 |
| Audio Below |
Text:
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen. Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just
read, especially these words, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. There is a war going on. And I don’t mean the one between ISIS and
Christianity, or in Darfur, or Afghanistan or Iraq, not even in Korea any more,
or any other countries of our world.
There is war in heaven, between Michael and his angels fighting
against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. War in heaven between that ancient serpent
and accuser Satan and his fallen angels versus God and his angels. And dear friends the battle is one that is
close to home, for we are involved. Its
not a battle of weapons, as we are used to, but instead a battle between God’s
Word and promises against the Word and lies of Satan.
We’re
involved. We’ve been involved since
almost the very beginning, when in the Garden that dragon Satan came to Adam
and Eve and spoke a word contrary to that of God. “Did God really say? You will surely not die! Trust in yourself, not in some hokey guy with
a white beard who walks on clouds and requires you to get up early on
Sundays. Be your own master!” And so Adam and Eve abandoned the Word of God
for a lie, and entered battle on the side of the dragon. Humanity fell into sin.
And death was
the result. From Adam to Moses and even
to today, death has ruled in this world, for that is the consequence of going
against God. We hear the words again and
again in scripture. Adam lived 930
years, and he died. Seth lived 912 years
and he died. So and so lived so many
years and then they died. So much death,
so much destruction, brother murdering brother, Father murdering son. Even, up until this very day.
Yes, even today,
for you too are a sinner. You succumb to
Satan’s false words all the time, don’t you?
I know we are embarrassed to admit it, but its true, we are also
casualties of this war. We ignore God’s
Word and what it teaches, instead listening to the lies of demons. You ask yourself the doubt creating question
of Satan – Did God really say? Did God
really say that adultery and divorce are sin?
Did God really say that it is wrong to love your money, your bank
account, your retirement plans more than God?
Did God really say wives should submit to their husbands, or that
husbands should sacrifice for their wife?
Did God really say that we should honor our fathers and mother, even
when they get old, or can we just send them off to nursing homes to be
forgotten and die? Did God say that you
are to love your neighbor, or should we continue gossiping, complaining, and
hating them?
Satan goes on –
you’ll surely not die – you’ll need your money to take care of you, to pay for
your health insurance and hospital care.
You’ll surely not die, you’ll need to care for yourself most. You’ll surely not die, because that wouldn’t
be fair – for some are old some are young.
You’ll surely not die, and even if you did, love wins, God will surely
agree with your politics. And all of
this summed up in Satan’s last and greatest lie, “You’ll be like God, master of
your own destiny, lord of your own life.”
This is the
battle going on all around you, and the battle lines run right down your own
heart. Your soul hangs in the
balance. Satan wishes you to fall, to
die, to suffer, to curse God, and to be like him, damned forever. Because the truth is as God said it, Man did
die, God did say, and humanity is not God, no matter how hard they try.
But did you hear
God’s Word in the second reading? Satan
“was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.9 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.” God’s Word beats the devil’s. Satan loses.
He’s the biggest loser ever. And
all of his lies are lies told by the biggest loser that ever was.
And we know the
battle where Satan lost. It happened
with Jesus – when the uncreated Word of God became flesh and dwelt among
us. That Word, Jesus Christ, lived
perfectly, and was hated by Satan, who sought to put him to death, once for all
upon the cross. Jesus set his eyes on
Jerusalem, to die for all sin, even yours.
The blood of the Word was poured out.
The Word cried out “It is finished.”
Sin was destroyed – killed on a hill called Golgotha on a Friday we call
good. And to prove that victory was won,
for you, for me, for all, the Word made flesh rose from the dead to live and
reign for all eternity in God’s eternal kingdom.
The Revelation
of John says it this way, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom
of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our
brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before
our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not
their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice,
O heavens and you who dwell in them!”
When Jesus died
on that cross, Satan lost. When Jesus
died on the cross, Satan was cast out of heaven, like lightning, he had lost
the war, even as battles continued to rage.
And now God’s Word comes to you, to declare the victory of Christ. It comes to you in humble means – victorious
though it is. It comes through pastors,
who speak God’s Word of blood bought forgiveness for believing the lies of
Satan. It comes with absolution, mercy,
grace, and peace. IT comes in hymns and
liturgy. The Word of God puts his own
body and blood into your mouths with communion, “Take and eat, take and drink
for forgiveness of sins." The Word of God
puts his blood over you, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified in
baptismal waters. Not just plain water,
but the word of God in the water does these marvelous things for you.
God’s Word is
victorious, and because of that, you too are victorious. Satan’s Word is shown for what it really is –
lies of a loser.
And so repent,
dear Christians, of believing the lies of the biggest loser ever over God’s
Word. Read, mark, inwardly digest God’s
Word. Uphold the truth. Sing it boldly, with angels, arch angels and
all the company of heaven. Confess it
outwardly, lauding and magnifying God’s glorious name, and ever more praising
him. For there, and only there, will you
discover the way, the truth and eternal life.
Afterall, Satan
has been thrown down from heaven, like lightening. Now you are no longer subject to Satan, but
instead he is subject to the word you hear and the word we preach – the Word of
Christ. The Word of forgiveness. Now you have a promise from God, not that you
will surely die for sin, but rather blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment