September 9, 2012
Dear friends in Christ.
How amazing it is that school is back in session,
the days have grown a little shorter and a little cooler, the leaves are
beginning to fall, Confirmation classes have begun, and now, today, we have
returned to our Fall Schedule, bringing about the start of this year’s Sunday school
and Bible Study classes! How amazing it
is that we still live in a country that we are free to worship the Lord and
study his word personally each and every day, as well as on a weekly basis here
at church. What a blessing it is that we
the opportunity to gather with each other to learn God’s Word and be
strengthened in our faith so that we might continue to stand firm in the Lord
our God. What a blessing the Lord has
given us that we have these weekly opportunities to grow in his word and to
stand together in our faith, especially when we think back to the plans of our
enemy that the Lord revealed to us in our sermon just a few weeks ago. For the truth is, satan’s ultimate goal is to
do anything he can to separate us from our faith in the Lord so that we are no
longer standing firm in him; so that we are easy prey for our enemy and can be
easily snatched away from the Lord. But
even while that is our enemy’s goal, today we have come to the Lord’s spiritual
boot camp, so to speak. We have gathered
in worship to be built up in our faith, strengthened in our Savior’s love, and
be enabled to stand firm in the Lord our God, which is the very thing that Paul
is calling on us to do as he writes in our lesson, “Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can
take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:10–12, NIV84)
Now, when Paul wrote these words to the Christians
in Ephesus, they weren’t undergoing persecutions from the Roman
Government. They weren’t being forced
from their homes and thrown to the lions because they believed in Jesus Christ
as their Savior. Instead, they were
facing perhaps an even greater test to their faith. For these Christians were living in the city
whose chief goddess whose Greek name was Artemis and whose Latin name was
Diana. She was the goddess whose image
was supposed to have fallen to Ephesus from the heavens in a spectacular show
of power. Thus, by this action, the
people believed that she had dedicated the city to herself, so they did what
seemed to be the logical thing and built a temple to Dianna or Artemis of the
Ephesians. They built the most prominent
temple of the ancient world, making Ephesus the center for the worship of the
goddess Diana and making the people of Ephesus fanatical followers of her. You might remember the riot that broke out
because quite a number of Ephesians had come to faith in the Savior that Paul
was preaching. You might remember how
Demetrius, the Silversmith, and a whole crowd of people shouted for two hours,
“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” It
was because of all of this that Paul was urging the Ephesians to arm themselves
against the forces of evil so that they might stand firm in the Lord, for Paul
knew that their fight was against satan and all his evil angels. Their fight was against satan and his
attempts to lead the believers away from the Lord and back into the worship of
the goddess Diana. Their struggle was
against all those who sought to discredit the Christians faith, oppress its
message, and nullify the power of the Savior.
Well, things are no different two thousand years
later. For we are still struggling
against the very things the Ephesians struggled with when Paul was writing to
them. Though we may not have a temple to
the goddess Diana in our back yards, our enemy, the devil, is constantly
looking for any opportunity that he might use to lead us away from our
Savior. That is why Paul is calling on
us to stand firm in the Lord and arm ourselves against the forces of evil,
because as Christians our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
a spiritual enemy that we cannot see. We
need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle is against satan and all his
evil angels who are constantly looking to lead us into sin. Though they might not sit on our shoulders as
depicted in cartoons, they are constantly whispering in our ears. They are continuously looking to make us
doubt what the Lord says in his word.
They are regularly making us feel that we are too busy to bother reading
the Bible, and then they assure us that we don’t really need to because we
already know it.
We need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle
is against our sin filled world, which is constantly flaunting its evil ways in
front of our eyes. Though we may not
even realize it, we are being bombarded with heathen ideas and opinions
whenever we watch TV. Even if our
favorite shows come to us TV’s yesteryear, we cannot escape those convictions. For through television programs and
commercials we are being convinced that we need more and more things in order
to be happy. Through television
programs, commercials, and even the news we are being told, assured, and even
manipulated into believing that living an alternate lifestyle is ok. We are being assured that you don’t really
have to be married before you can enjoy God’s gift of sex. We are being shown that living together
before marriage has absolutely no consequences.
We are becoming convinced that divorce is something so common that it no
longer has detrimental effects on children or families. And on top of all that, we are being led to
believe that same sex marriages need to be okayed in the country because there
is no reason to keep two people who love each other separated from each
other.
We need to stand firm in the Lord because our battle
is against our own sinful nature, which seeks to lead us back into our most
favorite sins. This is the part of us
that wants nothing to do with the Lord our God but everything to do with the
world. This is the part of us that longs
to believe that there is no hell and no punishment for sins. This is the part of us that eagerly listens
whenever one of satan’s evil angels whispers in our ears. This is the part that
sits up and takes notice when a hint of flesh, or a pair of breasts, or even a
full blown sex scene are revealed at the movie house, or even across our own TV
sets. Yes, it is our own sinful nature
that is constantly working to make us waiver in our faith, fall away from the
Lord, and be lost to him forever. And
this is why Paul is calling on us to stand firm in the Lord by arming ourselves
against the forces of evil. This is why
he is calling on us to stand firm in the Lord wielding the weapons of our God.
What a comfort it is to know that even as our Lord
is calling on us to stand firm in him against an enemy that we cannot see, our
God does not leave us defenseless in the fight against our enemies. Rather he provides every weapon we could ever
need so that we might stand firm in the Lord our God. This, in fact, is what Paul is describing
when he writes: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put
on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put
on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able
to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take
up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV84)
These are the weapons the Lord has issued us so that
we might stand firm in him, and these are the weapons he gives us in his word.
For it is in his Word that we learn about our Savior and all that he has done
for us. It is in his Word that we are
reminded how Jesus stormed the fortress of the evil one in an apparent suicide
mission. In his Word we are reminded how
it seemed that satan had won when he impaled Jesus’ hands and feet to the wood
of the cross. In his Word we are
reminded of the agony that Jesus faced as he cried out, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” But at the same time we are reminded of the
victory that Jesus won as he cried out, “It is finished!” We are reminded of Jesus’ victory march
through the heart of hell! We are
reminded of his triumphant resurrection from the dead, which now assures us
that all of our sins have been forgiven.
Yes, every sin we have ever committed was forgiven by Jesus who died and
rose again. Every sin that our sinful
nature has ever led us into as been washed clean! Every sin that satan’s angels have ever
enticed us into has been washed away!
Every sin that the world as encouraged us in has been removed from our
records, and now that we have been made clean by Jesus blood, we have the
ability to take up the weapons our Lord had given us so that we might stand
firm in him.
For now that we are redeemed children of God, it is
our Lord himself who has buckled around us the belt of truth and attached the
breastplate of righteousness. It is the
Lord who has fitted our feet with the readiness of the gospel and given us the
shield of faith. It is the Lord who has
placed on our heads the helmet of salvation and placed in our hands the sword
of the spirit. He is the one who has
given us the battle cry of prayer and the armor of his word. Now, as his children, we stand firm in him
wielding the weapons the Lord has given us.
For it is through these weapons found only in his word that we have the
power to defend ourselves against the attacks of our enemies. Through these weapons we have the ability to
shield ourselves against the temptations the devil, the world, and even our own
sinful nature hurl at us. With these
weapons we have the power to defeat satan on his own ground so that we might
continue to stand firm in the Lord.
So take your position in the Lord’s army and stand
firm in him wielding the weapons he has given you. Stand beside your fellow Christians in the
strength that the Lord has given you.
Stand confidently knowing that even if your enemy should ever get the
better of you and lead you back into sin, you still have the lifeline of
forgiveness that Jesus has provided for you.
For it is through this forgiveness that we are raised back to our feet
when we fall, we are rearmed for the Lord, and we are able to stand firm in him
our Lord and our God.
This is what Christian education is all about, and
this is why we offer Sunday school, Catechism class, and Bible Study. We do it so that we can all grow in the Word
of God, and learn to stand firm in the Lord our God against satan, our
enemy. So, as we close here today, let
us heed Paul’s words to us to, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put
on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able
to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take
up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV84)
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
