The Kingdom Satan Founded Shall Now Be Overthrown

Oculi (Lent 3)| Luke 11:14-29| Pastor James Preus| Trinity Lutheran Church| March 8, 2026

The kingdom Satan founded

Shall now be overthrown,

For Christ its fall hath sounded,

And through His pow’r alone

Shall Satan meet his doom,

And be for aye confounded;

He from the souls he wounded

Shall flee in fear and gloom. (The Kingdom Satan Founded, Thomas Kingo, ELH 259:1)

Our nation is at war with Iran. Those with loved ones deployed overseas wait anxiously for hostilities to end. And we pray for a swift resolution to the conflict and peace in the Middle East. Yet, for most of us, this war will be watched from afar on the TV or internet. We aren’t immediately affected by it. Yet there is a war waging from which we cannot escape. The enemy is much more powerful than Iran or Israel or even the United States military. And if we lose this war, we will be damned to hell for the rest of eternity. St. Paul writes of it in Ephesians 6, “For we do not wrestle with 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.” (vs. 12)

Our chief enemy is Satan. Satan is the strong man, who Jesus says is fully armed guarding his own palace so that his goods are safe. His goods are the souls of mankind. St. Paul writes of Satan’s control 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. 1-3) When Satan led our first parents into sin, he took captive the entire human race. We are born sinful, under the powers of Satan. Much worse than the man who was possessed by a demon, which made him blind, deaf, and mute, Satan binds our eyes, ears, and mouth, so that we do not hear or perceive the Gospel and cannot praise God’s name. As our hymn states:

O Jesus! My distresses

To Thee are known full well,

Thou seest how Satan presses

My soul’s weak citadel;

His aim is to control

My members and my senses,

With sin and with offenses

He steals into my soul.

Anon my tongue he bindeth

That God it shall not praise;

Anon my eyes he blindeth

To hide the light of grace;

Now he my ears doth close

To hinder me from hearing

The Gospel’s sound so cheering

And soothing in my woes.

The name Satan comes from the Hebrew for Adversary. Satan is such a great enemy, that every petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a direct prayer against Satan’s plans. He was a mighty angel, who rebelled against God and was cast down from heaven. Revelation 12 records that he swept a third of the stars from heaven, leading us to surmise that about a third of God’s angels rebelled with Satan. He is also called the devil, meaning accuser or slanderer. After he leads us into sin, he then accuses us of the sin, he would even bring his accusations before God’s throne in heaven. It is against him we pray when we say, “Deliver us from evil.”

Christ Jesus is the stronger man. He attacks Satan and overcomes him, taking his armor in which he trusted away and divides the spoil. Christ did this by taking on our human flesh and living under the Law in our stead. Satan could not lead Christ to sin against the Law. Yet God put the sins of the whole world upon Jesus and had Him suffer the punishment for them. This stripped Satan of his weapons, because it was our sin that he used to rob us from God. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, He plunder’s the prince of hell’s palace. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “The Kingdom of God is near.” (Mark 1:15)

Yet we need this Kingdom of God to come to us. Because Satan still holds on to whatever plunder he can grasp. He still takes possession of our hearts until God’s Kingdom comes to root him out. But how does God’s kingdom come to us? “God’s kingdom comes when God gives us His Holy Spirit, so that be His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.” Jesus says, “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” The finger of God is the Holy Spirit. We know this because when St. Matthew records this same event in chapter 12, he records Jesus saying, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (vs. 28) Jesus then tells them, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (vss. 31-32)

Jesus gives this warning, because only the Holy Spirit brings us into God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit does this by delivering to us Christ’s victory over Satan. Jesus has done everything necessary to defeat Satan. He fulfilled God’s Law for us. He died for our sins. He has removed Satan’s power to accuse us. We receive Jesus’ victory over Satan through faith. Through faith in Jesus, we have forgiveness of every sin. Yet how does our faith receive Christ’s victory and forgiveness? The Holy Spirit delivers Christ’s victory and forgiveness to us through the Word of God. In Baptism, which is not just plain water, but water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word, the Holy Spirit rescues us from Satan’s clutches, delivering to us the forgiveness of sins. Through the preaching of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit delivers to us Christ’s victory over Satan, by assuring us that every victory Satan has gotten over you, Jesus washes away in His own blood. But if we blaspheme the Holy Spirit, we receive none of Christ’s victory.

When we hear the Gospel and believe it, the Holy Spirit casts demons out of our heart and drives Satan far from us. Yet Jesus gives us this stark warning. “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

When you were baptized, Satan was driven from you. Whenever your heart holds fast to the Gospel, Satan and his demonic hordes are cast out of your heart. This is why we go to church every Sunday. Yet, if Satan is driven away, but your heart is left empty, he will come back and make an even firmer stand. Therefore, you must never be neutral but always be an adversary to Satan by holding fast to God’s Word and promise. Yet we are never simply an empty room. We are never neutral. We have a problem. We have a traitor in our midst.

In Bram Stoker’s horror novel, Dracula, the titular character is a vampire, a demonic creature who represents Satan. In the novel, the vampire cannot enter a home unless he is first invited in. So, he stands outside a window or door and tries to entice his victim to let him in. Though, this is just a novel, it expresses well how Satan works. St. James writes, “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” (James 1:14) The traitor in our midst is our own sinful nature! St. Paul laments, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. … For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:15, 19) And he warns us in Galatians 5, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” (vss. 16-17)

When you neglect God’s Word, you do not simply sweep your heart empty in preparation for Satan to return, but your sinful flesh beckons him to come in. Your flesh betrays you, because it enjoys sin. This is why we sing,

God, let not love of sinning

They fear drive from my breast,

Lest Satan, triumph winning,

Be of my heart possessed;

O let Thy chast’ning rod

Each day give me direction,

To seek Thy sure protection

And tell Thy grace abroad.

And so, we must never let down our guard against Satan. This is why Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” By keep, he means guard it. He uses the same word as He used for the strong man Satan guarding his palace. As Satan would guard us with his lies, temptations, and slander, so you must guard God’s Word to drive out Satan. You must use God’s Law to reveal God’s will for you, so that you avoid wicked sins that would drive you to despair. Look at Christ’s passion with sobering horror over the cost of your sins. Listen to Paul’s warning, “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 5:5-6) Let such harsh words curb your sinful flesh from inviting Satan in. Yet the threats of the Law will not give you the strength to resist Satan nor drive him from your heart once he has entered. The Law cannot undo the damage Satan has already done. Only the Holy Spirit can do that through the Gospel (Galatians 2:2-6).

The Holy Spirit drives Satan from our hearts by declaring Jesus’ victory over Satan. The Holy Spirit undoes Satan’s damage through the healing blood of Christ.  Jesus’ victory must be proclaimed to us again and again, because Satan continues to assault us, and he continues to make advances. We still sin! And so, we constantly need the medicine for sin. We constantly need the Holy Spirit to bandage us up again, to drive Satan away. The only way the Holy Spirit comes to us is through the Gospel, that Word of God which proclaims Christ’s victory over Satan by forgiving our sins. The Holy Spirit clothes us in Christ’s righteousness and renews our spirits to follow Him and to suppress our sinful flesh.

This is why we come to church each week. And this is why we should daily do devotions, reading and meditating on Holy Scripture and praying to God according to His promises in Christ. This is our defense against Satan, who waits for a moment of weakness. With God’s Word in our eyes, ears, and mouth, Satan cannot bind them to His control. Rather, God’s kingdom comes to us.

My heart must Thou have solely,

My Savior and my God!

Come, Jesus, take it wholly,

And make it Thine abode!

Mold it to Thy control,

That I, Thy Word receiving,

May find, in Thee believing,

Salvation for my soul. Amen.