December 10, 2025 • 28 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
On today's PowerPoint, Doctor Graham brings a message about why
Christmas and Jesus' birth are gifts just for you. Now
here's Doctor Graham with his message when angels.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
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.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I know this.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
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 two. It is a heavenly invasion. It is
when heaven it comes to earth and the angels declare.
(01:03):
The angels deploy the message of God. They declare the
meaning of Jesus' birth and why he came, and how he.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Can change our lives.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
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 Hark the Herald Angels.
See Now, I've written a book about angels, and I
(01:36):
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
(02:00):
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
ten thousand angels at his cross, but they held off
(02:21):
because Christ was dying for the sins of the world.
We see angels 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
(02:42):
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 marry or serve on the hillsides outside of Bethlehem,
(03:03):
where the night exploded with light and the angels saying
to the glory of God. As I looked at the
hymns of Faith and the carols of Christmas, I realized
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
(03:25):
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,
there there lay through and through the lyrics this one heart,
(03:47):
the Herald Angels Singing 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
a eighteen children.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Can you imagine that.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Mama Wesley had eighteen to care for, and she prayed
for each one of them by name every day, and
she taught them God's word. It has said that Zanna 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 eighteen kids
running around?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
She would throw her.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
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
(04:44):
ended up writing sixty five hundred hymns of faith, and
many of these have endured through the generations. Classic hymns
should endure. Great hymns should endure. Now we love the
new songs, but the words were written to Hark the
Herald Angel sing in seventeen thirty seven. Wesley was concerned
(05:06):
that the church in that generation, particularly the Anglican Church,
the Church of England, lacked heart in their worship.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
They lacked passion in the singing of songs.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
They were just routinely and ritualistically going through the motion.
He feared that quote heart, religion and living faith was
dying in the Church of his time.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And so he said this, beware of singing. This is
good for our generation.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Of Satan, songs of the world.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
The song Harked the Herald Angel Sing was originally called
a hymn for Christmas Day, and it contained what's 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 two. So look at
(06:15):
Luke chapter two, and let's read together, beginning at verse eight,
this familiar story, but with fresh eyes and open heart.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Now they were in.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Be you know, all people. For there is born.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
To you this day in the city of David, a
savior who is Christ the Lord.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And this will be the sign to you.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
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.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
That's the story.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
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 new born King, Peace on earth and mercy,
mild God, and sinners reconcile.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's taken right out of the scriptures. Now, when the
angels announced the.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Birth of Jesus that night, I have to think, what
were those angels thinking, after all the preparation from eternity
to announce the birth.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Of Jesus, And they light up the heavens.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
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, would pick
up trucks and gun racks. A few smelly, stinky, sleepy shepherds. Shepherds.
(08:24):
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
(08:45):
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,
(09:08):
could have been a let down. But that's the way
God did it. The announcement came to these shepherds, not
to kings or emperors or Roman legions, not to Harold,
not in a majestic place, not in Rome, not even
in Jerusalem, not even in Bethlehem, a small little town,
(09:32):
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 ever heard.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
What an announcement. Hark the Herald angels.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
See what a contrast where these majestic mighty ain't. When
the scripture says in Luke too that they manifest themselves
as the heavenly host, that means they appeared as.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
An army from heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Now I know when we put angels on top of
our Christmas trees, or have little porcelain angels, or little
woven angels, or little cuddly cheros. 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
in per se. But the glory of God was upon them,
(10:34):
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
(10:56):
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
(11:17):
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.
(11:40):
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.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Angels are singing.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
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five nine seven eight nine. Again, that's match to five
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When angels sing, I know, if.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
You want to get technical, it doesn't say the angel singing.
It says the Angel said. And I've always thought that
was sort of a crazy point to make, because we
know angels are worshippers of God. They are great witnesses
of the Gospel. They are worshippers of God. They are warriors.
(13:34):
And so when you think of angels, certainly you first
and foremost think of angels worshiping God twenty four to
seven 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 worshippers.
And you can't imagine, in my view, angels worshiping without
(13:58):
singing the songs of Heaven, the language of Heaven echoing
from heaven to earth. And so 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
(14:20):
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.
(14:41):
First Corinthians one twenty six, where you see your calling, brethren,
that not many who are wise according to the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble or 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,
the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the
(15:02):
things which are not to bring into nothing, to bring
to nothing the things that are. Charles Wesley and 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,
(15:32):
by the shock and awe of that night, so afraid.
And yet they run and kneel 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.
(15:54):
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
that one angel before the heavenly host, appeared.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
And ignited the night.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
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. Race Dadman, a great Christian and theologian,
(16:39):
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 the message that we have
(17:03):
to experience and to share with the world is do
not be afraid.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
It's the message of the angels.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
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.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
God loves you.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
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
(17:53):
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.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It's it's not the American gospel or the Western European gospel.
It's 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
amount announcement, but there is in this text and in
(18:27):
this great song, Hark the Herald Angels 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, laid in time. Behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb, veiled in flesh, the god Head.
(18:50):
See hell incarnate Deity. Please as man with men to
dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark the Herald Angels sing glory
to the new born 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.
(19:14):
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.
(19:35):
He is God who became a man one hundred percent God,
one hundred percent man, one hundred percent deity, one hundred
percent 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
(19:57):
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, all
(20:19):
spring of the Virgin's womb, born of Mary the Virgin.
The Gospel proclaimed seven hundred years before in Isaiah said
that Jesus would come Isaiah seven fourteen, 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
(20:40):
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 yeah
is foundationable. Don't allow anyone. Liberals and unbelievers and progressives
(21:07):
and all the lights 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 men, and therefore,
according to Hebrews four point fifteen, he is able to
sympathize with us.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
He was tempted as all points as we are tempted.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
And yet without sin, Jesus bridged the gap, as Wesley
put it in Herk the Herald angels, seeing God and
sinners reconciled. Jesus took the holy hand of God and
the sinful hand of man, and he brought us together. Emmanuel, God,
(21:52):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yes, it's a mystery.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yes it is a miracle that deity and humanity could
and 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
(22:29):
with healing in his wings. His love is reconcile 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
(22:53):
came to reconcile God to man and to one another.
He brings healing today in bride hope for tomorrow. Wesley
closed his him 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
(23:15):
can be born again. He came to earth so that
you 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
(23:38):
it will not just be about the songs and.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
The services and.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
The words that we say Christmas, not just married Christmas.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
But that Jesus is more, and that we share that.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Message with our families, with our friends, and with old Lord.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
when Angels Sing. With just a few days left in
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(24:22):
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(24:42):
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(25:25):
to five nine seven eight nine. Pastor what is your
PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
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?
(25:55):
I don't mean vocally, I mean with your life? Is
there evidence that heaven has invaded your ordinary? Those shepherds
were nobody's 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 they couldn't stop telling everyone, what would it look
(26:18):
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
is unreachable. The angels sang to outcasts because this gospel
is for outcasts, which means it's for everyone, because we're
(26:38):
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 coworker who's
barely holding it together, that family member who thinks they're
(27:01):
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
(27:21):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And that is today's power Point. Join us again next
time as doctor Graham brings a message about how the
arrival of Jesus turned the world upside down. That's next
time on power Point with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack
Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
Welcome to PowerPoint with Jack Graham.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
On today's PowerPoint, Doctor Graham brings a message about why
Christmas and Jesus' birth are gifts just for you. Now
here's Doctor Graham with his message when angels.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
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.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I know this.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
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 two. It is a heavenly invasion. It is
when heaven it comes to earth and the angels declare.
(01:03):
The angels deploy the message of God. They declare the
meaning of Jesus' birth and why he came, and how he.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Can change our lives.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
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 Hark the Herald Angels.
See Now, I've written a book about angels, and I
(01:36):
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
(02:00):
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
ten thousand angels at his cross, but they held off
(02:21):
because Christ was dying for the sins of the world.
We see angels 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
(02:42):
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 marry or serve on the hillsides outside of Bethlehem,
(03:03):
where the night exploded with light and the angels saying
to the glory of God. As I looked at the
hymns of Faith and the carols of Christmas, I realized
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
(03:25):
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,
there there lay through and through the lyrics this one heart,
(03:47):
the Herald Angels Singing 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
a eighteen children.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Can you imagine that.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Mama Wesley had eighteen to care for, and she prayed
for each one of them by name every day, and
she taught them God's word. It has said that Zanna 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 eighteen kids
running around?
Speaker 3 (04:22):
She would throw her.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
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
(04:44):
ended up writing sixty five hundred hymns of faith, and
many of these have endured through the generations. Classic hymns
should endure. Great hymns should endure. Now we love the
new songs, but the words were written to Hark the
Herald Angel sing in seventeen thirty seven. Wesley was concerned
(05:06):
that the church in that generation, particularly the Anglican Church,
the Church of England, lacked heart in their worship.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
They lacked passion in the singing of songs.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
They were just routinely and ritualistically going through the motion.
He feared that quote heart, religion and living faith was
dying in the Church of his time.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And so he said this, beware of singing. This is
good for our generation.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
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.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Of Satan, songs of the world.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
The song Harked the Herald Angel Sing was originally called
a hymn for Christmas Day, and it contained what's 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 two. So look at
(06:15):
Luke chapter two, and let's read together, beginning at verse eight,
this familiar story, but with fresh eyes and open heart.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Now they were in.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
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.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Be you know, all people. For there is born.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
To you this day in the city of David, a
savior who is Christ the Lord.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And this will be the sign to you.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
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.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
That's the story.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
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 new born King, Peace on earth and mercy,
mild God, and sinners reconcile.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's taken right out of the scriptures. Now, when the
angels announced the.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Birth of Jesus that night, I have to think, what
were those angels thinking, after all the preparation from eternity
to announce the birth.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
Of Jesus, And they light up the heavens.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
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, would pick
up trucks and gun racks. A few smelly, stinky, sleepy shepherds. Shepherds.
(08:24):
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
(08:45):
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,
(09:08):
could have been a let down. But that's the way
God did it. The announcement came to these shepherds, not
to kings or emperors or Roman legions, not to Harold,
not in a majestic place, not in Rome, not even
in Jerusalem, not even in Bethlehem, a small little town,
(09:32):
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 ever heard.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
What an announcement. Hark the Herald angels.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
See what a contrast where these majestic mighty ain't. When
the scripture says in Luke too that they manifest themselves
as the heavenly host, that means they appeared as.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
An army from heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Now I know when we put angels on top of
our Christmas trees, or have little porcelain angels, or little
woven angels, or little cuddly cheros. 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
in per se. But the glory of God was upon them,
(10:34):
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
(10:56):
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
(11:17):
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.
(11:40):
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.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Angels are singing.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
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five nine seven eight nine. Again, that's match to five
nine seven eight nine. Now let's get back to today's message.
When angels sing, I know, if.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
You want to get technical, it doesn't say the angel singing.
It says the Angel said. And I've always thought that
was sort of a crazy point to make, because we
know angels are worshippers of God. They are great witnesses
of the Gospel. They are worshippers of God. They are warriors.
(13:34):
And so when you think of angels, certainly you first
and foremost think of angels worshiping God twenty four to
seven 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 worshippers.
And you can't imagine, in my view, angels worshiping without
(13:58):
singing the songs of Heaven, the language of Heaven echoing
from heaven to earth. And so 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
(14:20):
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.
(14:41):
First Corinthians one twenty six, where you see your calling, brethren,
that not many who are wise according to the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble or 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,
the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the
(15:02):
things which are not to bring into nothing, to bring
to nothing the things that are. Charles Wesley and 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,
(15:32):
by the shock and awe of that night, so afraid.
And yet they run and kneel 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.
(15:54):
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
that one angel before the heavenly host, appeared.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
And ignited the night.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
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. Race Dadman, a great Christian and theologian,
(16:39):
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 the message that we have
(17:03):
to experience and to share with the world is do
not be afraid.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
It's the message of the angels.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
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.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
God loves you.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
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
(17:53):
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.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
It's it's not the American gospel or the Western European gospel.
It's 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
amount announcement, but there is in this text and in
(18:27):
this great song, Hark the Herald Angels 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, laid in time. Behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb, veiled in flesh, the god Head.
(18:50):
See hell incarnate Deity. Please as man with men to
dwell Jesus, our Emmanuel. Hark the Herald Angels sing glory
to the new born 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.
(19:14):
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.
(19:35):
He is God who became a man one hundred percent God,
one hundred percent man, one hundred percent deity, one hundred
percent 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
(19:57):
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, all
(20:19):
spring of the Virgin's womb, born of Mary the Virgin.
The Gospel proclaimed seven hundred years before in Isaiah said
that Jesus would come Isaiah seven fourteen, 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
(20:40):
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 yeah
is foundationable. Don't allow anyone. Liberals and unbelievers and progressives
(21:07):
and all the lights 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 men, and therefore,
according to Hebrews four point fifteen, he is able to
sympathize with us.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
He was tempted as all points as we are tempted.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
And yet without sin, Jesus bridged the gap, as Wesley
put it in Herk the Herald angels, seeing God and
sinners reconciled. Jesus took the holy hand of God and
the sinful hand of man, and he brought us together. Emmanuel, God,
(21:52):
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.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Yes, it's a mystery.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Yes it is a miracle that deity and humanity could
and 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
(22:29):
with healing in his wings. His love is reconcile 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
(22:53):
came to reconcile God to man and to one another.
He brings healing today in bride hope for tomorrow. Wesley
closed his him 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
(23:15):
can be born again. He came to earth so that
you 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
(23:38):
it will not just be about the songs and.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
The services and.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
The words that we say Christmas, not just married Christmas.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
But that Jesus is more, and that we share that.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Message with our families, with our friends, and with old Lord.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
when Angels Sing. With just a few days left in
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lives than ever before. As a thanks for your gift,
We'll send you a copy of doctor Graham's book Breaking
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text the word match to five nine seven eight nine.
That's match to five nine seven eight nine. We now
(25:03):
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to five nine seven eight nine. Pastor what is your
PowerPoint for today?
Speaker 2 (25:32):
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?
(25:55):
I don't mean vocally, I mean with your life? Is
there evidence that heaven has invaded your ordinary? Those shepherds
were nobody's 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 they couldn't stop telling everyone, what would it look
(26:18):
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
is unreachable. The angels sang to outcasts because this gospel
is for outcasts, which means it's for everyone, because we're
(26:38):
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 coworker who's
barely holding it together, that family member who thinks they're
(27:01):
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
(27:21):
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.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And that is today's power Point. Join us again next
time as doctor Graham brings a message about how the
arrival of Jesus turned the world upside down. That's next
time on power Point with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack
Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
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