Another Angel with the Eternal Gospel to Proclaim

So, we’ve got just two short verses pulled out of their context from the midst of a complex assortment of rather odd and sometimes challenging images and visions concerning the life of the Church under the Cross in these gray and latter days, living in the hope and promise of the Resurrection of the body to the Life everlasting of body and soul.

This is not the way we normally approach the Holy Scriptures, and I don't generally recommend it. But you probably know the reason why in this case. Historically, going back to the 16th century and for centuries beyond, Lutherans identified Dr. Luther himself with that angel flying in mid-heaven. And these were not wild-eyed ignorants who had this opinion. This is what Pastor Bugenhagen preached at Dr. Luther's funeral in 1546; but already in 1522, Michael Steifel had included this identification in a ballad about Dr. Luther and his confession of the Gospel. As late as Dr. C.F.W. Walther, the identification was still being made. And that’s why Revelation 14:6-7 is the historic Epistle associated with the Commemoration of the Reformation.

Now, while we may not be inclined to go with that interpretation, and we certainly don't want to go overboard, I think it’s only fair to honor our fathers in Christ by considering why on earth they would have made this identification.

To begin with, it is a matter of taking seriously just how bad things had gotten prior to the 16th-century Reformation: The false doctrine that was being taught, the practices that furthered that false doctrine. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, this beautiful confession of the Gospel. Certainly there were other reformers prior to Dr. Luther, but still, there is a significant turning point in the 16th century, in which the Gospel — long buried under false doctrine and works righteousness and the sale of indulgences and the selling of masses — suddenly springs forth again in its truth and purity. Our Lutheran forefathers took seriously both the problem that was confronted and the blessed and gracious Gospel that shone forth by the grace of God.

Dr. Luther was an instrument of that preaching and teaching, and it is right that we should give thanks to God for him. We dare not make the Gospel all about Luther. God forbid that we should ever do so! Luther himself would never have wanted such a thing. But it is right that we give thanks to God that Dr. Luther and the Lutheran Reformation were all about the Gospel. We praise God for that, because we recognize the hand of God in those events.

All of this being considered, it is simply a fact that Dr. Luther was “another angel,” a messenger of the Word of God, a preacher and a pastor by the grace of God for the good of His church and to the glory of His Holy Name. It’s interesting, the commentators debate among themselves as to why the first of three angels is called “another angel” right out of the chute, with lots of different answers given. I tend to believe it’s because, in every day and age and every generation, there are these angels whom our Lord raises up for the purpose of preaching and teaching His Word.

Luther was “another angel,” as were the Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Bishops and Pastors before him. So are some of you already, and so shall others of you be in due time, called, ordained and sent as angels, as messengers of the Word of God.

The angels in the Book of the Revelation are sometimes heavenly spiritual beings, but they are as often as not pastors and bishops of the church on earth. That's how Dr. Luther himself took it, and I think it makes perfect sense. In the chapters where St. John writes to the angels of the seven churches, I'm not sure how he would do that to a heavenly address.

Whoever aspires to be such an angel desires a noble task. And to be sure, as we confess in one of our Collects, God has never failed to raise up such faithful angels, pastors and teachers of His Word, to care for His Church on earth. And according to His promise, He shall continue to do so, even to the close of the age.

The angel is flying in mid-heaven — or directly overhead as this translation puts it — at the high point or the zenith of the day, in one sense above the fray. But really, what we have here, between the heavens and the earth, is this voice that comes from God preaching to those on the earth, warning against the devil, and against his wrath and ire, who has been cast out of heaven and now rages upon the earth with his vicious and vindictive assaults and accusations. 

The angel flying in mid-heaven calls sinners rather to repentance and to faith in the forgiveness of sins, all of this in Jesus’ Name. So, for example, in our Confessions we teach that Christians are to understand the word of Holy Absolution, spoken to them by their pastor, as the very voice of God from heaven, forgiving their sins on earth as it is in heaven.

Whereas, by contrast, if even an angel from heaven were to preach another gospel, other than that of Christ and His Cross and Resurrection, then such an angel would be anathema, accursed, and rejected. And I believe it is fair to say that there was such a false angel, and such a false gospel, in Luther’s day, which he refuted by turning the people back to what God has actually spoken, to the words of Holy Scripture, and to the faithful orthodox confession of the Church catholic.

As the Son of Man was lifted up on the Cross, and thereby draws all people to Himself, so is He also lifted up in the preaching of His Gospel from one end of heaven to the other, even to the ends of the earth, whereby He calls all men to repentance, to the knowledge of the Truth, to Life and Salvation in Himself. So does He give His heavenly gifts by way of earthly means, by words and water, bread and wine, in which heaven and earth are brought together, reconciled, and united by the message and the ministry of Christ Jesus.

So, for example, in your Holy Baptism — the washing of water with His Word here on earth — in that Holy Sacrament the voice of God from an open heaven declares that you also are His beloved and well-pleasing child by the gracious adoption of sons.

This eternal Gospel is a gift that is received from God by His grace. It can only be received, not gotten, not purchased, not earned. It is received and possessed in faith; and as we have heard, so do we also confess it, and pray it, and sing it.

We know what this Gospel is, both from the immediate and larger context of the Book of the Revelation and so also from the Holy Gospel According to St. John. There are any number of connections and parallels between the Revelation and the Gospel of St. John. The Son of God — the Word of God from all eternity who has become Flesh and dwells among us, the Son of Mary — is the Lamb of God who bears in His Body and takes away the sins of the world. He goes to His sacrificial death upon the Cross and sheds His holy and precious Blood to atone for those sins, to ransom and redeem us. And in His Resurrection from the dead, He feeds His Church with His Word and His Flesh and His Blood, for eternal Life with God.

He is the Lamb upon the throne, along with His God and Father — the Lamb who has been slain, and yet, behold, He lives! — by whose Blood and Testimony the saints persevere in holy faith and holy love, even over against the assaults and accusations of Satan.

The angels or messengers of the Gospel, by definition, preach and proclaim this message, and they do so as good news. Even the preaching of repentance is good news for those otherwise lost and blind in their sins. For those angels or messengers who are the pastors and bishops of the Church, this is their divine calling and their holy station, so of course they do this, by the Word and Will of God; and woe to them if they do not! But so does every Christian speak the Gospel, just as he or she has heard it and received it as the very voice of God from heaven in the preaching and administration of the Gospel in the Name of Jesus by their dear pastors here on earth.

This Gospel, though given in earthly words and earthly means, is eternal, not only in its permanent establishment in the crucified and risen Body of Christ Jesus, but so also in the way that it is continually preached and proclaimed in every age, even to the ends of the earth. It did not cease with the Ascension of Christ Jesus or the death of His Apostles, it persists even to the close of the age, always efficacious, always the living and Life-giving Word of God Himself.

By that preaching, that eternal Gospel bestows eternal Gifts which give eternal Life to the whole Church of all times and places — and so also to each and every one of you here and now — eternal Gifts unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

This true Gospel and the true doctrine of Christ Jesus and His Word are confessed and proclaimed to and for all those residing on the earth in all times and places, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And with this verse also in mind, Dr. Luther was identified with the angel flying in mid-heaven, especially because of his translation of the Bible into German, making the precious Word of God and the holy Gospel more accessible and more understandable to those people in his day. As Lutherans we treasure the translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular, and the preaching of the Holy Scriptures, the catechesis of the Word of God, so that people hear it and learn it and know it and love it.

It is precisely because of our insistence on the pure Gospel and the authority of the Word of God for doctrine and practice that the Lutheran church has always been zealous in the preaching of the Gospel and the teaching of the Word far and wide. This is why we are committed to the mission of the Church in every place, both at home and abroad. And along the same lines, we also insist upon the need for ongoing catechesis of those who are already disciples, that we should teach them the faith and obedience of all that our Lord Jesus has spoken and commanded. After all, the “Great Commission” at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel, which is indeed echoed in this passage in the Book of the Revelation, calls for such ongoing catechesis, always aiming toward faith and life and obedience to Christ Jesus, the life of faith and holy love.

If you look at the actual proclamation of the eternal Gospel as it’s described in these couple of verses, the focus here is not so much on the content of the Gospel, but rather on the appropriate response to the preaching of that Gospel:

To “fear God,” to begin with, because it is the beginning of all true wisdom, it is foundational and central to both repentance and to faith. To fear God is to recognize both His authority and your sin, for which you deserve nothing but punishment. It is also to revere Him and His Word, to hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. And it is to rely upon and to respect His Judgment as just and true, decisive and right.

To “give Him the glory” is simply to acknowledge the glory that is already His from all eternity, quite apart from us; but we give Him that glory by confessing who He is, what He has done, what He still does, and what He has promised, all on the basis of what He has revealed and spoken to us by His Son. The Father is glorified in His Son, and the Father glorifies the Son in Himself; and He does it by the way of the Cross and in the Resurrection.

As in St. John 12 — which actually has quite a few parallels to these verses in Revelation — judgment is wrought upon the earth, and the ruler of this world is cast out, by the lifting up of the Son of Man in death upon the Cross. So it is that the Voice from heaven (again!) declares that the Father is glorifying His Name in this One who is to be crucified. And you in turn glorify God by confessing the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, and so also by bearing His Cross with patience and peace in your own body and life, trusting the Word and promises of God, that He will raise you from the dead, glorified like unto Christ Himself.

As Satan was cast out of heaven, having been defeated by St. Michael and all the holy angels in that great heavenly battle, he has brought his wrath and violence down to the earth and to the sea, and he attacks you also in your conscience with his vile accusations. Sadly, by the very Law of God, many of those accusations would stick and find root in your heart and life. And yet, that old dragon or serpent who is called the devil and Satan is overcome by the Blood of Christ, the Lamb, and by the confession of His Cross, whereby sin has been atoned for, including all of your sins; whereby the world has been redeemed and reconciled to God, and you also are redeemed and reconciled to God; whereby death has been defeated and undone, and the Kingdom of Heaven has been opened to all who believe and are baptized into Christ Jesus.

Glorify God by believing and confessing that victory of the Cross of Christ and His Resurrection from the dead, whereby He judges you righteous by His grace through faith in His Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins.

And instead of pursuing the idolatrous worship of the beast and all the false gods of this fallen and perishing world, worship the true and only God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that is in them, who has also redeemed you and the whole of His good creation from sin and death, and who pours out the Holy Spirit generously upon you in streams of living water flowing from the innermost being of Christ the Crucified.

And as you are redeemed and sanctified in both your body and your soul, in your heart, mind, and spirit, by the Word & Spirit, Flesh & Blood of Jesus, so worship God by faith with both your body and your soul, with your heart, mind, and spirit, by confessing Christ Jesus from within your own proper calling and station and life. Thus, whatever your place in life may be, you also become “another angel” of the eternal Gospel of our Savior, Christ Jesus, for your neighbor.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Son of God and Abraham Sets You Free

Jesus addresses this Word, in the first place, to those Jews who believed in Him. They had that much right, superficially at least, though they did not yet realize what it really means or requires.

What Jesus here declares and promises, not only then, but also here and now to you, pertains to Himself and His Word. That is, and was, and always will be the decisive matter. He and what He says are what it’s all about. Everything depends on Him, and therefore on His Word.

Would you be a Christian and share His Life and Salvation? Well that you should. Here, then, is how: You have Jesus as your Lord, you abide in Him and He abides in you, by remaining in His Word; by hearing it, believing it, confessing it and praying it, and living by faith according to it.

By this way and means of His Word, you follow Him as a disciple to the Cross, to be crucified and die with Him, and so also to rise and live with Him, both here in time and hereafter in eternity.

Thus, by His Word, by faith in His Word, you are given to know the Truth, which is Christ Jesus Himself, His Father and His Spirit, in whom alone there is true freedom and eternal Life.

So, again, everything, everything, everything — including the sixteenth-century Reformation and the life of the Church in our own day and always — everything depends upon Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is salvation in no one other than Him, nor at all apart from Him. Apart from Christ Jesus there is only sin, death, and damnation.

Consequently, what Jesus proclaims in this Gospel strikes your old Adam with the judgment of the Law, because He leaves no room for any other way of life or salvation than Himself and His Word. He takes away all of your self-righteousness, so that you might receive, by grace alone, through faith alone, that righteousness which is in Christ alone, prior to any and all good works of yours.

You cannot rely upon yourself, nor upon anything else other than the Lord Jesus who is with you by and with and through His Word. And that is the case, not only once upon a time, not just to begin with, nor only for a little while, but forever and ever, Amen.

His Word not only calls you in repentance to the waters of Holy Baptism, it brings you through those waters, and it leads you from those waters throughout your life in the daily dying and rising of contrition, repentance, and faith in the forgiveness of sins. It lays the Cross of Christ upon you unto newness of life — unto the death and resurrection of your body — unto the Life everlasting.

The Life that you live by faith in Christ Jesus is not completed with the rite of Confirmation. Far less is it sufficient to be listed on the membership roles of a congregation, which means little or nothing apart from an actual participation in the Liturgy of preaching and the Sacrament.

Genuine Life with God in Christ is not a matter of genealogy, pedigree, or holding a leadership office. It is not measured or determined by niceness or piety or sincerity or effort.

Your only true and lasting Life — the Life for which you have been created by the true and only God  — is in Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son. And that Lord Jesus Christ is with you, and He is for you, in and with His Word. Which is to say that He is with you, not simply in the Holy Scriptures, but in the Word that He speaks to you and for you in your Holy Baptism, in the Holy Absolution of your sins, and in the Holy Communion of His Body and His Blood. He abides with you in the daily catechesis of His Word and prayer, and especially in the preaching of His Gospel.

Faith comes by hearing, as the Apostle St. Paul has written, because hearing and believing are by the Word of Christ which is preached to you in His Name and stead.

The simple fact of the matter is that you cannot live without these means of grace and forgiveness and salvation, because you cannot live without Jesus, and these are His ways and means. Not as works of men, though He administers His gifts through men whom He has called and sent with His authority; nor as works of the Church, though the Lord gives them to you within the fellowship of His Church; but as God’s Service, the Ministry of Christ for the rescue and salvation of sinners.

That is why the protest of the people in this Holy Gospel, that they are Abraham’s children, falls flat and does not cut it. First of all, because Christ Jesus is the Seed of Abraham by whom all the nations of the earth are blessed and are called to bless the Lord and one another with His Word.

And then, also, because the true children of Abraham are those who share Abraham’s faith in the one true God. It is not a matter of human genealogy, but of faith and trust in the God of Abraham, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That point likewise rules out modern appeals to the so-called “Abrahamic faith,” as if Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were all religions of one and the same God. For Abraham’s faith is fulfilled only in Christ Jesus. There is no other God than Him, and no one knows the Father or receives the Holy Spirit except by Christ and by His Word.

Similarly, it does you no good to appeal to your Lutheran pedigree, if you do not share the faith and confession of Martin Luther, which is the faith and confession of Christ Jesus, crucified for your transgressions, raised for your justification, given and poured out for you in the Sacrament.

Have you been confirmed? Good for you! But do you pray and confess your Catechism every day, as Dr. Luther did, and as he taught and urged others to do for themselves and for their families?

And do you actually practice and live, as well as believe and confess, the Six Chief Parts of the Christian faith and life? Are you doing as you promised at your Confirmation? More important and to the point, are you living by faith in the Word of Christ in the Communion of His Church?

If you are doing well, praise God for that, and continue by His grace to abide in His Word.

And if you recognize that in so many ways you have failed to remain steadfast in the Word of the Lord, then repent, and put your trust in Christ Jesus, your Savior. Which is not simply a matter of the feelings in your heart or the thoughts in your head, but of where your body is, and of what you do with your body; that you are in the Lord’s Church and at the Lord’s Altar, with the preaching of Christ in your ears, and with His Body and His Blood in your mouth and in your stomach.

It is to this Life in Christ that repentance brings you. For the Lord does not expose your sins and bring them to your attention in order to crush and destroy you forever. He crucifies your old Adam with all your sinful lusts and desires, in order to raise you up again, body and soul, through His free and full forgiveness of all your sins, so that you might live by faith in His Word as a new man or woman, abiding by His grace in the presence of God in the righteousness and purity of Christ.

It’s not a matter of trying harder, as though you could justify yourself and set things right with God by your own best efforts. Apart from faith in Christ, apart from His Word and Holy Spirit, your self-righteous striving only adds to your sin and makes things that much worse instead of better.

By the same token, the point is not that you should give up or quit the work that God has given you to do. There is no virtue or benefit to be found in your laziness, negligence, selfishness, or greed. Refusing to do your duty and giving yourself over to sin will not help at all, but further hardens your heart, separates you from God, and drives you that much closer to death and damnation.

No, to live by the righteousness of God is a matter of trusting Christ in His Word and the preaching of it, in those ways and means of His grace where He has promised to be with you and for you with His forgiveness and salvation. It is to seek and receive Him there, to cling to Him there, and to find Him there, where He comes to you and finds you and binds you to Himself.

Truth be told, apart from Christ Jesus you are a slave to sin, and you are bound for death and damnation. Your case is utterly hopeless without your dear Savior. You will not make it, and you will not last without Him. Besides all that, heaven itself would be void and bare without Christ Jesus, anyway; so there would be no point in making it without Him, even if you could.

By contrast, the Life of the Church on earth in the Liturgy of her Lord is not simply a means to some other end, but is already the Life and Salvation with God to which He calls you by His Gospel. Pursuing other ways and means of life is nothing but a perverse path of self-destruction.

But, that you not die as you deserve, all of your sin, your idolatry and unbelief are remedied and overcome by the Son who sets you free indeed. For He is the Son of God, who out of love for you has become your Brother in the flesh, the Seed of Abraham who has fulfilled all the Words and promises of God in His own Body.  He has set you free from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy and precious Blood and His innocent suffering and death.

So it is that, by His grace, you are now His very own, and by faith in His Word you now live with Him in His Kingdom. Even in great frailty and weakness under the Cross, you love and serve Him in the righteousness, innocence, and blessedness of His Resurrection, because He has first loved you, and His love for you never ends. He ever lives to make intercession for you before the Throne of God in heaven, even as He serves you in His House and at His Table here on earth.

All that He has done for you and won for you by His Cross and in His Resurrection, He gives to you, freely and generously, by His grace alone, by the way and means of His Gospel within His holy Christian Church. These fruits of His Cross, the Tree of Life, are distributed and set before you, not as a burden or a work for you to do, but as the most precious gifts of Christ Jesus.

Thus does He give Himself to you, and with His Body and His Blood and His forgiveness of all your sins, He gives you all the righteousness and Life of His own Resurrection from the dead.

It is in this way, also, that is to say, in His giving of Himself to you in Word and Sacrament, that your dear Lord Jesus daily returns you to the life-giving waters of your Holy Baptism; that He pours out His Holy Spirit generously upon you; that He daily and richly forgives you all your sins, strengthens your faith, and keeps you steadfast in the one true faith, unto the Life everlasting.

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.