Preparing for War

Pentecost 15 (September 17, 2006)

Rev. Steven D. Spencer, Pastor

Ephesians 6:11-20

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness 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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints -- 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery

     As a teenager, Sean Sellers seemed to be normal. He had the usual teen experiences, and he felt the usual pressures. He was a football player, and later joined the Civil Air Patrol. He attended a special training school and became a National Emergency Assistance qualified Ranger, and graduated with outstanding cadet merit. Not long after graduation, he was the squadron cadet commander. He was a normal active teenager.

    That’s how it seemed on the outside. What people didn’t see was that this normal, active teenager was beginning to inquire into dark powers, powers that many people overlook. He became intrigued with the game “Dungeons and Dragons”, and the further he got into it, the more it led him into reading about demons and evil, witches and witchcraft, Satan and Satanism, voodoo and many other related topics. He became strangely aware of the power of the supernatural world. He became interested in learning how to use that power.

    Several events took places that lead him away from God, even to the point of hating God. He dabbled in black magic. He sought out witches and searched bookstores for occult-related materials. He began to read the writings of Anton LeVey in what is called the “Satanic Bible” which promotes the idea that Satan is the force behind rebellion, and only he leads to true “freedom.”

    Sean made a pact with Satan. In his own blood he wrote, “I renounce God, I renounce Christ, I serve only Satan. To my friends, love, to my enemies, death - Hail Satan!” He signed at the bottom in his blood.

    As a sign of his allegiance to Satan, he and his friends began breaking the Ten Commandments as boldly and proudly as possible. Then the time came when there was only one commandment that remained unbroken - The Fifth Commandment “Thou shall not murder.”

    After a satanic ritual, in a mind-altered state, Sean and his friends drove to a convenience store. A man who worked there refused to sell them beer. Sean brandished a .357 Magnum, loaded with hollow points and fired three shots. This power that took over Sean is identified in verse 12 of our text. “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.” St. Paul clearly points out our enemy, the forces of evil, which cannot be seen. When the enemy cannot be seen, it’s easy not to believe they exist, or that they could do harm.

    It’s easy for us to look at this in disbelief and say, “this kind of thing just doesn’t happen!” But if look at various people in the Scriptures we see where Satan did directly manipulate them. Peter swore that he would never disown Jesus, but just a few hours later he did. Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples and Satan entered him. As has  happened in the Bible, so it happens today.

    This verse in Ephesians warns us of our enemies. It's important to understand the word “against” in the original language. It carries a connotation of “right in our faces.” When we read this passage, we can say that “we are fighting not against flesh and blood, but right in our faces are the rulers, in our faces are the authorities, in our faces are the powers of this dark world and in our faces are the spiritual forces of evil.” If it were an army that we could see, then we could use our human reason and power to overthrow it. But we can’t see it. There's an invisible army that is right among you and with you all the time, launching its attack. It can stand right in your face trying to tempt and torment and trick you in ways you’d never realize until it’s too late.

    It’s my belief that the most damning lie of the devil, the one that most of the world buys into is this, that he doesn’t exist. So he works his foul work “undercover. His work is easy because few people believe in anything “supernatural” or spiritual. But you see he's a real force, real enough to cause Sean Sellers, a well liked teenage to turn to murder.

    That’s what happened. The three shots were fired, and Sean and his friend, teenagers, walked out with no money or merchandise. They had sacrificed the life of an innocent man for Satan.

    The rituals continued. He began to invoke demons and asking them to enter his body as a sanctuary. During a ritual, in sacrificing his own blood to Satan, he received his satanic name - Ezurate, which means slay the holy lamb. Scars began to appear on his arms and chest, where he continually gave blood to his master. He had begun to drink blood; in fact, he craved it. He took blood from himself and his friends, storing it in vials he had stolen from a clinic. To stop his parents from becoming suspicious, he used needles most of the time.

    The blood, drugs, sex, and hate had become boring. Now he was unhappy and empty. But Sean knew nothing else. No one seemed to have any answers for him. He had searched everywhere and came up empty. He was angry with his parents. He began thinking about suicide. He just wanted out. One night it all came to a climax. He sat in his pick-up, wishing he had the nerve to blow his brains out or find a new world and leave everything behind. He had been awake for three days strung out on speed. But the speed was gone and now maybe he could sleep.

    He drove home, did some homework, performed a satanic ritual and slept. His next clear memory was two days later—in a jail cell. How could this happen to a teenager, a boy who was interested in helping people, who was involved in sports, how could he have turned to such things? The devil traps people this way all the time. Paul says in II Timothy 2:26: “(pray) that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has them captive to do his will.” Paul is talking about those who are taken captive, and many times they don’t even know it until it’s too late. People get caught in the devil’s snare, his traps, and they can’t get out of it. Sin has the same effect on people as alcohol or drugs; it’s addictive. Sin piles up on people and traps them. The more people sin without repenting, without seeing God, without calling out to Christ for mercy and help, the more they want to sin. Sin continues to pull them down until their lives are miserable. Some people realize this and call to God and with His almighty hand and He saves them. But for others, like Sean, it comes after a long ride with evil. And for still others, it never comes, and the living hell becomes an eternal hell as they die without Jesus.

    We left Sean lying in a jail cell. What had he done? During the night, he had taken his father’s .44 revolver and shot his parents as they slept. He didn’t remember doing so for almost a year. His life was destroyed.

    He had given Satan everything and now had nothing. He sat in that jail cell without a family. He tried to renounce Satan, but an old familiar voice spoke up within him and kept saying “Suicide”. Yes, he would kill himself.

But something stopped him.  

    Two days later, a man gave him a Bible. In the past, Sean had mutilated, burned, and poured blood on Bibles in an effort to show his disdain for God and his allegiance to Satan. But now, for the first time, he read it. Something, someone seemed to be saying “Search.”

    He opened to the book of Psalms and began reading. An overwhelming sense of guilt fell upon him. Had he been wrong? Satan had lied to him. God, not Satan, truly loved him.

    He recalled his past. He had cursed God. He had knelt at the altar of Satan full of hate toward his Creator, and yet, God loved him. He felt a new spirit, a new presence building within him, wanting to fill the emptiness. It wasn't a spirit of evil but the Holy Spirit. Sean fell to his knees and prayed for the first time, “Lord, here I am again if You want me back, I will serve You.” God touched him, and he began to cry - something he hadn’t done in years.

    Through the Word of God, God reached out to Sean and called him by name. Out of the depths of the despair, God pulled Sean away from the devil, away from sin and death into faith and life in Christ Jesus.

    This is the same God who reaches out to you and all people no matter what they've done. Can God love a murderer? Yes! He loved Sean Sellers, He loves all sinners, and He loves you.

This is certainly a scary story. Lets see how it ends.

    At age 17, Sean Sellers was convicted of the murders of his own parents and the store clerk and sentenced to Death Row. Even though he was in jail he tells us of a remarkable peace that had come over him. He devoted his life to telling others about the dangers of Satanism, and started a group called “Radical Teens for Christ.” Here’s what he said from jail: “I have a family of Christian friends, both in and out of jail, who never have failed me. And, even here, in my jail cell, I have something I never had as a Satanist - hope. “I’ve found purpose for my life. I believe I will see that purpose fulfilled - because God is the one with the true power. And when you really do have nothing else, - it’s true that Jesus is all you need.”  On February 4, 1999 in the state of Oklahoma Sean Sellers was executed by lethal injection for the murder of his parents.

    Does this story of Sean Sellers life of scare you? It did me. And if you feel fear this morning hearing about these tragic chain of events, then you begin to realize what Jesus was up against when He came to this earth to save us from our sin. Yet, we need not live in fear. Our text says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” What is the armor of God? Here’s how Paul describes it: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” God’s power comes through His Word and Sacraments. It strengthens our faith. As Luther’s famous hymn says: This world’s prince may still. Scowl fierce as he will. He can harm us none. He’s judged, the deed is done. One little word can fell him! What is that little word? God’s Word... the Bible. It’s the same words of Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness: Be gone Satan! For it is written you shall worship the Lord you God and Him alone shall you serve. You too can say “Be gone, Satan” anytime, “Be gone Satan!” I’m not afraid of you! For Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior and He has defeated you forever. With Jesus beside me and God’s angels by my side, you cannot touch me. Be gone Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him alone shall you serve. For I am a child of the living God, you have no claim on me. The battle is won, and Jesus has won it me No one, no one can snatch you out of the Hand of God. You are prepared for war, for you are strong in the Lord, and the Lord is strong in you.  In Jesus name, Amen!