“War Of the Worlds”
Text: 2 Corinthians 3:12—4:1-6
10-27-2024
In the name of Him who is the Light of the Gospel, dear friends in Christ. Whether you were raised Lutheran or not, you probably know that the Reformation movement began when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. That document contained a lengthy series of statements about troubling doctrines that were being taught and practiced in the Christian Church of his day. It was an invitation for a discussion about some very serious issues. Contrary to what you might have been told, Luther didn’t really view the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church as the enemy. Rather, he was disturbed that they were being used as instruments of the real enemy: The devil. By going back to the Bible—the only reliable source for the truth—Luther discovered that Satan had misled the Church and especially the theologians of the Church. The insidious thing is that all these false doctrines crept in slowly so as to not be noticed. Eventually they became etched in canon law, accepted and unquestioned by everyone. Luther loved his Church and hated to see how they had become so blinded by the devil causing the Holy Scriptures to be abused or ignored. It was something he was willing to fight to correct, even if it meant risking his own life. That’s because the eternal destiny of souls was at stake.
If you want proof that Luther viewed the devil and his legions of demons as the real enemy, just look again at his signature hymn, “A Mighty Fortress.” Verse 1 says, “The old evil foe, Now means deadly woe; Deep guile and great might, Are his dread arms in fight; On earth is not his equal.” And even more powerfully, verse 3 says, “Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, We tremble not, we fear no ill, They shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still, Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none, He’s judged; the deed is done; One little world can fell him.”
In other words, Satan and his minions are very much alive and active in our world. And they are at war against God and all who trust in the Lord for their salvation. The devil’s battle plan is to lure away believers from the Christian Church and keep unbelieving souls from ever entering it. The strange thing is that this War of the Worlds is going on and most of Christians are oblivious to it. Luther and the people of his day were more aware of the invisible, spiritual battle that’s raging on and quite frankly, it frightened them. They saw various events and occurrences as evidence of the demons at work. In our modern world, though, we tend to pooh-pooh their fear as silly superstition. And we do so at our own peril. It’s true that Christians shouldn’t live in fear of the devil and his demons. They have been defeated by Christ Jesus on the cross. But we should be aware of his devious and vicious attacks and be on guard against his tactics.
Therein lies the problem. If the devil ever truly revealed himself in all his demonic power it would scare the bejeebies out of you. But you see, he doesn’t want you to be afraid because then you would flee from him. So, instead, he disguises himself and uses subtle ways to wage his war against us. In our text for today, St. Paul tells us that “the god of this world,” that is Satan, can blind one’s mind to the Gospel truth about Jesus. How does he do it? In verse 2, Paul says that it’s done through “underhanded ways” and tampering with God’s Word. I challenge you to read 2 Peter 2 later when you have a chance. In that chapter the apostle makes it clear that the devil does this through false teachers “who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.” In military terms we’d say that Satan doesn’t attack us with a frontal assault, but rather, he deceptively infiltrates our ranks with spies and secret operatives. That is to say, he works within the Church to disarm us by quietly taking away the pure Word of God.
How does he get away with that? I mean, wouldn’t red flags go up for us if someone were trying to distort or do away with portions of God’s saving Gospel? Well, not necessarily and here’s why. The first thing you should know is that the devil is patient. He takes little bites. Slowly and imperceptibly he nibbles away at the truth and replaces it with false doctrine. The errors of the Church that Luther encountered didn’t happen overnight. It took decades and even centuries to evolve. The same is true today. Look at the variety of doctrines that we disagree on in the Christian Church. All the different denominations and church bodies are the result of that. The doctrinal errors that divide us developed incrementally. As Missouri Synod Lutherans we have watched with horror as some of our fellow Christians have been blinded by Satan over time. Like Luther, all we can do is express our alarm and lovingly urge them to return to the untampered Word of God. Yes, like the Reformer, we will be maligned as arrogant troublemakers. But what choice do we have? The eternal destination of souls is at stake.
Make no mistake, Satan hasn’t ended his assault against us even here within our own church. His tactics are the same. He works subtly. And sad to say, he’s quite successful. If you want to read part of his playbook pick up a copy of “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis. It’s a fictional discussion between a senior demon and his nephew who is also a demon. The uncle is giving advice and direction to his young mentor on the best tactics for destroying the faith of a believer. At one point he says, “The safest road to hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” He also advises, “A moderated religion is as good as no religion at all—and more amusing.” In other words, Satan doesn’t want you to give up on the church and leave it. No, he gains more ground by having you stay in the church as long as you can be lulled into an empty ritual. You see, the really deceptive aspect of this is that it looks and sounds so Christian and pious. That way you feel safe and secure even though your faith is shriveling away.
How does he accomplish that? Again, C.S. Lewis nails it. He describes how boredom works better for the devil than danger. Dangerous times drive people to their church. Just look at what happened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. People flocked to churches in droves. But do you remember how quickly they got bored and headed back to their old way of life? They lost their sense of urgency for seeking God. And oh, how true that is even in our own faith lives. When we get bored with worship, then it’s no longer a priority. When we get bored with Holy Communion, it becomes just an added extra to a church service that we think is already too long. The Sacrament becomes an inconvenience. When we get bored with confessing our sins we stop humbly bowing before God with repentant hearts, begging for His forgiveness. When we get bored with God’s Word, we forget about setting aside time each day to read and study it. When we get bored with prayer, we neglect it in our daily lives. In fact, when we get bored with our faith itself, we set aside all these activities that strengthen it and keep it alive. Through boredom, we’re lulled to sleep. Is it any wonder that when God’s Word is being tampered with by the devil, many folks don’t even notice it? Or worse yet, that erosion of God’s truth is often embraced as a way to be less offensive to unbelievers.
Obviously, the solution to the problem is for us to wake up and recognize what the devil is up to. That’s what the Lord accomplished through the bold proclamation of Martin Luther. And that’s what the Holy Spirit continues to do through the preaching and teaching of God’s pure Word. It awakens us to the spiritual war that’s going on. From that battle position we can confidently say along with St. Paul, “By the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” In other words, we’re not ashamed of the pure truth of the Gospel we preach. It’s our only weapon against the devious tactics of the devil.
As the battle rages on, be aware that the devil will tempt you with seemingly little alterations more often than big, bold heresies. So dig into the Scriptures and it will remove the veil which Satan uses to slowly blind people to the truth about their sins and turn them away from the truth of the Gospel. Remember, there is a spiritual war going on. Be alert to the devil’s relentless attacks. Remember what verse 2 of our sermon hymn says, “With might of ours can naught be done, Soon were our loss effected.” On our own, we’re sitting ducks and easy targets for Satan. But don’t be afraid, because as Luther goes on to say, “But for us fights the valiant One, Whom God himself elected. Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is, Of sabaoth Lord, And there’s none other God; He holds the field forever.” So, rejoice in believing that God is your “Mighty fortress,” your “trusty shield and weapon.” Since Jesus has fights for us, we can boldly sing, “Our victory has been won!” Our salvation is secure in Him. The Kingdom of Heaven is ours because Christ defeated sin, death, and devil by His sacrificial death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. Praise God for our victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!