Sermon in Minneapolis 05.10.2014

Praise, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We will begin our services this evening with opening prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment to again gather around your Holy Word. We ask for your service blessings. We ask that you would open your Word and comfort the listeners of the Word and feed us with your gospel message. And we ask for your protection and care and keep us on this narrow way and bring us one day to our eternal home in heaven. This we ask in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

As we heard this morning, today is a special church holiday, and it's known as Michaelmas Day. And I will read today's epistle text. This morning was from Revelation 12, which is from another year. This year's epistle text is from Revelation chapter 5, verses 11 and 12. We'll hear these words as follows in Jesus' name.

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. And saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing." Amen.

The holiday Michaelmas Day goes way back to the 400th A.D. And it was during that century that the then Catholic Church dedicated a church or a cathedral to the archangel whose name was Michael. And as time went on, they had the custom to dedicate other churches and other days throughout the year to other angels, which are known by name. And some of the other angels, the only other angel mentioned by name in the Bible proper is Gabriel.

Gabriel, we know it was the angel Gabriel who appeared to the parents of John the Baptist to reveal that Elizabeth would have a child and that they should name the child's name John. And also to Mary and Joseph, the same Gabriel appeared and told Mary that she will have a son and his name will be Jesus. And appeared also to Joseph and said, don't be afraid to take this Mary to be your wife. So these are the only two angels that are mentioned by name in the Bible.

Well, if we read the book of the Apocrypha, which is not in the Bible proper, but it's sort of an appendix or an edition, which we have here as a separate book, or we used to have it up here as a separate book on the pulpit, but it's no longer here. Then there's also, in the Apocrypha, there's an angel mentioned by the name Raphael. But then in rabbinical literature, there are many other angels that are mentioned by name. And some of them are Uriel and Shamuel and Jophiel and Zadkiel.

So these aren't in the Bible per se, but they're in literature written by the rabbis during the time of the early church. And so we can see that there are many different angels and many different days that were dedicated to each of these angels throughout the year and many churches that were named after these different angels. And so as the time of Reformation during the life of Luther came, many of these church holidays were removed and they disappeared. But there's one church holiday which was preserved during the time of Reformation and to this day, and it is Michaelmas Day.

Michaelmas Day is officially always on the 29th of September, which was early in last week. And so it is always celebrated on the first Sunday following the 29th of September. And Michaelmas Day is also known as All Angels Day. So all of these angels, whether they're known by name or not, are remembered, commemorated, and celebrated on this one special church holiday during the church year.

And so this text that we read was from the fifth chapter of Revelation. And if we read the Revelation, we can see that chapters four and five actually compose or make up one complete unit or story. Probably in earlier times they weren't even separated by different chapter numbers, but were just one complete unit or section. So these two chapters, as we know them today, belong very close together. And many, many songs, beautiful songs, have been written and composed based on the information or the writing that is in chapters four and chapter five of Revelation. One of the most well-known songs is "Holy," which we can see in the fourth chapter of Revelation. But, of course, its original origin comes from the book of the prophet Isaiah in chapter six.

And so, Revelation chapter four opens up in this way after John is on the Isle of Patmos and he is commanded to write these letters to all of these seven churches in Asia Minor. And then after all of these letters have been dictated to these seven different churches, then begins chapter four. And he begins by saying, "And after this, after he wrote these seven letters, I looked and behold, a door was opened into heaven." So now he is seeing a vision as he is looking up into the glory of heaven. And a voice, there was a voice that I heard, and it was a very powerful voice. It sounded like a trumpet that was talking with me or to me. And it said, "Come up close and I will show you things which must be hereafter."

And so, this leads us to the vision or one of the many visions and the songs that occur in these two chapters, chapter four and chapter five. And as John on the Isle of Patmos in his trance or in his dream is seeing this vision, he looks up through that open door and he sees into heaven. And what does he see? He sees a beautiful vision. And he saw a throne that was set up in heaven. And then there was one who was sitting on that throne. And around that throne, there were many beasts or many animals, as it says in another translation. And there were 24 elders. And then also there was, I saw in the right hand of him. And he is the main object, the main focus of this vision. I saw in the right hand of him. And we will then discuss and meditate upon who this him person was. That he was the one who was sitting on a throne. And he had a book or a scroll. And something was written on this book or scroll in the vocabulary of that time. Something was written on this scroll on the inside and on the back side. But then it was closed. It was shut. It was sealed shut with seven seals.

And when we read in the book of the prophet Daniel, Daniel talks about the same scroll or the same book that was sealed shut. And it was said that no man was able to open this book. But then John, in his vision, in the earlier part of chapter 5, before our read verses, and it said that I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice that who was worthy, who was acceptable, or who was capable to open up this book or the scroll that is sealed shut with seven seals. And who is the one who was able to loosen the seals thereof.

And it goes on to say that no man in heaven nor anyone on earth, neither under the earth was able to open this book or break the seals, the seven seals on this scroll. And neither to look at the writing, open it up to look at the writing of this scroll. But then it said that I wept much because no man was found capable or worthy to open and to read the book and to look thereon.

But then, as I mentioned there on that throne or around that throne, there were 24 elders. And there is much speculation what these 24 elders are. And some think that 12 were of the Old Testament era and 12 represented the New Testament era. And we know that the number 12 comes up time and time again. There are 12 tribes of Israel. There are 12 disciples that Jesus chose as his followers. And so on and so forth. So the number 12 is a common number in the Bible.

And so one of these 24 elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed and is able to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof."

But before we get into this, let's jump down to our text. And for what reason was this text chosen as a text for Michaelmas Sunday? The church year calendar and the text for each Sunday in the church year calendar were revised about 10, 15 years ago in the state church in Finland, in the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church. And in the older handbooks prior to this time, this selected text that we are reading this evening was not in the lectionary, was not in the church handbook as a text for one of the Sundays. But now after that, now in the newer church year handbook, it has been selected as a text for Michaelmas Sunday, which is the text assigned for this day in this cycle of the calendars that we are following.

And so why was this text, for example, chosen and earlier it wasn't? Well, let's take a look at verse 11, the beginning of our read portion, and then we'll come back to where I just left off and read again the earlier verses of this chapter. But jumping now to verse 11, and it says, "And I beheld." So John, who was there in the Isle of Patmos and who was seeing this vision, looking up into that open door into heaven, and he saw this throne and the 24 elders around the throne and the other wonderful things around the throne. And he says, "And I beheld, and I heard a voice of many angels." So now we can see and probably understand very clearly why this text was chosen for Michaelmas Sunday, which is a Sunday in commemoration of angels.

So I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and there are also these beasts or these animals, as it says in other translations, and also these elders, these 24 elders. And then how many of these angels were there? It says in this way, "And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000." Well, if we had a calculator, we could calculate what is 10,000 times 10,000. And then in addition to that, whatever that number is, then there would be, in addition, thousands and thousands. In other translations, it says myriads and myriads. Basically saying that there was an innumerable number of angels, more than any person was able to count.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews in chapter 12, when he is writing about Mount Zion, he says, and first he talks about Mount Sinai, and the storm and the thunder and the lightning and the awful weather that was occurring on Mount Sinai. But then he says, but we, as believers, have come on to Mount Zion, which is a beautiful, a wonderful mountain. And then he gives a list of many things that are and occur at Mount Zion. And lastly, he says, and when we have come to Mount Zion, we have come to an innumerable number of angels.

We remember when on that first Christmas morning and the first announcement of the birth of the newborn Christ child, Jesus, the promised Messiah, was announced. It was announced to the shepherds who were tending their flocks by night out in the pasture. And Luke, the evangelist, says in chapter 2, and he said, "And behold, there was a great host of angels," or a large, large number of angels. And I'm sure more than any person was even capable to count. So again, referring to the myriad of angels, the innumerable number of angels.

And when Jesus, 30-some years later, after his birth, was in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night when he was captured and then betrayed, Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, approached Jesus with the band of soldiers behind him. And they were ready to take Jesus captive. And, of course, Peter resisted and took out his sword and swung at one of the soldiers. But then Jesus told Peter, put your sword away. And then he basically outstretched his hands toward those who were coming to take him captive. And he voluntarily gave himself up to be arrested. But he said, if I would want to, I could call to my aid 12 legions of angels. And each legion is 6,000 or 7,000, so it's 60,000, 70,000, 80,000, whatever that number is, of angels to come to my aid. And if I would do that, not one finger would be able to be laid upon me. But I'm not going to do it, says Jesus. I'm giving myself up voluntarily. For it is the will of God, the Heavenly Father, that I would be crucified on the cross for the price of redemption for all mankind.

So here, that is some more background or other parallel portions in the Bible that are giving reference to the text, first verse of our text, of the number of angels, 10,000 times 10,000, and in addition, thousands of thousands.

But if we think about angels, there would be much we could think about and much that we could talk about. Angels are spiritual beings. Of course, there are three types of angels, the good angels and the bad angels. And believers are also known as angels because the word angel means messenger. And we as believers are messengers of the gospel of Christ Jesus. But here, of course, it is talking about angels in the good sense. And of course, in this morning's text in Revelation chapter 12, they were talking about the bad angels who are fighting against the good angels.

So this isn't a topic that's typically discussed or talked about, but since it is Michaelmas Sunday, the day of angels, this gives reason to consider the topic of angels to a little bit more deeper extent.

But thinking about angels, they have knowledge and they have wisdom. In the Old Testament, in the book of Samuel, it says that he was talking about, first of all, in that portion about his servant, Joab and his characteristics and his wisdom and strength and so on and so forth that he had. And then they compared this servant, Joab, to an angel. And he says, "And my lord, Joab, is wise according to the wisdom of the angels of God." So, this servant was so wise that they were comparing him to the wisdom of the angels of God.

But even though angels were wise and had a lot of wisdom, still they were lacking in one respect. The Apostle Peter writes in his epistle about this gift of salvation, which was prophesied during the Old Testament time. And the Old Testament saints were waiting and waiting and waiting for the fulfillment of this promise of salvation, the promise of the coming of the Messiah to be fulfilled. And it came to pass, and it was revealed unto them during the Old Testament time that it would be sent from heaven, but which things the angels desired to look at, which the angels, we could interpret as they weren't able to comprehend or fathom this message of this mystery.

So, even though angels had so much wisdom and knowledge, still they were short and they were lacking, especially concerning this matter.

And angels were known to be very strong. And the psalm writer says in this way that, "Bless the Lord, you his angels that excel in strength." So, this is just a couple of different examples about angels that we could mention on this day of angels.

But then, let's go back to where we left off on verse 5. And this discussion was taking place around this throne there in heaven. And one of the elders said to me, to John, there in the Isle of Patmos during his scene of this vision, and he told John that weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah.

So, we see this picture of a lion. And if we think about a lion, it is something that has strength, it has majesty, it is sovereign, and something that has the power to judge over other things and other beings and other people. And so, this is being used and is used in the Bible, and it is actually the most common animal mentioned in the Bible is a lion.

When old man Jacob was on his deathbed, and he was asking his twelve sons to come to his deathbed one by one, and saying his last farewells, and saying the last messages that he wished to say to each one of his sons, and also he gave many of them a prophecy. And when he came to the son whose name was Judah, he called him the lion's cub, the cub of a lion.

So, herein it was saying that from the tribe of Judah, from the lineage of Judah, would eventually come that true lion, which is Christ Jesus himself. And so, in also the book of Apocrypha, it says that this lion is the anointed one. He is the Messiah. So, it is one of the very clear pictures and prophecies of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

But then also it gives another picture and it says that, weep not behold that he saw the lion of the tribe of Judah, but then he also saw the root of David. Herein is another Old Testament picture and prophecy of the coming Messiah. And David's father was Jesse, and Jesse of Bethlehem and the prophet Isaiah and also the prophet Jeremiah say that from this stump, from this root of Jesse, will come forth a new sprig or a new branch, which is referring to the eventual birth of the promised Messiah, who is Christ Jesus.

So, we can see here the beautiful pictures of Jesus in the Old Testament, which are also now mentioned in this last book of the Bible.

So, weep not. So, they're asking that who is able to open up this scroll that is shut with seven seals. Weep not, because there is someone who can open up the seals of this scroll or this sealed book. Behold, it will be the lion of the tribe of Judah, and it will be the root of David, both referring to Jesus Christ. And he has prevailed to open the book and to loosen the seven seals thereof.

So, when we think of this last book of the Bible, which is titled The Revelation, and we know that it is a book shrouded in mystery, and for the most part it hasn't been opened up to what its meaning is. But another common name for this last book of the Bible is the apocalypse. And if you look at what this word means, the roots of this word mean to pull the curtain back. So, something is hidden behind the curtain, and this apocalypse is pulling the curtain back, or opening up the curtain to reveal the hidden mysteries which have been hidden behind the room behind this curtain.

And so, this is the only one who is capable to unlock the mysteries, to open this sealed book, to break the seals of this scroll. So, it is the lion, a mighty lion, and also the root of David.

But then it continues on to say, and this is going to now lead up to our text. This is why I'm reading all of this background. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and there were four beasts, or four animals, and in the midst of the elders, the 24 elders, there stood a lamb.

Now, we get a change of pictures. First of all, we have the mighty lion, who is a picture of majesty, and sovereignty, and the one who is the judge, and the one who cannot be defeated. And suddenly the picture changes. Now we get a picture of a lamb who is weak, and is meek, and is humble, and is obedient. And he is a picture of the one who is actually judged. And he is the picture of the one who is our savior.

And so it says here, and there stood a lamb, as it had been slain. It had been slain. Not only was that weak, defenseless, humble, obedient lamb there around the throne, but there's a picture of the lamb that was actually slain, or in the original tongue, in the Greek language, it says slaughtered.

So this poor, weak, humble lamb is there, and it's actually been slain, or slaughtered. We know that in the Old Testament time, was a time of sacrificial worship. And next Wednesday is the beginning of a new series in Bible class, and we'll be talking about different characters in the Bible, beginning, first of all, with the different characters in the book of Genesis, which we will continue studying through this fall, winter, and then next spring season.

But my lesson is on Cain and Abel, it's out of order, because we're going on vacation, so I had to do a flip flop with my carinemy, who was supposed to do Adam and Eve. So I will do Cain and Abel, and then the following Wednesday he will do Adam and Eve, so it's a little bit out of order.

But when we remember Abel, who was one of the first two sons of Adam and Eve, he offered a sacrifice, which was a pleasing sacrifice, and he offered this sacrifice on his own behalf. But then when we remember that when the people of Israel were in bondage there in Egypt, and they wanted to be released from bondage, and then God inflicted the land of Egypt with ten plagues. And the tenth plague was the angel of death came over that land and then killed the first born, not only human beings but animals alike, in every home.

But there was only one way that a home or a family could be protected. And they had to slay a lamb and drain the blood and take the blood from the basin and actually paint the doorposts around their front door with the blood from that lamb.

So Abel offered a sacrifice for himself. In Exodus chapter 12 each family offered a sacrifice for their entire family. And as the Old Testament time goes on, then there was one special day of the year, the day of atonement where the high priest went into the holy of holies with the blood of a sacrifice of a lamb. And he sprinkled that blood of the lamb for the atonement as a sacrifice for all the nation.

So we can see the importance of the use of a sacrificial lamb in many different cases in the Old Testament time.

So one clear prophecy in the Old Testament is in prophet Isaiah. And it tells of Christ Jesus. And he said he is like a lamb that is led to the shearer. And he is like a lamb that will be brought to a slaughterer. And he will not even open up its mouth.

So this is a very clear prophecy of the events on Monday Thursday evening when Jesus was captured, brought before Pontius Pilate, then before King Herod. King Herod interrogated Jesus and asked, are you a king? Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus didn't open up his mouth.

John the Baptist said of Jesus, when Jesus was approaching to be baptized, and he said, "Behold, he is the lamb of God, the lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world."

And so here, John, in his book of Revelation, sees this wonderful vision, and he says, and there around that throne, stood a lamb.

Just think, a lamb that was slain, but now it stood, it was standing. Not only was this lamb once slaughtered, killed, but now it has revived again. It has been resurrected, and it is now standing. The marks are still visible in that lamb. The marks that were once made when he was originally crucified and slain.

But now this victorious lamb is there standing around that throne, there in the glory of heaven. And it had seven horns. It's interesting that there have been many different portions in the Bible where it talks about a horn, and of course, if you approach a wild bull that has horns, you're going to try to find safety very quickly. You know that that bull, and if it's an angry bull, has a lot of power, and a lot of might, and a lot of force.

And so this is the image that is used many times in the Old Testament referring to might and power for people and also for nations. They used their horns to move and push the people. But also they talked about raising a horn. When you lifted the horn, it was giving honor and glory and showing great respect for that person who is in question.

So here it also says of Jesus, he had seven horns. This number seven comes up again and again. Seven seals shut that book, which is the number of perfection. And this slain lamb who was now standing around the throne, he had seven horns. Just imagine the power and might that this once weak lamb now had standing before the throne.

So when thinking of the difference between a lamb, it referred basically to his first coming. He was weak and he was humble and basically in many ways he was helpless and rejected by all. But when Jesus comes the second time, he'll come like a lion in all of his might and all of his glory and all of his omnipotence.

And so the slain lamb is now standing around the throne having seven horns depicting his might and power, but also having seven eyes. When you think of someone who has seven eyes, that person can see very clearly. And of course, Jesus is known and God is known as the one who is all-seeing and he is all-knowing.

And so which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all of the earth. And so he came. So the slain lamb or this lion of Judah or this root of David, he came, the Messiah came, Christ came, and he took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts, the four animals, and the four and twenty, or the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials of incense or odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song.

In the Old Testament, in the book of Job, for example, it talks about the old song, referring to the song of the creation of God, which God did at the beginning of the history of mankind. But now it's referring to a new song, and this is referring to the song of redemption, the work of atonement that Christ has performed.

And so these angels were singing a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for you were slain, but you have redeemed us unto God by your blood out of every kindred."

So you can see how far reaching this work of redemption is. It says, "And you have redeemed us to God by your blood from every kindred, from every tongue or language that is spoken here on this earth, and from all peoples, all nations, and it yet says, in addition, and all nations."

And you have made us to be unto your God to be kings. We are now as a king. We are part of this royal priesthood, as Peter writes in his epistle. "You are the royal priesthood, able to proclaim this gospel of Christ Jesus. And you are priests."

If we look at the situation during the Old Testament time, the temple was divided into many sections. And if a Gentile or a non-Jew would come in through the walls and come into the area near the temple, he could only come so far, and then he wasn't permitted to go any further at all.

But then, if a person was a Jewish woman, she could go a little bit farther than the Gentiles. But then there would come a point in time where she couldn't go any further. Only male Jews could go beyond that point. But even male Jews would come to a point when they had to stop.

And only the ones that could go beyond that point were the priests, the Jewish priests. But then came the point when even the priests couldn't go any further, but only the high priests. And this was one day of the year, on that day of atonement, with blood, they could remove that veil or open that curtain and go into the room called the holy of holies.

And with blood, then they would sprinkle the blood on the furniture in that room and upon the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, which was known as the Mercy Seat. And the wings of angels were covering this cover of the Ark of the Covenant.

So only the high priests could go this far, and that was one day of the year, and only with the blood of the sacrifice in his hands could he do that.

But now, when Jesus died on the cross, a miracle occurred. He was outside of the city walls, and about a mile away within the city walls, and within the temple of Jerusalem, that curtain that only the high priests could pull aside and go into the Holy of Holies, suddenly that curtain was ripped in two from top to bottom.

And now, everyone had access to go into the Holy of Holies and come onto the throne of grace, or come to the mercy seat. And now, here, in this book of Revelation, it says that, and we have been called to be kings, but we have been called to be priests as well.

So every one of us has now a priest. We have this permission, we have this ability to come whenever we want, whenever we are in need, to approach the mercy seat, the throne of grace. It doesn't have to be only the high priest, one day of the year, but we can, 24-7, anytime we want, approach the mercy seat, the throne of grace.

When we approach another brother and sister, and we ask, "Can such a one as I believe just as I find myself, my sins forgiven?" And you will hear, and they will preach, "We are priests to them, and they are priests to us, son and daughter. Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven unto you."

And so, God has made us to be unto God as kings, as priests, and we shall reign on all the earth.

And so, this long introduction then leads us back up to our text, and it says, as we read earlier, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels that were round about the throne, and there were beasts, or animals, and there were the elders, and the number of these angels was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands in addition."

And they were all singing this beautiful song, this chorus there around this throne, and what were they singing? They were singing to the slain lamb who was there, now standing around the throne, singing with a loud voice, "Worthy is the lamb that was slain to now receive what? Just think of all of these capabilities it was able to receive. It was able to receive power, it was able to receive riches, it was able to receive wisdom, it was able to receive strength, honor, glory, and blessing."

So there would be much to say about each one of these topics and themes. Christ is the power of God, writes Paul to the Corinthians, and Christ is the wisdom of God, again Paul writes to the Corinthians, and so on and so forth.

So even though this is a text set aside for this day of angels and talks about the many angels who are around the throne, of course, who was the central focus, who was the main theme, who was the main object, it was the Lamb of God who was slain on our behalf, who shed his blood for that price of redemption on your behalf and on our behalf, and because of his work of atonement and redemption this evening, we have this possibility again and again to believe, just as we are, just as we find ourselves amidst doubts, fears, temptations, beset by sin many times, we can believe.

Sin is forgiven in Jesus' name and blood. The power and life is in the blood of Christ, which will lift us, it will carry us, and it will bring us one day to our eternal home in the glory of heaven.

So be of good cheer, believe even now, sins forgiven, in Jesus' name and blood, believe in unto peace, freedom, and joy. In Jesus' name, Amen.