[AI translation] We are gathered here in this church for a special, solemn service, and dear confirming brothers and sisters, this whole solemn service is for you and because of you. It is because of you that we are here in such large numbers - for we are not usually so many on a Sunday afternoon - and it is because of you that the church is decorated with flowers. It is because of you that the Lord's table has been laid again. It is because of you that the prayer to God rises from the hearts of all of us. You are surrounded by the love and prayer of the whole congregation. It is to you that the preaching of the Word is addressed first and foremost. It is for you that all that is happening here is happening! And look, if we do so much for you and for you to make this day memorable for you, how much is God, who loves you more than your parents, doing for your confirmation? For you and because of you, he did what he did in Jesus Christ. For you and because of you, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, the whole redemption happened. And this loving God has done everything to save you for himself, so that you can start on that certain narrow road that leads to eternal life.Behold, you are now, by confessing your faith and pledging your allegiance, actually setting out on that road. But it is not enough to set out on this road: you must stay on it, you must walk it! Sometimes one may start out moved, enthusiastic, pledged, and never get where one wants to go. They lose their way, get lost and never find their way back! Leaving is not arriving. We don't know how far each of us has to travel between departure and arrival, but we do know that there are many struggles and obstacles along the way. It is not easy to persevere in following Christ. It is not easy to persevere with Christ, to fight the beautiful battle of faith. We walk in this world among many anti-Christian forces and attractions: sometimes it is a good friend who can speak beautifully, or some success that arouses our vanity, or some joy of life that blinds us with its glitter, or some crushing sadness that wants to turn us from the path of faith. We know from the Bible that the satanic power is jealous of all who would follow Christ and mobilises a whole invisible world to keep us from arriving where we have set out with great hopes.
An old, experienced Christ-follower, the apostle Paul, warns of this lurking danger: "For we wrestle not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the world judges of the darkness of this life, against the spirits of wickedness which are in high places. Wherefore take up all the armour of God, that ye may be able to resist in that evil day, and to stand in the day of all things." (Eph 6:12-13) What the apostle is emphasizing here is that the Christian man, while on earth, is constantly engaged in a decisive battle, a battle of life and death. His adversary is not human ignorance, not human malice, not human prejudice, not even his own bad habits and follies - in other words, not blood and flesh - but the evil one himself, the judge of the world, Satan, who puts cosmic powers, demonic forces, in the battlefield and attacks God at the weakest point: the soul of man! Is it even possible to stand against such an enemy, is it even possible to remain on the path of following Christ? The Apostle Paul sees the difficulties clearly and yet he does not back down, he does not retreat, he does not compromise. He knows that one can lose the battle, but one cannot lose Christ! He says: The good soldier of Christ needs good spiritual armour to stand against all the wiles of the devil. He lists from God's armoury the most suitable weapons to defend and attack the unseen enemy.
The first is to "gird up your loins with righteousness." This righteousness we are talking about here is the opposite of lying, and is nothing other than honest sincerity. Whoever wants to succeed in the fight against evil must never lie, even out of necessity! Lying is the weapon of Satan, he hates nothing so much as the truth! Remember that God cannot lie, nor can anyone who has a relationship with Him be justified in doing so. The truth is inviolable. The first Christians, when faced with persecutors and their lives at stake, could have told the smallest lie and been saved, could have saved their lives. But they rejected this way of escape. They could die, but not lie! He who believes in Christ: take it in all situations and environments. Whatever the cost!
Do not try to make yourselves look different: no better or worse than you really are. A Christ-follower in an unbelieving environment should not want to appear unbelieving, godless, if he believes. At one time in our childhood, we were advised by our educators never to do anything that we would be ashamed to tell our mother. Well, a Christian man should be so transparent that there is nothing hidden in him, nothing that he should hide from himself or others. Most nervous disorders are caused by some inner, hidden lie. The soul cannot endure for long. Where a man is honest to the depths of his soul, true to himself, true to men and true to God, the devil has a hard time. However, the unrighteous man becomes Satan's plaything, entangled in Satan's web of lies and exposed to him without protection. This is why it is important to "gird our loins with righteousness". The girdle held together the baggy leberge garment of the East. If the belt was loosened or torn, its disintegrating garment prevented a man from moving freely, from acting, he fell in it. So we must tighten that belt: righteousness!
"Putting on the breastplate of righteousness", the apostle Paul goes on to describe the spiritual armour. As armour, the breastplate, protects the warrior in the fight against the enemy, so is justification for the believer, that is, the gracious act of God in forgiving his sins and adopting him as a child for the sake of Christ. There is nothing man needs so urgently as the simple assurance that he is reconciled to God. Until one is reconciled to God, he carries a mortal wound within. But this assurance that God's grace in Christ has been poured out upon me and reconciled to God is the most precious gift that could ever fall upon a sinful human heart. Stanley Jones, a missionary to India, wrote in one of his books that once when he was on his knees seeking reconciliation with God, someone knelt beside him and said to him in a low voice, "God so loved Stanley Jones that He gave His only begotten Son, that Stanley Jones, who believes, may not perish but have eternal life." Yes, you too can put your name in place of this text, you too are protected against temptation like armour by the certainty that you are redeemed, accepted by God, you are His, you are not alone in the struggle, you do not fight in vain, your ally is God Himself! Put on this breastplate of justification day by day!
The next piece of spiritual armour is described by Paul as. It is about being constantly ready to pass on to others, in word and deed, what you yourselves have found in God. If one finds healing help in Jesus Christ, is it not natural to pass it on to others who also need this healing! Someone once defined it this way: a Christian is a man who proclaims in word and deed, "I warmly commend my Saviour to you!
Whatever your circumstances, whatever your work, whatever your vocation in life, live and work in such a way that the people around you may feel something of God's redeeming love, the gospel of peace. Take Christ out into the world, introduce him to the world and introduce people to him. This is the greatest service of all: to shine out to others the gracious light received in Christ, to glimpse something of the power that flows from the cross of Christ. In this way, go everywhere in the world: with your feet shod with the readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace!
"To all this," the apostle continues, "putting on the shield of faith, with which you will quench every fiery dart of the evil one". Without faith, without trust in Christ as our High Priest, all our efforts would be in vain. Faith is the opposite of fear and despair. He who fears will most certainly lose. He who does not believe in the cause he is fighting for is a burden and an obstacle to others. In the face of satanic forces, our souls must be filled with the firm conviction that God is strong, Jesus Christ is victorious! This blessed faith is like a shield on which every fiery and poisonous arrow the evil one throws at us loses its effect.
The most important of all spiritual weapons is the "sword of the Word", the weapon of the Holy Spirit. Take your Bibles with you. God will reach into this book and come out of this book and meet you. The holy face of Jesus Christ shines through the Word read in faith. Through it we are filled with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit that can overcome lies with truth, violence with love, hatred with forgiveness, pride with humility, evil with good!
There is only one way to acquire this spiritual armament: prayer! The Spirit enters the heart through the gate of prayer. Our perseverance in following Christ depends to a great extent on our prayer life. Here is a complete spiritual armoury. God Himself, who has called you to follow Christ, will see to it that you are armed from head to foot as soldiers of the Lord. The Word urges: 'Stand therefore, girding yourselves about with the girding of righteousness, and putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and girding your feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace; putting on the breastplate of faith, wherewith ye may quench every fiery dart of the wicked one; putting on also the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying with all prayer and supplication at all times by the Spirit, and in the same thing watching with all perseverance and supplication for all saints..." (Eph 6:14-18)
Yes: come forward, then, dear Confirmand brothers and sisters, and before you lay your profession of faith and vows in the hands of God, sing verses 1-3 of our 225th hymn of praise:
Let us give great thanks to God the Father,
Holy Creator of heaven and earth,
our Saviour, our merciful Sustainer,
our Sustainer.
Thanks be to you, great God in heaven,
For giving us your holy word in our minds,
And that by this you engrave in your knowledge,
Thy grace.
After our ruin thou hast not left us in our sins,
But you promise us your Son in your word,
That you will forgive him in our midst,
in human flesh.
(Canto 225, verses 1-3)
Amen
Date: june 1955. Confirmation.