St. Michael and All Angels, September 29, 2024.
The Victory in Heaven Brings Hope on Earth! Text: Revelation 12:7–12 Other Lessons: Daniel 10:10–14; 12:1–3; Psalm 91; Luke 10:17–20; Matthew 18:1–11
Sermon Theme: The victory in heaven brings hope on earth!
Sermon Goal: That hearers rejoice because Michael and all the other good angels have enforced the Christ’s victory against Satan and all other evil angels so that they can no longer come into God’s presence to accuse sinners. Based on a sermon by Dr. Charles A. Gieschen
Sermon: One of the greatest lies Satan has succeeding in having people believe is that he is a mythical figure depicted in Scripture and not a real being. If you don’t think Satan exists, he can work under the radar much more effectively. The Scriptures, however, reveal Satan for who he truly is! This is clear from Satan’s presence in the Garden of Eden as tempter of Adam and Eve to his presence in the desert tempting Jesus. It is the work of Jesus in overcoming Satan and the forces of evil that comes to a climax in our reading from Revelation 12. There we heard of the work of God’s good angels, namely Michael and company, in bringing an end to the activity of Satan as the accuser who accuses sinners before our God day and night. Satan is depicted as a prosecuting attorney who argues against sinners before God. He accuses sinners of not being worthy of fellowship with God now and for eternity. The joyous message of this text is that this accuser of all mankind, Satan, is no longer in heaven to bring accusations against us. This text unveils this truth for us: The Victory in Heaven Brings Hope on Earth! Satan’s rebellion and removal from heaven is one of those mysteries of which God tells us very little in his Word. We do know that Satan led a substantial rebellion of angels after creation and before the fall of Adam and Eve. Revelation 12:4 indicates that up to a third of the angels listened to the temptation that Satan later used on Adam and Eve: “You will be like God.” The scene is not a pretty one; the powerful angel Satan kept reminding God about the sins of mankind day and night! The one who deceived Adam and Eve continued to remind God of the ongoing pattern of sin in Adam’s descendants, including us. The good news trumpeted by our text is that this accusation activity of Satan is no longer effective due to his defeat in a great a war—cast out of heaven, thrown down to earth: “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” (vv 7–9). No longer does Satan have his day in God’s court to bring accusations against us. It appears, from first glance, that the source of this victory is the power of Michael and the other good angels of God, almost as if Satan and his angels were not as strong. Our text tells us how the martyred Christians overcame Satan and the rest of the evil angels: “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 to death” (v 11). If this is how these Christians overcame Satan, it is also how created angels overcame him. The song of praise in our text puts credit where credit is due: “the blood of the Lamb.” This is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ as the unblemished, perfect sacrifice whose blood makes payment for all sins of mankind. The basis for Satan’s removal as the accuser before God is the blood of the Lamb. Satan can no longer accuse sinners because Christ paid the price of all sin and has taken his place before God as the Advocate of all sinners, interceding for us. John writes of this wonderful work in his first epistle: “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:1–2). The apostle Paul also tells us of Christ defending us before the Father: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom 8:34). The source of this victory in heaven, then, is the blood of the Lamb. This victory in heaven brings us hope on earth. Satan’s destiny: “And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (20:10). We thank God for this victory in heaven, won by Christ on the cross and carried out by Michael and the angelic hosts. This victory fills our earthly struggles with hope as we press toward our heavenly goal. Surrounded and protected by these angels, we join their voices in praising the Lamb: “Worthy are you . . . for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (5:9–10). Amen.