Revelation 12:7-12 - The War Behind All Other Wars - September 30, 2018

Shortly before Jesus was betrayed, arrested and crucified, he described what the world would be like after he left and before he returns – the world we live in today. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Among other horrors, he predicted that wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6) will be omnipresent until he returns. And so, for all of the treaties and diplomacy and peace marches – the only world we know is a world at war. World War I claimed the lives of some 37 million people – and it was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Only twenty years later, over 50 million people were killed in World War II. Since then the world has witnessed the horrors of Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Communist aggression in Korea and Vietnam, Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a war on terror that rages on all around us – from airports and grade schools to the internet. Jesus was right, ours is a world at war.

And that’s not even the worst of it. Some of the most bitter wars are those that rage in our homes and offices and families. Jesus warned us about those wars too! He said that the love of most will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). Have you felt the chill? Husbands and wives carry on civil wars behind closed doors. Children lead rebellions against their parents. Coworkers undermine each other until cubical walls begin to feel like the Berlin wall. And even here, in the church, the Shepherd’s sheep tear and claw at one another. And then there’s the battlefield that no one else can see. We try our best to hide it. We dress in our Sunday best and plaster a big smile on our faces and when someone asks “How are you?” We all answer “good” or “great.” But underneath the smiles, within the confines of our hearts, secret wars are raging. Secret wars with addiction, depression, doubt, anxiety, worry, sin and guilt and shame and fear – and sometimes even unbelief. These private, personal, hidden wars are perhaps the most painful, because they can drag on for a lifetime and we may think that no one knows, no one cares, and no one can help.

The fact is that behind every one of these wars stands a far greater war; the war that causes and incites all other wars. It is the war of heaven. The war between God and Satan which finds its battleground in our world, our homes and our hearts. We will not be able to understand or comprehend all those other wars unless we understand this one, the war behind all wars: the enemies, the allies, and the outcome.

The Apostle John serves as the battlefield reporter: And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back…the great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him…for the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down…but woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. Who is enemy number one today? Hassan Rouhani – the president of Iran? Vladimir Putin? Militant Islam? Crime or poverty or inequality or global warming? Republicans or Democrats? Who is our worst enemy? The Bible is clear: our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil. (Ephesians 6:12) Enemy number one is the devil.  

Is that always how we think of him? I know that no one reads newspapers anymore, but when we did, we could see the devil depicted quite regularly on the comic page. What did he look like? A creepy looking guy with horns wearing red pajamas and carrying a pitchfork, right? No someone you would take seriously – and that’s just what the devil wants. But don’t fall for it. Instead, listen to the Bible’s damning profile of this murderer, terrorist, and liar: the great dragon…that ancient serpent…the devil (which means “accuser”) Satan (which means “adversary”) who leads the whole world astray…and accuses [us] before God day and night. (If you’ve heard the slanderous accusations made against a certain Supreme Court nominee this past week, you have an idea of the nature of the devil’s work.) The devil is not some comical character, he is a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) He wants you. He wants your soul. He is dead-set on destroying your marriage, your family, your faith. He knows he’s beaten, but is so blinded by rage that he wants to drag as many people to hell with him as he can.

This is the real war behind all other wars. He’s behind the war on the unborn that has been raging since 1973; he cackles with glee that over 60 million babies have never had the chance to hear the Gospel or be baptized. [1] (And make no mistake, anyone who thinks that the decision to murder is a woman’s choice has blood on their hands, too!) He’s behind every grade school, high school, and university teacher who sees our children – who believe in the Bible’s account of creation – as easy targets for mockery and humiliation. (And yet, we continue to send them out into public schools, like lambs to be slaughtered.) He’s behind every false doctrine that compromises God’s truth to be more compatible with modern culture. He’s behind every argument at home, hoping to plant a landmine that will blow up another marriage. Behind every pang of guilt and shame stands the devil pointing a long finger right at us: “See God! Look at him, look at her – look at what they’ve thought, said and done; they deserve hell, just like me!” Forget the red pajamas and the pitch fork. The devil and his demons are enemy number one – awful enemies, and awfully good at what they do.

The Good News is that God is even better at what he does. While nothing is more terrifying than considering the power and work of our enemies, there is nothing more comforting than hearing about our allies. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven…Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them night and day has been hurled down.”

Our ally is no less than God himself. The Son of God went head to head with the devil and won, bringing salvation, power and authority to all who believe. As good as the devil is at tempting us to sin and then turning around and making us feel guilty for the very thing he led us to do – Jesus is even better at forgiving our sin and soothing our aching hearts with the good news that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) That’s salvation. If it seems like the devil has taken control the minds and hearts of Hollywood, Washington D.C., and American culture – rest assured that Christ is even better at ruling heaven and earth for the good of his people, for the good of the Church. (Ephesians 1:22-23) That’s almighty power. If the devil is good at leading unwitting and unwilling people to carry out his dirty work of spreading death and destruction, Jesus is even better at equipping and sending out his people with his Good News to accomplish his saving work. He says in Matthew: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:18-20) And we witnessed Christ bring all of his power and authority to bear as he brought another soul – the soul of Joseph Rudolph – out of the devil’s dominion and into his Kingdom through Holy Baptism.

I know it doesn’t seem like much…a few words and a handful of water. They certainly don’t seem like the preferred tools of war. But behind those words and that water stands the work of Christ – the special agent God sent to destroy the devil’s work. He won by appearing to suffer defeat. He lowered himself below the angels (Hebrews 2:7-9) to be born, disguised as in human flesh, in a barn in Bethlehem. He faced off against the devil in the wilderness where he suffered brutal temptations to doubt God’s goodness, to test God’s promises, to circumvent God’s plan – but remained perfect, undefeated. (Matthew 4:1-11) The devil summoned all the powers of hell, sending powerful politicians, faithless friends, and a traitorous disciple against God’s Son – but nothing could deter him from achieving his goal: paying for our sins by suffering and dying on the cross. To all the world it seemed as if the devil had won on Calvary: Jesus’ message had been rejected and his own people crucified him! But three days later Jesus turned the tables when he emerged from the grave alive! Through the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – our sins have been taken away; our death has been defeated; the devil’s power over us has been destroyed. He has been hurled from heaven along with all of his accusations against us.

And now that Christ has won the war, he sends his soldiers to help us wage our own battles with the enemy. They are the angelic armies of heaven led by the archangel Michael. Again, pop-culture has created the false image of angels as pudgy little kids wearing halos and carrying little bows and arrows with nothing better to do than lead people to fall in love. But don’t be fooled by the world’s spin. There’s good reason every time angels appear to people the very first thing they say is don’t be afraid. (Luke 1:30) The angels are holy, sinless creatures of God who shout his praises in heaven’s throne room. They served as God’s messengers at key points in salvation history (Christmas, Easter, Ascension). Angels are God’s Special Forces who protect his defenseless people – especially defenseless children like Joseph – from the devil’s physical and spiritual attacks. Specifically this morning we hear that when Jesus crushed the devil’s skull on the cross, Michael and his army hurled the devil and his demons out of heaven.

Which means that the outcome is sure. The devil is defeated. Listen again to heaven’s song of victory: They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. The blood of the Lamb has taken away our sin and broken the power of the devil. This is not to say that the devil hasn’t won some battles in our lives, that we each haven’t given surrendered to his temptations, that we all have plenty of skeletons in our closets. And to be perfectly honest, if the war was up to us, we would have lost our souls to hell a long time ago. But that’s exactly what cannot happen to us because of Christ. In him we have total forgiveness, full forgiveness, free forgiveness. Poured out on each one of us – like that handful of water on Joseph – through the blood of the Lamb. Let the devil do his worst, let him tempt and accuse us – because we have John’s words: my dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

As Jesus said in our Gospel (Luke 10:17-20), every time this good news is proclaimed, the devil’s power is broken and his pitiful little kingdom takes a pounding. Right here and right now the devil is being defeated yet again. Really? Yes! They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. That testimony is the Gospel. It is the good news of free forgiveness in Christ. There is no more powerful weapon in the universe – because faith comes from hearing this message, and where there is faith the devil is powerless. Faith is bulletproof body armor against every last one of the devil’s attacks. Every time a sinner is baptized – the devil loses a subject. Every time the Word is preached and taught – the devil’s lies are exposed. Every time you pray, read a devotion, forgive and receive forgiveness at home, the devil must flee with his tail between his legs. (James 4:7) Every prayer that we lay before God’s almighty throne and every hymn we sing of Jesus’ victory slams the gate of hell in the devil’s face.

Yes, our world is filled with wars – national, political, personal – but never forget that this is the war behind all other wars. As awful as the enemies are, our allies are all-powerful and the outcome is certain. Jesus has crushed the devil and Michael and his angelic armies continue to defend us so that even in this world of war we have nothing to fear – because in Christ we have salvation, victory and peace. Amen.  

[1] https://www.lifenews.com/2018/01/18/60069971-abortions-in-america-since-roe-v-wade-in-1973/