The Devil is Your Enemy, but God is Your Ally!
Twenty-First Sunday After Trinity
Ephesians 6:10–17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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.
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (ESV)
Prayer: Almighty and most merciful God, whose name is a strong tower, into which the righteous runs and is safe, we humbly ask You, lift up the standard of Your Spirit against the power of the enemy coming in upon us like a flood, and clothe us with the full armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, that we may be able to fight the good fight of faith and so finish our course with joy in the great Day when Christ, the righteous Judge, shall appear, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, now and forever. Amen.
Dear Friends in Christ,
“Pastor, why is the devil always after us?” This is a great question we sometimes have because it feels like we haven’t done anything to the devil. We haven’t stolen anything from him; we haven’t harmed him in any way. So, why is he always tormenting us and tempting us? Well, unfortunately I have bad news for you—the devil just doesn’t like you. In fact, it is much worse than that. The devil hates God. Soon after God created the world, Satan rebelled against God and fought against everything he stands for. He attacks and tries to destroy everything God cares for. That’s how it carries over to us. We learn in Paul’s letter to Timothy, “[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4).
Since God desires all men to be saved, the devil wants just the opposite. So, why does the devil work so hard on us even though we feel like we haven’t done anything to deserve it? It’s because he hates God and so he hates you too. That’s the bad news. But the good news, is that if the devil is your enemy, that means God is your ally! And the true God, who created all things and brought everything in being, who lovingly sent his Son to save us, is the one we want as our friend and ally.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is filled with some of the worst news and some of the best news. In Ephesians, Paul tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sins. We deserve hell for our sins. However, God showed mercy! We couldn’t save our ourselves and so God saved us by his grace and has made us alive with Christ. He has called us to a new life in him, but this life also has other dangers. Paul tells us, “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.”
The real battle we are in is not against flesh and blood—your pesky neighbor, the crooked politician, or an enemy country. You are in a battle against the devil who wants you in hell. Yet it’s easy for us to forget this because there are a lot of things going on in our life. We have families, jobs, and other important obligations. We can get so focused on life that we forget we are in a battle. We are also tempted to take God’s warnings lightly. During this political season, one of the most uplifting times of year, I receive flyers and have ads pop up on my computer all the time. They are not ads telling me what politicians care about, plan to build, or what they will try to promote, but all about what evils their opponents will do. If you vote for him or her, then your social security will be ripped away and criminals will come into your home. The warnings are so extreme that you’re tempted to ignore them altogether. I’m sure a lot of people do.
But that’s not how we should react to God’s warnings. Scripture says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). Wouldn’t the devil like us to treat the Lord’s warning as a little over the top? Wouldn’t the devil love us to think, that we aren’t as in much danger as God says? Of course he would. The devil doesn’t want us to think of our struggles as spiritual battles, because then we lower our defenses. Let me give you a couple of examples.
Say you are in church—hopefully, this isn’t too hard to imagine. You’re talking with one of your fellow Christians and they say something or do something that annoys you. You think, “That person’s hard to get along with. They aren’t very thoughtful. They are a pain! I’m going to try to avoid them.” Just think about how many divisions the devil brings into the church over silly things. He loves this because it makes us think of other people as the enemy rather than him, and it creates pride and a loveless attitude in our hearts. You do not wrestle against human beings—your fellow Christians—your enemy is the devil. If you realize this, you will be more likely to pray about it and put the best construction on everything.
It could be financial troubles. It’s through common everyday struggles like this where the devil is trying to get you to doubt God’s goodness or get fixated on the things of this world. We are tempted to think that these types of challenges—whether that be financial troubles, sickness, etc.—are just neutral things, but they’re not.
Another example would be if you’re being bullied or picked on. When this happens to someone, they might become angry and depressed, disengaged and self-conscious about everything. While the bully might be a human, the devil is trying to use the bully to drive the other person to despair. Especially, if someone is mistreated by Christians, he uses that to drive them away from the faith—to create a wedge. This is why Christians, more than anyone, need to be thoughtful about their conduct.
These are all spiritual battles—they are opportunities the devil is using to drive us away from Christ. When something bad happens to you, you start a bad habit, or when a conflict comes up, our first thought isn’t usually, “This is a spiritual battle,” but it probably should be. When we are unaware, we are unarmed. We are the most vulnerable. When we ignore Paul’s warning, we get beat. We sin. But not Jesus.
God knew you could not beat the devil, which is why he sent his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus never lost sight of the battle. He knew that his perfect obedience was needed to fulfill the law in your place. He placed love for God and man above all else. When tempted by Satan, he wielded the Word of God perfectly, responding to the devil’s temptations, “It is written!” So that you and I would not be in bondage in hell for our sins, he laid down his life on the cross for all people. The devil cannot accuse us of sins because Jesus took them away on the cross. Even though Jesus died, he lives. By rising from the dead on the third day, Jesus shows that he has won the victory. And that is why Paul tells us to stand in him!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” We have no strength in ourselves, “Our help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121). We are strong only in the Lord! Martin Luther writes in the great Reformation hymn, “Stood we alone in our own might, Our striving would be losing; For us the one true Man doth fight, The Man of God’s own choosing. Who is this chosen One? ‘Tis Jesus Christ, the Son, The Lord of hosts, ‘tis He Who wins the victory In every field of battle” (ELH 251:2). When we stand in the strength of his might, we stand securely. The devil’s goal is to get us in hell. If we fought him on our own, we should despair. Because we can’t save ourselves from our sins—“Our striving would be losing.” But by the Father’s grace, he sent One whose striving would not be in vain. Our Lord Jesus defeated the devil by paying for the sins of the world—yours and mine. No more can Satan accuse you—your sins are forgiven and the victory is assured. It is finished!
The war has been won but the battle continues until we see our Lord face to face. So, Paul encourages us, “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” As Paul sat in prison, he was guarded by Roman soldiers, and he uses their impressive armor to illustrate the armor of God. He starts with the belt or girdle of truth. This girdle was larger than our belts and protected the soldier’s most vulnerable parts of the body from the sword thrust, while also keeping his armor in place and supporting the sword. As Christians, we are protected and supported by God’s truth revealed in Christ and his faithful Word. Our breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness from God which is ours by faith. Every soldier needed good shoes to help their footing, but what is ours? The gospel of peace. Here lies a paradox: that the gospel of peace equips us for battle.
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Paul has in mind here not a small round shield, but the scutum, which was four feet long and two and a half feet wide. When the soldier was in battle stance, it protected their entire body. The shield of faith is God’s gift that apprehends salvation, receives the forgiveness of sins, gives us access to God, and quenches the arrows of Satan’s accusations. Our head is adorned with the helmet of salvation. When a Christian faces the attacks of the devil and the world, the helmet of salvation protects us and helps us hold up our head with confidence and joy. All the armor so far is defensive. But how foolish is it to think of a soldier without a weapon? How ridiculous to picture the Christian without one—especially, because he has one. The sword of the Spirit is made and given by the Spirit. It is the powerful word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the same Word that Jesus used to fight against the devil’s temptations in the wilderness, and it is our best weapon as well.
When soldiers train for battle, they undergo intense training: physical exercise, practicing military maneuvers and combat scenarios, and battle strategy. What’s interesting, is that Christians are equipped and strengthened, not by intense training, but by resting in God’s grace and mercy. God preps us for battle when we are armed in the waters of holy baptism, where we are made children of God. God puts his armor on you when you hear the Gospel and he creates faith, when you hear his Word preached, read the Bible and have family devotions, confess your sins and hear the absolution, and come to the Lord’s Supper. As you live in this world, you face our own challenges and fights with the devil, sometimes you get beat, but then you confess your sins and are given new life in Christ’s forgiveness. This goes on until our King returns and calls us home, but until then, God wants you to remember you are in a battle. The devil hates you, but you have no need to despair or be worried, because God is your ally. He defeated Satan on the cross so that you could share his victory with him forever in heaven. So be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Amen.