly hosts, that are much more than
a choir, though they do worship the Lord. But they are like a mighty army
moving in behalf of the Lord, our God. And so when I begin to see
that and write them down, I began to get excited
about what I was seeing. These angels showing
up everywhere. Often in scriptures
that you and I, I've been studying the
Bible seriously now a long, long time, and
yet I had overlooked some of the references
to the angels. And the appearances of the
angels in very prominent stories in the Bible. For example, one, remember when
Jesus was tempted of the Devil in the wilderness. And he fought the Devil in one. Establish his
authority over Satan at the outset of his ministry. And then an angel came
and ministered to him. I don't know why but I had just
sort of forgotten or overlooked the fact that there in
that moment at the end, an angel came to minister
to Jesus in his humanity. Though his deity was strong,
he was diminished in strength. And an angel came and
ministered to him. I mean, that's just one example. The giving of the law, the
giving of the 10 commandments, angels were present. So when I began to see all of
these references to angels, I said, you know what, I
do need to write this book. To deal with some of the myths
and misconceptions about angels that people have. Because there's
a lot of fantasy, a lot of folklore, a lot
of what your aunt may have told you or your grandmom
that's really not in the Bible. So what does the Bible
say about angels? Who they are, what they
do, and why it matters. And now, I could talk
all morning about it. In fact, I am talking
all morning about it. And last night. But take your bibles
and turned to Psalm 91. I want to show you two
scriptures at the outset. And I've already told you
that these angel references-- I mean you could hardly
turn a page in your Bible without hearing the
flutter of angel wings. They are everywhere. And so in Psalm 91, when you
are in trouble, what do you do? You call 911. So I would suggest
you call Psalm 911. And it establishes something
at the outset verse one of Psalm 91, "he who dwells
in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the
shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my
refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." And this chapter is all about
the shelter and the security that we have in the Lord. So you dial 911 and that's
what you get, God's protection. And God's provision
and God's promises. And if you go ahead and dial
Psalm 9111, if you look down at verse 11, how
does God shelter us? One of the ways he secures
us and shelters us, "for he will command his
angels concerning you." Now punch pause for
just a second there. Notice that the Lord commands
the angels concerning their ministry and our lives. We do not command angels. We do not call for angels to
do our work and do our bidding. We are never to
obsess about angels or to constantly think about,
what are the angels doing. Are the angels around
me this moment? Because actually, the
angels don't really want to be noticed
all that much. They're sort of like the Navy
SEALs who get in undercover, get out. Or get in, get the
job done, and get out. And that's the way
angels typically operate. Billy Graham once said,
I've never seen an angel. But I believe in angels,
not because I've seen one, but because the Bible
tells me they exist. And because the Bible
tells me angels are real. Then I believe the Bible. If you believe the Bible,
you will believe in angels. But who are they, what do they
do, and why does it matter? So God commands the
angels to do what? Verse 11. "To guard you in all
your ways; on their hands they will bear you
up lest you strike your foot against a stone." Angels are provided by
God, on mission, in heaven and in earth. To worship God, to war in
spiritual battle for our God and for His people, and
to witness of the power and the glory of God. This is the mission and
the ministry of angels. You've heard of theology. Theology, what is theology? Theology means the study of God. The study of God. So under theology, from the
scripture, all of this truth. And you might call
them doctrinal truths or biblical truths. And that's theology. And the goal of your
life as a believer should be to know more and more
about God through his word. And in that theological
perspective, there is this whole
perspective of angels. And one reason that you
should know about the angels and consider the angels
and understand who they are and what they do
and why it matters, is because when you
know more about them, you will know more about
the greatness and the glory and the grace of
God in your life. Angels are never
about themselves. They're always pointing
people to Jesus, the one who is on the throne. The one who is adored and
celebrated in all eternity. The angels are not about
themselves and their ministry, but about their commanding
and their calling from God. And that's very,
very, very important. And, you know,
it's not important whether or not you've
ever seen an angel or not. Humanly, physically. I've met people who
say, I've seen an angel. I don't know that I've
ever seen an angel. I may have, I may not have had. Seen an angel, physically. But I know angels exist. And it's not as important
to me that I see the angels. But what is important to me and
what I learned from God's word is the angels see me. The angels see you. And Paul-- the
scripture tells us that Paul even says,
the angels long to look on those things concerning
God's people, God's church. They are leaning in. Did you know that angels
are leaning in right now? They are in this room. They are around us. There is a spiritual
realm all around us and it is tissue
paper thin that separates the earthly world
from the eternal world. This spiritual realm that is
all around us that is more real than anything you see. The fact that we don't
see spiritual realities doesn't lessen their reality. The fact is, angels
are more real. 2 Corinthians 4-18 says the
temporal world, this world that we see is passing away,
is transitory, is not lasting. But the eternal world, the
unseen world, lasts forever. That's more real
than what you see. So all around us
are things we do not see including angel beings
who are present in our lives. So what do they do? Three things I want you to
hear about the angels today. And I pray that God
would open your eyes to this, eyes of faith. Because it will make a
difference in your life, the way you see your life. There was a prophet Elijah. He and his servant
were in a city surrounded by the Syrian army. And the Syrian army was ready
to capture the great prophet and his servant. And the servant was freaking
out that they were about to die. He says, Elijah, what
are we going to do? And remember what Elij- it's
not Elijah, Elijah prayed. He said, Lord open his
eyes that he can see. That they that are
with us are more than they which are against us. And God did open the
eyes of that servant. And he saw a ring of fire
and chariots and horses. And this powerful angel
army in the invisible world, in the unseen world, surrounding
them and protecting them. My prayer is that God would
give you the eyes to see, the spiritual eyes,
the eyes of faith to see that surrounding your
life is this guardianship. These wonderful angels who will
minister to you specifically and to God's church corporately. Who are they? They are worshippers. Now I already alluded to this,
that angels are worshippers. 24/7. Angels are around
the throne of God, adoring him, worshipping him. One of the places we
see the angels the most is in the Book of Revelation. And when you read
the Revelation, these angel beings
are around the throne, joining the Saints of the ages. That's you and me. Because remember this,
very, very important. Angels are created beings. Created by God
specifically for a purpose that God has designed
for the Angels. They were created
in eternity past. Before men and
women were created. Before the creation of time as
we know it, the angels existed. They were created by God. And because they were created
by God, they are immortal, they are innumerable. Scripture says when
counting the angels, there are thousands
upon thousands times tens of thousands
and thousands of thousands, which is biblical
language to say there's a bazillion of them. Millions and myriads of angels
around the throne of God worshipping the Lord. When Isaiah saw the
Lord High and lifted up, he saw God on the
throne, our Lord Jesus himself on the
throne of eternity. And what did he see
around the throne? These cherubim and seraphim,
meaning the shining ones. The shining ones, they are
reflecting the glory of God as they are buzzing
about the throne. They have wings, they have
multiple feet and legs. It's like a beehive
of activity, if you will, around the throne of
God as these angel beings are present. There's so much activity
and so much excitement around the throne of
heaven and it's loud. If you don't like
church loud, you may not like heaven for a while. I don't know if they're passing
out ear plugs there or not, but it's going to be loud. Because what are those
angel beings saying again and again and again? They're saying, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty. Because the core, the core
and central attribute of God is His Holiness. Totally separate,
distinct, unique. God and God alone. Jesus only. And these angels are there,
all around the throne. And myriads of others
who are worshipping him, and celebrating
him, adoring him. Angels and their
activities should prompt us, who are the redeemed,
to worship all the more. Because we have experienced
something that even angels have never experienced. And that's salvation
in Jesus Christ. We have been
forgiven of our sin. Our lives have been transformed. We were lost but
now we're found. We have been saved
by the grace of God. You talk about
amazing grace, if you think we're amazed by grace, how
much the angels must be amazed by the grace of God that would
save a wretched and sinful human being. God who is holy, holy, holy
would reach down and save us. We shout it and sing it forever,
because our God has loved us like this. In is pure holiness, he
has chosen to love us and to save us by sending his
Son, Jesus to die on the cross, to rise again. We're getting ready
on Easter to celebrate that like never before. May God be praised. May our Savior be adored
for what He has done. So that's why when
we come to worship, we shouldn't stand around
with our hands in our pocket or checking our phone. Thinking the music
and the worship, that's the warm up for the word. No. The word and the
worship together compel us to get into
the presence of God. To experience his
presence personally. The angels must
at times be amazed at our lethargy and
our lack of energy when we come to worship God
for what He has done for us. Angels are worshippers,
never forget that. Again, never pointing
a finger at themselves. It's why we should never
obsess about the angels. Certainly never worship angels. Some new age ideas and
ideologies and philosophies worship angels. I think some people
like the angels because they view angels as a
kinder, gentler version of God. Now 80 something percent
of people in America say they believe in angels. And many just want a
softer, kinder presence of God in their lives. So they choose the angels. But the second verse that I want
to show you is in Hebrews 13. I want you to focus
again that this is verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 1. "Are they not
ministering spirits sent out to serve
for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" Underline those words
"inherit salvation." To whom does God
send the angels? Not to an unbelieving world,
but to those who believe. To those who inherit salvation. That means those who are
believers, those who are saved. So the promise of angels is not
just for anyone and everyone. In fact, angels
show up most often with unbelievers executing
judgment, executing judgment. As in the Book of Revelation,
pouring out bowls of wrath. Even in the Garden
of Eden, standing to guard the entrance
to Eden as Adam and Eve take their exit
because of their sin. So for the unbelieving
world, the angels, really that's not a good message
for the unbelieving world. It's a good message for us. We don't worship the angels. It's good to wonder
at the angels, but never worship angels. John, who had a glance of
glory, John the apostle, was taken up into heaven. And he encounters an
angel being and the angel is giving him a tour
of the heavenly city. Imagine that, giving him a
tour of the heavenly city. So he sees this angel. And this angel is so powerful,
so beautiful, so wonderful, so majestic that
John the apostle, who spent all that time with
Jesus, he gets on his face and he begins to
worship that angel. And the angel says, John get up. You're going to get us
both in trouble here. Worship only God. Worship God, not angels. Because angels
point us to the God who alone is worthy
to be worshipped. So angels are worshippers. Angels are also warriors. Now I know, I know. Our imagination, what
we've seen in art and in culture, you know,
angels are cute, little, cuddly cupids. Maybe a little blue-eyed,
blond-haired, doll. And even in our Christmas
pageant, our Christmas production, we fly the
angels, believe it or not. And I told them, I said,
quit flying blue-eyed blondes as the Angels. A few of those is fine. But really when
the angels show up, they're not feminine at all. They're physical manifestation. But they are viewed
as powerful warriors. More like ninja warriors
than little cupi dolls. They're mighty and
powerful and strong. And they do battle in
this spiritual realm that we talk about. So they are worshippers. They are also warriors engaging
in the spiritual battles that are going on all around us and
assisting us in this battle. In what sense? Because you're in
a spiritual battle. We all are. Spiritual warfare,
Ephesians chapter 6. There are demon spirits. And these demon spirits
infest the earth. And Satan is not down in hell
making people shovel coal. Satan's like a roaring
lion loose on the earth, seeking whom he made of our. So Satan is here,
the demons are here. And it makes sense,
as the Bible tells us, that there's going
to be an increase of demonic activity at the end
of the age, in the last days. And the scripture tells us that. Well then it also makes
sense that with the increase of demonic activity,
there will be an increase of angelic activity. And I believe we're seeing
that on both counts today. I know in the Book of
Revelations, as I mentioned, angels are extremely active
in the story of our future that is recorded
in the Revelation. So these angels are involved
in spiritual battles. Now the demons are powerful. Satan is strong. When Satan fell and Satan-- I need to give you a
little back story here. OK, so stay tuned. Here's the back story. Sometime before
the world was made, God created the angels
and something happened. It was a cataclysm of
unbelievable proportions. It's a mystery. Paul called it the mystery of
iniquity, why even sin exists. How could it happen. But in heaven,
Lucifer, who was what? An angel. Lucifer, in fact, apparently,
he was a leading angel. Maybe even leading
worship in heaven. Seemed to be one of the
key worship leaders. This is why Satan, to this
day, is allergic to praise. Because it reminds him
of who he was and what he could have been. When we praise our God. So Lucifer raises up a
rebellion against God in heaven. He said, I will exalt myself
above the throne of God. Lucifer, the
shining one, the son of the morning he
is called, becomes the Father of the night. And Lucifer becomes the Devil. A fallen angel. By the way, there are only
three angel names that we know. Angels have personalities. They're not the same. They're not robots like
some Star Wars army. They have personalities,
and names, and even rank, and serial numbers. Well, I don't know about
the serial numbers, but I know they have ranks. Because they're in God's army. And God's the
commander in chief. And we're told that there
are rankings of angels. And there are three angels
mentioned in the Bible. One is Lucifer,
the fallen angel. The other is Michael,
the archangel. And the other is Gabriel. And we're wait for
him to blow that horn. So these angels are involved
in spiritual battle. One third of the heavenly
host fell with the devil, with Lucifer. And these became
the hordes of Hell. The satanic beings,
the demon spirits, that are working so much
havoc and Hell on earth. But if my math is still
correct, if one third fell, that means 2/3 are elect. Not evil, but elect angels. The way I figure it,
there's more on our team that on their team. Amen? And greater is He that is in you
than He that is in the world. The angel armies are working
and warring on our behalf, behind the scenes,
when we don't even understand what's going on. It happened to Daniel. Daniel chapter 10. He's praying, he's fasting,
he's getting weaker by the hour. And for 21 days he's
praying for his nation. And nothing seems
to be happening. Prayers aren't being answered. And then on the
21st day, an angel shows up and says to
Daniel, Daniel God heard your prayer are
the very first day. But behind the scenes,
a spiritual battle is taking place for the nation. And a demon so
strong, so powerful showed up in this
battle, that God had to send the big boy
out, Michael, the archangel, superhero angel,
Michael the archangel to go and deal with this demon. And destroy this demon. But God said, all along
your prayers were heard. I want to say to you,
that when you pray maybe you're praying for a lost
child, a son, a daughter away from the Lord. And you're praying and praying
and praying and fasting, crying out to God that they
will come back to the Lord. Or maybe there's a
problem in your marriage. And you're struggling
in your home and you're praying
for your marriage. And it doesn't seem
to be happening. Or you're praying for a
neighbor to come to know Jesus and they don't seem
to be getting closer. But then you wonder, is
God hearing my prayers? I'm here to tell you
that in Jesus Christ, God hears your prayers. But remember this, on the first
day you pray, keep praying. Because behind the scenes, this
spiritual battle is going on. Prayer is spiritual warfare. Yes, prayer is worship. Yes, prayer is asking
and receiving from God. But at the core of prayer,
it is a spiritual battle. The warfare is prayer. Prayer is not preparation for
a battle, prayer is the battle. And this is why we must
stay in the spiritual battle and fight the good
fight of faith. And the way we do that
is by staying in prayer. And keep on praying
because God in Jesus' name has heard your prayers. Don't give up. Trust in God. And if it means sending an angel
to conquer some demon spirit, he will do it in his own
time and in his own way. Isn't that beautiful? God's warring for you. If that doesn't comfort
you, I don't know what will. As you're facing
battles in life, as you're facing your own
personal struggles in life, you are not on your own. This is one of the
things that captured my heart and my imagination
as I studied the angels and contemplated the angels. That we are not alone. We're not in this battle-- yes, we have God. Yes, we have his present. His promise never to
leave us or forsake us. Yes, Christ lives in us. His deity inhabits our humanity. We are alive in Christ. That's the Resurrection message. That we are alive
in Jesus Christ. Yes, Christ lives in us. The spirit of God
is working in us, energizing us, and enabling us. Especially our
witness for Christ. Comforting us, he is the helper. So sometimes you may wonder,
if I've got all of that, if I've got the Triune God, God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, if I
have the Bible, which is the sword of the spirit,
the word of God, why on earth would I need an angel? Well, the way I see it is this. The Holy Spirit works within. God's presence within us. Jesus alive in us. The Holy Spirit producing
the fruit of the spirit. Love and joy and peace
and patience and kindness and goodness, gentleness,
self-control, in our lives. That's the work within
the Holy Spirit. And that's a powerful,
precious work. Making us more and
more like Jesus. But angels work without. And we're told in scripture,
if you believe the Bible, we're told in scripture
that these angels serve us at the command and
commission of God. That they are present and
accounted for in our lives. To enable us, to encourage
us, to give us victory. Now our victory is in Jesus. But the angels are
fighting for you. God is fighting for you and he
sends angels in your behalf. Incredible, incredible. And my prayer is that
you would be comforted and that you would
live in confidence. Can you imagine the
confidence that you would have if you knew you were
surrounded by angel armies? Now, from time to time, you
may ask, I've been asked, do we all have a guardian angel? Do we have a guardian angel? Well, the scripture says
the angels guard us. Whether or not we each have
a specific angel guard, an angel named Fred
to look after us, I can't be sure of that. There's part of
a verse, Jesus is talking about the little
children in heaven. And He says, their angel,
the angel of the babies, the little ones. Their angel beholds
the face of God. So there is that. But I don't believe you can
bring a whole spiritual reality to just that. To say, yeah, OK, there it is. Everybody's got their
own personal angel. Some of you do
need more than one. And some of you are overworking
the one you have, let's put it this way. I know I am. My mother didn't think
I'd live past 12, all the stuff I
was getting into. I needed an angel and I do
believe an angel delivered me when I was a child. I do. And we can all look back on
those times in our lives. That near accident, or that time
we were so sick and the doctor says, probably not
going to make it. Or a child was in trouble. And something happened, some
divine intervention took place. Some intersection
between the natural realm and the supernatural happened. And there was this intervention,
if you will, that took place. And when you look back
on it now, you say, that was not just a
natural occurrence. That was not just Providence. That was the
promise of an angel. An angel showed up. The Bible says again in the
book of Hebrews, that angels, we often attend to them unaware. Unaware of the angels. You may have seen
angels and you will meet angels that helped
you out along life's way when you get to heaven. Won't that be fun? I think one of the
biggest things that's going to happen when
we get to heaven, do you know the number
one word outside of Jesus that we're going
to hear in heaven? I think, this is
Grahamology, not theology. But I think the number one thing
you're going to hear in heaven is, aha, that's
what that was about. That's what was going on. That's why that happened. Oh yes, there was an angel
there who came and delivered me in that situation. Or delivered my
child, or our family. Yes, God, I get it. Now we see through
a mirror darkly but then we shall know
even as we are known. We will see face to face. We'll understand it
better by and by. Angels. [APPLAUSE] One last thing. Angels are not only
worshippers and warriors, they are witnesses. Witnesses. The very word angel is
ángelos in your New Testament. Language. Angelos which means messenger. Skip is an angel. Yes he is. He's a messenger from God. In fact, in the
Book of Revelation, when it writes to the
churches in Revelation, it will say to the angel
of the church at Ephesus So to the angel of the
church at Laodicea. So the angel was the messenger,
typically the pastor, of the church. So that's a human messenger. You know, my wife's an angel. I know my grandkids
are little angels. Deb and I and our grandchildren,
and we have a common enemy. They're are parrots. But that's another subject. And I should say, to
clarify something, while there are human
angels, pastors, and our precious ones, no human
being ever becomes an angel. That's one of the biggest
myths out there and mistakes out there regarding angels. That when people die, they
get their wings and a halo. And they float on a cloud. How boring. No, people do not become angels. Angels are created by
God for their purpose. We as humankind have
been created by God. So little babies, I
hear a lot when parents are so broken hearted, a little
one, a child, an infant it's so disastrous, goes to heaven. They say, well my little
baby is now an angel. No. No. Human beings do not-- it's
never taught in the Bible. You got that somewhere
besides the Bible. The Bible does not tell us
that human beings ever, ever, ever become angels. That angels are
unique and distinct. They are the messengers from
God, angelic messengers, rather than human messengers. So in that sense, they often
show up witnessing and making huge announcements. Big announcements. Like the birth of Jesus,
that was a big one. Mary you're going--
an angel comes. Mary you're going to bring
the Christ child, the Messiah into the world. To Joseph, in a dream,
two times an angel speaks and gives guidance. And then who could forget that
night on Bethlehem Hillside when the heavens exploded. And the glory of
God was all around. And the angel shows up and
said, unto you is born this day, in the City of David, a
Savior who is Christ the Lord. The first gospel preacher was an
angel that night in Bethlehem. And the angels
roared in the skies. Glory to God in the highest. That's a big announcement. So angels make
these announcements. Angels were around
the cross there in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus is sweating
blood in preparing his life and surrendering his will to
do the will of the Father. To put his life on the cross
and to die for our sins on the cross. He is there, praying. And then when the
betrayers, on the way with the guards
and the soldiers, they're on their way to pick him
up and Simon Peter, you know, he starts whacking
away with a sword. And Jesus said, put it down. He said, do you not know that
I could call to my Father. And he would send ten thousands
of ten thousands of angels to deliver me. Think about it. It wasn't the nails that
kept Jesus on the cross. Not the Romans who
kept him there. Love fastened
Jesus to the cross. He could have
spoken and God would have sent the host, the
heavenly host, to take him down. But he bled and he died
for you and for me. Angels must have
stood by with swords ready to draw to take them out. I mean, if I'd been
God, I'd say, go. Go get him. But God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son. And then on the third day,
the women go to the tomb. And there's an angel
sitting on a rock, the stone that had rolled away. And what did the angel say? He is not here. He has risen. Again. He is not here. He is risen. He is risen. That was the angel message. That's the gospel. The death, the burial, the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is alive, alive. And the angel said it. And then people
took that message and as they were filled
with the Holy Spirit, began to turn the
world upside down in the power of the word of
God and the gospel of our God. So angels made the announcement,
but we give the witness. We are witnesses
of these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit. One final closing illustration. When Peter and John were
in prison, locked up for preaching the gospel,
they said, don't you ever speak this name
Jesus again in our town. It's Jerusalem. They said, stop
talking about Jesus. Or more of this. The beatings will
continue and even death. Stop talking about Jesus. Can you imagine that? If somebody said to you, under
penalty of death you cannot even speak His name again. You can't pray to
Him out loud, you can't talk to Him you
can't speak of Him. Sometimes we have to wonder,
would it really matter? We talk about a lot
of things, do we talk about Jesus all that much? But these guys, they
said, we can't help but speak of the things
that we've seen and heard. You might as well
tell the sun to stop shining as to tell these
two Godly men to stop talking about Jesus. So they're ready to go again. And an angel comes to
get them out of jail. Now this very important. What I'm about to say right
out of Acts Chapter 5. The angel comes to get them out
of jail and he opens the door, gets them out, and then the
angel says to these two guys, John and Peter go, stand, speak
all the words of this life. In other words, you get
right back where you were. And you boldly stand
there and you keep speaking this message of life. This is our message. It's God's message. Isn't that what people
are looking for? People all around us, folks. Coming up this Easter, they
will come to Easter service when they will come
to nothing else. Why? Because they know their
life isn't working out. Their lives are upside down. Their lives are a disaster. They're empty. Everybody's looking for life,
for meaning, for purpose. And we have the
words to this life. It's the word of Jesus. The word of God. The word of the Resurrection. And angels can't
tell that message. I mean, if God wanted
to save the world, all he'd have to do is pull
back the skies and go, boo. And everybody would believe. Or send an angel
to just write it. Jesus is Lord. But that's not God's plan. We, his people, his church,
we are the plan of God. To evangelize the world. Starting with our neighbors
and our nation and the nations. We are called to do and
commanded to do what angels cannot do. The angels could get
them out of jail, but the angel couldn't
go for them to tell the good news of Christ. Only we can do that. I love your theme
here as you get ready for that outdoor sunrise
service and your services here. Everybody, everybody invite
someone or invite someone. Let me get it right. Invite everyone, bring someone. I need to write that down. You write that down. Invite everyone, bring someone. Why? Because someone you know needs
to know the words of this life. And you're a messenger. [APPLAUSE] And you're called to
do what even the holy, mighty angels will
not do and cannot do. Because the angels have no
salvation story to tell. But we do. We can go to someone and
say, I was lost and headed in the wrong direction,
I had no hope. But I came to Jesus,
he's changed my life, he's forgiven my sins. Come and go to church and
hear the words of this life. You don't have to
say it like that, but you catch what I'm saying. We're witnesses. So let the angels
prompt us to worship, prompt us to war in spiritual
warfare and engagement with the enemy and win. And prompt us to witness. The angels speak of God's
glory and God's greatness. And so do we. But we speak of also
God's grace in our lives. Amen? Amen. Let's pray together. We thank you, oh Lord
for these great truths. That you created these
angels to worship you. To war and to win in your
behalf in spiritual conquest. We know that we are more
than conquerors through you who have loved us. And, Lord, that we might
witness and speak the truth that only we can speak. That angels dare
not even breathe. The amazing grace that you
have given us in our lives. We thank you for
the angels, Lord. For the times they have
guarded us, protected us, when we don't even know it. But because of your love and
because of your protection, we are here today to celebrate
all that you have done. In Jesus' name. Amen. We hope you enjoyed this special
service from Calvary church featuring our guest
speaker Dr. Jack Graham. How did this message impact you? We'd love to know. Email us at
mystory@calvaryabq.org. And just a reminder, you can
give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary church.
