Dear
Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord
and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
St. Paul
has been discussing your walk with God but now he throws a curve, change
of course. He says that there is another way for you to look at
your life in Jesus. Your life is a battlefield. It is a
Revolutionary War of a different kind than we celebrate today on July
4th.
Immediately
upon your baptism and trusting Jesus you find yourself in a constant
struggle. You are in an unceasing fight, an unending war against
the chief of terrorism, Satan, himself. You are a combatant, a
Christian Soldier. There are foes within you and without you that
you must battle. From the cradle to the grave you will struggle
against the lusts of the flesh and the temptations offered by the world
and Satan. You will engage in this fight against a corruption that
leads to death - the day you die and are taken to your final peace with
God.
First,
your charge as a Christian soldier (6:10-11) “Finally,
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.”
Paul gives
this charge to the Christian, not the world. You must seriously
listen to what Paul says here. There is no other way for you to
stand up to the enemies of Jesus. Unless you heed this message you
will cave in to temptations and sins and end up walking through life
just as most everyone else does – not experiencing abundant and joyful
life, not experiencing God’s powerful presence, unsure of your future
here and unsure of your future after your death.
You are
called, charged to do two things as you walk your life of faith in
Jesus.
-
You
must be strong “in the Lord” and in
the power of His might. You must believe in the unlimited
power of Jesus for your life. You must rely on Him and not
your own strength. Your strength is in your being baptized
into a relationship with Jesus.
-
You
must put on the armor that God provides to protect you on your faith
journey. Once you are strong within “in
the Lord” then you must become strong without with God’s
armor. But this armor is worthless if your heart is not “in
the Lord.” You must have the heart of God to fight
the good fight.
Paul
emphasizes here that you must put on the whole armor of God – not
leaving anything out. If you do you will be vulnerable to being
wounded.
Second,
as a Christian Soldier your enemy is the devil and his strategies (6:11)
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can
take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
“schemes”
(methodei) means the deceit, craftiness, trickery, methods and
strategies which the devil uses to wage war against you. He will
do everything he can to deceive you and get you off the path God has for
you.
-
The
devil uses strategies that appeal to the lusts of your eyes.
Satan will see to it that something passes before your eyes to tempt
you – delicious food, attractive person, clothing, land, cars,
houses, position, authority, power, etc.
Satan will present something so appealing to your eye that you are
doomed unless you are clothed in the full armor of God for
protection.
-
Another
strategy the devil will use on you is to send false teachers your
way. They will be impressive, with charisma. They will
be clever and deceptive in their use of Scripture. They will
proclaim a righteousness other than that of Jesus. They will
promote self-righteousness: human goodness and works, ego and
self-image, personal development and growth, self-improvement and
correction.
Such messages may be received easily because they appeal to your
worldly nature. You must be on guard for such messages that
lead away from Jesus and the cross. They will only lead you
down a road of destruction.
Only as you are clothed with the full armor of God will you be able
to discern this danger.
Third,
your warfare as a Christian soldier is not human but spiritual (6:12)
“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.”
The Bible
commentator Kenneth Wuest has a descriptive picture of the spiritual
struggle you are in.
“In
the word ‘wrestle’
or ‘struggle’
(pale), Paul uses a Greek athletic term. Thayer defines as
follows: ‘a contest between two in
which each endeavors to throw the other, and which is decided when the
victor is able to press and hold down his prostate antagonist, namely,
hold him down with his hand upon his neck.’
When we consider that the loser in a Greek wrestling contest had his
eyes gouged out with resulting blindness for the rest of his days, we
can form some conception of the Ephesian Greek’s reaction to Paul’s
illustration. The Christian’s wrestling against the powers of
darkness is no less desperate and fateful.”
You can
have perfect eyesight in the world and yet be blind to the things of
God. That is exactly where Satan wants you. You need to know
five things.
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The
forces of evil are powerful forces.
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The
forces of evil are numerous.
-
The
forces of evil are apparently organized against you in government
and other civil processes.
-
The
forces of evil are the rulers of the darkness of this world.
They rule ignorance of the truth of God.
-
The
forces of evil are spiritual forces of wickedness. They chase
after you on your faith journey. They seek to capture your
spirit away from God.
Think
for a moment about all the wickedness in the world that seeks to draw
you away from God: division, prejudice, favoritism, anger, hate, pride,
war, killing, arguing, selfishness, immorality, arrogance, stealing,
lying, cursing, bitterness, etc.
The
evil of humankind consumes the news media every day. Do we not
know better? Could we not then change the world? Yes, we
could but why don’t we? Because there is an evil spiritual force
present in our world that is very powerful. It has access to
people’s lives, your life, and it can make you do ungodly things.
Your only hope, anyone’s only hope, is to put on the whole armor of
God to be able to stand against such an onslaught. Are you walking
your faith journey fully armed with God’s armor?
Fourth,
your duty as a Christian soldier is to take on the whole armor of God
(6:13) “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.”
Paul again
stresses your need for the full armor of God. It is essential for
you. Why? Because of the “day of
evil.” What is the “day of
evil?”
-
It
refers to the onslaught of evil that is in the world today.
-
It
refers to any day – to the evil attacks of the moment upon your
life.
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It
refers to the day of unusual temptation and trial upon your life.
You must
withstand the day of evil whenever it comes against you. It is
your duty as God’s child, warrior, soldier in the world. But the
only way to stand is to have done your duty of putting on the full armor
of God.
You are in a life and death
struggle. You have been chosen for God’s Army. Prepare
yourself for battle. Lift high the cross and march forward with
the power of the love of God through Jesus, the Christ. Confront
evil with good. Confront evil with God.
Heavenly Father, we often do
not take our warfare seriously. We get complacent. We
don’t prepare ourselves with Your full armor and then we blame You
when the battle is lost. Forgive us of our disobedience that puts
us in danger and leads to defeat. Forgive us and cloth us with
Your full protection.
In
Jesus' name, Amen.
