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September 21, 2003
15th Sunday of Pentecost
Ephesians 6:10-18
Pastor Robert Raasch

Let the Lord Make You Strong

1. Strong Against the Forces of Evil
2. Strong in the Armor of God

Can I ask you, what are you wrestling with these days? No, I don't mean which writhing toddler are you trying to hang on to or which fellow athlete are you trying to pin to the ground. I'm not talking about what physical struggles you may be engaged in. I'm talking about spiritual struggles. The Bible says that as long as a person is a Christian, he or she is going to be involved in spiritual wrestling matches. There will be the struggle to avoid temptation, the struggle to display Christian attitudes, the struggle to be more Christ-like in our behavior.

I expect that we could all come up with something we've been wrestling with, whether it's the desire to be a better parent, or a more loving spouse. Whether it's trying hard not to worry so much or trying to maintain a relationship that is sexually pure. Or maybe it's that ongoing struggle to actually talk to people about our faith in Jesus.

My friends, if you've ever felt worn down by these kinds of spiritual struggles in your life; if you've ever thought, "Man, I'm not sure I can live the kind of life God wants me to live: if you feel like you need to have your spiritual batteries recharged, well then, take heart, because here in his Word, God offers exactly the encouragement we need to hear. Here, God's inspired Apostle Paul says, Christian:

Let the Lord Make You Strong

1. Strong Against the Forces of Evil
2. Strong in the Armor of God

Of course, this whole idea of being in a spiritual wrestling match begs the question, "And exactly whom are we wrestling against?" Paul answers that when he says, "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." In other words, this fight that we are engaged in is not against other human beings. We're not going against Saddam Hussein. Or Osama bin Laden. We're not fighting against an Islamic Jihad. We're not even going against the Minnesota Vikings. No, we're fighting against Satan. And that means that the battle is not going to be waged out there somewhere on a desert battlefield or on city streets. It's going to be waged right here in our hearts and minds. Here's where the real wrestling match occurs.

Think about the toughest battles you have ever faced in life. Chances are, it wasn't some knock-down drag-out fistfight in a local biker bar. But you may have had to desperately fight the urge to have one more drink or follow that the guy home to his apartment. That was the real spiritual struggle. And chances are, you've never been arrested for taking a baseball bat to your neighbor's BMW, but you've maybe had to fight desperately hard the temptation to envy all the toys that guy has sitting in his driveway.

And you may not ever come right out and hit your child, or your parent, but you may need to fight with all your might the desire to do that. You may have to just chomp on your lip so that you don't say something you'll later regret.

Let's face it, these are the real battles we face. Battles that are not against flesh and blood, but rather, battles against Satan's temptations. Temptations to disobey God's commandments, temptations to abuse our bodies, mistreat our loved ones, and trust ourselves rather than trust our God. With each one of these temptations, Satan is desperately working to pull us away from God and drag us straight to hell. And make no mistake about it. He can do it. Satan is no pansy. He is the ruler of the powers, the authorities and the spiritual forces of this dark work. Those are all words which underscore Satan's strength-and they explain why you and I can get awfully tired fighting against him.

Now, question is, how do we overcome Satan's temptations? There are some who would say, "Well you have to fight harder, you have to be stronger, you have to work harder." In fact, they might even use this passage to support their claim. I mean, doesn't Paul say that you have to "Be strong in the Lord"?

Actually, that's not entirely accurate. The word that Paul uses here is actually a passive verb. A more literal translation than "Be strong" would be, "Be strengthened." In other words, the focus is not on us being strong. The focus is on someone else making us strong. We need to understand that in and of ourselves we are hopelessly weak. By ourselves, we are absolutely unable to resist the Devil's temptations.

So, that means that if we are going to have any hope of accomplishing what God intends us to be and do, then God is the one who's going to have to make it happen. He is the one who must be our strength. He is the only one who can truly equip us for the task at hand. In fact, that's the whole point of this portion of Scripture. The focus is not on what we must do to win the battles. The focus is on the armor that God has given, which allows us to be victorious. So let's turn our attention to that armor of God. Let's let the Lord make us II. Strong in His Armor.

Paul writes, "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…." Notice two things about that statement. First, Paul uses the term "full armor of God" The Roman foot soldier was not properly prepared for battle until he put all of his armor on. He wouldn't go running into battle wearing only his boots and his skivvies. No, he put on every piece of armor. They all fit together to provide him the maximum protection possible. So it is with the armor of God. We aren't doing ourselves any favors by taking the attitude, "Let's see, I'll take one of those but not one of those. I'll wear the helmet of salvation, but not carry the sword of the Spirit." No, if we want to be victorious in the spiritual battles we face, we need to use every piece of equipment God gives us.

Secondly, notice that Paul says that we are to "put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able take your stand." Do you catch the implication of Paul's words? He seems to be saying that there are going to be some days that are more evil, much more spiritually trying than others. And yet, because we never know when those days are going to come, we need to put on the armor of God every single day. We can never let down our guard.

I don't know about you, but that's a lesson I need to keep learning, again and again and again. I mean, it's easy for me to think, "Oh yeah, I've pretty well got that sin stamped out of my life. I don't see myself falling into that behavior any more. I'm sure I'll be able to defend myself from taking on that attitude. And what happens? I start trusting in my own moral strength. I set aside the armor of God, because I think I don't really need it in this situation and then, WHAM! I'm blindsided by the Devil and find myself hip deep in sin again.

Kind of reminds me of our soldiers fighting in Iraq. Those fellas dare never let down their guard. For about the time they take off their helmets and say that they've got the war won, the sniper fire erupts or another roadside bomb goes off. What a violent reminder that when there is a war going on, soldiers had better keep their armor on, whether we're talking soldiers of war or soldiers of the cross.

But now, let's take a little closer look at the armor that God has given us to wear. In this section St. Paul basically takes the various pieces of armor which the Roman army required of their foot soldiers and applies it to our spiritual lives. Paul begins, "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist." For the Roman soldier, this belt was not a little narrow thing that holds up your trousers. It was a thick, wide strap, almost a girdle, which served as the anchor point for the breastplate and the sword. It served to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body from the thrust of the enemy's sword. What is the anchor of our spiritual armor? Paul says that it is the belt of Truth. And Jesus says, Father, "Your word is truth." Here's the foundation for all of God's spiritual armor. God's inspired, inerrant, all sufficient Word of Truth.

Next, Paul says, put on the "breastplate of righteousness." Paul is not referring to the breastplate of our own righteousness, our own innate goodness. He's referring to Christ's righteousness, that holiness which is ours as a free gift through faith in Jesus. It's Christ's righteousness which allows us to stand, protected from the wrath of God and protected from the accusations of Satan.

The next piece of armor: Paul says, "Stand firm…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." Roman soldiers needed footwear that was both strong and light so that they could march for miles under the direction of their commander. What is it that allows us to walk in the path of our spiritual commander? It's the gospel-that precious good news that God has forgiven all of our sins in Christ, which in turn puts our hearts at peace and motivates us to live our lives to his glory.

Paul continues, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." The shield that Paul refers to here is not the little round metal disk that you sometimes see soldiers carrying. No, Paul is referring to a kind of shield that looked more like a door, with sheets of leather and wood bound in an iron frame. A soldier could crouch behind such a shield and be fully protected from the onslaught of enemy arrows. In fact, sometimes soldiers would soak their shields in water so that even the flaming arrows would be immediately extinguished.

Well, what is it that extinguishes the flaming arrows that Satan shoots at us? You know the ones, those doubts, those fears, those questions like, "Do you think that God really cares about what you're going through? Do you think he'll ever forgive you for what you did? Are you really sure that God will make all this work for your good?"-What is it that quenches all those burning questions? Isn't it faith? Faith in God and his promises. Faith that is not something that we've worked in our own hearts, but faith which God works in our hearts through the means of grace. That's the spiritual shield that Paul is referring to.

There are two more pieces of equipment. First, there's "the helmet of salvation." Just as surely as the helmet was a vital piece of the defensive equipment for a Roman soldier, so also our salvation is a vital piece of equipment for us. I mean, just being able to say, "Satan, I know where I'm going when I die. I know that I have been saved. I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. You have no power over me." There's a great defense against the Evil One and his accusations against us.

Finally, Paul says, "Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Just as every soldier needs at least one offensive weapon, so do we. And here it is: the Word of God. Jesus used passages from the Bible to beat back the temptations of Satan in the desert, and we can use the same powerful word of God to do the same thing in our lives.

My friends, as you look at all this armor that Paul describes for us, did you notice it all represents things that God gives to us or things that God does for us? There is nothing we can do to defeat the forces of evil in our world or in our hearts. But God can. And he has-on the Cross of Calvary. When Jesus cried out, "It is finished," he took away the guilt of your sin forever. He made you a new man and a new woman created in the image of God. Now in Christ, God gives you the power to say no to sin. He gives you the strength to replace the bad habits with good ones, and the bad attitudes with ones pleasing to God. But the strength is not yours. It's his. Trust him. Lean on him. And know that in him, the ultimate victory is yours. For in that way, by God's grace, you will be, as Paul puts it, "strong in the Lord and his mighty power." Amen.