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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from St. John’s Revelation. You may be seated. What an amazing scene. And only two men in all the world were given such details of that scene firsthand. Amen. The prophet Daniel, which you heard read, and the apostle John, which you also heard read. These individuals were privileged to see this extraordinary battle for one reason: that they might proclaim it to you for your benefit, for your comfort, and for your hope.
Now what exactly did these two men witness of which we just heard? Well, what they witnessed was a most colossal, convincing conflict when Satan and all of his followers were driven from heaven to the earth. As they were driven, in the reading we see and hear the bitter and caustic mindset of the dragon, clearly exposed. This concept of the dragon and his caustic and bitter mindset that was so clearly exposed is mirrored elsewhere in Scripture. It’s spoken about when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after having fasted 40 days and 40 nights, where Satan comes to him doing what with Scripture? Twisting it, putting a little truth with falsehood, and presenting it for the consumption of our dear Lord.
James, the great bishop of Jerusalem who wrote his epistle in our scriptures, also was given an equal statement that mirrors that same caustic and bitter mindset. James called him a lion, roaring and seeking someone to devour. And that someone can only be you and me. But in the epistle reading that we read, of which the sermon is based, we hear John describe him in different terms when he describes him as the accuser. The one who accuses you day and night. And accuses you with some truth. And accuses you with some falsehood. Mixing these two things together in a very lofty potion system – a sermon of poison for you to drink.
This mixture of truth about you and falsehood about you and God is dangerous. His intent, the accuser, the great serpent, the dragon, the evil one, the beast, whatever you wish to call him and all the names that Scripture has called him, comes not to destroy your body. Your and my body is being destroyed each day by what? Sin. Sin. Hair falls out, skin dies, our body is being destroyed daily. And those of you who have been around for a while can testify to how our bodies are being destroyed daily by sin.
But it is your soul that the evil one wishes to attack. Because it’s there that he wishes to bring to your memory, in living technicolor, all of your hidden foibles. The accuser wishes to bring to your memory all of your hidden indiscretions. The accuser desires to bring to your recollection all the times when you misused God’s grace. And the accuser loves and cherishes to bring to your recollection your estimation of yourself as utterly wretched in the sight of a holy God. Wanting you to listen to your own knowledge and reason. Wanting you to hearken to your own emotions and not listen to Jesus’ declaration of you, where he calls you his righteous child because you believe in his blood shed for you.
Now the father of lies always addresses your soul with fleshly fears. Your soul can resist them. But you know what you struggle with and I struggle with? It’s not our soul. It’s with our flesh. That’s where our fears reside, do they not? That’s where our indiscretions rage wildly. Our foibles and our wretchedness is in our flesh. And he knows exactly where to go. Because his workshop is in your emotions and in your intellect.
His name was Andy. A brilliant theologian and pastor. He’s now in glory and has been for several years. He translated Luther’s small catechism from English into the Malay language, Malay being the language most prominent on all the islands of Malaysia. And though he was brilliant intellectually, he struggled with Satan. He would show up at his pastor’s house at all different times, knocking on the door and asking his pastor again, “Tell me that I’m all right. Tell me that Jesus died for me. Tell me because I’m fearful, I’m questioning, I’m wondering.” Brothers and sisters, that’s Satan. And he loves to play. Horrible and sick play is his desire, but he loves to play.
Now that’s a dramatic example. A less dramatic example is a man named David. He served our nation faithfully in the Vietnam War. He was there before we were actually supposed to be there and had to kill people and defend himself. He lived with those horrors of what he had seen by his own hand. He would ask, “I was only doing what I was supposed to do. I was only doing something to protect my buddy. Why is it that I’m still struggling with this?” And though you and I can try to patently explain it to him that it was all done in the name of our nation, it was all done in defense of these people, we can explain it to Andy. “Don’t you know, Andy, you have read and researched the Scriptures more than any of us? Why are you struggling with this?”
And yet I think every one of you knows what it’s like to struggle with Satan, just like I know what it’s like to struggle with Satan. No matter of intellect or emotion will change Satan. He is not fearful of your intellect, and your emotions mean nothing to him.
St. Michael and his angels received their marching orders from their Lord Jesus. St. Michael and his angels did not defeat the dragon with supernatural fireballs of power. That would have made for a great Hollywood movie, but he didn’t. St. Michael and all angels did not defeat the ancient serpent with holy weapons of mass destruction. In fact, it’s in the epistle of St. Jude where Michael trumps the ancient serpent with this one short four-word phrase: “The Lord rebuke you.” Read it. It’s there.
Michael and the angels did not do this with anything other than the Lord’s word. Following the marching orders of your and my Lord Jesus, as he showed us clearly in his wilderness temptation and on the cross, he did not ever deal with Satan in any other manner or form than with God’s words. Period. Because it was Jesus who said, “I will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” It was Jesus who fulfilled God’s word of the Old Testament because he was the word made flesh to defeat Satan, not with any holy fireballs or weapons of mass destruction, but with his holy word.
It is John in his epistle that we had read that said this: “They… And you can put the pronoun ‘you’ in there. You have conquered him, that is Satan, by the blood of the Lamb.” You have conquered him, that is the ancient serpent or the beast, by the word of your testimony, which is nothing more than confessing what God has done for you, proclaiming what Jesus has accomplished in you and for you. That blood of the Lamb is not some magical incantation. It is the very objective shedding of His blood. The holy one for all of the unholy. The righteous one for all of the unrighteous. The very faithful one for all of the faithlessness of you and of me. That’s what that blood paid for. Precious indeed.
And not only did that blood pay for that and accomplish that, but John made sure we knew in his Gospel that when Jesus’ side was pierced with the Roman soldier’s spear, out of that side flowed blood and water. You saw the water being used on Xavier, resurrecting him and making him living and not dying, making him a believer and not an unbeliever, making him God’s and not Satan’s. And you heard of the blood from this text, the very blood that we drink and eat with the flesh that is God’s forgiveness for you. It is not an incantation. They are gifts. And gifts are meant to be received and cherished and treasured as such, for they come from the loving Father.
This word of their testimony is nothing more than your statement of faith. As we did when we confessed the creed. “Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?” “Yes, I believe.” “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son?” “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?” “Yes, I believe.” It is that word as Satan was thwarted by Michael in Jude’s epistle: “The Lord rebuke you.” And so the evil one was rebuked.
Our earthly fight with Satan is not with your power. Let it lay dead. Your earthly battle with Satan is not about your might. Set it aside. You’re impotent. Your earthly battle is not about your strength or your numbers. It is about Jesus and his forgiveness. And that’s it. That’s what defeated Satan: Jesus and his forgiveness.
And you know what? Such a weapon is something that babies can wield. And they wield it effectively because they battle not with their intellect, but with their faith. What do you and I struggle with as we grow older? Is it our faith or our intellect? It is our intellect. That’s why Jesus said in the Gospel reading that we read from the center of the congregation, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you in heaven, their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” And we as adults, what do we say? “Lord, I believe. Help me with my unbelief.”
In the name of Jesus, Amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
