Be Strong in the Lord
Introduction
The television series “Band of Brothers” follows the experiences of a company of paratroopers as they participate in the invasion of Europe. In one scene Lt. Richard Winters is leading his men into the heart of the Battle of the Bulge. Another Lt. is pulling back from the front line, and he gives Winters a dismal report. “Looks like you’re going to be surrounded.” Winters replied briefly and confidently. “We’re paratroopers. We’re supposed to be surrounded.”
So many people today complain about the most minor inconveniences: The traffic is bad. There’s too much homework. My life is boring. I need more money. Yet they have no idea what is really happening around them. The Bible tells us that we are surrounded by a powerful army of spiritual enemies. Our ignorance of this reality plays right into their hands. Like the officer in WWII, God wants us to wake up, pay attention, and be strong in the Lord for this struggle.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians beautifully presents the truth of God’s rescue mission for this messed up world through Jesus. He then explains the new life that believers in Jesus have – a life that is not controlled by lusts, selfishness, and bad choices. But he concludes the letter with an appeal to persevere even against many opposing spiritual enemies.
I. Know Your Enemy
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Here Paul explains the realities of evil in this world. How different this is from popular ideas about evil. There is a comical view of evil – the character who wears a red suit and carries a pitch fork. Then there is the Hollywood view of evil as we see in the Star Wars movies: Darth Veder, Darth Maul, and (for the serious Star Wars fans…) Darth Sidious. You can picture these figures dressed in black with haunting faces and piercing eyes. But is that a realistic picture of evil?
It is not. Evil is more likely to be found in comedians, actors, singers, politicians, or even pastors. St. Paul said, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11.14). Evil is found wherever we are led away from God.
Paul also speaks about the “schemes of the devil.” The Greek word is “methodia” or the “methods” of the devil. What are these? Probably the most important is that of deception. The word “devil” means “deceiver.” He is so adept at this that he is not at all afraid to use the Bible. In fact that is one of his favorite schemes. In the Garden of Eden he tempted Adam and Eve beginning with God’s word and causing them to doubt it and finally to disobey it. In the wilderness he tried to tempt Jesus by quoting Scripture.
Today he is successful in some cases by getting people to doubt in his existence at all. There are a number of people who do not believe that evil exits. They only see bad genes, poor education, and corrupt governments. They believe that all these ills can eventually be fixed. This is the image of the world portrayed by the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. He wants us to imagine a world in which there is no religion, no heaven, no hell – only the things we see in front of us from day to day.
Another scheme is to create a twisted view of God. USA Today ran an article last week on a very comprehensive religion survey conducted by Baylor University. This survey showed that 96% of Americans believe in some view of God. But of this group 40% , or almost half, believe in a God who does not intervene in the daily affairs of people. We are left on our own to do as we please as long as we don’t hurt others. This is a god of license. This is a god who lets us be our own god and a law unto ourselves.
Probably the most dangerous view of God is that of the god of laws. In August I listened to two audio presentations about marriage and family. In both cases the pastors spoke for 45 minutes to an hour. They both said over and over that the key to a happy marriage and home is “commitment.” That sounds good. It sounds Biblical. But let me assure you that commitment is not the key to marriage or to any good thing on earth – not at least our commitment. The key is God’s commitment. Marriages need more than commitment – they need the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what a sinful husband and a sinful wife need most so that they can begin to show committed love to one other. But that vital truth was totally overlooked by these pastors. Moses came to bring the Law, but Jesus came to bring grace and truth (John 1.17). We need the God of Law and Gospel to survive the host of evil that surrounds us.
II. Know Your Lord
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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Now let’s take a good look at the gifts that God gives to confront evil and to help us stand strong in the Lord. We could easily spend ten weeks talking about each one of these pieces of armor. But for today I would like you to notice that three of these pieces destroy the deceptive powers of evil: Truth, Gospel, and Word.
You might say, “But pastor, didn’t you just say that the Devil uses the word of God against us?” Yes, he certainly tries to do that. But remember this: The Devil starts with the word of God, but he never continues with it. He loves to make a little quote here and there, but he certainly does not want us to read the whole paragraph, letter, book or all the books of the Bible. He knows that it is easy to twist the meaning of Scripture when you just use a small part of it. The Bible interprets itself. And the more we read it, the more the truth comes out. This is why Jesus said, “If you continue in My Word, you are my disciples indeed, and You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8.31-32).
As long as we continue in the Word – in Worship, Bible Study, Family and Personal Devotions, we don’t have to worry. We carry the “sword of the Spirit” that destroys most of the power of Satan.
Three of the pieces teach us about our restoration to God: Righteousness, Faith, and Salvation. All of these words tell us what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life and then gave the benefits of that life to us – our forgiveness and salvation. The righteous person will still sin. But he is not controlled by sin. He takes that sin to God and to the sacrifice of Jesus for forgiveness. Who does Satan fear? The rich, the intelligent, the physically strong and attractive. Not these! He fears the humble, repentant person who simply trusts in God.
Let me ask you a trivia question: Who, apart from Jesus, gave Satan the most trouble in the Bible? It was Job. The Bible says Job was “blameless, upright, and shunned evil.” He was so concerned about the forgiveness of sin that he prayed for his own children daily. The righteous person still sins, but they have repentance and forgiveness. Satan was able to get Job to sin. He complained to God for the troubles he had to go through. But God rebuked him, and Job repented. Then God restored Job. This is the man that gave Satan more trouble than any other person in the Bible. What troubled Satan the most was his relationship of faith with God
You also have those gifts of righteousness, salvation and faith. Live in them and frustrate the heck out of Satan!
III. Kneel in Prayer
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Just because we have the armor, it doesn’t mean that the struggle is going to be easy. Jesus said, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26.41). He also said in the Sermon on the Mount of Olives, “watch and pray.” Prayer is the exercise of faith. It is what we do when the gift of faith comes into our lives. We have been exercising our faith in prayer this morning as we praise God for the strength He gives us in this armor. We’ve thanked Him, repented of our sins, and finally we bring before Him our needs.
How many of you are concerned about someone – you’re not sure where they stand with the Lord. This is a great burden as it should be. When I get in large crowds (like Cardinals baseball games), I begin to wonder, “how many of these people believe in Jesus?” I worry about things like that. The burden can be crushing. But at those times I just have to bow my head and ask for God to help me live my faith and share the faith. Prayer is the spiritual hydraulic jack that lifts the greatest burdens of spiritual difficulties and burdens.
Chuck Sackett did not grow up in a Christian home. But he joined the Boy Scouts and wanted to complete the “God and Country” merit badge. So he walked a few blocks to a small church for several weeks. He filled out his papers, and did what he had to do get that badge. While at the church, he met an older coupled who befriended him. He even worked for them for awhile doing yard work. But he soon left all that behind, and went on with his life. Twelve years later the Holy Spirit began to work in his life and brought him to faith. He even became a Christian. He and his wife decided to pay that older couple a visit to thank them for all the nice things they did for him. They remembered him immediately. In the course of their conversation, they said something that stunned Chuck. They not only remembered him, they said that for the last twelve years they had not missed a day praying for Chuck. He knew right then and there that he was a direct beneficiary of the prayers of the saints. He was prayed into the kingdom! (Chuck Sackett, Lincoln, Illinois Preaching Today)
Conclusion
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the spiritual enemies and forces that surround us. But Paul reminds us that we’re supposed to be surrounded. And more than that he shares with us the good equipment that God gives us to face this battle and to be strong in the Lord. God be with you in all your spiritual battles. I encourage you this week to drive Satan nuts with the armor of God and with the exercise of prayer. Amen.
Pastor Michael P. Walther
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 17, 2006
michaelpwalther@gmail.com
www.goodshepherdcollinsville.org Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
1300 Belt Line Road
Collinsville, Illinois 62234
618-344-3151
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
