On the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.*)
Eph. 6, 10-17.
Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the cunning attempts of the devil. For we do not have to contend with flesh and blood, but with princes and mighty men, namely with the lords of the world who rule in the darkness of this world, with the evil spirits under heaven. For this reason, take up the armor of God, so that you may resist in the evil day, and bring everything to a good end, and keep the field. Stand therefore, girding your loins with truth, and clothed with the canker of righteousness, and booted in legs, as ready to press the gospel of peace, that ye may be prepared. Above all, take hold of the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Since it is thus ordered that the epistle be preached in the afternoon, I will also leave it at that, as much as I can; for I am a stopgap, and am neither a pastor nor a preacher. Now that the time gives us the opportunity to do this, and this epistle is arranged for this Sunday, let us also say a little about it. And I wonder why it has been arranged in this way, because it is a sharp, high epistle, and concerns faith and high doctrine. It would be better to preach the Ten Commandments: but yet this epistle must be preached for the sake of many; for it shows the right fight of faith.
2. before this text St. Paul taught,
*Held at Wittenberg, November 6, 1530.
D. Red.
how Christians should believe and live Christianly, and has instructed all estates what each one should or should not do. Then he speaks: You now have the word and the faith, and now know what each one should do in his state: now you must see that you keep to it. And do it as a pious, right captain of the field, who preaches to his soldiers, who are placed in battle order. If ye will keep this Christ, saith he, to the Lord, and persevere in his doctrine, be ye armed; "for we have not flesh and blood to fight with." etc.
3 Therefore it is not enough to preach to Christians what they should believe and do, but they must also be warned against those who are contrary to them, lest they lose faith. Like a servant,
If he knows the doctrine of Christ and has learned what is his office, that he should be obedient to his master and do with all diligence what his master has commanded him to do, he will now be troubled by the devil. For he will soon come to this place, and soon to another, where one preaches like this and the other. Item, poisonous enviers will blow in his ears: Why do you serve the Lord? You can have it better. It is the same in all the other classes. As with a preacher, if he will wait for his office, the devil gives him false ideas, that he may cause a cult; or he makes him impatient, that he should depart from his office. So, a husband, wife, son, daughter etc. will each have their challenge in the doctrine they have heard; afterward they will also be challenged outwardly, that they should say: I let my husband have a good year; he is meager and a stingy man. So one wife deceives another from her office, and one says to another: Thy husband maketh thee no clothes etc. Summa, the doctrine must have contestation. Therefore it is not enough that you know that one must obey God above all things and believe him; after that one must also obey parents, masters, wives, item, princes: but people also want to be admonished that they stick to it: Non minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri: A householder not only needs to acquire goods and money, but if he knows the art, he must also learn to keep it safe and keep it in guard, lest it be taken from him and profaned. These two virtues belong together. It is not enough what thou shalt believe or do; but thou must also see how thou shalt keep it, lest the devil take thy word, and a poisonous mouth lead thee away from thy office. Item, your own flesh makes you rebellious and disobedient. Therefore I say, See thou be not deceived by the devil, or by a vile mouth, or by thy corrupt flesh.
4 For this reason St. Paul says, "You know how you ought to believe and what you ought to do; watch therefore and be careful, for you will have those who entice and tempt you.
lead. "Be strong," saith he, "that is, hold fast that which ye have received, remembering that ye stand fast in it. If thou be a preacher, a citizen, a servant, etc., let every man look to his office (mine is to preach purely and loudly), and sleep not, lest a devil come behind him, or a devil hinder the word, that he should not do his office aright; for the devil sleepeth not, as the apostle saith. So, if you are a woman or a maid, one will come and say, "This is what your husband does to you, or your wife, how can you do it? Then thou shalt straightway be displeased, and say, Before I would suffer this, I would sooner depart to the country. Item, your own flesh will say to you: My lord has ordered me to carry out the dung in the bad weather; I want to go to the beer. But follow not thou thy flesh and blood, nor vain mouths; but hold thy peace, prepare thyself in the word, and think, I am a servant, it behooveth me to do this. That is, to "stand fast in the Lord," that every man may know in what state he is, that he may have temptation. I give rough examples of servants and maids. If you want to believe in Christ and have him as your Lord, you must be faithful and know that you have his body given for you. Here your faith must remain in the teaching that your Lord has given you. Then in your profession hold fast and be strong "in the Lord," that is, hold fast to the doctrine which you have from the Lord, saying, I sit not in the Lord's bosom, but I must do what he hath commanded me.
5 But how necessary this admonition is, you will hear hereafter. For the world, the devil, and our flesh are against us etc. Otherwise St. Paul would have said badly, with simple words: Every man do what he ought to do. But now he has used such strong and emphatic words when he says, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." So I would say to each one in his position, as Paul says here, "If you are to continue in your teaching and in your ministry, you must strengthen yourself and be valiant in the Lord, so that you may do what you ought to do. He goes on to say:
And in the power of his strength.
6 St. Paul is speaking very unclearly here, because he does not speak well in Latin, Greek or German, but in Hebrew. I say: You servant, maidservant, master, wife, child, do what you should do and stick to it. Hebrews says: Be firm, persevere, do not fail in the faith and in your ministry; but know that the teaching of God is, and that your ministry is pleasing to Him; that is in German: If you do what you ought to do, and persevere in it, you are doing God a service, and persevere. Further, Paul says, "and in the power of his might." That doesn't sound at all. We would say: in his mighty strength, or in his great power. It is two kinds of power: the one power I must have, that I may stand firm in what I am to believe and do; that is, firm in itself. The other, that I not only keep the city, that it be not taken, and that I be not overcome; but that I defend myself, and put my enemy to flight, that one man may be able to put away, and that he may smite another: a power of defense, that a man not only be not overcome, when the flesh murmurs against him, that he should depart from the doctrine and from his office; but also that he may present his malice to the slanderer, that he come not again. And this he calls the mighty strength of God. A preacher must be sure of his doctrine, so that he will not let anything deter him, neither poverty, nor contempt, nor persecution etc.; but that he may be able to meet the devil, and overcome the slanders. For we are fighters who must always contend with the devil, the world and our flesh. A Christian
*) Flarren - wide, misshapen wound. D. Red.
must be a man who cannot sit before the devil alone, as one sits in a guarded castle; but he must also strike and overcome him. Some can defend themselves by remaining seated; that is a protective power: but to drive away the enemy and put him to flight, there is more to it.
7 St. Paul comes in like a man of war, and teaches his men of war. And he applies these parables to spiritual warfare, exhorting, first, that a spiritual warrior have a good cancer, and not be weary, nor faint, nor be turned aside from his own flesh, nor from idle mouths, nor from the devil. Secondly, that he may also beat and overcome others. Here one must go through all the ranks and answer the useless mouth: Have you not heard what God commands and wants? If we do not do it, it will go badly for us, as God threatens in the first commandment. This is a Christian power that not only resists, but also overcomes. And this must be applied to all classes. As, a preacher, who wanted to seduce the people, must convert (especially this is said to the swarms): if he does this, he not only resists the devil, but also takes away his power. Summa, a Christian is in battle: he lives in whatever state he wants, the devil challenges him with one thought over the other etc. Useless mouths tempt him, yes, his own flesh. Therefore be firm, do not concede anything to them, and always defend yourself with God's word, which teaches faith and instructs you in your position. If you encounter anything contrary to this, take up the sword, which is the word of God, and speak as St. Paul speaks of servants and maids to the Ephesians and Colossians etc.