Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah who was to come.

When Peter made that great confession at Caesarea Philipi concerning Jesus identity, our Lord indicated that the Kingdom of God is built on nothing other than Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 18); and He assured his disciples as he assures us this morning that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. Nevertheless, Jesus would also have us take notice this morning on the basis of our text that these very same gates of Hell will not be locked up tight just yet. The forces of Hell remain active in this fallen world and they regularly visit violence upon God’s Kingdom and its citizens. It was Dr. Luther who reminded the western Church The Church itself cannot and will not and cannot be reformed until Christ restores the fullness of the Kingdom at his triumphal return. But when the pure scriptural Gospel is proclaimed and taught in all of its truth and purity, the Kingdom of God really does advance in this fallen world. Where the pure Gospel is restored as the Church’s proclamation, God has his way in His plan of Salvation. Sinners are brought to repentance and faith. The spiritually dead are baptized and become partakers of the Bread of Life. Sinful human beings, like the young monk Luther himself, who are loaded down with guilt are covered with the righteousness of Christ and obtain a lasting peace with God. Yet, at the very same time that Christ makes these bold moves in extending his Kingdom, and for the very same reason, namely that Christ does so with the power of His Gospel. . . an alarm goes off in the nether regions and the forces of Hell get busy.

For all the evil powers and principalities that oppose God and his salvation of sinners, it is the proclamation of the pure Gospel and the administration of the sacraments as Christ commanded that makes the sparks in the world that ignite the ferocity of spiritual warfare. It was Luther again that taught us that for the sake of the Gospel, the Kingdom of God suffers violence from Satan. It is the work of the Un-holy Spirit to pervert this saving message. When sinners are turned away from the Gospel to their own efforts to gain entrance to the Kingdom. . . . when sinners see themselves as competent to assist the Lord and Savior in making fallen humans righteous citizens of the Kingdom of God . . . the Devil has been at work.

It is a bitter/sweet truth today to realize that the only churches that confess the Gospel as Luther did - are those churches today which proclaim a sufficiency of the forgiveness of sins in Christ as the offered singular means of salvation for any and all sinners. It is the forgiveness of sins for you, whoever you are, with no strings ever to be attached . . . this is your sufficiency. No strings attached! No strings attached to obtaining that forgiveness, to continue with that forgiveness, or to maintain one’s status as child of God and heir of heaven on the basis of it. The saving grace of Christ is the forgiveness of sins and that alone renders you fit for the Kingdom yesterday, today, and forever. Yet, it is precisely here that the Devil wages his unholy warfare. His violence against the Kingdom, observed Luther, brings affliction to its citizens and subversion of its Gospel. Strangely, these two kinds of assaults of the Devil often occur in an inverse relationship. When the Devil is successful in perverting the Gospel, the citizens of the Kingdom are largely left alone. But, when the Gospel shines brightly, the citizens are afflicted.

Jesus makes the same point in our text. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. The Kingdom of God is established amid violent attacks by the forces of Satan.

There have been special times in human history when God has made major decisive moves to establish and extend his Kingdom. We can think of the great deliverance of Israel from Egypt by Moses. Oh, and remember the fireballs from heaven in the days of Elijah that consumed the entire altar on Mt. Carmel as the Baal prophets were embarrassed and discredited. Think of the Golden age of David and Solomon and the reforms of Josiah. But then remember, it was in midst of the great miracles of Moses that the golden calf was fashioned and a faithless generation of Israelites wandered in the wilderness. And it was right on the heels of the Mt. Carmel triumph that Elijah must run for his life when it seemed to him that he was the only one left in Israel who had not bowed down to Baal.

And then with the prophet Malachi, God became silent. No more prophets were raised up and for 400 years, no living prophet of God walks among His people. The last utterance by Malachi, the last Word of God that closes out the Old Testament Law and the Prophets, was this: Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land. And then it was Gabriel the Angel that informed Zecharia that his son John would be the return of Elijah and the fulfillment of that prophecy. Jesus says the same to the crowd and to us in our text. Here, the Word of God that brings sinners to repentance and points them to God’s salvation, and the Champion of His Kingdom breaks forth with great strength and power.

The Kingdom advanced into the epicenter of salvation history with the decisive saving events of Christ’s passion and resurrection. Yet here also, the Devil was furiously busy. The religious and civil leadership of God’s people were galvanized against the ministry of John and Jesus and there were poised to visit great violence. They succeeded in killing both - John and Jesus - and their disciples were scattered into seeming obscurity. And when the Church of Christ did arise making its beginning with Pentecost, it was persecuted first by the Jews and then by the Romans. Do we not see Satan and the powers of Hell behind all of this? Do we not see him violently visiting his most lethal and powerful assaults upon the people of God? God makes bold steps in human history to establish his Kingdom whenever sinners are brought to a repentant recognition of their own spiritual deadness, and when the redemptive work and saving grace of Christ are manifested and applied to people in this fallen world. But, what a strange paradox we must accept and live with! - As the Kingdom mightily advances in the world, it is mightily assaulted - As the pure preaching of God’s Word is proclaimed with renewed faithfulness and power, there is always collateral damage in the Kingdom of God.

What does this mean for us here today? What does this mean for Shepherd of the Springs Lutheran Church to be a congregation where the pure Gospel is proclaimed and taught and the sacraments administered as Christ commanded. It means, in part, according to the wisdom of Dr. Luther and the words of Jesus, that we too shall, at times, feel and rub up against the Gates of Hell. By having become citizens of the Kingdom where the pure Word of Christ reigns. . . . we can expect Satan to be mightily at work, right here in our midst. Where the Law of God crushes for repentance, there Satan shall also be in the thick of it, working to produce offense or rebellion among the saints. And we know, he can tempt us to become angry and offended and for that reason, make an exit. Some have. Where the Gospel gifts of forgiveness, righteousness, life, and peace with God are given unconditionally and nothing more is required; . . .where the freedom of Christ and the fullness of the inheritance of the Kingdom are bestowed and lived in without nary one single demand for merit or contribution on our part; . . . where faith and faith alone live with Christ and his Church and serves through the neighbor’s need in the world; . . . there is the priceless pure Gospel at work in our midst. Yet, there also, the gates of Hell will be slamming up against the saints. Yes, even us here at Shepherd of the Springs.

Satan mission in our midst is to have us grow fat on the pure Gospel, and use grace as a license for sin. Indeed, it is only among those who know that grace is always free and unconditional that the Devil can tempt it to be used as a license to sin. For this reason in Luther’s day, he could remark about these things by saying: Things are bad for the pope - they are worse with us. Moreover, Satan will see to it that others complain of boredom and a lack of excitement in the Church. He will work to have the hearts and minds of as many of us as possible occupied with the petty annoyances and offenses caused by one another. He will be at work to tempt us to either become inactive or join a Church where the Word is muffled and the Gospel perverted. Yes, what a strange paradox indeed! As the Kingdom mightily advances in the world, it is mightily assaulted - when the pure preaching of God’s Word is restored and set forth with renewed faithfulness and power, there the Devil is at work seeking to wreak collateral damage in the Kingdom of God. . . even here.

This morning as we observe the Festival of the Reformation, let us celebrate and remember with thanksgiving the recovery of the pure Gospel through the faithful service of Luther and others at Wittenberg in the 16^th century. Let us given thanks that we also have partaken of and been blessed by the pure Gospel and the sacraments as individuals, as families, and as a congregation. It is glorious and wonderful to partake of the pure Gospel in our midst, yet also we have cause for sober reflection and understanding of what all this Gospel blessing means for us while we are still foreigners sojourning in this fallen world. The Prince of Darkness still holds sway in these regions. To be a congregation where the faith of the Scriptures, the Creeds, and the Lutheran confessions is still faithfully proclaimed and taught. . . . to be a congregation that rightly divides the word of Law and Gospel, and rightly administers the sacraments. . . Well, this certainly makes us rich in God’s grace and recipients of every blessing of his Kingdom. Our plate is full and our cup is overflowing. Yet at the same time, these blessings make us also a central target for the temptations and trials of the Unholy Spirit, the Prince of Darkness.

But, his activity is not a sign of things going wrong . . . rather all is going well. God is having his way, even using Satan and the rattling of the gates of Hell, to see that his Kingdom is established and we are secured safely therein. Elijah has returned and the Kingdom has been established in the cross of Christ. He has secured the decisive victory over the powers of darkness. He has conquered over sin, death, and the devil. And as a result, the apostle Paul asks: If Christ be for us, who can be against us? And then he answered his own question with the comfort of the Gospel promises that are there for each of us.