Grace and peace and strength to you fellow soldiers who are still fighting the good fight of faith. Amen.

Ephesians 6:10-20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish 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. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

See if you can figure out these military recruitment slogans: Be all that you can be. US Navy. An Army of One. US Army. Cross into the blue. US Air Force. The Few. The Proud. The Marines. That’s a popular slogan for the US Marines. How about this one? We’re looking for a few good men. Again, that is the US Marines. I don’t think you would ever get this one. It is from the Navy Law Enforcement: In God we trust, all others are suspects. Slogans like these remind us that we cannot become complacent. If we do, when it comes to our military strength, we are vulnerable to attack.

If this is true with the Army/Navy/Air Force/ and Marines, isn’t this even more true when it comes to our spiritual lives? If we become complacent in our relationship with Jesus Christ, if we think that regular worship attendance, Bible reading, and serving God are just options, we are opening ourselves up to sneak attacks from the spiritual forces of evil. We will be undergoing these evil attacks from now until we reach our deathbed.

Paul tells us that God isn't just looking for a few or the proud – in fact, he’s looking for quite the opposite. He’s looking for the many and for the humble. God is looking for you – men, women, teens, and children who recognize Jesus as your Savior from sin and want to gratefully serve him as your ultimate Commander-in Chief. Jesus drafted you into his army of believers through your baptism. He’s given you "boot camp training" in confirmation and Bible Inquirer’s Classes. You know the basics of the Christian faith. You need those basic skills to fight against the forces of evil.

We also need state-of-the-art equipment to defend ourselves and go on the offensive. But, bulletproof vests, laser-guided machine guns, and nuclear warheads are worthless in this kind of spiritual war. Instead, we need the full armor of God to fight and to win this battle. God equips us with his kind of armor whether you are 1 minute old or 101 years old. With God’s armor, Christians become armed and dangerous. We are ready, willing and able to face the enemy and to stand our spiritual ground.

Paul begins, "Be strong." The Christian life will always be a struggle. Attacks on our faith will take the form of temptations and moral lapses. There will be temptations to yield on points of doctrine. There will be temptations of lovelessness toward fellow believers and hatred toward unbelievers. The list could go on, but the point is clear: we need to be strong against temptations. That is not something we can do on our own, though. Human effort is inadequate protection in spiritual warfare. It’s like thinking that an umbrella will protect you from the business end of a machine gun. Alone, we have no more chance of victory over our enemies than Adam and Eve did against the forces of evil in Eden. That’s why Paul tells us where to find our strength: "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

We see a lot of evil in our world – terrorists bent on our destruction, liberal theology tearing apart God’s doctrines, greedy business and government leaders looking out only for their pocketbooks. Evil people, however, are only instruments of Satan. Paul says plainly: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." We aren’t just facing evil in our world, we are fighting against the devil and the gates of hell itself.

The demonic leader of hell, the devil, is wreaking havoc on our nation, our city, and even our families. The devil knows that he's going to hell at the end of the world. And he doesn't want to go alone. So this "father of lies" uses a variety of resources to confuse unbelievers and Christians alike. He uses small weapons like subtle habits that don't appear to seriously hurt anyone: a little white lie, gossiping even if it's the truth, maybe "just one more drink at the party." Then, Satan and his legions bring out the heavy artillery: divorce and pornography that break up families, sex outside of marriage that hurts men and women of all ages. Finally, Satan uses sin and death like a bomb: often many don't see it's coming until it actually strikes, until it's too late to seek shelter in the arms of our Savior. Even as Christians, we have battle scars of sin in our personal lives. And sin hurts. Unconfessed and unforgiven sin will actually damn us. It seems hopeless until we remember that with God’s armor, Christians become armed and dangerous.

How are we going to be able to stand against the devil’s evil schemes? Only with the Lord at our side and his Word in our hearts. This week I had the opportunity to help fellow Christians stand against the devil. I had a devotion with Cindy Diefenbach encouraging her to make the Lord her refuge and strength before she underwent serious back surgery. I gave the Lord’s Supper to Mrs. Olle in the hospital so she might receive spiritual strength and encouragement. I shared God’s Word with nine of our confirmation students. Although, they did kind of worry me. I asked them what were the six chief parts of the Catechism. The answer should be the Commandments, Creed, Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Lord’s Prayer, and the Keys and Confession. One replied correctly, "The Keys." Then another replied, "The Doors?" Later I asked them, "Who are the Gospel writers?" One answered, "Peter, Paul, and Mary?" Thankfully he was only joking. They did redeem themselves by saying that the Bible is the only book that belongs in the non-fiction section. I thought that was a pretty good statement. It is that Bible, God’s Word, that makes us ready to face the enemy and willing to stand our spiritual ground.

When the war in Iraq came, many who had enlisted in the Army and National Guard said, "We didn’t sign up for this." Since we are enlisted in God’s army, we must be ready for war. Our baptism and confirmation say, "We did sign up for this." In order to be ready for war, Paul says, "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

The Christians in Paul’s day took their stand against paganism, heathenism, persecution and death at the hands of God’s enemies. Today we stand against the evil spirits of political correctness, evolution, spiritualism, materialism, commercialism, sexism, and Satanism. In the face of all these evils, we cannot turn tail and run. We dare not retreat. We stand our spiritual ground.

We don't stand for the sake of duty or for the sake of reward. Stand strong for your Savior, who died for you and was raised again. Jesus was willing to stand in our place. His blood-stained cross proves that he stood firm. Now he asks you to willingly stand up for your Christian beliefs – to stand even with it seems like everyone else around us is failing and falling. That’s the only way to be armed and dangerous.

How do you ward off the devil’s evil attacks and stand strong? You put on the full armor of God. Not just a few pieces. The "full" armor. You can stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. The Roman’s soldier’s belt was much wider than the belts we wear. This belt protected the most vital organs from the upward thrust of a sword. In the same way, it is God’s truth which protects our most vital spiritual organ – our faith.

Stand firm with the breastplate of righteousness in place. This defensive equipment was worn by Roman soldiers like oversized shoulder pads to guard the heart. Our righteousness and protection comes from Christ. Our feet are to be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. A soldier who has bare feet is almost immobilized. In our battle with evil, we can be immobilized by fear. But, knowing that we have peace with God takes away our fear, and replaces it with courage of knowing if God is for us, who can be against us. (Romans 8:31)

We take up the shield of faith, which can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. This wasn’t a small shield, but the scutum, which was four feet long and two and one-half feet wide. When the soldier was in battle stance, the scutum protected the entire body. The shield of faith is God’s gift which apprehends salvation, effects the forgiveness of sins, affords access to God, assures us of eternal life, and renders us holy and without blame. The soldier wore a helmet. Take up the helmet of salvation. This isn't just a football helmet with a green and gold "G" on the side. Paul is thinking of the certainty of heaven which gives us the brightest hope in our darkest day. This helmet protects our head, gives us vision of the future, and motivates our minds.

These are all defensive weapons. The only offensive weapon in God’s arsenal is "the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God." As Christians, we don’t just have to hunker down and take what Satan dishes out. We go on the offensive and whip Satan’s hind end with the love of Christ, his forgiveness and salvation. This sword is the perfect weapon of God’s Law and Gospel which cuts through Satan’s temptations and clears a path to heaven.

Paul also talks about our communication with our heavenly headquarters when he says: "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." After being interviewed by the public school administration, the eager teaching prospect said: "Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill them with a love for learning, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits. You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self-esteem. I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, and make sure all students pass the state exams. Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card.

I’m supposed to do all this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile and on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps! You want me to do all of this and then you tell me …I CAN'T PRAY?!?"

Every soldier knows that it's vital to keep in close contact with HQ. Isn't that the same for Christians? God has given us a direct line to radio in for reinforcements and thank him for past help in time of need. Paul reminds us not to forget to pray for our pastors, teachers, and fellow members at our church and school that God may equip each of us to fight the good fight, and stand up for Jesus.

With this inspiring recruitment speech, Paul calls us to battle sin, death, and Satan. Who will win? Unlike military battles, we already know the outcome. It's a done deal. "Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

A man was coming out of church one Sunday, and the preacher was standing at the door to shake hands. The preacher grabbed the man’s hand and pulled him aside. The pastor said to him, "Brother, you need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." The pastor asked, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?" He whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."

God isn’t looking for any more to serve him in the secret service. Instead, as people who are dearly loved by the LORD and who love the LORD, let’s join together to serve Jesus openly and often. With God's armor, his Word, and the gift of prayer, we are spiritually equipped to be armed and dangerous. We're ready, willing, and able to say to the devil, "Hasta la vista baby." Amen.