...fight the good fight...

“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; 11 put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 12 for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness 15 and lace up your sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench 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.” Ephesians 6:10-17.

Dear friends, spiritual warfare is a fact for everyone, whether you want to admit it or not, and we all deal with this differently. We all go through difficult spiritual times in our life, and sometimes we just jettison God from our lives, sometimes blaming God for our difficulties in life. We diminish the meaning or existence of God, and decide instead to fend for ourselves in bad times. What I believe is required again and again as Christians face the daily and yearly battles in life, is a sober, realistic assessment both of the struggle we are engaged in and the weapons at our disposal. We find it hard to forgive people, to pray regularly, to resist temptation, to learn more about our faith. And sometimes, as far as we’re concerned that’s the end of it. We resist thinking that our struggles in life might be part of a larger campaign.

Look, when we go through difficult times, we all need to know that something is going on, and that our struggles are part of something larger.

In this passage, Paul talks about the “tools” God gives us to fight the battles of life, rather than walk away from them and give top on God. The belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield and the helmet, are all defensive weapons to enable us to remain safe under attack. Only the sword is an offensive weapon that has a potentially attacking capability.

First, the belt is the truth which holds everything else together and in place. The primary thing about the Christian message — and Jesus Christ — is that it is true; if it isn’t, it’s meaningless. It isn’t true because it works; it works because it’s true. Never give up on the sheer truth of the Gospel — who is Jesus Christ! The TRUTH is like the belt!

Second, is the breastplate, and this protects us from a frontal attack of Satan. The breastplate represents “justice”, or “righteousness”. This isn’t just being a “virtuous person”, although that is important. But “virtue” is the fact that the one true God is the one true judge, and God intends to put the whole world in the right relationship with God. Now this process of “vindication” already began when God “vindicated” Jesus — or made Jesus “righteous” — by raising Jesus from the dead. And this “vindication” — or “justification” — of Jesus  — whom we decided to kill, but whom God raised from the dead — is what made us vindicated or justified in Jesus Christ. The fundamental justice and goodness of God, and the status that Christians have of being “in the right relationship with God”, is like a breastplate, Paul says, protecting us against the frontal attacks of Satan. So Paul is telling us that the breastplate of god is Jesus Christ, whose Holy Spirit protects us from undoing what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ!

Third, is the “gospel of peace” – the message, that is, of peace with God and peace between the many different temptations of Satan. The Satanic enemy will do all he can to knock us off our feet. Holding fast to this message of peace — who is Jesus Christ — will make you ready, like good shoes or boots would do, to stand upright before God.

Fourth, is the shield of faith. Belief — or faith — in Jesus as the Risen Lord, and our daily loyalty to Jesus Christ, will protect us when the enemy, Satan, fires his flaming arrows at us. The arrows may take the form of doubt or despair; or adverse circumstances; or familiar, repeated temptations that will burn us up if we allow them to catch fire in us again; of personal tragedy; or the kinds of triumphs that tempt us to arrogance and pride. Believing loyalty to Jesus Christ will extinguish the flames of temptation and sin.

Fifth, is Paul’s helmet of salvation. This helmet is our assurance, our certainty, that we already belong to the family of the Risen Jesus Christ, and that we have already been rescued from the ultimate enemy, from Satan himself. Paul warns us to wear this helmet at all times.

Then Paul leaves us with the one offensive weapon — the sword of the Holy Spirit of God, which is the Word of God. The “Word” is clearly the same as the “Word” of the Gospel — both Old and New — through which God accomplishes His powerful, merciful, and cleansing work in all of our hearts and lives. Paul sees life as a battle. What, then, is the battle? Who is fighting against us? And what are we to do about it? Paul is clearly telling us in this passage that the forces of the evil Satan, the evil force that put Jesus on the cross, is the battle we face every day. But Paul also says that this battle has been seriously upset through the victory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, wear your belt and breastplate, live your life by reading and following the Gospel of Jesus Christ, hold onto your shield of faith and trust in God, and wear your hemet of salvation. Always, always, be a person of the Word, who is your sword, the power of the Holy Spirit alive in you!

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

Open my heart every day to reading

and thinking deeply about Your Holy Word in the Bible.

Protect me from the power of Satan’s temptations.

Change my thoughts to Your thoughts.

And this I pray in Your Holy name, Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.