Proper 5 (June 12, 2024)

A TOP-DOWN FAITH

“Satan Is Strong, but Jesus Is Stronger”

Genesis 3:8–15 NASB95

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Revelation 20:1–6 NASB95

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Mark 3:20–35 NASB95

20 And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. 21 When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! 27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 28 “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” 31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

GOAL: TO ASSURE STRUGGLING PEOPLE THAT JESUS HAS BOUND SATAN AND NOW FREES US FROM ALL SATAN’S ACCUSATIONS.

About 12 years ago my phone rang at 2:00 am. I answered it and on the other end was Mike. He was in a bad way, drunk out of his mind, and sobbing like a baby. “Pastor, may I come and see you? I need to talk.”

Mike arrived at the office at 9:00 am sharp. There was a large door that led from the receptionist area into the sanctuary. We walked up the steps into the Chancel area to a couple chairs waiting for us. It was dark in there with the only light coming through the stained glass windows. “Pastor, I am too ashamed of what I have to say.”

There in the darkness of the Chancel, at the foot of the altar, with the only light coming from the dim glow of those beautiful window depicting Christ Jesus as the Good Shepherd, he told me how alcohol and sometimes drugs has taken ahold of his life, destroyed his relationships with others, and now threatens his relationship with his daughter. He told me other things too of how he has sinned in the most grievous way. “Pastor, can God ever forgive my sin?”

Can God forgive you? What makes this question extra difficult is the presence of an adversary. Satan is constantly accusing us of our sin, past and present, to keep us from believing that God can forgive us. He wants to imprison us in our sin.

Although Satan is strong, Jesus Christ has conquered Satan. He has bound the strong man.

Two results of his victory open wide the prison gate.

(1). You are free because Christ’s Victory over Satan means

You Are Forgiven

Our text shows that Jesus was locked in a struggle against the devil.

Despite (or perhaps because of) Jesus’ popularity, his own family thought he was out of his mind (Mark 3:20–21).

In those days, to be separated from one’s senses was to be associated with being possessed by a demon, one of Satan’s angels.

Jesus’ own family didn’t quite understand yet what He was about, and maybe even thought he was losing a battle with Satan!

Meanwhile, his enemies—the scribes, the teachers of the law—claimed he was in league with the devil (Mark 3:22).

They’d seen Jesus thwart Satan by casting out many demons, but they still charge him with serving the devil because they weren’t willing to believe he was their Savior.

Quite an absurd charge, really (Mark 3:23–26)!

But Jesus’ battle with Satan would be decided a way no one foresaw: bearing all sin on the cross.

God condemned Christ Jesus for your sin.

Jesus suffered eternal judgment for you.

When he cried, “It is finished,” your sin was gone.

The resurrection proves Christ took away your sin and set you right with God (Rom 4:25).

Christ now declares, “God forgives all sin.”

Christ’s promise defeats Satan.

His victory was not a physical contest of biceps and triceps or a contest of wit.

Jesus bound Satan by taking your sin away.

Satan can no longer accuse you (Mark 3:27–28).

For everyone who believes and is baptized, Jesus said, shall be saved (Mark 16:16). This means Satan’s power over you has been broken.

You are set free from his prison, no longer in bondage.

You are free because Christ’s Victory over Satan means

You Belong.

If Satan cannot shake your trust in God’s forgiveness, he’ll try to make you feel like an outsider.

He will say, “You don’t fit with these people. What you did was so much worse. If they knew who you really are, they would march you to the church door and tell you to leave and not come back.”

We are susceptible to these accusations.

Our sinful nature tries to compare ourselves with others.

We fail to see that in comparing we are trying to justify ourselves.

But, Christ silences Satan with this promise to us: “You belong to my family” (Mark 3:31–35).

In this morning’s text, Jesus looked at those around him and said, “The one who does the will of my Father is my family.”

We at first feel as if this presents a condition we cannot meet.

We know that we don’t do all of God’s will.

But God’s will is first and foremost is that we repent and believe the Gospel.

When we believe in the forgiveness of sins, we are doing the will of the Father.

When we believe in the forgiveness of sins, we belong to Christ’s family.

So what could be said to this man—Mike—whose sin was so dark that he had 2:00 am. More important, what does Jesus Christ say? He says, “God forgives all sin. Your sin is forgiven.”

After we looked at the Scriptures together and prayed, Mike walked out a free man, forgiven and belonging. Christ’s victory over Satan had set him free from sin’s prison. Jesus does the same for you.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.