Quotations from John Bunyan - Author of Pilgrim's ProgressFrom Goodreads

John Bunyan quotes Showing 1-30 of 399

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
― John Bunyan

tags: benevolence, charity, compassion, generosity, helping-others

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“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. ”
― John Bunyan

tags: christian, inspirational, prayer, words

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“What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrims Progress

tags: obedience, ridicule

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“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
― John Bunyan

tags: bible, biblical, church, god, jesus, prayer, spiritual

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“This hill though high I covent ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way of life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear. ”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

tags: inspirational

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“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day.”
― John Bunyan

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“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend.
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear.
Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

tags: god, inspirational

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“a man there was, though some did count him mad, the more he cast away the more he had.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

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“When you pray, rather let your heart be without words then your words without heart. ”
― John Bunyan

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“One leak will sink a ship, and one sin will destroy a sinner.”
― John Bunyan

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“It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit because there is no winter there.”
― John Bunyan

tags: puritan, reformed

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“Dark clouds bring waters, when the bright bring none.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

tags: hope

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“If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us…”
― John Bunyan

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“I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eye lids rather than disobey God.”
― John Bunyan

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“I have given Him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to Him; how, then, can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrims Progress

tags: bold, bravery, christian, truthful

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“Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think... It is wounding work, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving... Where there is grafting there will always be a cutting, the graft must be let in with a wound; to stick it onto the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. Heart must be set to heart and back to back or there will be no sap from root to branch. And this, I say, must be done by a wound, by a cut.”
― John Bunyan

tags: affection, conversion, wounding

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“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.”
― John Bunyan

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“The man that takes up religion for the world will throw away religion for the world.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

tags: religion, world

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“Though there is not always grace where there is the fear of hell, yet, to be sure, there is no grace where there is no fear of God.”
― John Bunyan

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“Just as Christian came up to the Cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, fell from off his back, and began to tumble down the hill, and so it continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre. There it fell in, and I saw it no more!”
― John Bunyan

tags: burdens, christianity, the-cross

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“I seek a place that can never be destroyed, one that is pure, and that fadeth not away, and it is laid up in heaven, and safe there, to be given, at the time appointed, to them that seek it with all their heart. Read it so, if you will, in my book.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

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“Nothing can hurt you except sin; nothing can grieve me except sin; nothing can defeat you except sin. Therefore, be on your guard, my Mansoul.”
― John Bunyan, The Holy War

tags: sin, temptation

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“It is always hard to see the purpose in wilderness wanderings until after they are over.
6.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come

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“The road of denial leads to the precipice of destruction”
― John Bunyan

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“It is profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very beginnings of grace with their souls.”
― John Bunyan

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“What God says is best, indeed is best, though all men in the world are against it. Seeing, then, that God prefers his religion; seeing God prefers a tender conscience; seeing they that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest; and that the poor man that loveth Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates him: Shame, depart, thou art an enemy to my salvation.”
― John Bunyan

tags: boldness, idolatry, opinions, shame, wisdom

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“My name is now Christian, but my name used to be Graceless.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come

 Christian leaves the City of Destruction with a huge burden on his back - his sins - led by the Scriptures on his trip to the Celestial City.

 Christian meets Evangelist, who explains the symbolic actions to him.

Coming Soon - Pilgrim's Progress - Lutheran Librarian

 From the Lutheran Librarian - Amazon

Someone has already asked for a class on Pilgrim's Progress.

Basics of Pietism - From 2008 - Your Synod Was Born in Pietism - Yep, All of Them - From 2008

Spener began Pietism, which was unionistic from the start. He baptized Zinsendorf, leader of the Moravians, who began world missions and profoundly influenced Wesley. See Knapp below.

Philipp Jakob Spener started Pietism with his Pia Desideria (Pious Wishes) in 1675. He wrote a long essay as an introduction to a popular orthodox book of sermons by Johann Arndt, so Arndt's book served inadvertently as a launching pad for Pietism. Spener had already started conventicles or cell groups in 1669. (Pia Desideria, ed. Tappert, p. 13)

Some hallmarks of Pietism are:

1. A heart religion instead of a head religion. Pietists often mention that false distinction.
2. Lay-led conventicles or cell groups, to develop piety through prayer and Bible study.
3. Unionism - cooperation between Lutherans and the Reformed. Spener was the first union theologian (Heick, II, p. 23).
4. An emphasis on good works and foreign missions. "Deeds, not creeds" is a popular motto.
5. Denial of the Real Presence and baptismal regeneration, consequences of working with the Reformed. (Heick, II, p. 24)
6. A better, higher, or deeper form of Christianity rather than the Sunday worshiping church. This often made the cell group the real church, the gathered church.

Spener influenced the ruler to found Halle University in 1694, to teach actual Biblical studies, which had been neglected in favor of ferocious dogmatic struggles between the Lutherans and Calvinists.


August Hermann Francke, (1663–1727)

Francke met with Spener, adopted his program, and got into a world of trouble over Pietism. Spener had Francke appointed to the newly established Halle University. Francke remained there as a professor and pastor of a congregation for the next 36 years. His energy spread the influence of Pietism, both in his charity work (Halle Orphanage) and his Biblical teaching.


Count Zinzendorf with Wesley

Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) had a profound effect on the spread of Pietism, not only through his contact and friendship with Wesley, but also by being the father of world missions. Methodism is another form of Pietism. The English Methodist George Scott influenced Carl Olaf Rosenius, who founded Swedish Pietism together.

Zinzendorf is also known for his "Come Lord Jesus" prayer and his hymns. Pietistic hymns emphasize the blood of Jesus because of the influence of Johann Albrecht Bengel. (Heick, II, p. 25) Bengel's son-in-law, Burk, may be the inventor of Objective Justification.



The English Methodist George Scott (1804-1874) came to Sweden and worked with Carl Olaf Rosenius (1816-1868), who founded the newspaper Pietisten. The Swedish-American Augustana Synod looked to Rosenius as their patriarch. Augustana taught justification by faith, arguing against the Norwegian Pietists who promoted justification without faith. Two offshoots of Swedish Pietism in America are the Evangelical Covenant and Evangelical Free denominations, both deeply involved in the Church Growth Movement.


Jakob Boehme, radical Pietist

Boehme (1575-1624) illustrates what can happen when someone just starts making up all kinds of things. Today he is called creative. Another radical Pietist was Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).


Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687—1752)

Bengel introduced weird ideas about the blood of Christ stored in heaven for justification. His work greatly influenced the Pietistic hymns (Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness) and the theology of Zinzendorf.

Bengel is also famous for his Gnomon, used by John Wesley for his Expository Notes. Does this explain Methodist George Scott-->Rosenius-->Objective Justification? Note Burk below.

Bengel's son-in-law published an expanded edition of one of his works in 1763 - Philip David Burk (1714-1770).

Hoenecke (Dogmatik, III, p. 354-5) wrote this: And Ph. D. Burk (Rechtfertigung und Versicherung, p. 41) rightly said:

The difference between general justification and the more common usage of the term justification can be expressed as follows. The latter takes place precisely upon the appropriation of the former.

Hoenecke added a sentence used as a bromide by all UOJ fanatics: "An emphasis upon general justification is necessary in order to safeguard the material content of the Gospel."

In German, general justification means - each and every one is justified. General seems vague in English, so that is probably why moderns have used Objective Justification and Universal Justification and Universal Objective Justification. All three terms mean what the Brief Statement of 1932 imagines - God declared the whole world free of sin, without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Grace.
(1932 B.S. - Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25; that therefore not for the sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by grace, for Christ's sake, He justifies, that is, accounts as righteous, all those who believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ's sake their sins are forgiven.)


Christian von Wolff (1679-1754)

Halle moved quickly from Pietism to Radical Pietism to Rationalism. Wolff, professor at Halle, exemplified the rationalism which spread to all other German universities from Halle. Frederick William I fired Wolff from Halle, so Marburg University immediately hired him. Wolff eventually returned to Halle, lionized by academics and a favorite of Frederick the Great.


Adolph Hoenecke (1835-1908) studied at Halle under Tholuck, who studied under Knapp. Hoenecke is the principal theologian, perhaps the only theologian, of the Wisconsin Synod.

George Christian Knapp (1753-1825) was a Pietist but very rationalistic. He taught two justifications, objective and subjective, in his Lectures on Theology, published in German in 1789. The Lectures were translated into English in 1831 by Leonard Wood, who was very influential at the time, published and used in many editions in America. The Lectures were still being used at Andover at the end of the 19th century, mirroring the enormous span of years Knapp spent teaching.

Knapp taught Objective and Subjective Justification, in form familiar to Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie:

Here are some statements from the English edition, 8th, 1859, p. 397ff:

The Scripture doctrine of pardon or justification through Christ, as an universal and unmerited favour of God.

1. The Universality of this Benefit

It is universal as the atonement itself...If the atonement extends to the whole human race, justification must also be universal--i.e., all must be able to obtain the actual forgiveness of their sins and blessedness on account of the atonement of Christ. But in order to obviate mistakes, some points may require explanation.

*[Translator note - This is very conveniently expressed by the terms objective and subjective justification. Objective justification is the act of God, by which he profers pardon to all through Christ; subjective is the act of man, by which he accepts the pardon freely offered in the gospel. The former is universal, the latter not.]

The Register, quoted below:

"Dr. Knapp, late Professor at the University of Halle, was born at Glancha,in Halle, on the 17th of September, 1753, and received his early education in the Royal Paedagogium, one of the institutions of the pious Francke. At the age of 17, he entered the university at Halle, and attended the lectures of Semler, Noesselt and Gruner, with more than common success. The Bible was his great object of study, while the Latin and Greek classics still received a degree of attention which enabled him ever afterwards to adorn, enrich and illustrate from classical literature whatever he said or wrote in the department of Theological science. In 1774 he completed his course of study, and in 1775, after a short absence, he began to lecture, at Halle, with much success upon Cicero, the New Testament, and the more difficult portions of the Old Testament. He was appointed Prof. Extraordinary in 1777, and Prof. Ordinary in 1782. He then lectured in Exegesis, Church History, and in Jewish and Christian Antiquities.

On the death of Freylinghausen (1785), he and Niemeyer were appointed Directors of Francke's Institutes; and continued jointly to superintend these establishments for more than 40 years. In the division of duties, the Bible and Missionary establishment fell to Dr. Knapp, which brought him into near connection with the Moravians. The lectures, of which this volume forms a part, he commenced during the summer of the same year."



Tholuck mentored Hoenecke

From Henry Eyster Jacobs:

Only in George Christian Knapp a branch of the old Halle school remained, but reserved and timid, and without any extensive influence. At my [Tholuck's] entrance in Halle in 1826 I found still two citizens who traced their faith to this one deceased advocate of the old school among the clergy." This deterioration, however, was gradual.

Nevertheless, Knapp supported Unitarian-Universalist arguments.

Friedrich August Tholuck (1799‒1877) also taught two justifications, following the teaching of his own mentor George Christian Knapp.

From the Bethany Lectures:

Tholuck took a personal interest in Hoenecke, as he did with all of his students. He liked to take walks with his students, using the occasion as a time for peripatetic Seelsorge. Tholuck also gave Hoenecke quite a few free meals, which he had sorely needed.

Hoenecke traveled to America through the offices of a Pietistic missionary society. In Switzerland, his studies of the Confessions and later Lutheran orthodox fathers were doubtless pivotal in making him stronger in Lutheran doctrine.


C. F. W. Walther participated in Pietistic gatherings in Europe and came over with a Pietistic leader, Bishop Stephan.

J-564

"For God has already forgiven you your sins 1800 years ago when He in Christ absolved all men by raising Him after He first had gone into bitter death for them. Only one thing remains on your part so that you also possess the gift. This one thing is—faith. And this brings me to the second part of today's Easter message, in which I now would show you that every man who wants to be saved must accept by faith the general absolution, pronounced 1800 years ago, as an absolution spoken individually to him."
C. F. W. Walther, The Word of His Grace, Sermon Selections, "Christ's Resurrection—The World's Absolution" Lake Mills: Graphic Publishing Company, 1978, p. 233. Mark 16:1-8.

Ironic Humor for the Year - LutherQuest (sic) Honors Luther's Birthday!

Happy Birthday!
Pastor Rolf David Pr - 11/10, 2:42 pm - Today is Luthers birthday
Bucky Hellwig (Buck) - 11/10, 2:56 pm - Erhalt uns, Herr, bei dei
Steve Schmidt (Sschm - 11/10, 7:39 pm - Come on, folks, lets not
Jeff (Jeffmn) - 11/10, 7:43 pm - Dear Christians, One and


Rolf and Bucky loathe Luther's Biblical doctrine and prefer instead - regurgitated Pietism from Halle University and Bishop Martin Stephan, STD.

The LQ drones refuse to acknowledge that the LCMS taught Justification by Faith from the beginning. Walther never taught the Chief Article, so he rigged the election of his disciple, Pietist Francis Pieper, who produced generations of OJists until they finally had leaders dumb enough to institutionalize OJ. And they finished the job under Matt the Fatt, Pope Paul the Plagiarist, the Fort and the new Seminex in St. Louis.

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, 2019. The Whole Armor of God

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, 2019

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time

The Hymn #658             Onward Christian Soldiers     
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual 
The Gospel 
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 261               Lord Keep Us Steadfast  - by Luther

Weapons and Armor

The Communion Hymn #321         O Faithful God  - by the Concordist Selnecker 
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #259  Flung to the Heedless Winds - by Luther  

Ephesians 6

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

KJV John 4:46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. 54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Twenty-First Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son hast promised us the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and everlasting life: We beseech Thee, do Thou by Thy Holy Spirit so quicken our hearts that we in daily prayer may seek our help in Christ against all temptations, and, constantly believing His promise, obtain that for which we pray, and at last be saved, through Thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

2018 - Background for Sermon and Adult Class
Luther did not teach himself or teach his organization. His interest from the beginning was Biblical teaching, and Staupitz had him earn a doctorate to teach the Bible, a task he took with great seriousness and energy. No "Lutheran Church" existed, but many flocked to Wittenberg to be part of this emphasis on the Bible and the Gospel.

Two terms belong together - efficacy and Enthusiasm, two expressions about how the Holy Spirit works.

But first - Zwingli and Calvin. Both Swiss Reformers acted a rivals to Luther, though they showed an outward friendliness. What Zwingli started, Calvin developed - teaching against efficacy and promoting Enthusiasm. Their toxic influence is with us today in the way rationalism has undermined the Biblical message.

Efficacy means the Word of God always works through the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 55:10f is the key passage, but there are many more. In the New Testament, efficacy is used many times in various forms. It transliterates (letter for letter) as en-ergy, what works within. Efficacy means God's Word is always effective. If preaching causes a riot, a split, converts few or many, that comes from the divine power of the Word. The Holy Spirit never works apart from the Word, and the Word never lacks the Spirit.

Zwingi and Calvin denied the efficacy of the Word and mocked it as well. Thus the power of the Word in Holy Baptism and Holy Communion was denied. They are merely ordinances that show man's faith in obeying those commandments. Thus it is no surprise that the Mennonites (denying infant faith and infant baptism) came from Zwinli's influence. It is also no surprise that non-Lutheran Protestants have a low interest in Holy Communion (usually avoiding that term) and attend the Lord's Supper only a few times a year.

Enthusiasm is another major word, in this case shorthand for the practice of having divine teaching with no evidence in the Scriptures for it. Some examples:

• All pagan religions are Enthusiasm - no support in the Bible.
• Catholics teach that wearing the scapular releases them from time in Purgatory, given certain requirements. The scapular and Purgatory are examples of Enthusiasm.
• Modern theology, which began at Halle University (a school that absorbed Wittenberg), is Enthusiasm, where Scriptural support is a non-issue. Statements are made as if they are true, based on the authority of the writer. Braaten-Jenson teaches that the Trinity is simply God the Father, the man Jesus, and the spirit of the believing community. B-J is a major ELCA product, but Braaten thought ELCA was too liberal and left.
• Objective Justification's claims are nothing but Enthusiasm. They are derived from Walther, Stephan, and Halle University. Ironically, Jay Webber - normally allergic to Luther - pointed me to the Enthusiasm passages in the Book of Concord as a refutation of Church Growth.

Enthusiasm has made such inroads, thanks to the Walther fan club and the rationalism of Europe, that few test the ravings of Fuller, Trinity Div, Willow Creek, and the Love Shack/Purple Palace with the Scriptures. That laziness is fatal. The Word is divine and infallible - denominations are not.

Weapons and Armor

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

This passage is a picture of the Roman soldier, using his armor as examples of the Christian in his battle against Satan. As Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress illustrates, whenever a person is lost to Satan, there are many ways, various paths to take in getting him back. Thus unbelievers are not troubled for the most part, because they already belong to their Father Below. Christians are beset by many difficulties, troubles, and temptations, because they are missed and Satan wants them restored to that lost state.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord

The Apostle urged his fellow-Christians not to be weak and willing to surrender, but strong in might of their Savior, who is - in Luther's words - the Hero, the Valiant One who fought against Satan, sin, and death - and defeated them.

An old adage in the military is this - "The army has lost the moment they think they are defeated." On the contrary, many times a minority, even one soldier, has turned the tide of a battle because of a never-lose, never-surrender attitude. The majority against this minority thinks it is against a brigade, a larger and more ferocious unit, when it is actually one or only a few who will not budge - or who act as if they are many.

As Luther wrote (Large Catechism) Satan has a thousand arts, but the Word has 100,000. Notice that he emphasized the art and power of the Word, not the person. In war, soldiers use their weapons - they do not throw them down.

The primary weapon of the Christian is the Scriptures, and the unified view of the Word of God. The sectarian picks out a verse and dances around with it, as if the verse is the entire Bible and so bright and shiny that it eclipses the rest of the Scriptures. The unified view is ancient - that one passage helps explain and expand upon other passages. We can see that with Shepherd (Isaiah 40, Psalm 23, John 10, Luke 15), and we can see it with spiritual weapons against Satan (Hebrews 4 - the Sword of the Spirit, 1 Peter 5 - the devil prowling about like a lion).

The Scriptures are powerful weapons because they are always imbued with the divine power of the Spirit. That is not the common view because false teachers love to have the words to themselves, so they can play with them, manipulate, threaten, and tax people. Nevertheless, the Scriptures upend their dogmas and methods because the Bible is one unified Truth, One Book of the Holy Spirit. 

and in the power of his might. 
Those who play with the Biblical meanings are like those foolish people who 

1. stick forks into electrical outlets, 
2. try - emphasis on try - to steal electrical lines at a substation, or 
3. throw things into overhead lines.

They harm and blind themselves in playing with the Word and can face more danger than the person with no faith.

God's Word is God's power and never ceases to more more potent than anything we can imagine. We can only understand this from revelation and experience in seeing what God has done.

Many people have seen videos of someone using a weapon, whether a sword or a firearm, and not knowing how powerful it is. A Desert Eagle is like a hand-held canon, and a real sword is a giant razor blade. 

Paul is saying that a Christian soldier studies and knows what he is wielding as a weapon and as protection.

11 Put on the whole armour of God,

From God Himself is the protection we need to use in this battle, the whole armor of God.

We are threatened with the power of disease, from cancer to long-term incurable maladies. We are faced with the temptation of despair from economic troubles and threats. We have many different ways to stumble, to be wounded, and taken prisoner with the help of others. I saw one example of a man who talked his friends into jumping off a bridge, with everyone tied to a rope, but without calculating the actual weight of this contraption when swinging down. Many were severely injured.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Our tendency is to see difficulties as coming from individuals, from trends, from entities, but Paul directs our attention to the real battle. When Luther wrote about Kingdoms, he meant the Kingdom of Christ versus the Kingdom of Satan. Those two battle against each other until the End of Time.

Whenever the Gospel takes root in one place, Satan's foot-soldiers do their best to uproot it. Nothing is so good and full of blessings that it cannot be converted into evil and brought down. 

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

This equipment Paul is talking about - it is for a Roman hoplite, the most armored soldier. A panoply means a "full suit of armor", and has derivatives based on that meaning - a panoply of insults.

So we are not left without defenses, and these defenses are divine, not human. Paul knew about the agony of spiritual warfare. He felt it so often that it was his thorn in the flesh and the reason given by his opponents for mocking him.

The overly sensitive are brilliant at many things, and highly intuitive, but they suffer from that and wish they could be dull, insensitive, and happier (more pain-free). But God gives us an array of abilities so that we can use them for His glory.

Isaiah 59:17 - For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

In a battle, protection is essential. The first mentioned is providing the most vulnerable area with a thick leather belt - truth. That is a major source of security - no matter how much people rage, laugh, mock, and scoff - the person with the Scriptures has the revealed truth of God.

When people start from the science of the moment, they leave aside the most powerful weapon and protection, the Word, for the theories of the moment. For example, the proper argument for Creation is - God created through the Word, revealed by the Spirit in many passages throughout the Bible, from Genesis 1 on.

Secondarily, we can see how this works when we study what the scientists have discovered, such as a whole field where they look at the timing of birds, insects, plants, and soil creatures so that everything works out well for all. Scientists do not prove the Bible is correct - no, the Bible shows where scientists are right or at least getting close.

When I read about soil microbes, which involve billions of microscopic creatures and "plants" (fungi), the material practically screams Creation in Six Days to me. Or someone casually mentioning the Grand Canyon or Lake Michigan as results of the Flood.

God's power is established in His Creation, and so is His design and purpose. People have springtails and ichneumon wasps in their yards, working anonymously. Most do not see them. If they do see the tiny wasps, they think, "Gnats. Flies." and swat at them.  But the creatures do their work without needing recognition or even a life plan designed by their Life Coach.

As one wit said, "If I concede evolution (and I don't), then who wrote all the software that works perfectly and adjusts for so many changes?"

Knowing we have the absolute Truth from God and can adjust our lives accordingly, we have confidence - not so much in ourselves, but in Him.

having on the breastplate of righteousness

Our guest said he never thought of righteousness as Justification by Faith. The righteous in the Bible are those who believed in the Savior. Because Paul defined righteousness as Justification by Faith, we can see what he means here. 

Soldiers needed their hearts and lungs protected to fight, so they wore the breastplate of metal or hardened leather to keep the slashes and puncture wounds away. The person who lacks the righteousness of faith in Christ will either be struck down by constant self-blaming and paralyzing regret or misled by the self-righteousness of works. (One example would be citing one's family members as proof of denominational royalty or going outside and saying, "Look at the size of our parking lot.")
There is no real comfort in either one of those attitudes, no breastplate, only a swollen ego.


15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Some of us venture outside barefoot on a whim to get something, to bring the dog or cat inside, to look for mail, or to say hello. The results can be painful, awkward, and filled with regret. 

Here the Gospel of peace is a reminder of Romans 5:1-2. Because we are justified by faith in Christ, we have peace... Peace is almost always connected with forgiveness and salvation in the Bible. This is the most important peace of all and comes from the power and grace of God - the power to forgive, the grace to be forgiving.

Why is Pilgrim tortured in the Castle of Doom, with the giant gleefully preparing his death? Answer - he forgot he had the keys to get out of the castle in his pocket - the Promises of God. That section is is vivid that anyone can tell Bunyan suffered inwardly and outwardly from his tiny cell. This inward and outward torture, though, was transformed by God into a beautiful picture to comfort us, a visual parable.

16 Above all, taking the shield of [the] faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

επι πασιν αναλαβοντες τον θυρεον της πιστεως

I agree with translating this as the Shield of the Christian Faith. As Luther said, the Word has 100,000 arts, so the Christian is eager to go into battle, knowing that this Shield stops and extinguishes the fiery darts of Satan. 

People who love and promote false doctrine, use those darts - personal attacks, mockery, insults, shunning, causing trouble where none existing, threatening, banning, excommunicating. They will gladly destroy a marriage to get even, so I have warned people - do not let them get to you. In time, thick skin - or scar tissue - makes one laugh at all the attempts, even though some still sting.

And - in time - the raging becomes quite funny. It is like a success bell going off - success with the Word. When my little book on Justification by Faith came out, Christian News and LutherQuest (sic) had to "review" it several times over, never dealing with the actual content. In their rage they gave it priceless visibility and reason to read it.
But they never responded to Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4, above.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

I see a three-fold expression that ties the three together, rhetoric called the ladder. Going backwards - this all depends on the Word of God, defined as the Sword of the Spirit (Hebrews 4), which is the source of our salvation - Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead, the ultimate proof of God's power of sin and death.

We can be poor or wealthy, bed-ridden or an Iron Man, popular or hated - salvation is our helmet. Without a helmet, the soldier can be knocked out of the battle in a moment. My wife and I often mention a member in New Ulm. He always spoke the truth. He was the poorest member and the most generous, yet they treated him badly. He spoke the Biblical truth often and said, "They do not like it, but Jesus loves me." He made it possible to start Bethany and told the opponents at the old congregation, "I will stay with you," (because of his sister). "And I will give like you, $10 a Sunday."

He knew the ultimate truth - faith in Christ, created through the Gospel Word, is the only thing that matters.