Sermon – September 6

September 6, 2015 14th Sunday after Trinity

Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Stand!
Dear fellow warriors of Christ:

Is the United States at war? It might depend upon whom you ask. According to officials in the government the answer I think would be no. If you would ask ISIS or Al Quada,, the answer would be yes. So which is it? If somebody is attacking you, then whatever you choose to call it there is war.

Are you at war personally? Whether you know it or not you are under attack. You can choose to ignore this or you can fight. The battle has been engaged by Satan. Are you going to pretend like nothing is happening or will you stand? Even though he is a powerful enemy we have an even more powerful God on our side. He has equipped us for battle, and we pray that God gives us the boldness to stand.

1. In God’s might against a powerful enemy
The Chinese general Sun Tzu famously said in his book The Art of War, “Know your enemy.” This is sound advice for spiritual warfare as well. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We need the Lord’s power and might. We need His armor because we are facing a foe unlike any human being.

We are warned against his wiles, his methods. He is tricky because he not only lies, but he lies so well. In a world in which there was no sin, and dealing with two people in whom there was no sin, he successfully dismantled God’s holy creation. He cast doubt into Eve’s mind. He questioned God’s goodness. And he flat out lied. He uses those same methods with great success to this day. We cannot let our guard down for an instant. “If he cannot undermine our doctrinal position, he will try to get us to relax our moral standards… If he cannot seduce us into gross sin, he will try to lead us into pharisaism.” (Habeck) If we lean one way to avoid a sin or false teaching, he’ll use our momentum to gently push us in an overreaction that will be equally as damaging.

Conventional weapons are of no use in this battle because the enemy that we face is spiritual. Verse 12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Satan is not alone. His henchmen are demons. They are former angels who rebelled against God. We know from the Scriptures how powerful angels are as forces of good. No less is true for Satan and his army. Not only do they have power and influence in the spiritual realm, and have their base of operations there, but they have equipped worldly tyrants and influenced religious leaders. Satan and demonic army do not need to sleep or eat or take breaks. They are not omnipresent, but they move very quickly from place to place unencumbered by human limitations. They have centuries of experience and know what works to spread evil in the world and to wreak havoc upon a believer’s soul.

2. Equipped by God to do battle
We cannot play footsies with the devil. He will win. We cannot stand on our own because we will fall. Be strong the Lord and in the power of His might. Jesus did not fall for the lies of the devil. Jesus has already won the war against Satan. His fate as an eternal prisoner of hell has already been decided.

To be successful against the devil is to rely on God. He has equipped us so that we can defeat the devil. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. What is the evil day? It is the day in which you are assaulted by Satan. Job faced a very evil day and he lost his possessions and family in one day. Peter faced an evil day in the courtyard of the high priest. But we don’t get just one. There are multiple times when you will draw the fire of evil spiritual forces trying to pry you apart from God, and that is your evil day.

You can either lay down and give in to Satan or you can stand. But if you are going to stand, do so with the whole armor of God. The following verses describe how we are equipped by using the standard equipment of the Roman solider as a metaphor for defensive and offensive weapons against Satan.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth. The belt was the first item that the Roman soldier would put on and would hold everything together. Christians are given the belt of truth. Satan’s main weapon is that of deception. The only way that this can be fended off is with the truth. Satan got Eve to sin by making her think that God didn’t want the best for her. The truth is that God is love. Clinging to that main truth will help override a myriad of the devil’s temptations. It nullifies his weapon of the lie.

Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. When it comes to doing the right thing we either fool ourselves by thinking that we’re good enough or despair when we know of our sin. Knowing that we are given the righteousness of Christ solves the problem Satan can present the truth of our sin, but the fact is that we will be judged by the righteousness of Christ, not our own. That takes the big weapon of despair out of Satan’s arsenal.

And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You are equipped and prepared to fight with the good news of Jesus. This is what changes hearts instead of the guilt of the Law.

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Just as a fiery arrow produces not only damage from the impact but increasing damage with fire, so also with the weapons of Satan. If false teaching is left unchecked, it spreads like cancer. If you don’t nip covetousness in the bud, it will grow and lead to multiple other sins. When our faith rests securely upon Christ this puts out those fires. When Jesus is the object of your trust you have the right answers and the right motives and have love for Him and others as the driving force in your life.

And take the helmet of salvation. Know the end game. Look ahead and know, What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Your salvation puts everything in the proper perspective.

And the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Up to this point the whole armor of God is for defense. The sword can be used for offense as well as defense. Jesus parried off the devil’s temptations in the wilderness with three passages. As Martin Luther says, “One little word can fell him.” You have that very same weapon.

But we are not just hunkered down waiting to be attacked. The Lord also wants us to go on offense using His Word – both Law and Gospel – to confront and comfort. It exposes sin for the ugliness that it is rather than glorifying it. It tells of the ramifications of sin in this life and beyond. The sword of the Spirit is used to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.

We can go out and rescue those held hostage by Satan. How many are in spiritual misery without answers that we can provide? How many are in despair without the knowledge of a Savior? How many are on the road to hell and don’t know or don’t care? We can and should go on offense as we are equipped by God.

3. Praying to God for boldness for other Christians and yourself
To stand against Satan is not easy. For this reason we are directed to pray for boldness to take a stand rather than give in. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. We and other believers are all in the fray. There is an army with you. And it’s a tough battle. It’s a life-long battle. The more the Word of God is used, the more the devil is beaten back, the better off this world would be, the better off that souls would be for eternity. When Jesus sent out the 72 to preach His name, and they reported back to Him. He said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. And so we appeal to our Captain in the fight to increase His army in size and intensity against the Foe.

But don’t leave out yourself. Make this a personal fight. And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains: that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. The Gospel is a mystery because it is not otherwise revealed except in through the Spirit using God’s Word. It’s simple enough to speak in the hypothetical about putting God’s Word into action, but even the apostle Paul got scared. He asked for boldness.

There are a lot of broken people that need help. There is a lot of wickedness that needs to be curbed. Souls are at stake. You are armed and ready to do battle. So let’s speak as we ought to speak. That means getting out on the front line and putting yourself out there and speaking with boldness. You’re not alone, and God has outfitted you in such a way that while your feelings may get hurt, your body may get hurt, your soul will be safe in His armor.

War has come to you. Whether or not you wanted to fight against the devil, he is attacking you. You can ignore him and lose. You can surrender. Or you can stand. Stand boldly in the might and power of God! Amen.