Soldiers in Christ’s Kingdom

Oculi Sermon (Lent 3)| Luke 11:14-28| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| March 23, 2025

“But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you,” says Jesus. The finger of God is the Holy Spirit. When a work is done by the finger of God it means that the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Holy Trinity has done it. And when the Holy Spirit casts out demons, that means that God’s Kingdom has arrived. Christ casts out demons in your life. When you were Baptized, you received the Holy Spirit, who washed you in the washing of regeneration and cast Satan out from you. And when you hear the preaching of the Gospel, through which the Holy Spirit works to create faith, there too Satan is cast out. The Holy Spirit works through Baptism and the proclamation of the Gospel to join you to Christ’s victory over Satan and sin when He died on the cross for all sins. St. Paul tells us that those who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death and resurrection (Romans 6). And the proclamation of the Gospel is the message of how Christ, the stronger man overpowered Satan the strong man by taking away all our sins.

And so, since you have been baptized into Christ and you have believed the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, the Finger of God has cast out demons before you, and therefore, the Kingdom of God has come upon you. This is what St. Paul means when he says, “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14) So, what does it mean for you that God has delivered you out of the darkness of Satan’s kingdom and transferred you to Christ’s kingdom of light? It means that you should walk in the light. St. Paul again writes in Ephesians 5, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are the light of the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”

Jesus says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” He then explains that when an unclean spirit is cast out of a person, but returns to find the place empty, it returns with seven more spirits more evil than itself, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. And so, we learn that there is no neutral ground in this spiritual battle between Christ’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. When Christ casts out demons before you by the finger of God, He places you into the safety of His Kingdom. If you have been placed in God’s kingdom, how then ought you to live? Should you live as a citizen of God’s kingdom or as a citizen of Satan’s kingdom? Obviously, you ought to walk according to Christ and follow the Holy Spirit.

St. Peter warns about those who have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and placed in the kingdom of light, yet go back to living in darkness. He writes, “For, if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” (2 Peter 2:20) Yes, instead of being tormented by one unclean spirit, they are tormented by seven more eviler spirits!

If God has cast Satan out from you and delivered you from his kingdom of darkness and placed you into Christ’s kingdom of light, then you must walk in the light. Scripture repeatedly warns that those who do works of darkness will not inherit the kingdom of God. By continuing in these works, they are leaving Christ’s kingdom of light and crossing the border into Satan’s kingdom of darkness. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” (vss. 9-11) Paul makes clear that we must no longer live as we did before we were washed clean by the Holy Spirit, or we will not inherit God’s kingdom.

Again, in Galatians 5, St. Paul writes, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (vss. 18-21) No, if Christ’s Spirit has taken you out of Satan’s kingdom, then you must no longer do these works! Again, we heard St. Paul write in Ephesians 5, “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.” (vss. 5-6)

Now there are many works of darkness, but St. Paul repeats three evil works in our Epistle lesson: sexual immorality, impurity, that is, uncleanness, and covetousness. Sexual immorality is fornication, that is, sex outside of marriage. The word in Greek is προρνεία (porneia), where we get the word pornography. Impurity or uncleanness refers to those works of the flesh which separate you from God. Jesus calls the demon an unclean spirit. In the Old Testament uncleanness referred to being ceremonially unclean, when you were not permitted to touch holy things or participate in the worship of the congregation. In the New Testament, unclean things refer to the sins of the flesh, often paired with sexual immorality and sensuality, that is, those fleshly desires, which war against the Spirit of God. Covetousness, St. Paul calls idolatry, because whatever you trust in most is your god. When people are greedy for money, property, prestige, and an easy life, they worship false gods.

These three works: sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness are the works of demons. That does not mean that if you engage in these works that it is not your fault and you can say, “The devil made me do it.” No, rather, what I am saying is that if you have sex outside of marriage, or view pornography, or engage in other unclean behavior like drunkenness and drug use, theft, and sexual perversion, or if you let greed consume you, you are engaging with demons. And you are opening yourself up for demonic oppression. Demons are real. This means that you are dealing with creatures, which are more powerful than you. To engage with demons is to play with fire, to work in Satan’s kingdom, and to become a slave of darkness. Those who continue to do these evil deeds will lead themselves out of the kingdom of Christ into Satan’s dominion of darkness, to become slaves of the evil one again.

Jesus warns those who have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and placed into His kingdom of light that if they do not walk in the light, they will fall away and become even more enslaved in the kingdom of darkness. And for this solemn teaching, a pious woman in the crowd shouted, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed.” To which Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” Certainly, the Virgin Mary is blessed, but Jesus says that His mother and brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and do it (Luke 8:21). So, Mary is blessed because she treasured up God’s Word and pondered it in her heart, even more than she is blessed for being the mother of God! For it is only through faith that we receive blessing and honor from God.

It is by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit cast Satan out from you and transferred you from the dominion of darkness into Christ’s kingdom of light. And so, it is by the Word of God that you remain in the kingdom of light. But what does it mean to keep the Word of God? It means to use it! To read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it. To trust in it. To pray according to it. To live according to it, applying it to your life according to your station, as a Christian, husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, worker. As citizens of God’s Kingdom of Light, we are armed soldiers equipped by God to fight against the forces of Satan. St. Paul writes in Ephesians 6, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” (vss. 10-18)

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit, by which you fight back the demonic hordes, which seek to drag you back into the kingdom of darkness with the lies that sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness will satisfy you. By living according to the Word of God, you can keep yourself busy, so that you do not give yourself the opportunity to gratify the desires of the flesh, as St. Peter exhorts us, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing (that is, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love), they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:7-8) Yet, while we sojourn in this life, we will not keep ourselves entirely without sin. Satan will catch you without your armor. So, you must remember that the Word of God which casts Satan out from you and secures you in Christ’s kingdom is not the Law, which depends on your works, but the Gospel, which is the Work of God. This is why St. John writes in Revelation 12 of the saints, who have conquered Satan, “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.” (vs. 11)

The Word of God by which the Holy Spirit casts Satan from you and transfers you to Christ’s kingdom is the Word that declares Christ’s victory over sin, death, and hell. Satan binds us in his kingdom by our sins. Christ’s blood washes our sins away, melting away Satan’s bonds. And so, as we war against the kingdom of Satan, we must employ the weapon of the Stronger Man, which is the very Gospel of Christ by which the Holy Spirit works. Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. But Christ Jesus sets us free from our sins by forgiving us. Yet, He not only sets us free from the consequences of our sin, but from our sins themselves. So, we must continue to flee to Him for forgiveness and strength to resist sin, until we are finally set free from the clutches of our sins forever. Amen.