Spiritual warfare
Sermon for St Michael & All Angels
Bible reading: Revelation 12:10,11
No talk of the footy finals today. Still a raw nerve for some. Instead I’ll pick another competitive sport by way of an analogy for spiritual warfare.
In the art of grappling, or freestyle wrestling as its sometimes known, each competitor, even the best, has his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. While one competitor may not be physically as strong as the other, she can make up for it by using good technique or speed, or flexibility. One person may not have the benefit of size, but he can make up for it if his anaerobic fitness is high. He has more stamina. And each competitor has their favourite moves.
And when you fight with the same people every week, after a while you get to know their strengths and weaknesses. Its wise to work on your weaknesses because you can bet your bottom dollar that your opponent will try to exploit them. And you will exploit theirs too. One of the great challenges at the gym where I used to train was when someone new would come along. You’d have to learn from scratch how they fight, how they think, their strengths and weaknesses.
Fellow Christians, each one of you is at war. It’s far more serious than the controlled environment of the local gym. You have sided with Christ, and that immediately makes you an enemy of the devil. You can be sure that he wants to take you out, and he is far smarter and stronger than you probably realise.
Let me hasten to add some assurance, Don’t panic!
You are, after all, on the side of God the Almighty. But you will face attack, and so it helps to know your enemy.
Today’s reading from Revelation reveals the basic moves Satan uses to attack God’s people. Here, St John shares with Christians the secrets of spiritual warfare.
‘Now hang on, let’s not get too spooky’
, I hear you say. ‘Isn’t this battle in the heavenly realm? Isn’t it between the enigmatic angel Michael and his opponent Satan?’
Too true, but what happens in heavenly realm affects this world. Woe to you O earth and sea, for the devil has come to you in great wrath.
Satan is like a cut snake or a hungry lion seeking someone to devour. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. And while its true that too much fascination with spiritual warfare is like playing with fire, it would naive of us to think the heavenly battle has no implications for us in every day life.
Firstly we hear that the devil’s basic strategy is deception. He is the deceiver par excellence. He uses decoys and camouflage and trickery in an effort to get people simply to disobey God’s word. He used this tactic back in Eden when he questioned God’s command and lied to Eve – You will not die.
Satan lies. He is the father of lies, Jesus says. If Jesus is all truth, Satan is all false. There is not truth in him. He works 24/7 in an effort to deceive people, and lead them to believe his lies. The result? People become deceived. They lose sight of God’s clear will for them. They end up hating what is good, and loving what is evil. And so, to find a current example, you have members of society aggressively pushing for legal Euthanasia – a term, incidentally, meaning good or kind death. Now there’s a deceptive term. Similarly anti-abortion groups have been made to feel guilty for defending the helpless unborn. In short, Satan would have us break God’s commandments.
But before we get too smug, we need to know that Satan works even harder inside the church. He’d much rather deceive God’s holy ones into sin – especially against each other. In the church this causes injury. What then happens? That person feels justified in seeking revenge. Tit for tat. An eye for an eye. And war begins.
But the old archenemy is just as happy to deceive people and lead them into a life of complacency. He’s just as keen to see your faith in Christ slowly ebb away as your worship life diminishes. ‘Forget the Sabbath Day…forget worshipping the one true God.’
When Christians behave like this, Satan’s work is being done. He can sit back and let us self-destruct. Sin begets sin, and becomes self-perpetuating. Capitulation to the spirit of the age deceives God’s people. Indifference to God’s word is Satan’s way of anaesthetising the soul so that the person no longer sees just how far adrift they really are.
But Satan needs a back-up plan. Because it just so happens that people read and hear God’s word. And it just so happens that the Holy Spirit wakes them up, working through that word to convict them of sin – to show them what is right and wrong.
So you can see how important it is to feed on God’s word, to have our eyes opened by the law to recognise our sin for what it is – blatant disobedience against God’s will. Satan hates our prayer of confession where we say, I have sinned against you God.
‘Drat!’
Says Satan. ‘They’ve seen through my disguise, and the now know that what they have been doing is wrong. And they’re turning back to God.’
But his plan B is even sneakier. ‘Since they’re reading God’s Word,’
says Satan, ‘I’ll use that word to crush them. I’ll make them feel guilty to the point where they will lose hope and faith.’
Here is Satan’s second and most effective strategy. He is also the accuser. Day and night he accuses God’s people. ‘You have failed God.’
He says. ‘How could God love you after all you have done?’
If you haven’t read The Hammer of God, do so. There’s a classic case in the opening chapter of a man tormented by his own sins. Satan toys with the man’s conscience like a cat playing with a mouse – and all this in the man’s last hours of life.
The law cannot retrieve people from this state of guilt and condemnation. The more they hear it, the more their conscience accuses them. Satan has them pinned – and ironically, he uses God’s own word against them. Whatever shall they do?
There is a way out of this hold. Not by human might. Not by making up for our faults and becoming do-gooders. Not by a hive of pious activity in the hope that God will be distracted and forget our sins. But by the blood of the Lamb Jesus, and by believing in him and confessing him. For They have conquered [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.
Friends, are you trapped in sin? Are you in a lose/lose situation? Has Satan got you in a chokehold because of your own stupidity, because you followed some deception? Confess Christ and live. In his book Grace upon Grace, Dr John Kleinig begins a section entitled ‘The Hidden Battle’ with these words of Luther: The only way to drive away the devil is by believing in Christ and saying, I am baptised. I am a Christian!
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
How do you resist? Faith in Jesus Christ and confession of that faith. You will break his hold and shatter it instantly. He will recoil in pain and think twice about messing with you again. One little word shall fell him
, says Luther in his famous hymn.
We all need to remember that our dear Lord has already won the battle against our enemy – not just in the heavenly realm, but here on earth too. That victory is ours to claim. Satan can’t wrestle it from you except by deception and false accusation. Jesus fought and died on the cross to set you free. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed
said Jesus.
His innocent blood has paid the price for your soul. Baptism is the guarantee in case you ever doubt it. And doubt it you will. You won’t always feel holy. You’re life will not always display evidence of a winner. But it is God’s gift to you. And his word is trustworthy and sure – Rejoice!
says our Lord, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Now I could have told stories today from my childhood in Africa – stories of voodoo dolls, of cursed maize fields, of evil spirits and haunted alleyways. But that would be sensationalism. True and fascinating though these things are, it is better that we, like the 70 in the Gospel reading, return to Christ. He alone is our salvation. It is better that we rejoice in the simple and yet amazing fact that our names are written in heaven, that Christ is our champion, and that he has won the eternal victory for us. Amen.