Posted on 10/17/2005 7:03:19 PM PDT by sionnsar
From the Rev. William Klock of Christ Church REC in Oregon, we have the fine exposition of Ephesians 6:10-17, The Whole Armor of God. This is always a most applicable passage for each of us, because we are all called to "put on the whole armor of God," and we are always in need of this protection from the wiles of the Enemy. Indeed, this may be more true now than ever due to the loss of spiritual discernment, due to secularism and to simple unbelief in the truths of Scripture. Rev. Klock begins his sermon on this note, I think:
As Christians, we all know that the world has a sin problem – a problem that is also an individual problem. All of us were born suffering from the sickness of sin and it is only in Christ that we have found a solution. Everyone knows our world suffers from this problem, even if the majority doesn’t see it clearly. Many refuse to see it as an individual problem – or at least as their own personal problem – but most everyone has some idea, even if it’s not Biblical, that humanity is in some way broken. What’s the root of the problem? That’s where Christians and the World disagree. We know that it’s a combination of our fallen flesh, a world composed of billions of other people are also fallen, and a fallen and rebellious angel whom we know as the Devil, whose only desire is to thwart God’s plans for us.For a very good exposition on each of the components of the "whole armor of God," I commend the entirety of this sermon to you. As Rev. Klock says, "Let us be strong in the Lord, knowing that we are weak in ourselves and that he is our source of strength."
The World comes up with all sorts of explanations, but most of them boil down to a denial of the Biblical reality of corruption from “the world, the flesh, and the Devil.” The World doesn’t want to acknowledge sin and so people come up with all sorts of way to rationalize away their sin and call it virtue, or they come up with ways to put the blame elsewhere. They blame their addiction to alcohol on heredity. They justify their perverse sexual lifestyle saying “I was born this way.” They blame a life of crime on their poor upbringing. More than ever we’re trying to find ways to put the blame for our rebellion anywhere other than on ourselves.
What’s ironic is that the excuse, “the Devil made me do it” is only used in a humourous way. You’d think that people would grab hold of this one in their search for scapegoats, but the fact is that we live in a world that denies the existence of the supernatural. While the Devil may not force us to do anything, Scritpure does tell us that the Devil is a very real being and that he does work with our own fallenness to tempt us to rebel against God. Yet even many Christians make a logic disconnect and deny the existence of the Devil. Most people have no problem with a belief in God, but to say that you believe in a literal Devil often results in our being ridiculed. Somehow people are willing to grant the existence of the supernatural when it comes to God, but not the Devil. I’ve known many Christians who believe in God, who affirm all the essential articles of the faith, but when you mention the Devil they suddenly become uncomfortable – you might just as well have said that the earth is flat! They treat you like you’re a superstitious primitive. I have to think that this attitude is the work of the Devil himself, because if he can lure us to disbelieve his very existence, we leave ourselves open to his influence. You don’t guard against what you don’t see as a threat.
Yet Christ himself urges us to be prepared for the attacks of a supernatural enemy. In Christ our old fallen and sinful nature is crucified. The old man dies and we become new creations. In Christ we become members of his Body, the Church. We are translated from being members of the World to being members of Christ – we now fellowship with other’s who are also new creations and living under the influence of God’s grace. Christ deals with the “flesh” and he deals with the “World” as source of temptation. But the Devil is still to be dealt with as a source of temptation and we need to be on our guard. In his epistle to the Church at Ephesus, St. Paul began with an illustration that likens the home of the Christian to a military encampment. In his usual style, Paul now brings his letter to a climax in the final chapter. The household of Christ is now being called out to battle.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Thank you for an inspirational way to begin the day as I go off to war in the world of the law office -- where backbiting, backstabbing and excuses are a way of life. The armor of God helps me live a life that means no matter what is said against me, no one will believe it. And that is my goal.
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