Exodus 8:16-21/Ephesians 5:1-9/St Luke 11:14-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Throughout His earthly ministry, our dear Lord Jesus was maligned and accused of many things. It was said that He transgressed the Sabbath by plucking grain (Mk 3:1-6); that He blasphemed (Mk 2:7); that He was a deceiver (Mt 27:63); that He claimed to be the king of the Jews (Mk 15:2); that He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Son of Man (Mk 14:61-62); that He misled the Jewish people and forbad payment of taxes to Caesar (Lk 23:2); and that He created a dangerous situation in which the Romans might intervene and abolish Jewish self-governance and even the Temple (Jn 11:48). But no charge was as flagrantly wicked as this: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
But no kingdom divided against itself can stand, and a divided household falls. Lincoln borrowed the phrase from our Lord. And what is true of earthly governments is true of spiritual realms. The Prince of Demons has been cast down to earth. He roams to and fro upon the land seeking to devour the children of light. He comes, not as an imitator of God, but as an impostor of Him, disguised as an angel of light.
And unlike our Lord Christ, Satan’s kingdom is only and merely an earthly kingdom. And he does exercise some power in this fallen world; though it is a limited and suppressed power. Notice how the Egyptian magicians could reproduce a number of the plagues by their secret arts. Staff snakes, bloody water, frogs. They could do each of these. And Pharaoh hardened his heart on account of them.
Ironically, though, they could not reproduce the gnats and flies. It is perhaps divine irony because Beelzebub, which is who the crowds accused our Lord of being in league with, means, Lord of the Flies. He is ruler of the dung heap; king of the maggots. And he would not seek to divide his own domain; but rather enlarge it by any means necessary. Satan seeks to mislead you into false belief and despair; to deceive you with empty words, as St Paul writes. He seeks to unseat Christ from His throne, but doesn’t care who or what takes His place, so long as its not the Son of God. Satan is perfectly willing to share the glory with all the false gods out there, all the bad theologies in the world, so long as the couch isn’t occupied with the God-Man.
You see, our Lord describes the human heart as a home, a palace, an abode of a strong man. Satan is the strong man. He guards his palace. He has to guard it because he has stolen it and he knows it doesn’t really belong to him. Along comes the stronger man, the Christ, the finger of God enfleshed, who takes away the armor in which the strong man trusted. The Stronger man then takes the spoils for Himself.
The goods and armor in which Satan trusted is your sin and the accusation of the Law. This is what he has on you. This is what he throws in your face; a guilty conscience and the holy Word. He is a master at wrongly dividing Law and Gospel. He seeks always to use the Law to torment and harangue terrified sinners and to misuse the Gospel to excuse hardened sinners. And he is a false preacher of tolerance. He will tolerate anything, all kinds of vice and misbelief, all sorts of sin and shameful behavior. He will tolerate anything and everything except the proper distinction of Law and Gospel, except the true preaching of the Word and the coming of the kingdom of God.
For it is by these that he is overcome. For Christ, the Word made flesh, has brought the kingdom of God down to earth in Himself. The finger of our Lord Jesus by which He casts out demons, is the very finger of the Almighty and Living God Himself. Only in Christ the finger of God does not come for destruction, as it did upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, it comes in mercy. He comes not to bring plagues, but healing. And His kingdom is not of this world.
He takes away the armor of the strong man; that is, He takes away your sin with which the devil hounds you. And He silences the accusations of the Law in His shed blood. And then He takes you, snatches you from the jaws of the wicked one, and brings you into His own kingdom, that you may serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. As St Paul wrote to the Ephesians: at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And he warns against all sorts of immorality and impurity.
For the finger of Christ has come upon you. In Holy Baptism He drives away demons with the Word and water. He unseats the strong man, and Christ, the stronger man, makes your heart His home. As it is written, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him (Jn 14:23).
Note that: Jesus says, the one who loves Him will keep His Word; even as He responded to the woman in the crowd: Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. But it is not “keep” as in “do.” Rather, it is “keep” as in “guard,” “treasure,” “hold fast to.” And in this, the Mother of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, is an example for us. I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Thy Word (Lk 1:38). And, Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51).
This is why, dear Christians, false doctrine is so demonic and deadly. It comes always under the guise of tolerance and acceptance; Satan’s misuse of Law and Gospel, to draw you away from the steadfast Word of Christ. For He, the Stronger Man comes and drives away the unclean spirit. But if the heart does not become an abode for the Lord, does not hear and hold fast to the blessed truth of His Word, trusting in the shed blood of Christ, but rather those in whom our Lord began His good work, “willfully turn away from the holy commandment, grieve and embitter the Holy Spirit, involve themselves in the world’s filth [as St Paul warns], and redecorate their hearts as homes for the devil, then, in them, the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (FC SD XI 42). For those who harden their hearts to the Lord, in them, the Lord hardens it even more.
Beloved in the Lord, Christ, the Stronger Man, has rescued you from the kingdom and domain of the devil. He has ransomed and redeemed you with His holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. He has adopted you as fellow heirs and brought you into the household of His Father in heaven, who is your Father in heaven.
By His Word Satan has been driven out. He is tempts you to be sure. He will accuse you and malign you. Clinging to the Word of the Lord you will be called al sorts of names: bigot, intolerant, racist. If they have called the Master of the House Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of His household (Mt 10:25).
But Satan is weak. He is mute. He has lost his sting and threat. He has nothing with which to accuse you. You are baptized and forgiven. You have fellowship with the Blessed Holy Trinity. And in Christ, abiding in His Word, you have a good and clean conscience. He has given you a pure heart; one covered in His own righteousness. He has plucked your feet out of the net and your eyes are ever toward Him. He has had mercy upon you. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Throughout His earthly ministry, our dear Lord Jesus was maligned and accused of many things. It was said that He transgressed the Sabbath by plucking grain (Mk 3:1-6); that He blasphemed (Mk 2:7); that He was a deceiver (Mt 27:63); that He claimed to be the king of the Jews (Mk 15:2); that He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Son of Man (Mk 14:61-62); that He misled the Jewish people and forbad payment of taxes to Caesar (Lk 23:2); and that He created a dangerous situation in which the Romans might intervene and abolish Jewish self-governance and even the Temple (Jn 11:48). But no charge was as flagrantly wicked as this: He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.
But no kingdom divided against itself can stand, and a divided household falls. Lincoln borrowed the phrase from our Lord. And what is true of earthly governments is true of spiritual realms. The Prince of Demons has been cast down to earth. He roams to and fro upon the land seeking to devour the children of light. He comes, not as an imitator of God, but as an impostor of Him, disguised as an angel of light.
And unlike our Lord Christ, Satan’s kingdom is only and merely an earthly kingdom. And he does exercise some power in this fallen world; though it is a limited and suppressed power. Notice how the Egyptian magicians could reproduce a number of the plagues by their secret arts. Staff snakes, bloody water, frogs. They could do each of these. And Pharaoh hardened his heart on account of them.
Ironically, though, they could not reproduce the gnats and flies. It is perhaps divine irony because Beelzebub, which is who the crowds accused our Lord of being in league with, means, Lord of the Flies. He is ruler of the dung heap; king of the maggots. And he would not seek to divide his own domain; but rather enlarge it by any means necessary. Satan seeks to mislead you into false belief and despair; to deceive you with empty words, as St Paul writes. He seeks to unseat Christ from His throne, but doesn’t care who or what takes His place, so long as its not the Son of God. Satan is perfectly willing to share the glory with all the false gods out there, all the bad theologies in the world, so long as the couch isn’t occupied with the God-Man.
You see, our Lord describes the human heart as a home, a palace, an abode of a strong man. Satan is the strong man. He guards his palace. He has to guard it because he has stolen it and he knows it doesn’t really belong to him. Along comes the stronger man, the Christ, the finger of God enfleshed, who takes away the armor in which the strong man trusted. The Stronger man then takes the spoils for Himself.
The goods and armor in which Satan trusted is your sin and the accusation of the Law. This is what he has on you. This is what he throws in your face; a guilty conscience and the holy Word. He is a master at wrongly dividing Law and Gospel. He seeks always to use the Law to torment and harangue terrified sinners and to misuse the Gospel to excuse hardened sinners. And he is a false preacher of tolerance. He will tolerate anything, all kinds of vice and misbelief, all sorts of sin and shameful behavior. He will tolerate anything and everything except the proper distinction of Law and Gospel, except the true preaching of the Word and the coming of the kingdom of God.
For it is by these that he is overcome. For Christ, the Word made flesh, has brought the kingdom of God down to earth in Himself. The finger of our Lord Jesus by which He casts out demons, is the very finger of the Almighty and Living God Himself. Only in Christ the finger of God does not come for destruction, as it did upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, it comes in mercy. He comes not to bring plagues, but healing. And His kingdom is not of this world.
He takes away the armor of the strong man; that is, He takes away your sin with which the devil hounds you. And He silences the accusations of the Law in His shed blood. And then He takes you, snatches you from the jaws of the wicked one, and brings you into His own kingdom, that you may serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. As St Paul wrote to the Ephesians: at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And he warns against all sorts of immorality and impurity.
For the finger of Christ has come upon you. In Holy Baptism He drives away demons with the Word and water. He unseats the strong man, and Christ, the stronger man, makes your heart His home. As it is written, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him (Jn 14:23).
Note that: Jesus says, the one who loves Him will keep His Word; even as He responded to the woman in the crowd: Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. But it is not “keep” as in “do.” Rather, it is “keep” as in “guard,” “treasure,” “hold fast to.” And in this, the Mother of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, is an example for us. I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Thy Word (Lk 1:38). And, Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51).
This is why, dear Christians, false doctrine is so demonic and deadly. It comes always under the guise of tolerance and acceptance; Satan’s misuse of Law and Gospel, to draw you away from the steadfast Word of Christ. For He, the Stronger Man comes and drives away the unclean spirit. But if the heart does not become an abode for the Lord, does not hear and hold fast to the blessed truth of His Word, trusting in the shed blood of Christ, but rather those in whom our Lord began His good work, “willfully turn away from the holy commandment, grieve and embitter the Holy Spirit, involve themselves in the world’s filth [as St Paul warns], and redecorate their hearts as homes for the devil, then, in them, the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (FC SD XI 42). For those who harden their hearts to the Lord, in them, the Lord hardens it even more.
Beloved in the Lord, Christ, the Stronger Man, has rescued you from the kingdom and domain of the devil. He has ransomed and redeemed you with His holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. He has adopted you as fellow heirs and brought you into the household of His Father in heaven, who is your Father in heaven.
By His Word Satan has been driven out. He is tempts you to be sure. He will accuse you and malign you. Clinging to the Word of the Lord you will be called al sorts of names: bigot, intolerant, racist. If they have called the Master of the House Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of His household (Mt 10:25).
But Satan is weak. He is mute. He has lost his sting and threat. He has nothing with which to accuse you. You are baptized and forgiven. You have fellowship with the Blessed Holy Trinity. And in Christ, abiding in His Word, you have a good and clean conscience. He has given you a pure heart; one covered in His own righteousness. He has plucked your feet out of the net and your eyes are ever toward Him. He has had mercy upon you. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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