Wives, Willingly Submit yourselves to your Husband. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

Series: What I'd Like to Know Is…

August 19, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Fourteen years ago today, at this very moment, my wife and I were probably packing our last suitcases and getting ready to head out to the airport to catch our flight back to Milwaukee.  The adventure that was our honeymoon was coming to a close, but the adventure that is our marriage was just beginning.  In just a few short weeks, I would be returning for my final year at the Seminary as a married man, and Miss Hatter’s classroom would now be taken over by Mrs. Shilling.  Before we knew it, we would begin learning things about each other that we hadn’t known before.  We would grow in our love and caring for each other.  Laura would bask in the love with which I cherished her then and continue to cherish her today, and I would begin to learn just what it meant to have a wonderful and loving wife, willingly submitting herself to me.  It was during that year that we both began to understand what the Lord is speaking about when he calls on wives to willingly submit themselves to their husbands, as Paul writes in our lesson this morning.  “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22–24, NIV84)

Wow!  These are some very powerful words.  Not only are these some very powerful words, but these are words that very few people want to hear.  These are words that very few people want to hear because they are some of the most misunderstood words in the Bible. They are so misunderstood because ever since the first sin entered the world, these words have been understood in the context of value rather than in the context of function.  Though as Paul was speaking specifically of the function, or the roll of a wife in marriage when he calls on wives to willingly submit themselves to their husbands, so often women of all ages have perceived the very act of submission as something that will devalue them as a person in marriage and even in society.  In fact, it is very easy for women of all ages to feel that the simple act of submission will devalue them in some way or another simply because society keeps telling them that if they submit themselves to someone or something their value as a person will be diminished. On top of that, there are many women who have felt devalued by men who have used the words of Ephesians 5 to keep them down, to keep them in their place, and to simply exert the idea that as men, they have, in some way, a greater value than a woman or a wife.

However, Ladies, as Paul writes these words calling on wives to willingly submit themselves to their husbands, he is assuring you of your great value as a daughter of your heavenly Father and as a sister of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As Paul writes these words he is assuring each and every one of you, Ladies, that you are a child of God, and that your value is exactly the same as any man.  Whether you are a young girl, a young woman, a woman in the prime of your life, an honored woman distinguished by age, a wife or a mother, you are God’s dearly loved child through faith in Christ Jesus.  You are a woman of great value to your Father in heaven, and now as a woman of great value, your heavenly father is asking you to fulfill a very specific function.  What I mean is this: take a look at our lesson again and see what the Lord is asking of you.  Paul writes, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22–24, NIV84)

Now, before you get too hung up on that word, “submit” pages with me back to Ephesians chapter 1, and let’s look, together, at the great value that the Lord places on both men and women as his children.  As Paul opens this letter he writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—" (Ephesians 1:1–5, NIV84)

Now, some of you might be thinking, “If God places such value on both men and women, why is he talking only about sons?  Why not ‘children’?”  The reason for this is that in Paul’s day, in Greek culture, Roman culture, and Jewish culture, sons were the heirs of the family.  In other words Paul’s point is that we have all been adopted as heirs of God, and as the Bible tells us in other places, “We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ.”  So, whether we are men or women, boys or girls, we are all heirs of God because he valued us so highly that we were all adopted as heirs.  Back to verse 5:  “In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:4b–14, NIV84 emphasis added)

This, ladies, is your value as daughters of your heavenly Father and sisters of your Savior Jesus Christ!  This, Ladies, is the value that Paul continues to convey to both men and women in the next few chapters of his Letter to the Ephesians.  In fact, follow with me Paul’s train of thought by taking a look at the headings in your Bibles.  Verse 15-23 Paul gives thanks for the believers in Ephesus and prays for them.  Chapter 2:1-10 he reminds us that we have all been made alive in Christ through his death and resurrection.  Now, through faith in him we are all one in Christ as Ephesians 2:11-22 assures us.  In Chapter 3, Paul the preacher to the gentiles prays for the Ephesian Christians, praying in verse 16 that Christ would strengthen them.  Verse 17, that Christ would dwell in them and that they be rooted and established in love.  Verse 18 and following that they might grasp the all surpassing love of God in Christ Jesus their Savior.  Then, from Chapter 4 on Paul urges the believers in Christ, men and women who are co-equal in value before God the Father; he urges them to do something that to my knowledge, has never caused anyone in our congregation to get bent out of shape.  In these verses Paul calls on them to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Chapter 4:  As these believers have reached a unity in the body of Christ through faith in Jesus, Paul urges them to live a life worthy of the calling they have received, to be humble, gentle, and patient with each other.  He calls on them to understand the different functions that the Lord gave to these believers who had the same value as each other.  Yet, “It was [the Lord] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11–13, NIV84)  Again, these believers who all had the same value in Christ had different functions in Christ’s kingdom.  Thus Paul tells these as men and women, these believers who all had the same value but different functions, Paul tells them in verse 17 to live as children of the light.  In Chapter 5:1 to be imitators of God as dearly loved children of God; in verse 15 to be wise; in verse 18 to be filled with the spirit.  Then, in verse 21 Paul so simply sums up everything he’s been telling us from chapter 4:1–5:20 by saying, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21, NIV84)

Following all this talk about our equal value in Christ as men and women, and our function to submit ourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ, Paul applies the principle all the further as he essentially says, “Wives, you who are so valuable as daughters of your heavenly Father and sisters of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Show your love for the Lord your God and for your husband by performing this simple, God pleasing function.  Willingly submit yourselves to your husband, as to the Lord, because according to the order of creation, the man was created first, and his function is to be the head of the wife; just as Christ is the head of the church of which he is the Savior.  And in the same way that Christ’s bride, the church willingly submits herself to him, and Christ’s function was to submit himself to the will of his heavenly father, even though he is co-equal in majesty and glory with him, so also wives, your function, in Christ, is to willingly submit yourselves to your husbands.  Oh, and just in case you are worried that your husband might take advantage of this, just look at his function.  His function is to lovingly cherish you as his wife.”  Which is exactly what we discussed for nearly 40 minutes last week.

But what does Paul mean by asking wives to willingly submit themselves to their husbands?  Well, as one commentator tells us, “The word submit is from the Greek word hupotasso (hupo, “under”; tasso, “to line up,” “to get in order,” “to arrange”), which, in a military sense, means “to rank beneath or under.” As Christians, we are to rank ourselves under one another, not over one another. The whole mentality of the Christian life as we relate to each other is one of humility and submissiveness.”^[1]  Or as another has said, “Ladies, submission simply means that we keep our heads just low enough so that when God strikes someone our husbands are the ones who get clobbered.”  But probably the best example of submission comes from the example of Jesus recorded in Philippians 2 where Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:3–8, NIV84)

This is what I see so regularly in you ladies.  Whether you are young or old, married, widowed, or single, so often I see a loving and respectful heart that willingly submits itself to each other and to a husband.  So often I see your beauty revealed in your willingness to undergird your husbands, your families, your friends, your relatives, your church, and each other.  So often I see God’s grace revealed through you as you so willingly serve in so many different ways.  You so willingly give of yourselves, cooperating and communicating with your husband so that your values and goals are aligned together.  You grow together in your marriage adapting yourselves to the needs of your relationship.  You lovingly encourage your husband to be the head and spiritual leader of your home.  You grow in your own faith and encourage your husband with your reverent life. 

These are but a few of the ways that you willingly submit yourselves to your husband as to the Lord.  May the Lord continue to bless you in this valuable roll which he has bestowed upon you!  May he increase your faith as you serve him in whatever way is pleasing in his sight!  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

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^[1] John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Fulfilled Family (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981).

Gentlemen, Lovingly Cherish Your Wives! (Ephesians 5:25-33)

Series:   What I'd Like to Know Is… (3/6)

August 12, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Fourteen years ago today, at this very moment, (roughly 9:30 AM)  my wife and I were probably beginning our descent into Charlotte, NC, which was where we would catch the connecting flight to Ft. Lauderdale, which is where we would continue the joyful adventure that was our honeymoon.  Though it had only been a few days since I had promised my love and my faithfulness to her, I had lovingly cherished her for the four years that we dated before we were married.  Though fourteen years have passed for us, my love for her has only grown.  I have continued to lovingly cherish my wife as the precious gift which my heavenly Father gave to me.  And yet, even though I can honestly say all of this to you, I cannot tell you that I have done any of it perfectly.  For as I studied the words of our lesson and the expectations that the Lord has placed on me as a man, and a husband and a father, I was cut to the heart to realize that though I have lovingly cherished my wife for the past fourteen years, I have nowhere near lovingly cherished my wife in the way that the Lord would have me. 

Take a look at what I mean, turn with me to our lesson in Ephesians and take a look at the responsibilities with which the Lord is charging us as men and husbands.  Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:25–33, NIV84)

Wow!  These are some very powerful words.  These are some very serious responsibilities with which the Lord God, our heavenly Father is charging us as men.  And these responsibilities, though they are being proclaimed to husbands, do not only apply to husbands!  These responsibilities with which the Lord is charging husbands today are responsibilities with which he is charging every single male person; whether he is a young boy, a teen-ager, a young man, a middle-aged man, an elderly man, a husband, or a father.  If you are male, whether you are married or not, whether you are young or whether you are old, the Lord your God, your heavenly Father, is charging you to lovingly cherish your wife!  Lovingly cherish your wife through your words and actions in marriage, outside of marriage, before you are married, and especially after you have been married.

But how do I do that?  Take a look again at verse 25 and following: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25–27, NIV84)

With just a few simple words, the Lord lays out exactly what he wants us, as men, to do for women, and especially for our wives.  He wants us to love them.  But the love talked about here is not the love of some gushy emotion that moves us into fleshly lusts of passion like we see on TV where couples who barely know each other are jumping into bed for thrills and giggles.  No.  The Lord wants us to love our wives with the same type of self-sacrificing love with which Christ loved the church.  This is agape love; self-sacrificing love.  This is love that has nothing to do with whether that loved is deserved or not.  This is the love that moved the Lord, our God, to write our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, even though there is not single one of us who did anything to deserve it!  This is the love that Christ bestowed upon his church, his people, each and every one of us when he loved us so deeply and so strongly that he gave up his life for us on the cross, to wash us clean of our sins, so that we could be presented to himself as a radiant, stain-free bride.  This is the kind of love that moved mothers to cover their children and moved husbands, fiancées, and even boy-friends to step between the shooter and the women who were with them, when shots rang out in that Colorado theater last month.  This is the kind of love that in some cases caused men and women to give up their lives so that others might live.

This is the self-sacrificing love with which the Lord calls husbands to cherish their wives.  This is the self-sacrificing love with which the Lord charges young men and teen-boys to cherish their girl-friends and fiancées so that they do not, in any way steal the gift of virginity which is a woman’s gift to give only to her husband on her wedding night.  This is the self-sacrificing love with which the Lord wants us to cherish our wives and the women in our lives, so that we do not give into the temptation of pornography, whether it be the soft pornography that we see on a daily basis on magazine covers in the checkout lines of stores everywhere, or it be the hard-core pornography that so many men seek out in magazines and on the internet.  This is the self-sacrificing love with which the Lord wants us to crucify ourselves and our own evil desires so that we turn to him in repentance for our sins.  This is the self-sacrificing love that moves us to no longer look for what we can get out of a relationship and moves us to no longer see our wives as nothing more than a cook, a baby-sitter, a clothes washer, and a sex partner.  Rather this is the type of love that moves us to see her as the God given treasure that she is!  A woman to be cherished, to be nurtured, and to be loved with the same self-sacrificing love with which Christ loved his church and even handed over his very life unto death for her.

Gentlemen, as sons of our heavenly Father, the Lord our God wants us to lovingly cherish our wives in the same way that Christ lovingly cherished his church, just as Paul tells us in verses 28 and following, “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body." (Ephesians 5:28–30, NIV84)

Now, can I get a show of hands?  How many of you hate your own body?  How many of you, if given the chance, would do everything you can to purposefully hurt or harm your own body?  None of us here!  Good grief, we stub our toes and suddenly we are hopping around the living room like neurotic bunnies or collapsed in a chair weeping like little children.  We get a paper cut, and suddenly we can’t mow the lawn because the vibrations are causing too much pain for us to bear.  If our head begins to ache, or our muscles tense, it’s off to the medicine cupboard for a couple of aspirin.  If we are tired, we sit down to rest in our favorite chair.  If we’re bored, we flip on the TV to see what’s on.  If we’re thirsty we get something to drink.  If we’re hungry we get something to eat.  None of us hates our own bodies, but we take care of them, we feed them and nourish them because we love our bodies.  In truth, some of us like our bodies a whole lot more than we should, which is why the diet and nutrition industry is so huge in our country. 

But all joking aside, Gentlemen, it is very clear what the Lord is saying to us!  He is calling on us to lovingly cherish our wives.  He is calling on us to love our wives, to care for our wives, and to nurture our wives in the same way that we love, and care for, and nurture our own bodies.  He is calling on us to take the role of nurturer in our homes by feeding our families with the word of God.  That means, men, that your heavenly Father is calling on you to recognize your role as spiritual leader in your family.  It is your responsibility, men, to live as an example for your children.  It is your responsibility, men to teach your children about Jesus, to bring them to Sunday School so that they can learn about their Savior, and bring your wife to Bible Study so that the two of you can grow together in God’s Word.  It is your responsibility, men to change your habits and to teach your family that Sunday is the most important day of the week; that Sunday is not a day for sleeping in.  You can take a nap after church!  You can go to bed early on Sunday night, but Sunday is not a day for sleeping in!  It is your responsibility, men, to teach your children and your family what my father taught me, and I quote, “I don’t care how late you stay up on Saturday, you will be awake and attentive in church on Sunday morning even if I have to sit next to you and keep poking you all the way through the service.”  I know it might sound legalistic, but by my father’s example, I learned just how important it was for me to be in worship.  It is because of my Father’s example that my children are always in church.  Even if I wasn’t the Pastor, my children would be in church with me every week.  They would be in Sunday School while my wife and I attended Bible Study, and even if I wasn’t a Pastor, we would still be sending our children to the nearest WELS school we could find.  We would be doing this because my job as husband and father is to nurture my family in the word of God through my teaching, through my example, through my words, and through my actions. 

But why is this our responsibility?  Why is it important for us to lovingly cherish our wives like this?  Take a look at what Paul tells us in verses 32-33: “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:32–33, NIV84) 

It is so important for us to lovingly cherish our wives, because marriage is the sacred gift that the Lord God instituted between one man and one woman.  No matter what society might say, marriage is the gift that the Lord instituted between one man and one woman.  It is important for us to lovingly cherish our wives like this because just as our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, so also our marriages are a picture of Christ and his Church.  In the same way that Christ lovingly cherished his bride, the church, so also we, as husbands are called on to lovingly cherish our brides, the women whom the Lord has given to stand by our sides; the mothers of our children; the women who have agreed to marry us, the girls and women who have entered into a relationship with us as our girl-friends. 

So then, how do we do it?  How do we lovingly cherish our wives as God would have us do?  Let me give you 10 practical ways to lovingly cherish your wives as God would have you.  These come an audio CD by Pastor Paul Tsika.  Those of you who have gone through my pre-marriage course will recognize them: 

1)    Refuse to use harsh and condescending words when talking to her.

2)    Praise her before others, especially in front of your children. 

3)    Be attentive to her and what she is saying: Stop what you are doing, look into her eyes, and really listen, with your heart, to what she is saying to you. 

4)    Ask for and consider her counsel; she is your life partner. 

5)    Provide her with resources that she needs to fulfill her responsibilities. 

6)    Never embarrass her in front of others by exposing her weaknesses. 

7)    Dwell on positive qualities as much as possible. 

8)    Never allow children to talk disrespectfully to her. 

9)    Use kindness and gentleness in all your dealings with her. 

10) Attribute the best possible motives to her actions. 

 The last three come from me. 

1)     Get yourself a copy of The Five Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. 

2)     Read it and discover what your wife’s primary love language is. 

3)     Speak to her in her primary love language every single day. 

Laura’s primary love language is quality time, and every day, I make sure that I am in the kitchen with her while she is cooking supper.  I’m usually doing the dishes at that time so that we can have more quality time later.

The final thing that I have for you today on how to lovingly cherish your wife is really the first thing, and we will close with it.  Turn to the Lord in repentance for all your failings and has for his forgiveness.  Though it is not our normal practice, we will close our sermon today with our confession and God’s forgiveness.  Gentlemen, take out of your bulletins the ½ sheet insert and join me in repentant confession and forgiveness.  In this confession we will be confessing some very specific sins, like pornography.  Though we all struggle with different sins, let us all boldly confess each of these sins so that our joint confession might be a blessing and a source of strength for our brothers and even our sisters who are dealing with these specific sins.

P:        Let us confess our sins to the Lord God, our heaven Father,

P/C:           Almighty God, merciful Father, I, a troubled and repentant sinner, confess that I have sinned against you in my thoughts, my words, and my actions.  I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved others as I should; I have not lovingly cherished my wife as you would have me.  I have not selflessly loved her, nor have I loved her with self-sacrificing love.  I have committed adultery by lusting after others.  I have been tempted by pornography and allowed it to inspire other lusts in my mind.  I have not loved my wife as I love myself, nor have I always recognized or seized my position as the spiritual leader of my family.

Silence for personal confession.

P/C: I am troubled by my sins, and I renounce them before you.  I renounce my sins to you and seek to go and leave my life of sin.  Lord Jesus, I ask your forgiveness on each and every one of my sins; those I remember and those I do not.  I ask you to cleanse me of my sins, my body, my soul, and my spirit; my heart, my mind, and my will.  Send your Holy Spirit into my heart to assure me of your forgiveness and to help me receive the forgiveness that you so willingly pour out on me.  Help me amend my life and live as your dearly loved son, lovingly cherishing my wife as you lovingly cherished me and gave yourself up for me.

P:        Jesus says to his people; “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.”  His death has paid for the guilt of your sins, and indeed the sins of the entire world.  Go now and live in this forgiveness to the glory of our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

C:      Amen.

P:        And the peace of God, which comes through the forgiveness of sins, the peace that goes beyond all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds through faith in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Stand Firm in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10-20)

Dear friends in Christ.

Back in 1927, sculptor, Gutzon Borglum began carving the monument we all know today as Mt. Rushmore. Over a period of 14 years, he and many others blasted, excavated, chiseled and carved tons of rock to reveal the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Though he could have chosen any of our countries previous presidents, these four were chosen because they commemorated the founding, growth, preservation, and development of the United States. In fact, of all the presidents of our history, these are undoubtedly the presidents who are best known for how they stood firm in their beliefs and convictions to help make this nation the great nation it is today. Well, in the same way that these four men stood firm in their beliefs and convictions when their country needed them most, so also, the Apostle Paul is calling on you and me as Christians to stand firm in our beliefs and convictions as we stand firm in the Lord! In fact, standing firm in the Lord is the very thing that Paul is calling on us to do as he writes in our text this morning when he says, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground” (Ephesians 6:10-14).

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 was the goddess Diana. This was the goddess whose image was supposed to have fallen from heaven in a spectacular show of power, dedicating the city to her, and now that image that had been set up in the most prominent temple in the city was worshiped and relied upon by the people living in the city of Ephesus. Though the image itself was probably nothing more than a meteorite that had struck the ground in Ephesus, the people there were fanatical followers of Diana. 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 against as 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 working to lead us astray. He is looking for any opportunity he might find 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. 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.

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.

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 want’s 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 our 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.

Yes, it is true! 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: “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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:13-18).

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 the Lord 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.

In many ways, standing firm, is the very thing that the four men featured on Mt. Rushmore are best remembered for. As Christians, our goal is the same as we seek to stand firm in the Lord. May the Lord bless us as we do just that, stand firm in him, armed against the forces of evil and wielding the weapons of our God.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN