Grace and peace to you from him who is, who was and who is to come, and from Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Amen.

Revelation 12:7-12 And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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 before our God day and night, has been hurled down. ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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."

Centuries ago, the Scots or the Welsh, depending on which historian you believe, came up with a prayer. It reads: "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!" Now the odds are the person who first wrote that prayer had never seen any ghoulies or ghosties. Nor is it likely that he or she had had any encounters with long-leggedy beasties. Yet, that prayer has survived. It comes down to us partly because of its quaint language. But also because it touches something deep down inside all of us – the fear of the unknown and things we can't control.

"From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!" When European explorers set out across the sea, that might well have been their prayer. With only the most rudimentary of navigational tools and maps based on guesswork rather than fact, the unknown was a constant terror. Would they sail to the end of the earth and fall off into a bottomless abyss? Would they encounter strange places inhabited by ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties? When these explorers returned, mapmakers pored over the ships' logs and began to fill in the great unknowns across the sea. Eventually, major rivers, islands, and navigable ports were shown. But there were still the great expanses of ocean that was unseen and unknown. In such places the mapmakers wrote with trembling hands wrote: "Here there might be dragons." They weren't sure, so they imagined the worst. Might they not have written: "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us"?

Of course, we know they were being silly. With GPS and satellites, our technological age has informed us, in no uncertain terms, there are no ghoulies or ghosties or long-leggedy beasties. If the history channel carries a special about the Babylonians who worshipped the evil, scaly-bodied, winged dragon named Tiamat, we smile. If public television shares the story of the ancient Egyptian God Apepi who was the great serpent in the world of darkness, we think, 'how quaint.' We know there are no "ghoulies or ghosties or long-leggedy beasties," and the only thing that goes bump in the night is when we, in the darkness, stub our toes against the bedroom furniture. All the dragons are slain.

All of your dragons have been slain, haven't they? There is no unknown, unexplored spot in your life where you could scrawl, "Here there might be dragons." I’m sure there is. Listen again: "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. 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."

There is a very real dragon that is ready to tear us apart and devour us. That dragon is Satan. He views this world as his personal killing fields. Not only does the Great Dragon, that ancient serpent, Satan, come at us. He also sends his demons, his little dragons to tempt and torment us.

Demons poke at you with fear. Senior citizens remember fondly the days when you left your doors unlocked. You no longer feel secure to walk around the mall or take an evening stroll. You could write, "Here there might be dragons."

Demons prod you with apprehension and worry. Has the person in the next cubicle or on the next machine on the line been let go? Is there talk of your company moving to Mexico? Are you worried about whether you will have a position at the end of this year? You can write, "Here there might be dragons."

Have you heard the doctor say the words: "Cancer," "congestive heart failure," "terminal" or "it doesn't look good?" Are you waiting for the results of a life-changing test? Are you making decisions about a major method of treatment? These unknowns in your life say, "Here are my dragons." Has your home's foundations been rocked by arguments, fights and cruel comments? Has the joy of marriage become a drudge? Are you not sure whether mom or dad can continue to live in their own home? Whatever it may be, the unknown says, "Here are your dragons."

Every generation, every individual has its dragons. Back in the first century AD, the Christians who lived scattered throughout Asia Minor (present day Turkey) had their share of dragons. There were times of persecution when they lived in daily danger. One day your family would be intact. The next may find mother murdered or father terribly tortured or soldiers may be hunting you down to put you in prison. The terrifying unknowns of each tomorrow brought them their dragons.

The Lord God in heaven, knowing the fears and pains of his people, spoke. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, in Revelation when John wrote about the unknown, when he spoke about the world's evil, he wrote about a dragon – a great dragon who terrified the world; who was trying to lead all of God's creation astray. This was the great serpent who had unsuccessfully tried to overthrow God in heaven; but who fared far better in tempting our original parents; who had made that which God had created perfect and pure, to be dirty and deadly.

John conceded that this multi-headed dragon was a terrifying beast who often seemed invincible. But guided by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John let these early Christians know, just as he is letting you know today, that appearances can be deceiving. Although the dragon, the devil, may win some skirmishes, the outcome of the war between good and evil has been decided. The great dragon has already been hurled down by Michael and all the angels.

On Calvary's crest, upon the cruel cross, Jesus Christ conquered. The message God sent to his churches was, "Yes, there are dragons out there. But, whether you can see it now or not, Christ has conquered the dragon. The devil has gone down in defeat. Satan has been stopped."

It was to defeat the devil and all of our personal dragons that brought Jesus into this world. From that moment when the Christ Child first cried in the Bethlehem stable, the battle was engaged. At the beginning of his ministry, Satan, who managed over the millenniums to lead the world astray, tried those same tactics in the tempting Jesus. In the wilderness, he made appeals to Jesus' senses. They were rebuffed with words of Scripture. Earthly power that would entice any normal individual was offered, and defiantly declined. A shortcut to the Savior's years of suffering was suggested, and summarily rejected. There was no quick way for Jesus to save the sinful souls of this sorry planet. There was no smooth path to victory over the devil, or the many minor dragons he had spawned in this world.

Jesus conquered the dragon of sin by living a perfect life. He conquered the dragon of the devil by resisting every temptation. He conquered the dragon of death by his physical resurrection on the third day.

During World War I, a British commander was preparing to lead his soldiers back to battle. They'd been on furlough, and the dismal march back was blackened by a cold, rainy, muddy day. The soldiers' shoulders sagged because they knew what lay ahead of them: mud, blood, and possible death. Nobody talked. Nobody sang. It was a heavy time upon their hearts. The dragons were there. As they marched along, the commander looked into a bombed-out church. Above the altar of the church, he saw the figure of Christ on the cross. The commander remembered the One who had suffered, died, rose and won the victory for him. With faith in his heart, he shouted out the order: "Eyes right, march!" Every eye turned to the right, and as the soldiers marched by, they too saw the cross. And, in the heart of each man, the dragons that had been there, were slain. They took courage and with shoulders straightened, they smiled as they went.

Take courage. Stand straight. Smile. Jesus has defeated the Great Dragon on the bloody cross and the open grave. The war is over. Jesus has seen Satan fall like lightening from the sky. (Luke 10:18) The war is over, but Satan isn’t going away without a fight. He and his legions are still battling. They are going to tempt and tease and torment you. They will try to lead you to despair, doubt, and depression.

Jesus has given you mighty allies for these battles – his angels, his army host. God designed the powerful and wise angels to serve his Christians on the spiritual killing fields versus the Enemy who is rugged and relentless.

These are not little girl angels or little baby cherubs. They are not like Michael Langdon in "Highway to Heaven" or drunken, womanizing, miracle-performing angels like John Travolta in "Michael." These are God’s warriors. They carried important messages of special births to Samson’s parents, to shepherds in the night sky, to Mary and to Zechariah. They protected God’s people by shutting the mouths of lions, walking with three men in a fiery furnace, slaying 185,000 of God’s enemies and busting God’s apostles out of prison. They minister to God’s people as they did to Jesus in the wilderness and Gethsemane.

These angels may appear with a flaming sword of justice like the angel guarding the entrance to Eden or appear with a message like Gabriel. They may appear as cherubim – two-winged angels or seraphim – six-winged angels. It might be Michael, the archangel, the great prince who protects God’s people. (Daniel 12:1) Ten thousand times ten thousand angels will protect God’s people, fight the last great battle against the forces of Satan, and gather God’s saints and take them to heaven.

We just sang, "angels watching over me, my Lord." Let me give you a real life example of God’s angels watching over a child of God – Pastor Steven Hintz. In his baptism, the angels were pushing the demons out of the way and standing guard as a child born in sin and Satan was made into a child of God. The angels were sitting and listening to God’s Word as Steven heard it taught in Sunday School, at Northwestern College and the Seminary. They continued to sit and learn as Pastor Hintz taught at Shoreland for so many years. For the Bible says that angels are not only teachers but also students of the truth: "the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 3:10) The angels rejoiced whenever Pastor Hintz repented or led a student in repentance. For Jesus says: "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10)

The Bible also says: "For [God] will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Psalm 91:11-12) With five daughters and then boyfriends coming around, I’m sure Pastor and Kathy Hintz prayed for extra protection by God’s angels. (I know I would.) God certainly commanded his angels to guard Pastor Hintz in his heart attack last week, because it certainly wasn’t an accident that a teacher and a student who knew CPR, a police officer and paramedics just all "happened" to be in the area. And I’m sure that God commanded his angels to stand guard over Steve and his family in the hospital to chase away the demons of doubts and fears. The angels escorted the soul of poor Lazarus to heaven. On Wednesday around 5:00 pm, God commanded his angels to escort Steve’s soul to gather with the saints around God’s heavenly throne. As we will sing later, "And we shall live, when life is past, With angels round your throne at last." (CW 198)

The maker of an early map of America wrote across unknown and unexplored regions such frightful comments as, "Here there are fiery scorpions," "Here there are dangerous giants," and "Here there are dragons." A brave explorer, who was also a Christian, crossed out all these warnings and wrote in large letters, "Here is God!"

We can do the same. Over our cancer, hospital stays, and empty bank accounts, we can write, "Here is God!" Over our worries, doubts, and death, we can write, "Here is God!" We can also add, "Here are God’s angels!" With full thanks and confidence in the presence of God and his angels, we can join our hearts in the ancient prayer: "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, I give thanks to You, good Lord. For You, in Jesus, along with your angels, have delivered me!" Amen.

"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ." Amen. (Revelation 12:10)