Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:10-11

This is the last in my sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. I have been looking at this letter together for the past six or seven Sundays, and this is it. This is Paul’s final exhortation at the end of this letter. And this will be my final sermon on this fantastic letter, at least for the time being. 

The end of this letter makes me think about how this letter would have first been received. When Paul wrote letters to these different churches, he anticipated these letters being read during the worship service at their Church on a Sunday morning. Many of the church members would not have been literate, and this would have been the only way that they could receive this letter. So someone would likely stand up and read this letter as part of their worship. 

Paul was revered by these churches, and his words would have been listened to intently. And with this letter in particular, I can imagine Paul ending this letter knowing how it would have been shared. It ends, you might say, with a pep talk – a final exhortation from the general before sending the troops to battle, a final speech in the locker room before heading out to the ball field, final words from one’s parents before you are dropped off at college. 

Finally, Paul says make sure you do these things, which I will be looking at in just a moment. And then, after hearing these words, the church members in Ephesus would have been ready to go back out into the world – to win the battle, and live faithfully for Christ. So with that in mind, let’s look at the battle that Paul envisions, and let’s look at how he invites us to prepare to engage in this battle. 

The Wiles of the Devil

And the first thing to notice in this passage is that the battle is a cosmic one. 

“Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against … the cosmic powers of this present darkness.”

Now, unless we believe in evil, and in some concept of the devil, this passage will not make any sense. In fact, I believe that the gospels, and the New Testament in overall, do not make sense unless we believe in evil and in some concept of the devil. As C.S. Lewis wisely reminded us, the two mistakes that we can make with respect to the devil is either to not believe in him or to pay too much attention to him. 

So, let’s not make those mistakes in this sermon. Let’s read Paul’s words with the conviction that evil, and even the devil, are very real. But let’s not pay too much attention to that, but instead on Paul’s words on how to fight this cosmic battle. 

How do we battle against evil in the world, and against the wiles of the devil? That is what Paul is addressing at the end of this letter, in today’s second reading. He is getting us ready to engage in the most battle of our life, the battle against evil in our world. 

So, how do we do that? By dressing for success, metaphorically speaking. Paul is going to use the wardrobe of a warrior to show us how to get ready for this battle. And each piece of this wardrobe is going to be necessary if we are to succeed. 

The Armor of God

The first piece of this wardrobe is the very armor of God. Paul begins this passage by telling us to: 

“Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God.” 

Our strength against Satan and all of his spiritual forces is found in the Lord. That is where our strength is, in the Lord, in the strength of his power. 

It’s true that we are not strong enough to face Satan on our own, but the good news is we don’t have to. Jesus has already defeated Satan, on the cross. And whenever we look to the cross, and find strength in the Lord, we find ourselves victorious over the evil one. 

When we put on the whole armor of God, we cannot be defeated by the devil, and we can work with confidence in erasing evil in our world. But then Paul gets very specific about this armor, in a wonderful, famous passage. 

I can almost picture Paul in his prison cell, looking at the guard outside his room, and thinking about the armor that God has given him. Paul goes through each piece of the soldier’s equipment, and imagines what that piece is for the Christian. And he finds much encouragement in this, and shares it with us. So let’s go through the details of this armor.

The Belt of Truth

First, there is the belt of truth. The devil hates this one. Think back to his conversation with Adam and Eve in the garden, or to his conversation with Jesus in the wilderness, and you can see that the devil loves to take part of the truth, and then to twist it. 

The truth is a powerful weapon against all evil, and particularly against Satan. The truth of God’s word. The truth of God’s love. The truth of the gospel. The truth of sin. The truth of forgiveness. These truths are all ones that Satan tried to hide from us, or distort. So the first piece of armor is the belt of truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Then there is the breastplate of righteousness. To live in the right way is the best way to undermine the work of the devil. One of the saddest events, to me, is when a Christian is discredited because of living in a hypocritical way. Satan loves when that happens, and works hard to make it happen, because these stories always make the news, and they always undermine the gospel. The way to combat it is to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

The Shoes that Make us Ready to Proclaim the Gospel of Peace

Then there are the shoes for your feet. Put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel, Paul says. Whatever will get you moving. Whatever will help you get off the couch and into the world, participating in the work of the kingdom, and proclaiming through your words and deeds the gospel of peace. 

If the devil can’t get you through his lies or through your mistakes, he will at least try to make you apathetic, and give up on changing things. The next best thing to him, after getting a Christian to do something stupid that undermines the church and the gospel, is to get a Christian to give up and stay home on the couch. At least then they are not out there doing something good for the Lord.

The Shield of Faith

Then, Paul says, there is the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. So, what are some of those flaming arrows? I think of arrows like doubt and despair and fear and worry. Or arrows like arrogance and cynicism. Satan has a lot of arrows in his quiver. And faith – trusting in God – is the best shield against them all.

The Helmet of Salvation

Then we come to the helmet of salvation. And when I think of salvation, I think of hope. Knowing where our life ends gives us the confidence to live it boldly. The hope of salvation gives us the courage to go into the world, make mistakes, sin boldly, as Martin Luther once said, but trust in God’s love and forgiveness more boldly still. And this is why hope is such a powerful weapon against Satan. No one gives up on God or following Christ when they have hope. And hope is found in that helmet of salvation.

The Sword of the Spirit

And, lastly, Paul says, there is the sword of the Spirit, which he says is the word of God. Think about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. How did he overcome Satan’s temptations? With Scripture. With the word of God. That was his sword. That is what won him the battle. God’s Word.

Spending time with God’s word daily is kind of like preventative medicine. The devil, evil, temptation, discouragement, apathy, despair, none of these things will be able to get a foothold in our life when we spend time with God’s Word.

Prayer

And then, after all of these weapons against the wiles of the devil, Paul turns us in to the greatest weapon of them all: prayer. Pray in the Spirit at all times, Paul says. And pray also for me, he asks. And by doing this he reminds us that it is not only important to pray for others, but also to ask others to pray for you. 

The devil hates when we pray, because when we do we tap into a strength that is far stronger than anything he can throw at us. When we pray, we are finding our strength in the Lord, and that strength is always enough. Always.

Closing

The devil is a powerful foe, and to stand against him we need every weapon at hand. But we also don’t want to overestimate the devil’s power. Let’s not forget – he has been defeated. Love defeated him. Jesus’ death on the cross was Satan’s death. He doesn’t know it yet. 

Like I used to tell my kids, the devil is like a chicken with his head cut off – he’s already dead, but he doesn’t know it yet, and he’s still running around making a big mess. 

So we need to stand against him, but not in fear. With courage, with faith, and with the conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that Satan has been defeated. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 

There is no more powerful force in heaven or on earth, than the power of the Lord, a power made manifest in love. 

And that seems like a good way to wrap up this sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. A letter filled with the good news of the gospel, and with instructions for leading a worthy life, but which concludes with these powerful insights on how to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

May we do this with faith, with hope, and with love, until the blessed day of our Lord’s return. Amen.