You’ve been robbed! The devil has moved in and taken
over. He’s made a mess of your clean house and thrown his junk all over
the place. He’s plundered your fine things and valuables, and he’s left
you a miserable wreck. But it’s not all his fault. You are not the
helpless victim you claim to be. Like Adam and Eve, you may try to blame
either God or the devil for your situation, but you let the devil in. You
were enticed by what he had to offer. And at first you enjoyed his
company. You liked playing with the devil’s stuff, and you didn’t want
him to leave. But now you realize just what kind of a house guest he is
and how dirty your place has become because of him. But he doesn’t just
want to stay for a while; he wants to stay for good. Now there’s no way
to get rid of him, no matter what you try, and you’re not strong enough to
throw him out.
In Jesus’ day there were instances in which demons actually
took over people’s bodies. It was called demon possession. In one
case there was a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. But one
doesn’t have to be demon-possessed to belong to the devil. The Scriptures
talk about us as belonging to the kingdom of darkness in our unregenerate
state. We come into this world possessed by the devil. In fact,
Baptism is seen to this day as a little exorcism, in which the devil is driven
from us and we are transferred from his kingdom into Christ’s kingdom.
According to Martin Luther’s baptismal booklet the baptizer is to speak
these words over the one to be baptized: ”Depart, you unclean spirit, and
make room for the Holy Spirit.” And one of the questions asked at Baptism
today is, “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?”
The devil is driven out at our Baptism and we are no longer possessed by
him, but he doesn’t given up trying to sneak his way back into his old home.
One doesn’t have to be possessed by the devil to be oppressed by him.
And we often take back our renunciation of him. Like the wicked
witch in “Snow White” who comes to the door of the house as a poor peasant
woman peddling her products, the devil dangles beautiful looking fruit before
our eyes that entices us to invite him in. And we let him in only to find
out that the fruit he offers is poisoned. But then it’s too late.
We’ve already eaten of it, and the devil overpowers us, plunders our
house, and moves in with his stuff.
What is some of this stuff that belongs to the devil?
The Apostle Paul lists a number of things in his letters. In his
first letter to the Corinthians he mentions sexual immorality, idolatry,
adultery, homosexuality, thievery, greed, drunkenness, reviling, and swindling.
In Romans he mentions envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness,
gossip, slander, hatred of God, insolence, haughtiness, boastfulness, invention
of evil, disobedience to parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness,
and ruthlessness. These words describe every one of us. When we
allow the devil to move in by giving in to his temptations, this is the stuff
he brings with him, stuff that was washed away at our Baptism, but now we’ve
let it back in, and we can neither bind the devil and throw him out nor clean
house and get rid of the stuff he’s left. We are not strong enough to
stand against this strong man ourselves. It’s like our situation in
The only one who can enter a strong man’s house and plunder
his goods is one who is stronger than the strong man, one who can overpower and
bind the strong man and then rob him of his possessions. Jesus is that
One; He is the stronger man. He alone is able to cast out the devil and
clean up the mess he’s left. With Jesus, the binder becomes the one who
is bound, and the robber becomes the one who is robbed. Jesus binds and
robs the one who binds and robs us. And how does Jesus do this? By
allowing the devil to bind and rob Him in our place. By way of His
suffering, crucifixion, and death Jesus allowed the devil to bind, overpower,
and rob Him of His life. Having done this, the devil thought that he had
proven himself to be the stronger man. But with His resurrection from the
dead, Jesus proved Himself to be the stronger man. He disarmed the devil
and put him to open shame by triumphing over him through the cross, and He
broke the devil’s bonds with which he bound Jesus, so that Jesus might break
those bonds that bind you.
No longer can the devil have you. You have be claimed
by Christ through Holy Baptism. You have been given His Spirit.
Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. There is no room for
the devil and his stuff in your house. He must go. He was been
bound and robbed of his stuff at your Baptism, and he is still bound and robbed
today by the Gospel. It is the Gospel about Jesus Christ alone that can
bind and rob the devil. You have no power to get rid of him and his stuff
yourself; you’re too weak. But greater is He who is in you than he who is
in the world. Jesus, the stronger man, binds and robs the strong man for
you with His Word. Just as He cast demons out with His Word, so He casts
the devil out with the Gospel today. As we sing in the hymn “A Mighty
Fortress is our God,” “one little word can fell [the devil].” That Word
is the word “justified, declared righteous through faith in Jesus.” With
this Word the devil is bound and thrown out. And then with His own blood
and His words of forgiveness Jesus cleans up your house. These are the
cleaning agents Jesus uses to get rid of the stuff you’ve let into your house,
both of which He applied to you at your Baptism and which He uses to continue
to cleanse you from day to day, so that you might stand holy and blameless
before Him. As the Apostle Paul writes, “You were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.” And as the Apostle John writes, “The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanses us from all sin.” That’s all sin, not just some
sin, not just the sins you remember, not just the sins you mention, not just
the sins you ask forgiveness for, not just your past sins, but all sins.
Your house is clean. It’s been cleansed by Christ; not one spot or
blemish remains, and you stand before God as white as snow.
In place of the devil, Jesus has taken up residence in your
house, and He brings with Him His own possessions. And what are the
possessions that Jesus brings? For one, Himself and His Father, as He
says, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our home with him.” He also brings in
His own righteousness, as the Apostle Paul writes, God has made Christ our
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He also brings the
Spirit and His fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And if God - Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, has made your body His dwelling place, what gifts don’t you have?
As Luther writes, the gifts of Baptism include “victory over death and
the devil, forgiveness of sin, God’s grace, the entire Christ, and the Holy
Spirit with His gifts.” Whereas before your house might have been
compared to a pig’s sty, now it can be compared to Filoli.
But this is no cause for any boasting on our part.
Again, we did not bind the strong man ourselves nor get rid of his junk,
but our Lord has and continues to do so. And so, we should have pity on
those who still live with the devil and his stuff and pray for them, that they
might also be unbound. Even if the
Paul writes, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed
lest he fall.” The devil is still looking for homes to move into, and
unfortunately we open the door to him all too often. Then we can’t get
him to leave. But the Lord Jesus Christ is stronger than he. With
His cross and His resurrection from the dead He defeated the devil, and through
your Baptism He bound him, drove him out of you, and robbed him of his
possessions. Now you belong to the Lord, who has declared you righteous,
cleansed you with His blood, and with the Father and the Spirit has made your
body His home. And so whenever the devil tries to rob you and take up
residence in you again, remember your Baptism, hear the loosing words of the
Lord’s forgiveness and His declaration of righteousness again, feed on your
Savior’s body and blood which were given and shed for you for the forgiveness
of your sins, and the devil and his stuff will be cast out, and you will be
clean again. Your house belongs to the Lord. Your binder has been
bound; your robber has been robbed; and the strong man has been defeated by the
stronger man, your crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen