Ephesians 6:10-20 St. John 4:46-54 (cf. Isaiah 59:15b-21)

Our Victorious Struggle

All Hallow's Eve. The name is easy enough to understand. It is simply the 
evening before the day on which all those who are hallowed, or who have been 
made holy or who are saints are remembered and honoured. Remembering the 
saints that have gone on before, especially those who were martyred for the 
faith, is an ancient practice in the Church, dating back to the stoning of 
St. Stephen, but somewhere along the line, man has once more managed to mess 
things up, either by elevating the deceased to a level the Ancient Church 
never knew, or by debasing them to the level of ghosts and ghouls, or even 
by denying any form of remembrance of them at all. On All Hallow's Eve, the 
second error is the most prevalent in today's society.

But why would the world wish to debase the dead? Why would they want to run 
around on this night, dressed up as half decayed individuals, or devils or 
wart encrusted witches, scaring the bejeebers out of neighbours and 
friends.or frustrating those who do not wish to participate in such 
activities?

In his interesting book, Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis observed that most 
people prefer to either ignore the other worldly aspect to life, or to 
pretend that doesn't exist, or to use cartoon images or caricatures of the 
dead or the demonic to make fun of their fears. Others take an unhealthy 
interest in these things and end up finding devils, demons and dead things 
under every rock and behind every corner.or some will deny the demonic 
entirely, arguing that all devilry ended at Calvary. What are we to believe 
as biblical Christians and, more importantly, what are we to do?

The existence of the other worldly aspect to life is attested to by the 
Apostles long after the resurrection and the Ascension, so we simply cannot 
dismiss diabolic activity as if it all disappeared at the cross. St. Paul 
often admonished his readers not to submit to the temptation of the devil.he 
told the Thessalonians that satan had hindered him from coming to them.he 
delivered those who withstood the Gospel message or who refused to turn from 
their sinful behaviour to satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme. 
St. Peter referred to the devil as our adversary who walks about like a 
roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour, and counselled his readers to 
resist him steadfastly in the faith.

In our Epistle passage for today, St. Paul endeavoured to give us a concise 
and realistic picture of the struggle we are up against and to make known to 
us the weapons at our disposal. To him the other worldly aspect to life was 
very real. In verse 12 he emphasised the reality of a spiritual hierarchy 
against which we are at war. These are not ghouls or goblins or ghosts on a 
trick or treat spree.these are unembodied spirits that inhabit the unseen 
environment of this world and, as we learn from St. Paul's statement in 2 
Corinthians 11:14, they do not appear in nasty, creepy forms, but as angels 
of light. Otherwise why refer to the "wiles of the devil" if his evil 
presence was as plain as the nose on your face?

Now, why did the Apostle want us to have this knowledge? So that we might 
live in fear for the rest of our lives? No, but rather that we might engage 
in the victorious struggle against the enemies of the Kingdom of Christ.

All too often our efforts are spent on wrestling against flesh and blood, 
either in abstract political wars or in actual military combat, as if 
gaining ground on man's level will somehow bring salvation to this world. 
That is not the primary way for the Christian. Our warfare is on a higher 
level and the sooner we realise this the sooner we may once more begin to 
advance against the gates of hell.

Taking up the whole armour of God was sufficiently important for St. Paul to 
repeat the command twice. In both cases, the wearing of the armour is to 
ensure that we might be able to stand fast against the onslaught of 
wickedness. According to St. Paul, the Christian life is not only a journey, 
but it is also a constant battle against the unseen forces of the kingdom of 
darkness. False assumption is a grave error indeed, and the Christian must 
remain weary of any doctrine that either elevates the work of God to the 
exclusion of human endeavour, or the work of man to the exclusion of Divine 
initiative, protection and preservation. St. Paul admonished the Philippian 
Christians to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, but 
acknowledged that this was made possible by the fact that it was God Who 
worked in them both to will and to do for His good pleasure. It is God's 
mercy and God's grace that enables us to stand, but stand we must.

Now, the word 'stand' does not indicate immobility, but rather a posture of 
readiness and stability, sure-footedness and steadfastness. It is a posture 
of constant vigilance, ready for an attack at any moment. No Christian is 
ever to remain stationary, but is rather commanded to go out into all the 
world, pushing back the gates of hell, robbing satan of his captives and 
plundering his kingdom.

But where exactly are the gates of hell? Immediately our minds wander to 
shady areas of town, but perhaps it is time for us to begin to look a little 
closer. It seems the enemy has infiltrated the Christian Church itself and 
many who claim to follow Christ uphold pagan thoughts and practices. In some 
circles the Church is indeed nothing more than a sad Halloween farce with 
many dressed up to represent something they have long since ceased to be. 
When so-called priests and priestesses can at once belong to a Christian 
denomination as well as a Wiccan Coven, they are simply no longer Christian.

How do we combat this invasion? Firstly, by waking up to the reality of our 
present predicament and secondly, by actually getting involved in using the 
weapons at our disposal. The weapons themselves are mostly defensive.the 
belt, the breastplate, the shoes, shield and helmet.only the sword (and 
prayer, of course) are for attacking purposes. But it is what these weapons 
represent that is of interest to us.

The first is truth. But what is truth? Pontius Pilate's famous question. 
Truth is first and foremost a Person.the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. "I am 
the way, the truth and the life." Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father 
except through Me." And if we claim Him to be the Lord of our lives, we must 
do the things which He commands. We simply cannot say that we follow Him and 
then disregard all He taught to be authoritative. Did He not say that those 
who break the least of God's commandments and teach men so, shall be called 
the least in the kingdom of Heaven? How is it possible for the Church to 
even contemplate words and practices so foreign to that which our Lord said 
was true? Truth does not "emerge".Truth does not "evolve".Truth remains the 
same, yesterday, today and forever.

The next weapon represents righteousness. Now, if righteousness means doing 
that which is right, we do not have many option open to us. Either something 
is right or it is not.we simply cannot engage in clever mental gymnastics or 
piously state that we should be open for dialogue within a pluralistic 
society. Christianity is not pluralistic! It demands exclusive allegiance to 
the One Who has chosen to reveal His character and His will in the pages of 
Holy Scripture alone. Besides, if we do not have a truly biblical 
righteousness which compels us to be conformed to the will of God as 
expressed in the Scriptures we leave ourselves wide open for a deathblow 
from the enemy. Clearly, that is what has happened to many in the modern 
Church.they are dead even though they claim to be alive.

Now, if ever there was a word that has been robbed of its true meaning it is 
the word 'peace'. For instance, many well meaning Christians will speak 
about having 'peace' when they really mean they have a warm fuzzy feeling 
about something they have already convinced themselves they want to do. But 
peace in our present context has to do with a cessation of enmity between 
God and Man.it is the Gospel of peace.the proclamation to an estranged 
humanity that the God-Man Jesus paid a real penalty for real sin with His 
Own real death for us on the real and cruel cross so that we might be 
reconciled to a real and holy God. All the stuff and fluff of modern 
powder-puff Christianity has no place for the real meaning of the peace St. 
Paul is talking about here. This peace came with an awful price and for 
Christians to seek to embrace the sin that demanded that awful price is 
nothing short of outrageous.

Then there is the shield of faith.but faith must be based on belief and 
trust in something.or, in this case, belief and trust in Someone. If our 
faith is based on something or someone we make up as we go along (i.e. the 
so-called "emerging Christianity" or the "evolving god" idea) then why not 
rather save time and simply believe in ourselves? Let's then be honest and 
truly state what we believe rather than continue to hide behind masks and 
cloaks.or, for that matter, mitres and copes. Unless, of course, our real 
agenda is to make our converts twice the children of hell than we are.

No, if we are to quench the fiery darts of the evil one, our faith must be 
firmly founded upon belief in the God revealed in the Scriptures.a faithful 
God Who fulfilled His promise to deal with the predicament of Mankind 
through the death of His only begotten Son, our Lord and our Saviour, Jesus, 
the Christ. If we remain loyal to Him, we will be able to face whatever 
arrow satan shoots our way, whether it be doubt, despair, adverse 
circumstances, personal tragedy, temptation or trial.

Now, when dealing with the helmet of salvation we need to be extra 
cautious.reading the statements of some commentators makes it sound as if 
salvation is simply a matter of cognitive assent to propositional truth. But 
if we remember that the concept of the armour of God is not the Apostles' 
imaginative use of the Roman soldier's uniform, but rather a direct 
reference to our Morning Prayer Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 59, then we 
see that the helmet of salvation is more than simply understanding the 
Gospel truth. In Isaiah, it is the Messiah Who wore this armour as He went 
out to do battle specifically to bring salvation to helpless Mankind.

The armour of the Messianic figure in Isaiah was part of His mission. He 
wore it so that He could give it. It was something He was clothed with so 
that He might impart it to others. If we then transfer this understanding to 
our Epistle passage we can say that the helmet of salvation is something we 
wear not only to indicate that we possess salvation, but also that what we 
have is to be shared with others. In fact, sharing salvation with all and 
sundry is very much part of our defence. It is because we have failed to 
share salvation with our neighbours, our friends and our family members that 
the Church is in the mess it is in today. If we would but take half the time 
we use to talk about our favourite topics to talk to others about Jesus, we 
might be in a lot better shape than we are right now.

Finally we come to our two offensive weapons, namely the Word of God and 
prayer. If we are to emulate Christ at all.if we are to imitate Him.if we 
are to walk as He walked.then we must learn to use the Word of God properly 
and we must learn to pray properly. We must follow our Lord's example in 
opposing satan with Scripture. It is written.it is written.it is written. 
Obviously our Lord (and satan, for that matter) had no doubt as to the truth 
of what He was quoting. But the Church has cast doubts on God's Word and is 
therefore helpless in the face of evil.

We would do well to do what the Psalmist has to say in Psalm 119. "How can a 
young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word. With my 
whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 
Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You." Hide 
God's Word in your heart so that when the temptations come, you may say, "It 
is written!" and triumph.

And then , do you remember the words our Lord spoke to St. Peter in the 
Garden? "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and 
pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the 
flesh is weak." Throughout the Gospels, we see our Lord praying.early in the 
morning, late at night.and not only when He was in trouble! How much more 
then should we not be praying?

Of course, many modern Christians do not see the need to be experts in 
wielding these weapons perhaps because we too, like the people C. S. Lewis 
mentioned in his book, have chosen to either ignore the other worldly aspect 
to life, or to pretend it doesn't exist, or we have dismissed our fears by 
equating the demonic with Halloween trick or treaters. But if we believe the 
Scriptures at all, then we must take seriously what St. Paul wrote to the 
Ephesian Christians. We must put on the whole armour of God, that we might 
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

But as we put on this armour, we must remember that we do not fight for the 
losing side, but rather that our struggle is victorious because our foe has 
already been defeated. In Colossians 2:15, the same Apostle declared that 
these principalities and powers were disarmed by Christ as He made a public 
spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.

Let us bring that to mind as we once more come to partake of the symbols of 
that great victory here at the Table of our Lord. And as we do, let us pray 
that our gracious God and King might strengthen us through the power of His 
Holy Spirit, so that we may face our struggles from this position of Christ's 
Victory.strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

© Johann W. Vanderbijl III 2004




The Rev. Fr. Johann W. Vanderbijl III, Rector
The Anglican Church of St. George the Martyr, R.E.
427 Batesville Road
Simpsonville, SC 29681
cranmer@...
www.stgeorge-re.org