Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today's Epistle reading St. Paul highlights the fact that Christians are soldiers in the Lord's army. This martial New Testament theme is helpful for communicating spiritual realities because military things are tangible and fairly easy to relate to. We can think in terms of weapons, and battles between our side and the enemy, and offensive and defensive strategies and tactics. So this morning we will explore this theme of Christians being soldiers.

Today, Gwyn Kalbas is baptized into Christ's legions as a little soldier of Christ; she has been clothed with the armor of Jesus Christ's righteousness in Baptism, which covers all her sins and will keep her safe from Satan's attacks as she grows up. But even though Christ's Baptism has saved her for everlasting life and has enlisted her in the Lord's army, she has a lot of growing up to do before she is ready to make use of the "whole armor of God" that Paul refers to in our Epistle.

At this point, Gwyn's not able to bear the weight of the whole armor and do battle for Christ, and so that task is not yet expected of her as God expects it of you and me. She needs to grow older and go through basic training. That will happen as Jordan and Lacey tell her Bible stories and teach her to pray at home; as they bring her to Church and Sunday School; and as she goes through Confirmation. Then, we pray, she will continue to move up through the ranks of Christ's army by continuing to hear and study Christ's Word at Church, and devote time each day to the Word of God and prayer, as she becomes a more knowledgeable and strong soldier. Through faithfulness to Christ and His Word, she will then take up "the whole armor of God" and be able to battle Satan, and "stand against the schemes of the devil."

In our Epistle, that is what St. Paul says all of us Christians are called upon to do: "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." And then he goes on to elaborate on the identity of our enemy; he writes, "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."

St. Paul is emphatic that in our Christian lives, the enemy of our souls is not other people, or nations, or armies. We will automatically lose the battle if we think that terrorists, or foreign countries, or political opponents, or even false religions are what the Church is fighting against. Paul says, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood," but rather against the devil and all his demonic cronies. Of course, Satan does make use of human beings who willingly go along with his plans against God and the Church, but we have to realize that the hostility of other people against us is just a symptom of a much larger problem: the devil and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places are constantly attacking our faith in Christ, primarily by invading our consciences. As I said a couple weeks ago: those people who are hostile to us and to the Church need our prayers more than anything, because they are captive to the Evil One's devices as he attacks Christians and tries to separate them from Christ's army by using their guilt or anger to destroy their faith.

So we are all enlisted in Christ's army against the devil and all demons, but what is the nature of our military service to Christ? Are we offensive or defensive troops? Are we supposed to go on search and destroy missions against the devil, or are we to simply serve on guard duty, as watchmen? These are very important questions, because we have to know what sort of soldiers we are in order to be serve faithfully.

If you look at our Epistle reading, what is fascinating is that at least four times St. Paul talks about us taking a stand against the devil and his forces-stand against, withstand, stand firm, stand-he says. These are defensive terms that describe a person under attack. And then look at what armor from God we are supposed to wear: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword-these are all defensive, protective weapons, except for the sword, which can be used not only defensively but also offensively. But the overall picture St. Paul paints here is not one of a soldier heading out into battle, or marching to war, but rather one who is on watch, looking out for the enemy, and then standing firm when under attack.

But contrast this defensive picture with the way many Christians have understood our spiritual warfare, as active, offensive combat. The Emperor Constantine believed that having the cross on his banners gave him victory against his foes. The European crusaders went to reclaim the holy land under the sign of the cross. The hymn "Onward, Christians Soldiers" has some fine lyrics, but it also gives the impression that we Christians are supposed to be marching out to war for Christ and the Church. But the problem with these offensive ideas of spiritual warfare is that they don't match up with the image of the Christian soldier that St. Paul gives in Ephesians 6, the picture that we are defensive rather than offensive troops.

And here is why we are not spiritual crusaders, offensive troops: because Jesus is the champion, and He has already won the victory over sin, death, hell, and the devil. Jesus lives, the victory's won! Jesus is the one who has invaded Satan's territory on earth and has won it back for God and His Kingdom. At one time Satan had been a good angel, but he could not tolerate being subordinate to God, and so he rebelled against the Lord and also dragged down a bunch of other angels with him to serve in his army against God and the remaining good angels. In the mystery of God's will, He allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and by their sin the devil brought all humans under his captivity as well. Yet God counterattacked with a promise to ultimately defeat the devil for good by the Seed of the Woman, the Christ, the Messiah, who would liberate the children of Adam and Eve from slavery to sin, death, and hell. Though the devil seemed to be victorious on that day, his fate was sealed and the Christ would destroy him for good.

The place in the New Testament that gives the most dramatic picture of the defeat of Satan is what the Holy Spirit inspired St. John to record in Revelation 12. If this were a Bible class, we would go through it verse by verse, but today I must just summarize. The picture John paints is of the Virgin Mary giving birth to the Christ child, with the devil (in the form of a dragon) waiting to devour the child as soon as He was born. But God rescued the child and enthroned Him on His throne. In one sentence St. John describes the entire life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to His Father's right hand, and then war breaks out in heaven between the archangel Michael and all the good angels fighting against the devil and all his angels, and the Lord's armies won and Satan was kicked out of heaven and thrown down to earth with all his evil angels. And then St. John records a loud voice from heaven that said, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

In this passage we learn that the weapons that defeated Satan were the blood of Jesus Christ that He shed on the cross, and the Word of the testimony about what Jesus had accomplished in His ministry. God the Son had become a man, taking flesh from the Virgin Mary, in order to rob Satan of his power by suffering and dying for the sin of the whole world. Jesus said as He was preparing to go to the cross, "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die" (John 12:31-33). And He said this to show what His death would accomplish: His death for the sins of all and the shedding of His holy blood would make possible the casting out of the devil, because when our sins have been answered for, then Satan can no longer be our accuser. That is what the name Satan means-accuser. He is like the prosecuting attorney, who tries to convince us that we sinners are going to hell. But since the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has taken away our condemnation for sin and has instead given us everlasting life, then Satan's accusations that we are condemned for our sins can be ignored and he cannot take us away from our Savior Jesus Christ. Since all of us who have been baptized have been caught up into Jesus Christ in the heavenly places, we are safe with God as long as we remain in Jesus Christ through faith in His blood and His Word.

In the rest of St. John's vision he sees that Satan can no longer destroy the Christian Church, and so his tactic is to try to pick off the offspring of the Church, that is, baptized believers in Christ. The angry dragon is said to go off and "make war on…those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." He can't defeat Christ and the whole Church, so He tries to take out as many of the members of the Church as he possibly can, since misery loves company, and Satan wants nothing more than to fill hell with others who will spend eternity suffering God's wrath and punishment.

But Satan cannot win the victory! The battle between God and the devil is not one between equal parties, and so the success of God's army is not dependent on our attacking Satan. Rather, our role is to withstand the attacks of Satan so that we do not get slaughtered and separated from Jesus Christ, who is the champion. And the Good News is that we are not alone, and we do not depend at all on our own resources or power for success. Rather, Jesus gives us the victory, or as St. Paul says in Romans, we are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

Jesus said right before He ascended into heaven, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). If our Savior, the God-Man Jesus Christ, has all authority and power in heaven and earth, then that means the devil has to be subject to Christ; Satan has no authority apart from the limited things he gets to do here on earth. And Jesus is not only our Savior but also our Protector against Satan. He uses His unlimited authority in the Church to baptize and teach, which makes disciples, new soldiers of Christ. And then He promises, "I am with you always, to the end of the age." He promises to be with His soldiers throughout any attacks they might undergo, and He assures us that has all authority in heaven and on earth at His disposal. And so that means that we will be safe from Satan's attacks as long as we are protected by Christ's armor and have Him fighting for us.

And that brings us back to our Epistle, which depicts us as Christian soldiers. St. Paul writes, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, [and here are some important words after our appointed reading ends:] 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:10-20).

When St. Paul wrote these words to the early Christian Church, their knowledge of soldiers would have been based on the Roman army, which conquered and controlled a vast empire for centuries. And the Roman army had two types of troops: the famous and prestigious battle-ready troops (like our Marines) who would go out and fight the battles, conquering foes. But interestingly, most of the Roman soldiers weren't that type of soldier. Most of them were instead defensive troops who were part of garrison armies that manned military posts along the border of the empire. For example, along Hadrian's Wall in Northern England, there were units of troops stationed at various points to keep watch for the approach of enemies who wanted to attack the empire.

Here are some interesting facts about these sentries, or you could call them guards, or watchmen: they rarely saw combat. They were to be ready to fight in case of attack, but most of all they were to keep watch so that they could sound the alarm and call in the fighting troops if they sensed an attack. The Romans divided the day into eight three-hour shifts, and the most important shift was between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., since that was when it was darkest and the enemy would stage for an attack.

The two things these sentries were expected to do was to stay alert as they kept watch, and they were never, ever allowed to leave their post, even under attack, even if that meant they lost their lives. In fact, the Romans were so serious about this, that they had given the death penalty to sentries who either fell asleep or abandoned their post. This extreme punishment was meant to impress on them the importance of their work for the safety of their fellow soldiers, and for the entire empire.

Now, think about what St. Paul says us Christian soldiers are to do, and it becomes clear that our role is not as search and destroy offensive soldiers, but as defensive guards, as sentries. But what is our post? Where are we stationed? We are to stand firm and keep watch wherever the Lord has put us, and there we are to defend the ground that He has already conquered. And what is this? Well, let me use myself as an example. First and foremost, the Lord has made my wife Heidi and me to be one flesh, and so I am to defend Heidi and our marriage. And then the Lord has given me three children to defend and protect against Satan's attacks. And He has called me here to be a pastor to this congregation, to defend this Church against doctrinal error and then defend its members from Satan's attacks. I also am a son, a brother, and a friend to many, and so those also are areas where I am called upon to do sentry duty and to keep watch for not only myself but also for those whom the Lord has put in my life.

Then what am I supposed to do when Satan attacks? Jesus has given to each of us individually the armor of His righteousness and holiness in the Word and the Sacraments to defend us. The saving blood that He pours into our mouths in Holy Communion forgives our sins and protects us from Satan's accusations. Christ's righteousness and holiness and blood make up the armor of light that protects us, and His Spirit-filled Word is the sword that defends us and slays Satan. And so when I am attacked directly, then in the Word and Sacraments here in the Church, Christ gives me all the armor and weapons that I need to defend my conscience when it is clouded by guilt or anger.

But what about when the attack is not on me, but on those around me? How can I then protect them? First, we remember that our fellow Christians are protected by the armor of Christ, but secondly, our duty is to call in Jesus, who will do the fighting for us. Notice how Paul says that we are to pray "at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints." When we sense that the people around us are being attacked by Satan, our only hope for victory is to call in the champion Jesus Christ to defend, protect, and restore them.

The Roman sentry could not leave his own post and go out to fight the enemy, but was duty-bound to stand his own ground and then call in the fighting troops. Since we are not able to mount an offensive into the souls of those around us, we have to count on Jesus to take care of them, and so it is our duty to keep watch for signs that they are under attack, and then pray that Jesus would liberate them.

St. Paul even tells us how to pray. He says that we use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, by praying in the Spirit, that is, by praying in faith and according to the way the Word of God teaches us to pray, by praying the Lord's Prayer and praying according to the pattern of the Lord's Prayer. Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer as His own prayer against the devil, the Evil One, and so that prayer is a mighty defensive weapon against Satan when He attacks us or our loved ones.

So when we're on sentry duty we stay alert by keeping one ear listening to the Word of God, and the other ear listening around us for signs of Satan's attacks. From the Word of God, we learn what to look out for: we learn that when we hear that our loved ones are guilty or angry or hopeless, then they are experiencing Satan's attacks, and they need us to pray for them and ask that Jesus bring them to repentance, faith, and find rest in His wounds and strength.

Most often we and our loved ones try to deal with our spiritual problems with self-help methods, but listen to what St. Paul says: "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." Our strength, our armor, our weapons, our only hope for victory come from our Lord Jesus Christ, who has already defeated death and the devil and by His glorious resurrection has opened to us the way of everlasting life. By our Baptism into Him, we are more than conquerors through His love. By the blood He gives us in Holy Communion, we receive cleansing from our sins and Christ drives Satan out of our consciences. By meditation on Christ's Gospel Words, we receive divine help and encouragement for each day's battle to stay awake and watchful as we await Christ's return. And by prayer in the Spirit, we are given help not only for ourselves but also for those around us. So this morning our Lord tells us not to go out marching into battle, but rather to stand firm, Christian soldiers, and remember who your champion and defender is, who you belong to: the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.