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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Being on the Right Side

3/15/2020

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Picture
Exorcising the blind and mute man by James Tissot, late 19th century, wikipedia.org. No Known Copyright Restrictions
Oculi (Lent 3)  
Luke 11:14-28 
March 15, 2020 
 
On June 16, 1858 Abraham Lincoln gave an acceptance speech for his party’s nomination for US Senate, where he emphasized his belief that America could not remain divided between free states and slave states. He opened his speech with the line, “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” In his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office in January of 1989, President Ronald Reagan defined a phrase he had made popular during his political career, “a shining city upon a hill.” Reagan saw the United States of America as that “shining city upon a hill,” because America was an example to the whole world of a beacon of freedom. In November of 2001, less than two months after the infamous attacks on America in which terrorists used commercial airplanes to kill nearly three thousand people, then President George W. Bush famously said, “Overtime it’s going to be important for nations to know they will be held accountable for inactivity. You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.”  
All three of these presidents of the United States quoted Jesus Christ with these statements. In all three of these statements, the respective presidents were speaking of the United States and its fight against evil. In all three of these statements, Jesus spoke about his heavenly kingdom and its fight against evil.  
It’s not necessarily wrong to quote Jesus to make a point about an earthly matter. Jesus often used earthly examples to make heavenly points. Yet, it is remarkable how consistently Jesus’ words concerning spiritual matters are used to focus on earthly matters that are far less pressing.  
Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? People speak of “the right side of history” and the “wrong side of history.” Everyone wants to be found on the right side of history. No one wants to be found on the wrong side of history. But what is the right side and what is the wrong side of history? Who are our enemies? China? Russia? Iran? Democrats? Republicans? The coronavirus? Is America the beacon of all that is good? How do you know whether you are on the right side? 
Jesus makes clear who our true enemy is. It is Satan. He is the liar, who tempts all people into sin and unbelief. He led our race into death and damnation. He comes to murder and scatter Jesus’ sheep. The Jews called him, “Beelzebul” meaning, “Lord of the Flies,” a term of derision that didn’t take Satan seriously. And Satan isn’t taken seriously today. When people think of their top ten problems, Satan usually doesn’t make the list. If you were to suggest that Satan were our greatest enemy in public, you would likely be looked at as a lunatic. Yet, Satan is real. And he has real influence on this earth. He is the true enemy. And Jesus came to conquer him.  
Jesus conquered Satan by rescuing us from his clutches. Satan’s goal is for us all to go to hell and be separated from God forever. This is why he lied to Eve those many years ago. That is why he lies to us today. All people are born under Satan’s power, as St. Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)  
That is the situation we are all in from birth. This is why we needed to be rescued. Satan is the strongman, who guards his own palace. We are the goods he tries to keep in his control. Jesus is the stronger man, who comes and disarms the strong man and divides his spoil. Jesus did this by himself becoming a human being. Yet, when Satan attacked him to lead him to sin, Jesus did not fall. He remained obedient to God. Then Jesus took on the sins that plagued all mankind, and he died for them as if he himself committed them. Jesus silenced Satan’s accusations against us by taking our place under the Law and by being punished in our place. When Jesus was raised from the dead and exited the tomb, he left all our sins nailed to the cross. That means he left all of Satan’s lifework along with all his armor that he trusted in nailed to that cross. Jesus won. Satan lost.  
And we share in Jesus’ victory through faith in him. It requires no works on our part. We don’t conquer Satan with our own holiness. Rather, we receive Jesus’ victory over Satan as a pure gift when we believe that God forgives all our sins for Christ’s sake. We are saved by grace! Jesus fights for us here and now.  
We witnessed Jesus fight last Sunday when Bayla was baptized. We saw the very finger of God at work. Yes, they seemed like plain words spoken and ordinary water poured. But they were God’s words. And they carried with them the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Satan, who held Bayla captive was expelled. He was disarmed and sent away and his goods were taken from him. And that is what happened when each of you were baptized. The power of Baptism is the finger of God: God’s holy Word, specifically the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
Yet, Jesus has a warning for us. When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none, it returns to the place where it was cast out and when it finds it swept and put in order, it goes and finds seven more demons more wicked than itself and the last state of that person is worse than the first. This is why babies who are baptized need to continue to be filled with the Word of God. Baptism drives out unclean spirits. So, the Holy Spirit must take their place. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is Jesus. Jesus must abide with that child.  
It is a perversion of the Gospel to say that because Jesus forgives our sins apart from our works, we can continue to sin without fear. Holy Scripture says, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:1-4) 
By the finger of God, that is, by the power of God’s Word, specifically the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which comes to us through words, God drives out Satan and his minions from us. He does this by forgiving our sins and giving us his Holy Spirit. Yet, when we do not continue in his word and do not walk by the Spirit, then Satan and his minions come back to claim their former place. The state of a former Christian is worse than his state before he was a Christian. This is why we do not just get our babies baptized. We baptize them and then we teach them every day of their lives the words and promises of their Savior Jesus. This is why we who have had our sins forgiven continue to be filled with God’s grace, so that there is no room in us for Satan.  
Christians should not partake in sinful behavior. St. Paul warns, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Use your mind to think on God and his word. Use your mouth to confess Christ and sing his praises. When you do that your mind will not have room for impure thoughts. And your mouth will not have an opportunity to speak crudely.  
God’s house cannot be divided, so we must not use our bodies, which are the temple of the Holy Spirit, to do what is evil. And Jesus says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” We also must remember that we cannot be neutral between God and Satan. There is no neutral ground. Silence in the face of evil is condoning evil. The man had a mute demon. This was an especially evil thing. The man could not praise his God or confess his Savior. Satan kept him silent.  
Jesus says, “Whoever confesses me before men, him also will I confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever is ashamed of me before men, of him also will I be ashamed before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32; Luke 9:26) And St. Paul says, “With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:10) Our faith causes us to confess. We don’t just hold our faith privately in our hearts. We confess our faith. We acknowledge God with our lips.  
Jesus warns against complacency and apathy. Jesus doesn’t drive Satan out of your heart, so that your heart will remain empty. He drives Satan from your heart, so that your heart will be filled with the Holy Spirit, faith in Christ, and love for your neighbor. Faith in Christ brings us to repentance every day. We seek to avoid sin. We seek to do good to our neighbor, to be patient with those who might annoy us, to forgive those who sin against us. We flee those sins that drag us away from Christ, lest Satan take hold of our hearts yet again.  
Jesus wants us to be aware, that we are currently under assault from the devil. He doesn’t want to give up his palace without a fight. If he sees an opening, he will try to barge his way in. Yet, Jesus also tells us that we have a weapon that wards off Satan; a weapon that does not fail. This weapon is the finger of God, which is the very Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have the cross of Christ on which all our sins are nailed along with Satan’s armor. We have our Baptism through which God drove Satan out of us. We have the Lord’s Supper by which we commune with the very body and blood that conquered Satan here on this earth. We cling to the Gospel of Christ in order to drive Satan away from us and to keep us from sin.  
A woman cried out “Blessed by the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed.” She was speaking of the Virgin Mary. Mary is certainly blessed beyond all women, having born our Savior. Yet, she is truly blessed, because she trusted in Jesus. Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”  
“Keep it” means to guard it. We guard our faith in Jesus Christ, because Jesus is our champion over Satan. We don’t get tired of Jesus. We don’t get bored with his words. We need his forgiveness every day. We need his wisdom every waking hour. He fends off Satan for us by strengthening our faith. And he undoes Satan’s work by forgiving our sins. When we guard the promises of Jesus in his word, we are on the right side. We are united with Christ. And no foe will ever divide us. Amen.  
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Oculi (Lent 3) Whoever is not with me is against me

3/26/2019

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Luke 11:14-28 
March 24, 2019 
 
“As Jesus said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!’” I find it very fitting that this woman shouted out this praise to the Virgin Mary. It fits well, because today is March 24th. Tomorrow is March 25th. In nine months, we will be celebrating Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus. Traditionally the Church has observed March 25th as the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord, when the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would bear the Christ Child.  
It is fitting that this woman mentions the Virgin Mary, because of the stark contrast between the words spoken about Jesus by the angel Gabriel to Mary when he told her she would be the mother of the Lord and the words spoken about Jesus here by these scoffers. Some, who had just witnessed Jesus cast out a demon from a man, said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul.” Beelzebul means “Lord of the Flies.” It is a title for Satan. Actually, a belittling title for Satan, insinuating that he isn’t all that powerful or dangerous, just a king fly on a dung heap.  
Yet, how does Gabriel, the messenger from God, describe Jesus to Mary? He says, “he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:32-33, 35) 
Oh, how wrong these people were about Jesus! Jesus doesn’t work miracles by the help of some fly lord. Jesus is the Most High Son of Heaven. He has a Kingdom that will last forever. He comes to sack Satan’s kingdom and divide his spoil. Jesus works by the very finger of God, the Holy Spirit. This is the same power God showed over Pharoah in Egypt. By mocking Jesus in this way, they are mocking the very God of heaven.  
Yet, these mockers were not only wrong about Jesus, they are wrong about Satan too, whom they cutely call Beelzebul. Satan isn’t some fly lord buzzing around causing minor annoyance. Satan is the arch-enemy of God’s kingdom. Satan comes from the Hebrew for Adversary. He is God’s adversary. He caused our first parents to fall into sin, plunging our entire race into death. Jesus calls him a murderer and the father of lies. He should not be underestimated. Rather, St. Peter warns, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) 
Satan hates you. He wants to cause you pain. While God might let you suffer pain for a while for your own good, Satan wants to harm you. He wants to harm your body and your soul. He enjoys suffering. That's why he caused that poor man to suffer muteness. He leads people into sin. He lies. He sees where you are weak and what sinful desires you struggle to keep at bay, and he strikes. He entices you with sweet words, with perfect logic, with forgetful, wrath, lust, laziness, selfishness. And he does this in order to draw you away from Christ.  
Satan’s kingdom and Jesus’ kingdom are diametrically opposed to each other. Jesus speaks plainly, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” You can’t be neutral in the war between Satan and Jesus. You must be opposed to sin or you are against Christ. You must be against false teaching and false worship, or you are against Christ. A person cannot be against Satan, but neutral on Jesus. You are either in Jesus’ camp or in Satan’s camp.  
Now, this hurts people’s feelings. Understandably. Who wants to think that they or someone they love is in Satan’s camp? Isn’t that a bit extreme? Well, it is the truth that we must acknowledge about our sinful condition. The Holy Spirit caused St. Paul to write in Ephesians 2, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (vss. 1-4) 
You see, by nature we are all born in the clutches of Satan, because of our sinful condition inherited by our fathers. We are the spoils guarded so diligently by the strong man, Satan. Yet, when the stronger man comes, he overpowers Satan and divides his spoil. St. Paul continues, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (vss. 5-6)  
Well, how did Jesus, the strong man, go about plundering Satan and rescuing us from his clutches? You know the story. He became a human being in the womb of the Virgin Mary, he hid his divine glory and submitted to his parents, loved his neighbor, fulfilled God’s law perfectly. And then, bearing the sins of the whole world he died. God crushed him for our sake.  
On earth this seemed like a disappointing end. A man, who seemed to be something, turned out to be nothing. Perhaps he was just using tricks from the old dung-heap king. But, no! As women watched with tear-soaked eyes Jesus yield his breath and bow his blood-soaked head in death, a great battle in heaven was being won. Revelation 12 says, “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”  
Satan was cast down and defeated by the blood of Jesus. Now, he who lures us into sin and who accuses us day and night before God has been cast down. He is silenced, because God has washed away our sins in Jesus blood. And Christ having been raised from the dead gives life to us too, whose sins he has washed away.  
Yes, Satan is still dangerous. He still prowls around like a ravenous lion. He still can and will lure you into sin. But he cannot accuse you, who are in Christ Jesus, of sin before God. God has forgotten your sins, removed them as far as the east is from the west. When you repent of your sins, God eliminates your guilt with Jesus’ blood.  
Knowing all this, it should be well understood that we cannot then enter into league with Satan in any way. We must oppose him. We are not neutral. We are solidly on Jesus’ side. And we want nothing to do with Satan.  
We read about the war in heaven, but we do not see it. We’ve all heard and read of the crucifixion of Christ, which conquered Satan for us. Yet, none of us actually witnessed it or know anyone who did. But you have been baptized. And even if you do not remember it, you likely know or have known someone who does. And every time a person is baptized, you remember that that same thing happened to you. Those words of God were spoken to you.  
In Baptism, Jesus plunders Satan. God through the power of his word joins you to Christ’s victory in the cross. He pulls you out of Satan’s grasp. He washes away your sins. He makes you alive in Christ Jesus. In Baptism, God saved you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21) 
In Baptism, God took you out of Satan’s strong hold and placed you into the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom the angel Gabriel tells us will never end. This means, that you are a sworn enemy of Satan. 
At your Baptism you were asked, “Do you renounce the devil; do you renounce all his works; do you renounce all his ways?” And to each of these questions you, or your sponsors answered, “Yes, I renounce them.” You are on Jesus’ side. You are Satan’s enemy.  
Many are confused by the Gospel, because God freely forgives our sins for Jesus’ sake apart from our works. And even if sin were to increase, grace abounds all the more from our loving God to forgive us. So, people wonder, “Why not just go on sinning?” St. Paul answers this very question in Romans chapter 6, “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:2-4) 
Baptism has changed you. Yes, you will still fall into sin. No one living does not sin, even those baptized into Christ. But Baptism means that you will repent of sin and trust in Christ for forgiveness.  
It is possible to reject your Baptism. You do not remain in your Baptism simply by trying to live a good life. You remain in your Baptism by remaining in Jesus. When an evil spirit is cast out of a man, which is more or less what happened to you in your Baptism, the evil spirit passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finding none, he returns to his house. And if he finds it swept clean, put in order, and empty, then it brings seven more spirits even more evil than himself, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.  
That is what happens to those, who are baptized, but do not continue to hear and learn the words of Christ. Being baptized will not save you if you reject the words of Christ and refuse to hear and cherish them. Baptism saves through faith, even as the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ save only those who believe. It is a false notion that you can be saved simply by being baptized without continuing to cling to Christ. There is no neutral ground. Baptism places you on Christ’s side. But if you do not remain on Christ’s side, if your heart is empty of Christ, then you are on Satan’s side again.  
The woman blessed Jesus’ mother for being the mother of a great man. I think that was nice. But it wasn’t the Gospel. Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Mary certainly was blessed to be the mother of the Lord. But that’s not her greatest blessing. Mary’s greatest blessing is your greatest blessing: the word of God. The word of God tells you that Jesus fought a mighty battle, shed much blood, and even overcame death to save you. He rescued you from the clutches of Satan’s kingdom and placed you soundly in a kingdom that has no end, where peace and righteousness and love endure. You are blessed if you guard these words as your precious treasure. By guarding these words, the very Gospel, you are guarding eternal life. And by God’s grace, through your Baptism, through the continued hearing of the Gospel, yes, by the very finger of God, you will keep this blessing forever. Amen.  
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Oculi: Casting out Satan with the Finger of God

3/5/2018

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Picture
Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Commons.wikimedia.org. Public Domain
Luke 11:14-28 
March 4, 2018 
 
Should Christians be pacifists? Jesus does say to turn the other cheek if someone strikes you. And Christians should put away all violence and live at peace both with those within and outside of the Church. Yet, Christians are not pacifists, but warriors. But it's not what you might think. St. Paul says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) It's called the Church Militant. No, Christians are not called by God to invade other countries with military might and force them to be Christians. Rather, God arms Christians to battle Satan. And we must continue to battle Satan until Christ returns.  
​

Satan is the strong man of whom Christ our Lord speaks. He is fully armed and he guards his palace with diligence. Yet, Satan doesn't arm himself with concrete barricades and military-grade weaponry. Satan arms himself with lies. He distorts the truth, says things that are blatantly untrue, and anything in between. Because Satan isn't so concerned with harming your body as with destroying both your body and soul in hell by corrupting your faith.  

Jesus is the stronger man. He disarms Satan and divides his spoil. Jesus says that he casts out demons with the finger of God. The finger of God is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through God's Word. To cast out Satan with the finger of God is to cast out Satan through the power of God's Word. Jesus cast out a demon from a mute man, so that the man could speak. Jesus cast out many demons throughout his earthly ministry by the power of his word. Yet, our Lord finally tore down the walls of Satan's palace and rescued all the souls held captive by him when he fulfilled the Word of God as it is recorded in Scripture by dying on the cross for the sins of the whole world. This is not how you win a battle against a nation's army. Yet, this was the only way to defeat Satan and scatter his kingdom.  

Although Satan has been rightly defeated by Christ, he remains a dangerous foe. And he will remain dangerous until Christ comes again with glory to judge both the living and the dead. At that time Satan will be cast down forever, never to harm a Christian again. Jesus calls Satan the ruler of this world. St. Peter warns that he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Scripture clearly teaches us that Satan has a kingdom and that kingdom is established right here on earth where we live. And so, we Christians must be on guard. 
 
Yet, Christ does not leave us unarmed. He arms us with the very finger of God, that is, the Holy Spirit at work in the Word of God. This is why Jesus says, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Last week we learned how to defeat God in a wrestling match using the Word of God. How much more powerful is this same word against the assaults of the devil? Satan arms himself with lies. God arms you with the truth. The truth defeats lies.  

Jesus says, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." In other words, there is only one truth: God's truth. And if you are not united with the truth then you are in league with Satan.  

Satan is not nearly so exclusive. God says, "I, the LORD your God am a jealous God!" Satan would never say that. He doesn't need to be your only god. He's happy to be one of your gods. And this is a very sneaky trick of the devil. He's just fine with you identifying yourself as a Christian, wearing a cross around your neck, even going to church. Just so long as you are not entirely devoted to Christ and his word. "I don't need to believe everything in the Bible to be a Christian.", is what he wants you to say. He wants you to believe in some lies and think that you can have it both ways. But Jesus clearly teaches that you cannot serve two masters. God will not share you with another god.  

"Let no one deceive you with empty words," Saint Paul warns. Do not become partners with the sons of disobedience. Scripture warns against sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness. Satan wants you to believe that you can indulge in your sinful flesh while remaining a Christian. Scripture warns that those who continue in sin without repentance will not inherit the kingdom of God.  

This again, is why Jesus says, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" The word, "keep" there is the same word Jesus used to say the strong man guards his palace. Jesus wants you to guard his word as a strong man guards his possessions. The Word of God is the most important thing for you to keep safe in this life. It is this truth that will defend you against the devil's lies.  

This means that Jesus wants you to keep on learning the Word of God. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;" God says through the prophet Hosea (4:6). When you stop learning God's Word you become vulnerable to the attacks of the devil. People talk a lot about fake news and urban legends, don't believe everything you read on the internet. Well, this goes double for what you hear about God on the internet, or at the sports bar, or the salon. Yet, how do you defend yourself from a slew of false information about God and his Word? By reading, hearing, and learning God's Word. The reason so many fall away and adopt anti-Christian beliefs is because they are not hearing and keeping God's Word.  

Jesus says that when an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places and after finding no place to rest it returns to its home. And if it finds the person from which it had been cast out empty, it returns with seven more spirits even more wicked than itself. And the last state of that person is worse than the first. When you were baptized, the devil was cast out of you. That is what God's Word does. God took possession of you. Yet, Baptism cannot save without faith. And faith cannot exist without the Word of God. When the evil spirit is cast out of you, you must be filled with God's Word, so that the spirit doesn't return and put you in a worse state than you were before.  

This is why immediately after Jesus gives the command to baptize all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit he says, "teaching them all that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age."(Matthew 28:19-20) This is why we don't just baptize people and send them on their way, but we baptize and continue to teach them the word of God.  

"But I'm just not that interested in theology." Theology is the study of God's Word. To say that you are not interested in theology is like saying you are not interested in what God says. God is not done teaching you. He won't be done teaching you until you have reached your heavenly home. Theology, that is, what God teaches you from his Word is not an interest like sports, or geography, or math, which if you just aren't that interested in it, it really isn't that big a deal. No, theology is life. By your theology you will be justified and by your theology you will be condemned. So, it is of the utmost importance that you continue to learn what God teaches you.  

The pious woman in the crowd cried out, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" This is certainly true. The Virgin Mary is forever blessed, as she herself said, "All generations shall call me blessed." (Luke 1:48) Yet, Jesus says it is a greater blessing to hear and keep God's Word. The Virgin Mary is blessed, because God chose her to bear his Son in her womb. Mary is rightly called the Mother of God, because she is the mother of our dear Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. And Mary certainly did a marvelous work by raising Jesus, a much better work than any of us could ever do. Yet, Mary was not saved by her works. No one can be saved by his works, otherwise, God would not have sent Jesus to die in our place.  

No matter how great your works are (and they are not as great as the Virgin Mary's), they cannot save you. But the Word of God does save. God's Word teaches you who Jesus is. He is true God, begotten of the Father from all eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary. God's Word teaches you what Jesus did. He has redeemed you, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death.  

Not only does God's Word teach you what is right and wrong, so that you know when the devil is lying to you. God's Word assures you of your salvation over and over again through the person and work of Jesus Christ. To battle Satan with the Word of God is to let God battle Satan for you! You defeated Satan in your Baptism, because God did so through his Word. Every time you hear that your sins are forgiven, Satan flees from you when your heart believes this truth. Satan must flee from this place as the word of truth is proclaimed from this pulpit and fed to you from the altar.  

The only way you know Jesus and his work of salvation for you is through his Word. And the only way that you can defend this knowledge from the lies of the devil is by continuing to hear and learn God's Word. Recite the Apostles' Creed and pray the Lord's Prayer daily. Let God's Word be your defense. For by wielding God's Word, you wield the very finger of God. Let us pray.  

Stay with us, Lord, and keep us true;  
Preserve our faith our whole life through- 
Your Word alone our hearts defense,  
The Church's glorious confidence. Amen.  ​
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Oculi: Jesus, the Stronger Man Conquers Satan, the Strong Man with the Finger of God

3/20/2017

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Picture
Luke 11:14-28

"My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you." This is the Introit prayed by the church this morning. It is a prayer for deliverance from those held captive in a foreign kingdom. We pray this Psalm of deliverance, because we live in a world ruled by Satan. 
 

Satan is the strong man. He is fully armed and he guards his palace and all his goods with diligence. His goods are all mankind, children of wrath, sons of disobedience. They are bound and stored safely in his dungeon.  

Jesus Christ is the Stronger Man. He attacks and overcomes Satan, strips him of his armor and takes the spoils. That is, Jesus Christ destroys the Kingdom of Satan with the very finger of God and sets all people free, as he did for Israel when he delivered them from Pharaoh's kingdom. We know that Christ loosed the bands that bound us by his very blood, which he shed on the cross, which forgives our sins and gives us peace with God.
 
 
But Satan isn't going to roll over and let his loot be taken from him so easily. He fights back. The way the devil fights back is by confusing the situation. He lies. He tries to prevent us from recognizing the finger of God. And so Satan led these people in our Gospel lesson to say that Jesus cast out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Beelzebul means lord of the flies. It's a title for Satan. Yet, Jesus casts out demons by the finger of God, the Holy Spirit Himself!
 
Jesus does good. He casts out a demon from a mute man, so that he could speak. Yet these people call the good Jesus does evil. "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness," cries our God through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah (5:20) This is the work of Satan. He calls God evil and the evil he does good. And so St. Paul must warn the Christians in Ephesus, "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 5:3-6)  

Satan uses empty words to deceive those set free by the finger of God. He tells them they have freedom to sin as if God has given them a license to do what is evil. And so those, who were brought to the light of Christ are led back into the darkness. Those who are given the right to become children of God are seduced to become sons of disobedience.  

And so we see that the strong man, although pillaged and humiliated is still a great danger to us Christians. He is more than a lord of flies, rather a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. His goal is to murder your very soul. He lies, not simply to make you slip into sin, but to doubt the very Gospel. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus defeated Satan, dethroned him, and stole his loot, setting you free. So Satan will do anything to convince you that the finger of God, which sets you free is actually your enemy.  

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." This isn't a quote from President Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This is Jesus Christ, your God and Lord declaring that you are either working for him or against him. There is no neutral ground in this battle against Satan. Therefore Christians must not only say what is right and true, but they must also say what is evil and wrong. Jesus Christ is true God and man. He died on the cross for our sins and gives us eternal life through faith in his name. This is true. False religions are evil. Marriage is a good blessing from God! Sexual immorality, fornication and adultery and homosexuality are evil. Children are gifts from God to us. Abortion is murder and evil. We cannot be neutral. We must pick a side.  

When Satan is cast out, you either become a child of the light or go back to slavery under Satan. Jesus says that when a demon is cast out it searches waterless places looking for rest and when it comes back and finds its home swept clean and put in order it finds seven demons more evil than itself and they enter and join there. And so it is for those who try to remain neutral. If you are not filled with the Holy Spirit, you will be filled with sin. If God casts a demon out of you, freeing you from your sin, you will be plagued with even worse sins if the Holy Spirit does not make his dwelling in you.  

After hearing Jesus' wonderful teaching a pious woman in the crowd shouted, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!" But Jesus replies, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Now certainly the Virgin Mary is blessed. Yet she is eternally blessed not even because she bore and nursed the Godman, Jesus Christ our Savior. She is blessed in heaven, because she heard the word of God and kept it, cherishing it and pondering it in her heart. 

And so you too are blessed, because you hear the Gospel and keep it. To hear the word of God and keep it sounds like law. And certainly God wants us to hear the Ten Commandments and do them. But you don't get to heaven by following the Ten Commandments. You don't earn your salvation by obeying the Law. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from your works. And this is the Word, which saves. The Gospel. Jesus Christ disarmed the strongman by joining our human race and dying on the cross for your sins and my sins, because he had no fault of his own. Satan had us stuck in his dungeon with our own sins. But Jesus took our trespasses from us. He put them on himself and he washed them clean in his own blood. This is the Gospel that sets us free.  

You must keep this word of God. The word for keep used here by Jesus means guard or keep watch. It's the same word used for the strong man guarding his palace. So you must guard this special word of God. With this Word you are set free from Satan and with this Word you yourself will defeat Satan.  

You were touched by the finger of God in your Baptism. That is to say, the Holy Spirit came to you when you were baptized  and drove out Satan through the water and the Word. Where you have the Word of God, you have the Holy Spirit. So where you have the Word of God you have the finger of God. The finger of God drives out Satan. So if you guard this word of God, you too will drive out Satan. 

God drove out Satan when he baptized you. And so he drives Satan away from you whenever your faith receives the Gospel. When the pastor in the stead of Christ says, "I forgive you all your sins." Satan is evicted. When your faith guards the mystery of "This is my body" and "This is my blood" when you receive the Sacrament of the Altar, Satan's forces are driven back. To keep God's Word means to have faith in the Gospel that Jesus, the stronger man, defeated Satan and freed all his captives by dying on the cross for their sins. And it is this Word, the good news that gives you the victory over Satan each and every day.  
​

The Kingdom Satan founded has been overthrown. He has met his doom by the finger of God. Yet he still rants and raves and lies, seeking souls to kill. But armed with the Gospel you are equipped with the very finger of God. That means the kingdom of God has come near to you and Satan must flee from you. Amen. 
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

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