Title: THREE AGAINST
ONE; ONE FOR ALL
Focus: Our battle against sin and evil is unequal (three against one); but through the One called Christ, we are victorious in the end.
Function: To encourage the people to keep their eyes of faith on the goal of our spiritual battles and pilgrimage: ultimate victory in Christ Jesus.
Text: I Thessalonians 3:6-13
Confession: Lord’s Day 52
INTRODUCTION
It took a long time for America and the western world to
wake up and realize that we are facing a vicious enemy. Already in the 80’s and
90’s Osama Ben Laden and many other radical Islamists targeted western and
American embassies, ships, and strategic places of interest. The western world
stayed asleep. Then came 9/11. America woke up, and the war on terror started
in earnest.
But there are still many in America and the western world who prefer to sleep and keep their eyes closed to the enemy. Radical Islamists have declared Jihad—holy war on the western world and on all infidels, including Christians and Jews. As long as we choose to ignore the enemy of radical Islam and the threats of Islamic terrorists, we will remain vulnerable and unprepared to fight.
Our present world situation, in many ways, is analogous to spiritual warfare. The Lord Jesus makes us aware of spiritual battles as he teaches us to pray: “Our Father in heaven…Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” The question is: are we aware of the ferocity and tactics and the nature of the enemy? Or are we asleep, unaware that Christians are to be on guard, soldiers of the cross of Christ, engaged in spiritual battles?
In light of scriptures and in light of the Lord’s teachings, let me say it as clearly as I can: Our battle against sin and evil is unequal (three against one); but through the One called Jesus Christ we find victory.
The Lord’s Prayer has a number of requests. Tonight we consider the sixth and seventh petitions: “Lead us not into temptation,” and “Deliver us from the evil one.” Rightly or wrongly, the Heidelberg Catechism treats those two petitions as one request—like a coin that has at least two sides. And so it asks the question, “What does the sixth request mean?”
The first thing we should observe is this request’s relationship to the fifth petition in the Lord’s Prayer. In the fifth petition we pray that God will “forgive our debts or sins as we forgive our debtors or those who sin against us.” In the sixth petition, the Lord Jesus confronts us with the root of our sins or trespasses. For our sins “result from our consenting to temptation” (Catechism of the Catholic Church) . In other words, the Lord Jesus forces us in the sixth request to face the reality of sin and the devil. In the fifth petition we feel the “heat” of our sins and we cry out “Lord, forgive us.” In the sixth petition we look the enemy straight in the eyes—and we see a three-headed dragon of evil, scaring the willies out of us.
Note how Christians, in light of Scripture, define the enemy. Listen to the Catechism teacher: “…our sworn enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—never stop attacking us.”
Are you and I aware of our enemy? Do we know its tactics, its manifestations? The enemy attacks from at least three angles: there is the devil, the world, and my own flesh. They never stop attacking us. Three against one: the Christian against the devil, the world, and her own flesh. Our battle against sin and evil is unequal.
There is the devil: he is the father of all lies; he is a mass murderer; he is out to destroy God’s creation and the human race. If you think Zarqawi was bad, or if you think that Osama Ben Laden is evil, think again: the Islamic terrorists want to establish their own theocracy and world of Islamic fundamentalism. The devil, however, is out to ruin us all. The entire human race and all of God’s creation is on his radar screen. The devil is our arch enemy number one!
Then there is the world. When Scripture identifies the
world as the enemy of Christ’s followers, Scripture does not mean the created
realm, the earth or universe. All of creation is inherently good. Yes, stained
by sin, but nevertheless valuable and good in the eyes of God. In fact, God so
loved the world that he gave his One and Only Son to redeem the world and all
those who respond to his Son by faith.
Rather, when Scripture speaks of the world as our enemy, Scripture points to the hostility that is directed toward God and toward Christ and his followers. Those who are under the control of the devil--systems of injustice, and secular governments and institutions of learning, including organizations that influence and corrupt our culture and set it in opposition to God—those make up the world that is hostile to God. As John says (I John 5:19) “We know that we are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” In other words, wherever the reign of the devil is advocated—a reign in opposition to God and His kingdom, there we see our enemy “the world” at work.
When Hollywood denigrates Christ and the Christian faith, I see the enemy at work. When the ACLU advocates the distribution of condoms at the public schools and sues the pants off every school board member who dares to introduce to the students the idea of Intelligent Design or the existence of God, let alone prayer to God, I see the enemy at work.
When lawyers and judges invent human rights such as the right to abortion or euthanasia, I see the enemy called “the world” in opposition to God. When our culture says “Yes” to cohabitation and all kinds of relationships that go against purity and holiness and sexual morality, I see the enemy at work—the world that is hostile to God and his Word.
Ah, our battle against sin and evil is unmatched. Our enemy is a three-headed dragon: there is the devil; there is the world; and there is our own flesh.
Yes, our own flesh. When the Bible speaks of our flesh as an enemy of God, it does not mean our bodies per se; it does not mean our dust, our bones and muscles and blood. Rather, the Bible refers to our sinful human nature. There is evil or sin clinging at the core of our being; that sin is the rot or rebellion we inherit and share by virtue of being the children of Adam and Eve. When they fell into sin, we fell with them. And ever since the fall into sin, we share in a corrupt human nature.
The world and the devil—as our enemies—are outside of us. But this enemy—our sinful human nature, our flesh—is inside of us. And all three of them want to overpower us relentlessly. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” And this is why the Catechism interprets Jesus’ prayer saying: “By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment…And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory.”
When you really think about it, the
sixth petition is a confession, an admission: “Lord, in my daily living as a
disciple of Christ, I am so weak, too weak, to overcome our enemies in
spiritual battles.” The sixth petition is also then a cry for help: “Help
us, Lord, in our fight against sin in all its manifestations!” The sixth
petition is also a call to arms and a cry for strength to persevere: “Lord,
let us be awake, alert in our struggles; and let us persevere until the end,
when Jesus comes and makes all things new.”
This is why
I chose to read from I Thessalonians 3:13, for there we see the apostle Paul
engaged in spiritual battle—through prayer—keeping in mind the end, when the
Lord Jesus comes in triumph. Listen: “May (the Lord) strengthen your
hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and
Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”
Here’s the story: Through his work in Thessalonica and
with the Lord’s blessing, Paul gathered together a small community called “the
church.” These new Christians, however, experienced persecution and hardship
because of their faith in Christ. They fought the enemy in its various
manifestations—from without—the devil and the world hostile to God, and from
within—their own sinful human nature. And Paul was worried about them. He
worried that they would fall away and succumb to the enemy.
So, Paul sent Timothy to the church in Thessalonica. And Paul was thrilled to hear from Timothy that the Christians in that city were standing firm against the enemy. They were battle weary perhaps; but nevertheless battle ready soldiers of Christ, engaged in spiritual warfare. So Paul writes them a letter thanking God for them and praying to God that their love will both increase and overflow (vs.12), and that their hearts will be strengthened in matters of holiness (vs. 13).
What I find so striking in Paul’s prayer is that he keeps one eye of faith on the present spiritual battles in which all Christians must participate and engage, and one eye of faith on the final, triumphant coming of Jesus Christ.
Paul realizes that our ultimate victory over sin and the devil lies in Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus has already won that victory when he arose from the grave. In his letter to the Colossian church, for example, Paul writes: “God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” It’s true: our battle against sin and evil is unequal—three against one: the devil, the world, and self. But here’s the good news: through the One called Christ Jesus, we are victorious in the end! Therefore, we shall persevere!
Here’s how:
Fight in the strength of the Holy Spirit. “By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment,” says the Catechism. Right on! That’s why Scripture calls us to “…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…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” (Ephesians 6:10-18). Underestimating our enemies would be a fatal mistake; overestimating our own strength would be equally fatal. Our strengths is found in the Spirit of Christ.
Also, as we pray the Lord’s Prayer we must do so in earnest, with integrity. For example, if I struggle with gambling, I do well to pray “Lord, lead me not into temptation.” But I am insincere in my prayers if I then should go to a casino “just to look around.”
If I struggle with alcohol, and pray the sixth petition, I should not go to the liquor store and stock up my wine cellar with bottles of Beaujolais or my refrigerator with beer cans.
In other words, praying the sixth petition calls for a soldier’s posture. We must be on guard; we must be aware of the enemy; we must guard ourselves against his wiles and temptations. And thus we honor God as we seek the power of Christ in our spiritual battles.
It’s true: our battle against sin and evil is unequal (three against one); but through the one called Christ, we are victorious in the end.
Glory be to God, as it was in the beginning, is now and always shall be: world without end. Amen.