The Lutheran Reformation – Pr. Anderson sermon
Revelation 14:6-7 “The Eternal Gospel that is Proclaimed”
October 26, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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The Exordium
As human beings, we love to find meaning in symbols. When we are very quick to find meaning in one, we then hold onto it. When we were children in school, I’m pretty certain I know one of the symbols we all enjoyed learning and believe it or not, it was in math class. The symbol was a sideways eight. The infinity symbol. It was cool and it is still cool to see something that goes on forever. As we contemplate forever, we can’t even grasp it as it is beyond our comprehension. Because of this, it is so easy to put forever on the back burner. We might not do it on purpose, but in today’s society, we are now seeing how important it is to know how long forever is, it is forever.
In a world that wants to distract us from forever, we thankfully have something that will get us to forever because it lasts forever. The Lord told Joshua son of Nun, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:8-9). God’s Word is our hope, our sure defense, and in the Spirit of the Reformation, we continue to sing how God is our greatest help in this life and will keep us safe forever. Please rise as we sing stanza 2 of Hymn # 573. O Lord, My God, I Cry to Thee.
O Jesus Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
Once slain to take away our load,
Now let Thy cross, Thine agony,
Avail to save and solace me,
Thy death, to open heav’n, and there
Bid me the joy of angels share.
The sermon text for today is taken from the 14th chapter of the book of Revelation. We read the verses once more, in Jesus’ name:
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
We Pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessings of preacher and teachers who proclaim to us the eternal Gospel. The message of your One and only Son who came into the world to take away our sins. If it is not for your love, the darkness of the world looks to overwhelm us everywhere we turn. The Gospel prevails, because of its message, a message of love we don’t deserve. May we have a voice to defend it all the days of our life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
While it wasn’t the end of the Reformation by any means, the epistle for this day of celebration was preached at the funeral of Martin Luther. We begin at the funeral of Luther because as Christians, we know that in our death, we pass through the veil to joy and happiness forever. This is what Martin Luther found in Scripture. And in these verses, we are reminded of his great conviction to preach the Gospel. In this last book of Scripture, John being shown visions writes, “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” The angels of God are messengers of His Word. It is a Word that has never and will never change. As we hear about this angel, we can only think and be glad for all the preachers of the Gospel. A message that brings clarity, and clarity it did bring to Martin Luther. The man who championed for preachers to preach the hope that is found in the Gospel, the message that saves.
Hearing of the eternal Gospel that saves, John continues, and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” This can’t be the Gospel, as we hear of the judgment to come, right? The Gospel is still burning bright because it is revealing to those who believe that they will have joy. They have joy because before this angel arrives with this message, John sees the woman having a child which is snatched up by God and she is chased by the great dragon. This dragon would then send out two beasts to hunt the people of God. The beasts will turn many away and while it looks like the beasts have great strength, the people of God will overcome and have the final victory when the judgment comes.
Now, while this sounds great, if only it were that simple to wait until the end. As the eternal Gospel goes out into the world for all to hear, of course, the devil works to proclaim a false gospel. While we may think in our heads what a false gospel looks like, St. Paul records how this isn’t anything new. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:6-8). So, it’s not really a bunch of false gospels that are floating around, but some look to distort the Gospel which is saved through faith alone. These attacks look to take on who Jesus is. is He only a man? Is He only God? Isn’t Jesus only a God of love? These are only a handful of thoughts that distort the Gospel. St. Paul points out how dangerous it is if the Gospel message is messed with. To defend the Gospel, He points out there is a way to check. We must go back to the Gospel message in the Word.
Again, this sounds easy. Some of us have grown up hearing the Word of God since we have been children. What tends to be the problem? When the world likes to get us to look at the good, we have done in our lives, or points out the strength of our feelings, maybe these things we hear are just close enough to the Gospel. If there are only a few points off, it doesn’t mean that the whole thing is bad, right? It is hard for us to draw our line in the sand when it comes to the heart of the Gospel. We know that it was hard for Martin Luther to do it as well. He could have just overlooked what was causing the problem. If we overlook the problems for the sake of friendships and family, when it comes to the Gospel, then we will only overlook more when it comes to the law. The everlasting Gospel that is preached is eroded and we look to be with those who are cursed for not speaking up against what is false. To find the true teaching, we must search the Scriptures for the pure Gospel and we will find it as we see Jesus use it Himself to send the devil away. Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve'” (Matthew 4:10).
As Jesus sends the devil flying, the readers in St. John’s day were searching for this too as it looked like the forces of evil were closing in. St. John provides them with strength as he writes that the eternal Gospel continues to go out and be proclaimed. The only source they can go to in their time of need. As they listen to John, they dive in and find this exact thing being said by the voice of the eternal Gospel. Jesus said, “And this Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). So, until the end, the Gospel, the way of their salvation, is going to go out and it won’t be stopped. This is the power of preaching the Word and Christ crucified on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. It doesn’t come back empty. This is the life of Christ and His gracious work which is the free gift given to the world. This gracious gift John’s readers hear and the gracious gift you and the world will see the rest of your days.
In this text we are seeing the light of the world. It shines through and prevails even when the forces of evil try to extinguish it. In history, there have been some dark days and some would say that these must be the darkest. As we look at our lives, it is a wonder as to why we can see this great life, as we know we have contributed to the darkness. While the temptations always hang around for us to compromise the Gospel, we are so thankful that the light of Christ burns brightly without us. The Gospel continues to be proclaimed because it is eternal. In history the Son of God came down from heaven and He proclaimed He is the salvation of mankind. This proclamation would not end after He left. He would ordain His church which, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18b). The spirit of the Reformation is seeing how the church prevails in its weakest moments. It prevails because Jesus says it will prevail. You are seeing it come to life with the power of His Word as you are a living history of it. You are sons and daughters of the Reformation. You are sons and daughters of the eternal Gospel that is proclaimed to the nations. This is a forever that is not deserved. This is a forever you will witness here in this life through the eternal Gospel because it is proclaimed to you in truth and purity. And until the day of judgment, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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