Stand and Fight: Putting it All Together
Beartown Road Alliance Church
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
A few years ago I had the opportunity to go to the Great Lakes Naval Training Institute just outside of Chicago. Two of the young men from my youth ministry were graduating from basic training. These were two kids that I had spent a lot of time with and really invested in. They were the youth group clowns. I can’t tell you how many of my lessons and talks were interrupted by a smart comment from one of these guys. With teens, once you get them laughing, they’re gone! You may as well dismiss. It’s awfully hard to get the focus back. I could never seem to get these two to hold still and to listen for an entire half hour.
Those were the kids I knew, so I hardly recognized the two men that I saw that morning during the two hour ceremony. They were dressed in an immaculate uniform and standing at attention. They marched at the right times, they saluted at the right times, they answered the questions of the officers at the right times and when they were supposed to be quiet, they were! They didn’t crack any jokes during the ceremony. They didn’t ask to go to the bathroom or raise their hand and ask the speaker if he was almost done. They stood in their line and they stared straight ahead. These men were different. Now, I still talk with both of them and they are still a lot of fun to be around and have a great sense of humor, but there is a difference. Those two entered that training time as kids and they graduated as soldiers. They now stand ready to serve, ready to defend, and ready to do whatever they are asked to and whatever it takes to help America stand.
The last few weeks we’ve been in a spiritual boot camp. I have been looking with you at the different spiritual disciplines that need to be present in our lives as we engage the enemy and do all that we are called to do to help the Church stand and to advance the Kingdom of God. The Christian faith is one of growth and change and the things that we have looked at in these weeks are designed to move us from being spiritual kids to being prepared for the battles that we know will come in life. Today is graduation day. The summer is always a tough time to do a series. I know that many of you have been in and out over the last few weeks and so what I want to do this morning is to put it all together.
I want to look at this passage one more time and I will try not to simply re-preach what we’ve looked at in the last few weeks, but I do want to point out the highlights and the main ideas, those things that I want to make sure that you understand, and then wrap everything up together for us as we bring this important topic to a close.
Read Ephesians 6:10-20
Paul starts off this passage with the Big Idea, this is the one thing that he wants to make sure that we understand it and comes in the way of a command.
I. The Command
As Paul launches in to this analogy of the armor and of the warfare that the Christian is called to engage in, he paints a picture of God’s people learning to stand up under all sorts of attacks and temptations. No matter what comes, no matter what is thrown at us, no matter what tactics are used, we are to stand. If you watch action movies, there is that scene in every action movie where the camera pans in on the hero standing there. He has been beaten and battered, he’s been burned, shot at, stabbed, and dropped 10 stories out of a helicopter after already surviving 15 car wrecks, but there he is, standing.
When we reach the end of our days here and we stand before God, the final shot of our life needs to be like those action movies. We took everything that the world could throw at us and by the grace of God and in His strength, we were able to stand.
The command itself is simple, stand. Paul repeats it four times in the first 5 verses. We are told to take a stand, stand our ground, to just plain stand, and to stand firm. He wants the point to sink in: As Christians, we are to equip ourselves to stand. Now, there are three key aspects to this command to stand: First, we stand
A. We Stand Continually
The Greek word that is used for stand literally means to continually stand, the subject of the verb is in the state of standing, it’s an ongoing act. Jesus taught in Matthew 10:22 that he who stands firm to the end will be saved. He didn’t say “he who stands firm at the end.” He says to the end, using the same verb tense that Paul does, implying that they are already standing and will continue to do so. Here, Paul is using the same idea. He is not talking about working your whole life to get to the point where you finally stand at the very end, he is talking about making the changes in your life now that will help you to stand and will keep you on your feet throughout this life. This is not a call to stand most of the time, this is a command to dig your feet in and to make the decision that nothing will move you. We are to continually stand, but to do that, we have to understand this second part. We don’t stand alone,
B. We Stand in God’s Strength
Paul writes in verse 10 that we are to “be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power.” The ability to obey the command to stand hinges on our understanding of where we get the strength to stand. It is our choice to stand, but the strength comes from God, it’s His power. When our kids were little, they needed Erin and me to help them stand. They loved to be upright but they couldn’t get there or stay there by themselves. They didn’t have the strength. As we face the trials and temptations of life, we cannot stand outside of the strength that God promises to provide to those who make that choice to stand.
2 Corinthians 2:21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
God gives the strength but this verse also gives us the third aspect of this command and that is
C. We Stand on a Firm Foundation
Houses crumble when their foundation is bad, skyscrapers can’t stand if their foundation is not firmly anchored deep into the ground. When we stand, it needs to be on the rock of Jesus Christ or we have no hope of staying up. We need to be basing the major and minor decisions of our lives on how God tells us we should live and act, on His Truth, no matter what others claim is the truth.
When Paul was writing about those who were preaching heresy, they were presenting something as true that opposed God’s Word, and had turned people away from the gospel, he tells Timothy of the only foundation that will hold him. He says in 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm. The Truth does not change. That is the foundation on which we stand. The firm foundation that we are called to stand continually on in God’s strength, not our own.
The command is to stand. Now, when you watch those action movies, there is another consistent part of the movie and that is an enemy that is out to destroy the hero and rule the world. Paul doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to this and he clearly identifies who it is that we are fighting against.
II. The Enemy
In verses 11 and 12 he tells us to take our stand against the devil’s schemes and then tells us that our struggle is not with men but with nothing less than Satan and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This is where we lose some people. When we begin to look at the reality of the unseen, people can get a little bit nervous. It’s not something we like to imagine. God and angels are OK, but Satan and demons, that’s another story. For the Christian, though, we can’t just take the easy teachings of Scripture, we have to take the whole thing and Scripture clearly teaches that there is a being, Satan, who is set against God and against those who serve God. So, when we look at this enemy, we have to realize a few things. First,
A. Satan in Real
This is not an imagined or pretend enemy. He exists and he is active and interested in not just defeating but in destroying Christians. Now, we talked at the beginning of this series about the fact that we can tend to blame Satan for everything. It’s the old Devil made me do it excuse. I want to emphasize again that in our sin nature, we are perfectly capable of sinning on our own and often we justify poor choices or habitual sin by saying we couldn’t help it because Satan attacked. Satan is active, but he is not the cause of all evil and sin in the world. He is not going to attack those who are doing a great job of living in sin all by themselves!
He will, however, attack those who are following after God with all of their hearts.
Peter describes him this way. 1 peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. When we leave areas of our lives open and vulnerable, when we don’t kill the old nature but just try to ignore it instead, Satan will find a way in and attack.
I’m not a big camping fan. I don’t like tents. I don’t like sleeping on the ground. I don’t like bugs, I’m not even all that fond of the great outdoors for extended periods of time. But I do know, from friends who have camped in the Adirondacks, that if you camp in bear country, you have to go to extreme measures to keep your trash out of the reach of the bears. You are supposed to tie everything up high enough that the bear cannot get to it. They are attracted to the smell and if you leave the garbage out and around, the bear will come for the trash but will probably end up destroying some of your other things as well.
In spiritual warfare, too many Christians aren’t careful with their trash. They haven’t dealt with sin and temptations and they still have trash laying around in their lives. Satan will use that as an access point to launch an attack. If we don’t get rid of the sin, if we don’t confess it and repent, turn away from it, it becomes the foothold that Satan needs to destroy us. He’ll come in for the trash and won’t leave until he has ruined the good stuff as well. Ephesians 4:27 warns us: and do not give the devil a foothold. We have to be very careful how we live and the things thatwe allow in our lives because, Satan is a real enemy and his agenda for the lives of God’s followers is real and actively being carried out.
We also have to understand that:
B. He is Not God
Satan is a powerful enemy and his power goes beyond anything that we, as humans can fight on our own. But, he is not God. He does not share the same attributes as God. He is not sovereign, he is not omnipotent, he is not omniscient, and he is not omnipresent. He is a powerful enemy but he is not God. When we stand in God’s strength, we will begin to see victory over this enemy in our lives. When Satan attacks, we are not powerless to give in, he can be resisted and he can be defeated. Peter continues his discussion on Satan and tells us to:
1 Peter 5:9 Resist him (Satan), standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
JAS 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
When we stand strong and resist the attacks and the temptation of Satan, God’s strength will expose Satan’s weaknesses and we can have victory.
So, in the spiritual arena, we have to know our enemy. We have to understand that Satan exists and is real and very powerful. We also need to believe that greater is he that is in you and me (God’s Spirit), than he that is in the world. (Satan)
We have the command to stand, we know the enemy who is trying to keep us from doing that, now Paul turns to our defense, the armor of God.
III. The Armor
Each of the pieces of this armor is a reflection of Jesus Christ that we are to display in our lives. Paul tells us twice in these verses to put on the full armor of God. Each piece has a purpose and each piece is vital to us being able to stand. Paul tells us to put it all on so that we can take our stand against Satan and he tells us to put it all on so that we can stand our ground when the day of evil comes. The Armor is what we spent the majority of our time on so I am not going to get into the details of each piece. This is what I want you to remember. Putting on and taking up this armor involves:
A) Who We Are.
Who we are on the inside needs to be a reflection of who Christ is. Jesus is the standard of Truth. He is the embodiment of the Truth. Our lives are to reflect that. We are to live lives of integrity to this standard alone. When you are baking, this is not from personal experience, the measurements for the ingredients need to be precise or it’s not going to turn out right. To make sure it’s right, there is a standard of measurement that everyone uses. When the recipe calls for a tablespoon, you have a tablespoon that you can measure with, there is a universal standard, if you try and create your own standard, you are going to get a mess. There is a standard, a measurement when it comes to Truth as well and it is found in Christ alone. We live in a society that really is uncomfortable with the idea of Truth as God defines it so we have sought to define it ourselves. We don’t want to believe that there can be an absolute truth because to believe that means that our lives have to change. We would rather define truth on our own terms and try to change the standard, which will give us a mess, rather than change ourselves.
When those two teens finished boot camp, they had a new sense of identity. They were now US Soldiers and it changed who they were in a very real and noticeable way. When we become Christians, it changes who we are. Our lives are now based on the standard of God’s Truth alone. Putting on the armor, specifically the Belt of Truth means living a life where the inside beliefs are reflected in the outer actions, it’s a life of integrity to the Truth and it’s understanding who we are.
We wear the armor by who we are.
Putting on the armor also involves:
B) What We Do.
Not only is it who we are on the outside but the armor is reflected by how we act on the outside. The breastplate of righteousness is living right and making right choices. This is the part of the armor that guards our hearts. We have to begin to consistently make wise choices and choices that reflect who we are on the inside and what Christ has done in our lives. It’s not always as simple as saying, “I’m not going to do this or that anymore.” We need to work to remove the temptations from our lives. If there are areas where we know we struggle, we need to begin to make choices that will allow God to work in those areas. Again, like camping, we need make conscious choices that will take care of our trash and not allow Satan to have a foothold. If you struggle with lust and pornography, choose to put in safeguards that will eliminate the temptation. There are filters and accountability programs and passwords and other things that will safeguard that area. I have a great program called Covenant Eyes that e-mails all of my internet activity to my wife and one of my elders. The temptation is gone. If you struggle with anger or patience or self-esteem, or any other very common struggles, begin to make choices that reflect what God says we were created to be. Recognize the times when you are weakest in those areas and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Christ came to free us from the bonds of these sins.
Choose to live right, understanding that our actions do not earn us salvation. We are righteous in God’s sight because of what Christ did for us on the cross, not because of anything that we can do or earn. But, our gratitude needs to be shown in what we choose.
We wear the armor by what we do. Finally, wearing the armor involves:
C) What We Believe.
When we understand that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He promises to do, so many of Satan’s attacks will be rendered impotent. This is the shield of faith. Believing in the promises of God that form the layers of our shield when Satan hurls his lies at us. When Satan brings up guilt over past sins, God promises us that we are freed from that, the sin has been forgiven and the stain has been removed. When Satan tells us that we aren’t good enough for God and that He can’t possible love us, we can rest in the promises of Scripture that Christ makes up for all those areas that we fall short and that nothing can separate us from God’s love. When the arrows of doubt and fear come, we can know that we are more than conquerors in Christ. God’s Truth will extinguish every lie of Satan.
Understanding is also the key to the helmet of Salvation and the sword of the Sprit. When we are convinced in our minds that God has saved us through Christ, our minds are settles and the attacks of Satan are no longer effective as we use the specific verses and Truths of God’s Word like a sword to defeat the enemy and to drive him back so that we can have victory.
God’s Word gives us everything that we need to stand.
We wear the armor by what we choose to believe.
That is what we will look like when we are standing and ready to fight. People will see Christ reflected in who we are, what we do, and what we believe.
After Paul addresses the armor, he lays out the tie that binds it all together, that we looked at last week. He gives us the:
IV. The Power
The power is found in God and it comes through prayer. Communication is vital in any war. We have to be plugged into the source of strength, encouragement if we are going to stand. We have to be communicating regularly with God, and receiving our marching orders. Paul tells us to change the way that we pray. There needs to be urgency and consistency to our prayers.
6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
We need to pray at all times and in all ways. We need to pray with an alertness of the things that are going on around us and with a watchfulness for how God is going to move. And we need to be persistently praying for each other. When we change the way that we pray, we are going to begin to see victory after victory and God’s Kingdom will grow in this place.
I want to close this morning with this last thing. I want you to take home:
V. The Point
The command of spiritual warfare is to stand. We’ve already gone over that. But the point of spiritual warfare is, and always will be, people. God loves people and His desire is to see all men come to that point where they accept the free gift of salvation that comes through faith in Christ. As we engage in the daily battles of spiritual warfare, we need to understand that while we will certainly see spiritual growth in our lives as we put this armor on, the point is that God wants to use us to impact others. It is about people. The stakes of this battle are the hearts and minds and ultimately the souls of people. Victory in the spiritual realm is when someone who is lost finds a relationship with Christ. That is what the battles are all about, that is why we fight, those are the assignments and the orders that God has already given us. Go and make disciples. Go and live in such a way that others are drawn to what you have. Go and tell the world about God’s love. That is what God wants and what Satan will fight to keep from happening.
The goal is to stand. We don’t stand so that we can impress God, that’s not going to happen. We stand so that men can see what a changed life looks like. We stand so that men can see what a life that is based on the unchanging Truth of God’s Word looks like. We stand because when trouble and hardships come in the lives of those we know, when they are swept off their feet by this life, they will turn towards the ones they see standing and ask how they can stand too.
Listen to the words of Paul as he concludes his letter:
EPH 6:19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Paul has a lot on his plate. He is in prison, he has been beaten and shipwrecked and blackballed by the Jewish leaders, his former friends and peers, all because of his work for God’s Kingdom. Despite everything that is going on and has already happened, Paul gets the point. He asks for prayer. Not for prayer for his release or his physical needs, he asks that they pray for him so that when he talks his words will impact people and that God will change hearts and lives through him.
Our prayer needs to be the same. Stand up, put on the armor, and live the life that God has created you to live, leave your mark for God on this world.
1CO 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The point is people. Invest in others. Do the work that God has for you. Don’t get so caught up in the daily demands and worried of life that you miss the opportunities that God will give you to make a difference in the lives of others. Who’s eternity will God use you to change?
