The Gate Opened by Itself: Angels Sent to Protect and Serve You

Sermon outline

Believers are surrounded by angels, ministering spirits sent to protect and serve the heirs of salvation, so take heart, fear not, and expect God's help to reach you.

1. Angels encamp round about the righteous

   You may not see or recognise them, but angels are all around you, because the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and you are the righteousness of God. When you wake, travel, go to meetings or go to work, they are with you; if God opened your eyes you would see them.

   “You may not see them, you may not recognize them, but there are angels all around you.”

   • Psalm 34:7

2. There stood by me an angel of God

   Paul warned the voyage would end in disaster, but the centurion trusted the helmsman and the ship's owner over the man of God. In the storm, with all hope gone, Paul stood up and told them to take heart, because an angel of the God he belonged to and served had stood by him. The angels' most common words are 'do not be afraid', because when fear comes in, faith goes out.

   “When fear comes into your heart, faith will go out.”

   • Acts 27:9-23
   • Romans 8:31
   • 2 Kings 6:16

3. You cannot die before your time

   The angel told Paul he must first be brought before Caesar: no storm could take him until his purpose was fulfilled. If God has a plan for you, no premature death can come to you before it is accomplished, whether a car crash or a robber whose gun will not fire.

   Illustration: They may try to rob you, they may even pull the trigger, but it won't fire, because your purpose is not yet accomplished.

   “If God has got a purpose for you, and he's got a plan for you, you cannot die before your time.”

   • Acts 27:24

4. God has granted you all who sail with you

   Everyone on board was protected because they were with Paul, so be careful whom you associate with: your protection, and even your prosperity, lies in the association, not in a name or in great numbers, and men of God have often had to stand alone. One child of God can bring protection and blessing to a whole company, because angels surround the place where you are.

   Illustration: You see Bob, Arthur and Mark at work and think that's all there is, but innumerable angels are around you.

   “Some of you are working in a place that whole company is protected because of you.”

   • Acts 27:24
   • Luke 6:38

5. Take heart: God is your source

   Paul said 'take heart, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me'. If people threaten to take your contracts away, God has someone else with more for you, because your angels are working. Your customer base, your pocket and your possessions are not your source; God is, and it is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit.

   Illustration: Your house may have an alarm system, a dog called Bruno and a watchman at the gate, but you have more than that: the angels of God encamped around your home.

   “Your customer base is not your source. God is your source.”

   • Acts 27:25
   • Zechariah 4:6
   • Romans 8:32

6. When an angel shows up, chains fall off

   Peter slept chained between two soldiers until an angel struck him, said 'arise quickly', and his chains fell off without keys or bolt cutters; then the iron gate opened of its own accord. God is big, with the earth as His footstool, and He has a million ways to get to you what you need, by a raven, the post, an electronic transfer or a pot that multiplies.

   Illustration: The iron gate swung open with no electricity and no Centurion gate motor: the first automatic gate, two thousand years ago.

   “When an angel of the Lord shows up everything that's keeping you bound will fall off you.”

   • Acts 12:5-10
   • Isaiah 66:1
   • Isaiah 40:12
   • 1 Kings 17:6
   • Psalm 23:5

7. Praying is not the same as receiving

   The church was praying for Peter's release, yet when Rhoda said he was at the gate they told her she was out of her mind and that it must be his angel. They prayed as a religious duty without expecting an answer. There is a distinct difference between believing and receiving: when you pray, receive it, and walk away after the amen as one who has it.

   Illustration: Peter keeps knocking at the gate while the people inside debate whether it is really him.

   “There's a distinct difference between believing and receiving.”

   • Acts 12:11-16

8. Ministering spirits sent for the heirs of salvation

   Hebrews 1:14 says angels are ministering spirits sent to minister for those who inherit salvation. Negative speech binds them, so begin each day thanking God that what you need is coming from the east, west, north and south. Qualifications, business sense and experience are good, but you need the anointing for increase.

   Illustration: If academic qualifications could prosper you, the university professors would all be very rich.

   “Angels will go and get you what needs to be brought.”

   • Hebrews 1:13-14

9. He shall give His angels charge over you

   Psalm 91: dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, it shall not come near you. No evil shall befall you and no plague shall come near your dwelling, because He gives His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.

   “No evil shall befall you.”

   • Psalm 91:1-16