Tag Archives: Armor

Alert, Awake, & Armored – Sermon on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

At Your Strongest – Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-20 for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 6:10-20

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. 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, 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.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I love this text. I’ve always loved this text, but younger me really loved this text – however, for the wrong reasons. All this talk about strength, might, armor, wrestling, and facing powerful, cosmic enemies – it gets a guy’s juices flowing. It brings out the fighter and warrior in a man. Sorry if that doesn’t resonate as much with you ladies and mothers here. Maybe, you gals will need to calm down and restrain your husbands and sons and brothers after the service, so they don’t march off to conquer Manitoba or something.

The passage tells us about a war that surrounds us every moment of every day. And it’s good that it does because we would be completely unaware of this war unless Scripture told us about it. Being oblivious to a war that surrounds you is not good. The reason we would be ignorant of this war is that it isn’t a war that we can see. As we confessed in the creed earlier, we “believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and [maker] of all things visible and invisible.”

Today, we heard how in six days God created everything we can see (Gen. 1:1-2:3), but God also created things we cannot see (Col. 1:16). And, dear saints, the enemy in the war that surrounds you is in that invisible part of God’s creation. In fact, none of your enemies exist in the visible part of creation. You do not – I repeat you do not – wrestle against flesh and blood. Instead, you wrestle against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). And some of you men out there are thinking, “Cool, an invisible enemy! That’ll make our victory even more impressive!”

Calm down, guys. And take heart, ladies. Because, while this text is about fighting in an invisible war against an unseeable enemy, the battle plan is straightforward and simple.

Before we can even dive into that battle plan, we have to understand where this invisible war is taking place. To be ready for battle, you have to know the battlefield. And one of the ways our enemy has made us unprepared for battle is taking this text out of its context. You might be very familiar with this text, but do you know what comes immediately before it? Maybe. But, I’ll admit, that even as your pastor and as someone who gets paid to study and teach the Scriptures, I find it easy to forget the context.

The context starts back in Eph. 5:22. Paul has been laying out the callings and duties for Christians in their vocations. Christian wives are to submit to their husbands. Christian husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. Christian children are to obey their parents. Christian parents are do bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And so on. It’s in that context that this passage about spiritual warfare falls.

In other words, you, Christian, need recognize that the battle described here is occurring in your everyday callings, vocations, and relationships. It’s there that you need God’s strength. It’s there that you need God’s armor because that’s where the devil and demons are attacking. They are attacking both you and those around you. Your daily life is the battlefield.

You husbands, wives, parents, and grandparents. The war is happening as you earn a living, as you keep the house, as you shuttle kids around. You kids, as you go to school, as you do your homework and chores, as you interact with your friends, the battle is taking place there.

There are two points I want to make sure you take away from this sermon, and this is the first. So, listen up: There is a spiritual war raging all around you every moment of every day, and you need to be strong and aware all the time. And that leads to right into the second point: You are at your strongest and are completely prepared for this war when you stand in the Lord’s strength and in the armor that He provides.

Right off the bat (Eph. 6:10), you are told, “be strong in the Lord.” Almost all of the popular versions of the Bible will read that way, and I understand why it’s translated that way. It’s a fine translation. But the verb there “be strong” is passive. When it’s only translated, “be strong,” you might start wondering how you go about becoming or making yourself strong.

I wish our translations read, “be strengthened in the Lord, in His mighty strength.” The text is clear. God is the One who makes you strong (Php. 4:13). Earlier in Eph. 3:16-17, Paul says that, according to the riches of His glory, God Himself grants you to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit so that Christ dwells in your heart through faith.

Not only does God make you strong, He also clothes you in His armor. You have the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of the Gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. All of that, God’s strength and God’s armor, it all comes from God’s Word. God’s Word is truth (Jn. 17:17). Christ’s righteousness is given through the Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Gospel is only revealed in the Bible. Faith is given through God’s Word (Ro. 10:17). The Scriptures are what make you wise to salvation (2 Tim. 3:15; Jam. 1:21).

Strengthened by God and armed with and by His Word, you are prepared for this war. But you still might wonder, “Am I properly trained for the war? What are my duties?” Well, you aren’t told to march off to war. You also aren’t told to retreat. Instead, four times in this text, you are told what your assignment is in the battle. You are to stand (Eph. 6:11, 13-14). The picture Paul is giving is that you are a particular kind of soldier – a sentry, who stands guard over the kingdom.

The picture of this passage is this: Christian, you are God’s soldier. As God’s soldier, your responsibilities are simple. You are a sentry who guards the holy ground of God’s kingdom. And God has placed you in a particular place – where no one else is stationed. You are there to watch and to pray. In other words, when the enemy attacks, you are not supposed to go off and fight alone. No. Instead, you stay in your post. You stand in God’s strength and in the protection of His armor. And you pray. With that prayer, you call in the reinforcements of the Lord’s army.

When you see the war raging around your spouse, your children, your parents, or any neighbor – stand your ground, man your post, and pray. You, dear saints, stand in the Lord’s strength and protection. And when the battle gets in close, take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Wield that sword against the devil, and he will flee.

Psalm 35 opens with a beautiful prayer for you to use in the battle. “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! O Lord, take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” Christ Himself is the One leads the charge against your enemies, and He turns over His shoulder to remind you that He is your salvation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Php. 4:7). Amen.

The Last State – Sermon on Luke 11:14-28 for the Third Sunday in Lent

Listen here.
[Apologies for the poor quality of this recording, we had some known technical issues.]

Luke 11:14-28

14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

These first few Sundays in Lent have a strong focus on spiritual warfare. And here Jesus is teaching us very pointedly that there is no neutral ground spiritually – there is no spiritual Switzerland. Christ says, “Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.”In other words, if you are not in league with Jesus and fighting againstthe devil, you are fighting with the devil.

To strengthen and encourage us in the battle, Jesus tells two short parables in this text. The first parable (in v. 21-22) describes the new reality in this world. And we have to understand this first parable because it lets us know the playing field. Jesus says, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides the spoil.”

We heard about the Fall a few weeks ago. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world by rebelling against God and believing the devil rather than their Creator. When Adam and Eve fell, the devil entered his palace and the kingdom of darkness began. Satan now owned them and everyone who would be born from them – that is all of us. The armor of the devil that Jesus talks about is our sin, our guilt, and our shame. And, according to Jesus, the devil trusts in that armor. Satan thinks that because your sin and guilt is so great that he is immune from invasion and attack. He thinks his palace is impenetrable and that you are safely in his possession forever.

But Satan is wrong. Jesus, the stronger man, has stormed the devil’s castle. Christ attacked him and overcome him. Your Savior has taken away the armor that the devil thought protected him, what the devil trusted, what he thought would always be there – this is the most important part of the parable. Jesus has removed your sin, guilt, and shame which was the devil’s armor. And the devil is now weak and extremely vulnerable.

But the spiritual battle is still ongoing. The demons are defeated but they still fight against us even though they have no power and no armor. And this is what Jesus addresses in the second parable (v. 24-26). Jesus says that when a demon has gone out of a person – in other words, when someone becomes a Christian, when a person is Baptized, when they are given the gift of faith in Christ and have the Holy Spirit – that demon passes through waterless places seeking rest because it has been expelled. The demon doesn’t like that. The demon would rather be connected to that person.

Now, I need to make a quick distinction between demon possession and demon oppression. In the Gospels, we often see people who are actually possessed by demons. In cases of demonic possession, demons live inside that person and can make them mute (like in this text), throw people into fires (Mk. 9:22), or cut themselves and make them live among the tombs (Mk. 5:2-5). That is demonic possession. But just because someone isn’t possessed by a demon does not mean that they are not influenced or oppressed by demons. The main point is that you are either going to be influenced by a demon or the Holy Spirit.

So, most of you became Christians when you were baptized. The Holy Spirit came and removed the demons and their oppression from you. And those demons wander around seeking rest, but they find none. So, they come back to you, the house from which they were cast out. If that demon finds you swept and put in order, it will come back and bring seven more demons even more evil than itself and the last state is worse than the first.

So, here is the picture Jesus gives, Christian. When you came to faith, Christ drove the demons away from you, but those demons have had their eye on you ever since. They have been watching you to seek reentry. If the demon comes back and finds your house clean and (as Jesus says in the same context in Mt. 12:44) empty, it moves back in and throws an evil, sinister party, and again the last state is worse than the first.

Remember, you are either with Jesus or with the devil and demons. There is no neutral ground. Christian, as you live out your faith and devote yourself to God’s Word, Satan and the demons have no power over you. Jesus, the stronger man is with you. The Holy Spirit has filled you and the demons cannot stand the presence of His holiness. But, if you stop filling yourself with God’s Word, if you neglect the work of the Holy Spirit, you can evict Him. You can fall away. Beware and repent.

The most effective strategy, in fact the only strategy, the devil has against you is to make you think that you don’t need Jesus and His blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins. And the way that the devil does this is to harden your conscience against God’s Word. So, guard your conscience, and actively work to soften your conscience so that when you hear God’s Word, you are driven to your Savior’s mercy and grace.

Let me give you an analogy to make this point. The last few weeks, we’ve finally had temperatures above freezing. Compared to the temperatures that we had in January and February what were in the -20’s, it feels really nice. So now, when the thermometer hits 38°, our bodies are ready go out without coats, or at least much lighter coats. In the Spring 38° is glorious. But when August comes and we are used to the heat of summer, 38° makes bodies feel bitterly cold. Your conscience is similar.

Imagine each of the Commandments as a thermometer, and for this example, let’s take the 5thCommandment, “Thou shalt not murder.” Instead of numbers marking the side of the 5thCommandment thermometer, there are different sins that all fall under the 5thCommandment. Way up at the top you have a mark for genocide. A little blow that is a mark for mass murder. A little below that you have a mark for murder, then punching. And because Jesus teaches us that hatred for our neighbor is the same as murder (Mt. 5:21-22) you have a mark for that way down toward the bottom. You get the idea?

Now, all of those sins – from genocide all the way down to anger – all of them make us guilty before God. We need the shed blood of Jesus to cover all of those sins, and know, Christian, that you have that. But you still have to fight against your sinful nature in this life.

So, just think with me here, where does your conscience register on the 5thCommandment thermometer? Maybe, you are somewhere between the marks of punching and anger. The devil and the demons are at work tempting you to harden your conscience. But they don’t tempt you straight to commit genocide. Instead, they tempt you just a little higher than you already are. They tempt you to more anger. They tempt you to punching and violence. And once they have you there, they tempt you to harden yourself a little more, to go up another little step. And they do this with all the Commandments – with adultery and lust, with stealing, and lying.

But you, Christian, you need to be constantly working to soften your conscience. Let me switch to the 3rdCommandment about keeping the Sabbath holy. You’re a Christian, so going to church is simply what you do each Sunday morning. The devil isn’t going to come straight at you and say that going to church isn’t important at all. Instead, the devil will work like this:

Let’s say that one Sunday you were very legitimately sick, so you don’t go to church, but you feel bad about it in your conscience. The devil is right there telling you, “You don’t need to feel bad. You were sick, and it’s better to not risk getting other people sick. So, don’t feel bad. You listened to the sermon later, and it was boring anyway.” And so, you decide to put that little feeling of guilt and loss away. The devil has just hardened you a little bit. So, when a couple of months go by, and you wake up with a headache – something that isn’t going to get passed around to anyone else – the devil will tempt you to skip church again. A little more hardened. Then, you have that family reunion and nothing bad happened when you skipped church because of your headache – God didn’t send a bolt of lightning to smite you. And the Bible says that family is important, so you skip for that. Hardened again. The devil’s goal is to make going to church seem like one option among many options so that being in God’s house becomes nothing more than a matter of choice so that your last state is worse than the first.

Repent. Now, I do have to say that it’s not as though you should carry around guilt for missing church when you have the flu and try to do penance or something like that. No. Jesus loves you. He has disarmed the devil. He has removed your guilt, and Christ forgives you all of your sin. He remembers your sin no more. What I am saying is this: don’t give the devil a foothold. Resist his temptations to harden your conscience.

You do that by memorizing the Ten Commandments and meditating on them. Consider each of them and what Jesus says about them in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). In this way, your house, which is your heart, does not remain empty. Rather you are filled with the Holy Spirit through the study, consideration, and meditation of God’s Word. In this way, may your last state be better than the first. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.