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1. lo, the angel of the lord, stands with flaming double sword, that the man of flesh and blood may no longer taste the good tree of life. man and wife made and not begotten gods word have forgotten. lord, have mercy. 2. lo, the angel vigil keeps with a host all singing deep: Into human flesh and blood christ is born to bring you good. adams seed Knows your need. christ of god begotten, has not man forgotten. alleluia!
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3. lo, the angel stands nearby, twelve and many legions nigh. Jesus sweats his holy blood, and his Body gives for food, man to save from the grave. he who flesh has taken god has now forsaken. lord, have mercy. 4. lo, the angel flings away heavy stone from where christ lay, tells the women: have no fear. he is risen and not here! unlike me, flesh has he. now he lives forever. hell forsake you never. alleluia! 5. lo, the angel, and with him, cherubim and seraphim. saints in heaven and on earth, of one faith by second birth, sit to eat at his feet. christ the lamb has given us the bread of heaven. alleluia! 6. lo, the angel, and his horn, stands to sound the earths last morn. christ, the lord, of woman born, In the flesh now does return. two-edged sword Is his word. sinners cringe before him; saints in flesh adore him. lord, have mercy. 7. lo, the angels hide their face, Bow before the King of grace. to the father and the son and the spiritthree in one let us sing, with them bring praises for his pardon In the blood-bought garden. alleluia!
St. Michael
b y a l b e r t b . c o l lv e r i i i
The church celebrates St. Michael and All Angels on Sept. 29. Who is Michael, and why does he matter to the church?
hey would not be married until Michaelmas, wrote Jane Austen in 1811 in Sense and Sensibility. Michaelmas? When? What was once a common, ordinary way of referring to Sept. 29, when the church celebrated St. Michael and All Angels, now requires a note for most high-school students (and perhaps some adults) to understand that the wedding Jane Austen described would be delayed about three months from the time of its original planning. Although Michaelmas as a calendar date and as a celebration within the church is unfamiliar to many people today, Time magazine (Sept. 18, 2008) reported that not only do most Americans believe in angels, but 55 percent of Americans believe they have personally been helped or saved by a guardian angel. While participation in formal, organized religion may have decreased over the past few decades, belief in angels has remained not only strong but also popular as evidenced by the number of television shows, movies, books, songs, toys, figurines and other items of angels. While many people can tell stories about angels,
the Holy Scriptures provide us with the only reliable and trustworthy information about the angels who serve the Lord.
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The primary task of an angel, human or supernatural, is to be a messenger of the Lord, delivering the Lord's judgment and His Gospel.
Sandwiched in between these references are other instances where angels appear at key moments in Jesus life: announcing His birth, ministering to Him after Satans temptation and being present both at His resurrection and ascension into heaven. In short, the angels were present at the key moments when Jesus was saving His people from their sins.
In the Scriptures, angels never act on their own. They always act as the Lords messengers, speaking His Word or carrying out His actions, bringing judgment or salvation. A true angel always points a person to see Jesus and His work. An angel proclaims the Gospel. Paul writes in Gal. 1:8, If we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. That means that an angel of the Lord will not speak or deliver to you anything contrary to or different from the Holy Scriptures, particularly regarding our Lord, Jesus Christ. Angels love nothing more than to bring the message of the saving work of Jesus.
What is Michaelmas?
In the Western church, St. Michael and All Angels has been celebrated since the 12th century. At the time of the Reformation, the Lutherans revised the celebration of former holidays and saint days in order to give greater prominence to the work of Jesus. St. Michael and All Angels was retained in the Lutheran liturgical calendar because it was seen as a principal feast about Christ. In fact, Philip Melanchthon, a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther, even wrote a hymn about St. Michael and All Angels (LSB 522, Lord God, To Thee We Give All Praise). At first, this might strike us as strange. How is a feast named after an archangel about Jesus? But as with all commemorations within the Lutheran Church, the focus is not on the person but held in grateful thanksgiving to our Lord for using this person (or His holy angels) to give glory to His name and to bring about salvation for His people. The event celebrated on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is thus important both in regard to our salvation and to the comfort it brings the Christian conscience.
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St. Michael and the Lords angels use the very same weapon the Lord has given to us:
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protection of the holy angels, we can and should thank our Lord as we pray daily,
For the Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
When Satan was cast down out of heaven, Rev. 12:11 says, They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Satan and his evil angels are defeated not with the sword or battle tactics as we understand war strategy, but they are defeated by the blood of Jesus and His Word.
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