Having Done All To Stand...

“Having Done All to Stand…”

Ephesians 6

Introduction: There are a lot of people who live by the philosophy of “Whatever will be will be” and think that whatever happens good or bad is God’s will. They say if you’re meant to have it you will have it and if you’re not, you won’t. If it’s God’s will, it will happen. It’s like the old song, “Que Sera Sera” whatever will be will be. Doris Day sang this song and what it means is that the future is up in the air. Whatever is going to happen will happen. It’s no use regretting or resisting what you don’t have any control over.

The Bible doesn’t say to just drift along and see what happens.

One scripture back in the Old Testament mentions that we have been given choices when he told Joshua, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15) The subject of that sentence is you. You choose whom you will serve.

1. Our Instructions: In today’s scripture in Ephesians, Paul said, “having done all to stand.” We probably remember this part of the verse better than some other part;. And having done all to stand though says something before you get to the place of standing. There is something you have to do first before you get to the place of standing. There is something you have to do first before you are ready to stand. He says to put on the whole armor of God that you may be be able to stand. Paul comes up with some protection against the things that come against you. The armor might seem foreign to us in the 21st century, but let’s take a look at it. The first piece he talks about is a belt that he calls the belt of truth. What is truth? Scripture says, “Thy word oh Lord is truth” (John 17:17). Jesus told his disciples, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). He goes on to say, “who the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:36).

The truth says that the enemy we face cannot chain our spirit that has been set free by Christ. Paul was not silenced by the attacks of the enemy and neither should we.

But our problem is that is we race through the day shoddily prepared not aware of what we are up against. He says, “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the right kind of clothing for the occasion. What did you put on when you went out in this cold winter—a warm coat, warm gloves, boots, a hat, and maybe even ear muffs. These pieces of armor are appropriate for the attacks the enemy bring against us to chain us up and make us ineffective. The devil doesn’t care if we are ready or not. He just brings his attacks right on and we are powerless. Paul said “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” Sometime we try to be strong in ourselves or in other people.

The second piece of armor says to put on the breastplate of righteousness. The devil attacks with lies. He brings up your past. The breastplate of righteousness—or right standing says that “He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (II Corinthians 5:21).

There used to be an old song that Elvis sang, “You’re nothing but a hound dog.” The devil tries to make us believe the worst about ourselves, but if we are in Christ we are a new creation—we ‘re the righteousness of Christ.” You’re not an old hound dog. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul says put on the shoes of preparation and peace. Shoes help us to stand firm and step freely. When I was at Sterling Suites, I wore a pair of loafers that were a little loose on my feet and they told me to get some tie shoes but the loafers were easy to slip on and I never got any tie shoes. In therapy it was hard to walk in them because I was unstable on my feet.

The shield of faith to quench the darts of the devil. The household name that I remember is Armor All which protects against deterioration. Our faith protects us from the darts that try to stick and make us doubt. I Thess 5:8, the helmet of our hope of salvation The devil tries to make us doubt our salvation Did you ever doubt whether you were really saved or not because you didn’t feel like it?

The sword of the spirit is the Word of God. Jesus would always say, “It is written.” The sword is for us to use when the devil comes around trying to get us to doubt. Do we know enough of the word to know how to use it to speak up against him? Ezar knew the scriptures and how to use them. He set his heart to study the law and to do it and to teach it“(Ezra 7:10). When the devil comes around trying to cause us to doubt, do we know enough of the word of God to know how to use it to speak up against him?