1.
Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation
of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word for us this
morning as we observe the Feast of St. Michael & All Angels comes to us
from Rev. 12:7-12 and it’s entitled, “Angels—God’s
Messengers & Servants,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
Now you may be wondering, “Why
does the church observe this festival of St. Michael and All Angels, or what
are angels and why should I care?” Well,
angels are important to know for us as Christians. Sometime during the six days of creation, the
Lord God created these beings we call angels. They are unseen spirits, doing
the will of God–“ministering spirits,”
the Bible calls them. The Bible is clear
that there’s an unseen spirit world, with lots going on that we mere mortals
aren’t aware of. We may see the results of this unseen spiritual activity in
our world–in human history, in the rise and fall of nations, in the protection
and safety of the church, or even of individual believers. We may see the
results, but we don’t see the angelic activity itself.
3.
As we survey the Sacred Scriptures, we can briefly say that angels
are God’s messengers and servants. Angels are messengers. In fact, the word “angel” means “messenger.” The Greek word “angelos”
can be translated as that, “messenger.”
God sent angels to deliver messages to man, particularly at critical moments in
God’s dealings with mankind. For
example, the angel Gabriel was sent, first to Zechariah, to announce the coming
birth of John, the forerunner of the Lord, and then to the virgin Mary, to
announce that she was to give birth to our Savior Jesus. And when she did, on
that Christmas night, an angel appeared to some shepherds out in a field, to
let them know that that night a Savior had been born to them, which is Christ
the Lord. Then, fast forward, and we come to the resurrection and ascension of
our Lord. Again, angels are sent to deliver the message. The two young men at
Jesus’ tomb–they tell the women, “He is
not here. He is risen, just as he said.” And forty days later, at Jesus’
ascension, they tell the disciples: “Why
do you stand staring up into the heavens? This Jesus will come again in the
same way you saw him go up into the heavens.” Key moments in the life and
work of our Savior Jesus Christ, and you find angels coming to deliver a
message, explaining the moment to the persons who witness it.
4.
It’s mysterious to us that early in
the Book of Genesis after God created the heavens and the earth an astounding
event occurred: a number of the angels turned evil! 2 Peter 2 speaks of the
fact that God did not spare the angels when they fell from their original
place; they were eternally condemned! These angels, headed up by Satan, were
extracted from heaven. How can this be?
Evil in heaven? Then we find the
evil angels and the good angels throughout the Old and New Testaments. We see
demons abundant in the New Testament. These are fallen angels working their
evil power against the Church. And that brings us down to Revelation 12, today’s
text.
5.
This text presents to us a
mysterious “war in heaven.” This war
took place at the ascension of our Lord, as the context indicates. Just before
v 7, we find the “the child (Jesus) caught
up to heaven.” In the direct context of the ascension of Jesus, this war
takes place. Satan and all his angels storm heaven in one last attempt, as if
it were possible, to destroy Christ and his kingdom. But Michael and his angels
fight against the dragon and his angels and repel the attack.
6.
And then, there is that last amazing
verse: “Rejoice, O heavens and you who
dwell in them! But woe to you,O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to
you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (ESV). And work among us the devil and his angels do!
For they know that they will be eternally judged on the Day of Judgment. Among
us they strive to destroy, as if it were possible, our salvation! Satan is the master of a thousand arts. He’s
the author of clever temptations, designed for our weakest points and our most
powerful passions. All he has to do is flash one temptation before our eyes,
and we take over. As sinners, we’re experts at converting temptation into sin.
The temptation isn’t the problem. It’s we who are the problem, as we entertain
the temptation. Before we know it, we’ve sinned. Temptations come through all
kinds of media—like television, our smartphones, and on our computers, you name
it! And we fall. Indeed, out of our hearts proceed thoughts of murder,
adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and slander!
7.
And to make matters worse, Satan, in
addition to his temptations, accuses us before God the Father, day and night. And
so as those who have committed these sins before God our Heavenly Father, we can
only appear before God and say, “Lord,
it’s true. I have indeed sinned much. What Satan accuses me of is correct. I
have sinned against all your commandments! I often wonder if my victory is
certain. It looks at times like my condemnation is certain. Lord, have mercy!”
8.
But our heavenly Father doesn’t
listen to the accusing voice of this fallen angel! He listens to another voice.
He listens to the voice of the “Uncreated
Angel,” who speaks for us. God’s
ears are closed to the dragon and open to the Angel of the Lord, as Jesus is
often revealed in the Old Testament. Our Lord Jesus, who was cradled in the arms
of Mary! Jesus, who lived his perfect life for us. And suffered in our stead.
Jesus, who hung dead on his cross in profound sacrifice for us. This Son of Man
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father to give us victory over
sin, death, and the power of the devil, and it is the job of angels as God’s
messengers and servants to let us know this Good News of salvation we have in
Jesus.
9.
To this voice, and this voice alone,
our Father listens! Listen to this voice: “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do!” And our Father hears and always
answers, “For your sake, my Son, and for
the sake of your cross and resurrection, I forgive this child of mine!”
10.
We do stand forgiven. All
accusations have been transferred to the Son of God on his cross. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus!” No condemnation! You stand pure and
holy in the blood of the Lamb. For we have conquered in this blood, as the text
assures us. We are covered in Jesus’ blood. Your names are written in heaven,
and nothing shall hurt you!
11.
All this was given you in your
Baptism. You know what happened in your Baptism, right? “There is great joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who
repents!” That one sinner was you, in Baptism! The angels rejoiced over
you! And, when you come to the Lord’s Supper, you worship with angels and
archangels and with all the company of heaven, as “we laud and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising thee and
saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!”
12.
Now, with our deliverance certain in
the work of our Lord Jesus, we worship with lives surrounded by angels, living
more and more in holy obedience to the Lord. We find ourselves saying, “Get behind me, Satan! I’m no longer your
child. I’m a child of my God, ready to inherit salvation and to worship forever
with the holy angels. I want nothing to do with you and your temptations.”
When we’re tempted, God equips us to resist with His Word. We begin to take
more seriously such biblical gems as these: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” and “Be sober, be
watchful, your adversary the devil prowls . . .” And we relish these words:
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood . . .”
13.
And so, on this Feast of St. Michael
and All Angels, we rejoice in the invisible world of St. Michael, the angel
Gabriel, and the entire company of the world beyond our present sight. We
remember: “Angels are ministering spirits
sent out to serve” (Heb 1:14 ESV). We love to hear, “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word” (Ps
103:20 ESV). And,: “See that you do not
look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in
heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” (Mt 18:10). And yes, the
angels, when we pass from this body, will, indeed, accompany us to the realms
of the mansions above. It’s all because of the love of the Father for us in our
Savior Jesus. In Jesus Christ, in his saving ministry of his Word and
Sacraments, and in his mysterious work among us in his angels, our victory is
certain! Amen.
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