The Power is in the Blood

St. Michael and All Angels Sunday (9/23/07)

Revelation 12:7-12

7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. 12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."

Angels have always been a popular topic for years. Just take a look at Hollywood has been doing, for years, Death Takes a Holiday (1934) which is the original Meet Joe Black, Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1943) which is the original Heaven Can Wait, It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) which also has been redone, or Angels in the Outfield (1951) redone in 1994 with the same name. And then there’s or TV shows like,  Touched by An Angel or Highway to Heaven. Whether we’re watching TV or telling our children about their guardian angels, Christians and non-Christians alike seem to be continually mystified by these beings. Who are they? Do they speak to us? Do they really protect us from danger? Do they appear as Hollywood promotes them bringing important messages from God, and striving to get us onto a highway to heaven?

This morning we observe the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels, and in doing so, we remember the angelic hosts that we know to be real and powerful according to Scripture itself. A glance at our bulletin covers reminds us that the heavenly hosts are not just the little winged cherubs who play harps, blow horns and have halos over their heads. The bulletin cover and the text from Revelation 12 paints a picture of angels that is often forgotten among Christians. That angels are God’s servants and will be the victors in a war—a war that is beyond any conflict that could ever break out here on earth.

Our text begins with a statement that boggles the mind, “there was a war in heaven!” A war in heaven, how can this be? Heaven is the place of eternal bliss. It’s the place of the glorious presence of God. It’s full of peace and everlasting blessedness—how could a war take place there?

War has raged in heaven as Satan and his evil angels have striven to gain domination over all angelic beings. The great dragon, the serpent of old, who is Satan and the deceiver, was once Lucifer, the light bearer of God. He and his demons were good in the beginning. For in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, including all the angels and Scripture declares that the LORD looked upon everything He had created, and behold, it was very good. Thus, all the angels, both the good ones and those who would later rebel, were created sometime during the six days of Creation.

The Bible doesn’t tell us when exactly the devil rebelled against the Creator and took a host of angels with him to become demons, but it definitely was early on in history, for it was early that he was able to deceive the very first man and woman who were created in God’s own image. The fall of man into sin was preceded by the fall of a certain number of the angels. These minions of Satan are still at work, vehemently trying to impede God’s work. They go to battle, marching in a campaign of lies and deceit, and death, led by their champion, who is the father of all lies.

We don’t talk about this much anymore, and there could be a number of reasons. The Bible tells us specifics about the nature of evil and its source, but there are still some questions that remain unanswered. And when we can’t answer a question we tend to avoid such topics altogether. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Why did God allow us to fall into sin?  Why did God create Lucifer when He knew that Satan would corrupt all of Creation? Again when we can’t answer a question we tend to avoid such topics altogether. In our day the thought of the devil or the place of hell, even when they are clearly confirmed by the Holy Scriptures, are viewed by some, even some considering themselves to be Christian, to be unimportant or nonexistent.

To put plainly, we just don’t speak much anymore about the work of Satan and his demons, at least not as much as Christians in days gone by.  Anyone in our day who has read Luther might think that the man was obsessed with the devil and possession by demons. He talked about them incessantly in his sermons, lectures, and writings. This has led many to conclude that Luther was just another man of his medieval day, when the people feared evil spirits and devils, the stuff of fairy tales. But the Reformer was merely looking at the world according to God’s own Word. He had a much better grasp than we that the devil is real and a force to be reckoned with. Let’s not forget what the Bible calls him, the prince of this world!

But once again, we’re faced in our text from Revelation with a war in heaven—a war involving Michael the archangel, as well as the heavenly host of angels: “Now war arose in heaven Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).

In interpreting the book of Revelation, it’s imperative that one recognize that we are dealing with apocalyptic literature. John is telling us about visions he has received from the Lord. We are not talking about plain historical narrative; rather, the events portrayed in this book are highly symbolic. John saw these things happen, but they are not literal events we will witness—rather, they symbolize the events that occur here in this world. For example, we do not see an actual dragon in the sky as John did, but we know that the dragon is the devil that is at work in this world with all of his demons.

This war that arose in heaven, and this great war between good and evil is not an earthly conflict between nations. It is not a battle in the Middle East between the country Israel and those who seek her demise. No. This war that John writes about is the war of words that Satan has perpetrated against men since the fall into sin. For Satan is the accuser, the one who accuses us of our sin and iniquity before God in heaven. Think back to the book of Job, where Satan approaches God and attempts to demonstrate that he can make this upstanding man curse the Lord. It’s like a courtroom setting, with the devil standing before the judge as a prosecutor attempting to condemn mankind before the judgment seat of God. This is what Satan the deceiver had been doing from the start. And do you know that, dear friends? He may attempt to lie and deceive you and me, but when he makes accusations against us before our Lord, he’s not lying. We are guilty as charged, for the Scriptures declare that all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), and that there is no one who is righteous (Ps 14:1).

Satan has stood before the judgment seat and attempted to get a guilty verdict so that he might pull you down into the pit with him. And he doesn’t need to fabricate evidence. He accuses us of our wantonness and uncleanness. He bellows at the top of his voice about our ungodliness and failure to keep God’s perfect law. The evils that proceed from our sinful hearts—our anger, our lust, our covetousness, our grumbling and gossip, our indifference toward God’s gifts of mercy, our dishonor to authority—these things Satan wants to be admitted as evidence against us. We deserve conviction and gravest of all punishment the eternal prison of hell.

Such a war of words between the deceiver and God’s heavenly angels is a shock and awe campaign to which all human military endeavors pale in comparison. For even though Satan might lie to us, we dare not say that he lies about us. He might deceive men on earth, but he cannot pull the wool over the eyes of The Almighty God. And he doesn’t have to. We are sinners in need of forgiveness.

But as you have heard from our text, Satan does not triumph in this war of words. For Michael and all Angels triumphed over him on account of the Lamb. The devil may have won battles in the court of God’s justice, but has already lost the war. For he has been thrown out of heaven and cast down to earth. When we read Revelation, we sometimes forget that not everything in it has to do with the future and end times. Much of it depicts what had already occurred at the time it was revealed to the Apostle John.

So, when was Satan cast out of heaven, where he could no longer stand before God and plead his case for control over the souls of man? The answer to this question is found in the following verses from Revelation: And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:10-11).

The accuser has been thrown out of heaven because of the blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus our Lord. Salvation has come to us; it’s not something we hope for in the future. When Jesus died the blood of the Lamb was shed, and when He rose again and returned bodily to the Father in heaven, there was no longer any place for Satan and his demons. They were thrown down to the earth. And this is not something that happened over time. He can no longer accuse you and me before God in heaven, for he no longer has access to the heavenly courts.

St. Michael and all the angels are victorious in their fight against Satan and his minions. Yet they triumphed over him not on account of their own might, Verse 11: “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb.” Jesus Christ crushed the serpent’s head, just as God promised way back in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden. The power of sin, death, and hell have been destroyed, for Christ Jesus has already defeated the devil. The power is in the blood.

Yet Satan knows he’s finished, but not yet. For the prince of this world is still at work on earth. The book of Revelation calls this “Satan’s little season”, in which he is granted freer reign to wreak havoc on this earth. This is testified to on the nightly news. The pain and suffering, the misery and unrest that this world sees are the work of Satan as he and his minions fight against the Lord’s Word to create doubt and unbelief. Satan knows of his impending doom, but he doesn’t lie down and give in without a fight. And he certainly has no intention of going down in defeat alone. He still wants to take as many of us as possible with him. And yet God still is mightier and wiser in than he. We thanked God in our collect for this day for his wise planning in which he created men and angels, and we also prayed for their continued service to him in protecting and defending us from evil.

The angels, the heavenly beings whom God created and who are his perfect servants, are also there to help protect his people. The word angel means messenger. It was an angel who brought good tidings to the saints of God in the Old Testament, as well as to Zechariah, Joseph, and Mary. In working for our protection and benefit, they render perfect service to their Lord and creator.

And that isn’t all. The angels also support us in our earthly pilgrimage, striving to protect us from the evil foe. As many of us have learned to pray in Luther’s evening prayer, let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. We do indeed have guardian angels, yet they are God’s messengers whom he created in the beginning. They are not our dead relatives, nor do we become angels when we enter eternal rest in heaven.

The angels have the purpose of serving the Lord. And it is they who rejoice over one sinner who repents. For they rejoice over one more soul who joins them in the heavenly chorus before the throne of God. We join them by the power of blood. For it is by Christ and His blood, the blood of lamb that we know beyond doubt that all our sins forgiven, for Jesus sake for that is the Power of the Blood. In Jesus name, Amen!