Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!!

Don’t Just Do Something – Stand There!!

Many times during situations of panic you hear someone say, “Don’t just stand there, do something!” Then you see people running around like headless chickens, not achieving very much, but doing something.

The three Hebrew children had a choice…don’t just stand there – bow. Or as Pastor Ed put it – Bend or Burn. But they didn’t they stood their ground, they stood for their God, they stood for their faith, they stood for the truth. So the title of this message is …”Don’t just do something, stand there!”

How do we stand in the days we are living, we seem to be living right in the middle of Sodom and Gomorra. There is so much sin in the world, so much hate, so many false religions, false teachings, false doctrines. (benefit fraud) How do we make a stand for God, for Christ, for our faith, for the truth?

Ephesians 6: 10-20

I The Strength Within (v 10 – 11)

Stand is mentioned three times in verses 10-14, and that’s exactly what we need to do. Can we stand on our own strength, is it possible for us to go it alone. Often times we try and do things ourselves, and when we fail we wonder why.

The strength of the Body of Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We rest not upon the arm of flesh, but by the power of His might. By His strength we will put on His armour. What happens when we put the armour on v 11 says that we are able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

A minister travelling on a train in Europe was the sole occupant of a compartment, except for a young man reading a newspaper. The youth was also a Christian, but so weak was his faith, and so many were his temptations, that he told the minister he did not think he would be able to stand life a week longer. The minister took from his pocket a Bible and a penknife and said, "See, I will make this penknife stand up on the cover of this Bible, in spite of the rocking of the train." The young man, thinking that this was some conjuring trick, watched the proceeding with interest, saying, "I am afraid that it will not be very easy to do that , sir." "But," said the minister, "I am doing it." "Oh, but you are holding it," retorted his fellow passenger. "Why of course. Did you ever hear of a penknife standing up on its end without being held up?" "I see," was the young man’s comment. "I see you mean to teach me that I cannot stand unless Christ holds me. Thank you for reminding me of that."

We cannot do it on our own, but when Christ holds us and we put on His armour, in effect we are putting on Christ, as Philippians 4: 13 says I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, even if it is just standing. You see people want us to compromise our faith, they want us to compromise our doctrine, and they want us to compromise our Saviour. We need to stand up and be counted; we need to stand up for our faith, for our beliefs, for our God, for our Saviour. We need to stand up for Jesus, but we cannot stand in our own strength, but we can stand in the strength of Christ.

II The Enemy Without (v 12)

We need to know who our enemy is. Often times the Christian seams to spend far too much time fighting the wrong battles against the wrong people.

We need to stand against Satan, he is the enemy of the church and of God, we see in Ezekiel ch 28 how God threw Satan out of heaven because of his pride. Ever since then Satan has been seeking every opportunity to discredit God. 1 Pet 5:8 tells us that … your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

It was Satan that deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden.

It was Satan who touched the life of Job.

It was Satan who tempted the Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness.

It is Satan who will reap havoc on the church in the tribulation period that is to come.

It is Satan who we must stand against

Satan isn’t flesh and blood – V12 we need to remember who we are fighting against Pastor preached about our fight in Psalm 23, World, Flesh, Satan.

• Our flesh wants our old life back

• The world tries to drag us back

• Satan tries to make sure it all goes to plan.

Our flesh (our old nature) actually fights against the Spirit of God, and against the things of God in our lives. Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.