Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
Title: Stand Firm
INTRODUCTION: Archibald Naismith tells us that at the Battle of Waterloo, when the fight became its worst, an officer galloped up to the Commander, the Duke of Wellington and said, "my Captain says we are being destroyed, we need reinforcements quickly." The Duke said simply, "tell him to stand." The officer galloped back to relay the message to his Captain.
Shortly the same messenger galloped back with the same message. Again, Wellington said simply, "tell him to stand."
Very soon another officer same with the same request. Wellington’s response was this, "I have no help to send you, tell him to stand." The officer saluted and replied, "you will find us there sir."
When the battle was fought and won the Duke found each of those men at his post. All dead, but they stood. They had laid down their lives for the victory.
As I study this passage the first word that comes to my mind is "STAND!" This word occurs three times in this passage, and one of those it is in the intensified form in the Greek, which means it is given the greatest emphasis possible. The sentence structure in the Greek proves that often we place the emphasis on the wrong thing in this passage. The emphasis is not on the armour, but on standing. The armour is simply a tool that we are to use to carry out God’s command, "STAND."
Read verses 11, 13, and 14
Let us examine the passage in its true context, which is with the emphasis on standing.
I. We Are Victorious As The Church Impacting The World When We Stand Enlightened. (10-12)
A. We are to be Strong in the Lord. (10)
1. When all else is said and done, the bottom line is that living as God’s Word has described in these last three chapters is a battle.
a) It is perhaps one of the hardest things to live life swimming against the current of the day.
b) To be man and women who are willing to stand up against the trends, the way everyone else is living requires strength.
c) Supernatural strength!
2. The strength mentioned here is from the Lord.
a) In our selves we are not going to be able to do it!
b) We can’t practice mutual submission with our spouse, our children, our parents, or our boss in our own strength.
c) This takes God’s power in our lives!
3. It requires us to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and be our strength for us.
a) We are to do everything we can and rely on the Holy Spirit to give us guidance as we strive to be strong Christ-followers in a world that is dark and hurting.
b) The Psalmist knew of this strength that is available to believers when he wrote:
Psalms 28:7 (NIV)
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
4. And the strength is ours through Christ.
a) We simply need to acknowledge it and accept it.
b) Jesus even told us in Acts 1:8 that we would have power available to us.
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
5. We have available to us all the power necessary to make a stand against the push and pull of this darkened and hurting world.
a) The question is, “are we ready to make the decision to stand?”
b) It is a choice we must make.
c) Be strong and take a stand or retreat and try to hide and blend in an get along while all the time sacrificing our opportunities to live obediently and victoriously.
Trans: The good news is that the Scriptures tell us here of how we must be strong. But how exactly are we to do that. Well, our next passages of Scripture tell us how this is done.
B. We stand against our enemy the Devil and his schemes. (11)
1. The language used here is intentional and has about it the understanding of warfare.
a) Put on your armor!
b) Get ready to do battle.
c) This is not a casual exercise that can be approached half heartedly.
2. The full, the complete set of armor.
a) Don’t forget any part of your battle attire.
b) Bring everything!
c) Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, bring all the armaments you can muster.
3. Why? Because we face a imposing foe!
John 12:31 (NIV)
31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
1 John 5:19 (NIV)
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
4. The original language of Greek has the word, methodia which is the word from which we get the word “method”.
a) The word was often used in reference to a wild animal who with great cunning and skill, stalked and then pounced on it’s prey.
b) Satan’s evil schemes are built around stealth and deception.
c) His plans for humanity are enforced through deception and lies and trickery.
d) Fooling people into believing something that isn’t true.
5. Pouncing on us while we are unaware that trouble is even near by.
1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
C. We stand against supernatural powers of darkness.(vs. 12; James 4:7)
1. The interesting thing is that the war metaphor that The Scriptures use is taken up a notch or two as the Word explains the nature of our battle.
a) Not against flesh and blood.
b) Battle not fought in earthly places.
2. Satan is real and has been fighting against God and His people from the beginning.
a) From attempting to thwart God’s plan by successfully tempting man to disobey God in the garden to continually trying throughout history to destroy God’s chosen people, the Jews.
b) To attempting to stop the birth, ministry, and resurrection of God’s own Son.
3. This is a real battle and it is waged in the heavenly realms as well as the earthly realm which we are part of.
a) We are called to suit up and wage war!
4. When our text speaks of the various groupings in our text, it is referring to a highly organized ranking of those forces that are against God and His people…you and me!
a) Satan’s forces of darkness are highly organized and structured for the most destructive warfare that is possible.
b) These demonic categories are not explained but rulers here surely reflects a high order of demons.
c) Powers are another ranking, and powers of this dark world perhaps indicates demons who have infiltrated various political systems of the world.
5. Throughout human history we have heard of worldwide conspiracies ranging from those mentioned in ancient Egyptian texts to modern day plots in the world.
a) We have no way of absolutely identifying the networking and schemes of Satan and we should be concerned about those who claim to be able to do so.
b) However, we can be certain and sure that he is active behind the scenes of Christless human endeavors.
c) Both in obvious outward manifestations of darkness and evil as well as those seemingly innocent efforts that move people away from God’s order for life.
6. The bottom line is that demons are real.
a) We only make fools of ourselves if we attempt to dismiss demons and Satan as fictitious.
b) And while Hollywood attempts to sensationalize the existence of the supernatural and of demons with all sorts of interesting techniques for exorcisms and casting them out.
7. Our Bibles give us only one true formula for believers to handle demons or the devil himself.
James 4:7 (NIV)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Trans: So we see that you and me being the church in our day to day lives is going to be a battle. It is not just hard work being a good husband or wife, it is war! It isn’t just difficult being a good obedient child or a good parent, it’s war. It isn’t just challenging to be the best worker our boss has ever had, it’s fighting a war!
So how do we do it? Well, in verses 13-17 we are given some clues to how we can be successful in this live free or die war we are in.
II. We Are A Victorious Church Impacting The World When We Stand Equipped. (Eph. 6:13-17)
A. We are to prepare ourselves for spiritual war. (Eph. 4:25-27)
1. The text says to put on the full armor of God.
a) The implication is two fold.
2. One- it is possible to show up for battle and only be partially dressed and prepared.
a) We need to be intentional about reviewing our check list as we prepare to fight.
b) Pilots go meticulously over their check list before flying. We must do the same before entering the battle.
c) In World war 2 when men jumped from planes, they meticulously checked each other’s gear.
3. Two - this armor, this battle gear, is from God.
a) We shouldn’t assume we can bring anything to this war that would help us win.
b) This war is fought and won because of God in us!
4. The point of all this preparation is that we can sufficiently “stand our ground!”
a) No call to “charge” here.
b) Our job is to not retreat!
c) To not give up any ground to the enemy.
5. We mustn’t allow ourselves to let Satan get any kind of foot hold against us!
Ephesians 4:25-27 (NIV)
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
6. After we have done all the preparation and all that we can do to prepare ourselves for battle, The war cry is not “attack” or “Charge”, the war cry is…”stand!”
ILL. Imagine the commanding officer going up and down the ranks encouraging the troops. .. Are you ready…. “Stand!”
Trans: How is that possible?
B. Wearing armor for standing against Spiritual Darkness.
1. The Belt of Truth – This refers to God’s truth.
a) The content of God’s truth is absolutely essential for the believer in his battle against the schemes of Satan.
b) Without knowledge of Biblical teaching, a believer is subject to being carried away by any kind of crazy teaching packaged in the right way.
Ephesians 4:14 (NIV)
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
c) It is crucial for us to do battle to know God’s truth for our lives and we must embody it!
d) We can know if we came to battle without our belt if we find our minds clouded and confused about God’s will for our lives and how we live!
2. The breastplate of righteousness in place – refers to the piece of armor that covered the torso.
a) That part of the body that includes the heart, lungs, intestines, and other vital organs.
b) The mind and the emotions are the two primary areas that Satan attacks us.
c) He tempts us to think wrong thoughts and feel wrong emotions.
d) He wants to cloud our minds with wrong and false thinking and philosophies.
3. Paul is not speaking of self-righteousness where we think of ourselves more highly and spiritually than we should.
4. No, this righteousness is the righteousness that God provides us through Jesus Christ and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
a) So, to put on the breastplate of righteousness means to live in daily, moment by moment obedience to our heavenly Father.
b) This part of the armor is Holy living, for which God supplies the standard and the power but for which we are responsible for the willingness to obey.
5. A sure sign that we don’t have this piece of armor on will be a certain lack of joy in our life.
a) A lack of personal holiness will always result in lost joy.
b) Unholy living doesn’t rob us of our salvation, but it can and does rob us of our joy in the Lord.
6. Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. – This refers to our being ready to do battle.
a) We must put on the proper footwear so as to protect our movements.
b) As we move through life, we must be people who bring “good News” of God’s peace for humanity.
c) Blessed are the feet of Him who brings good news.
d) A person ready for spiritual warfare is a person who is able to take the peace of God with them wherever God takes them.
C. Putting on armor that is required when the fighting begins. (Hebrews 4:12; 2Tim. 3:16)
1. We are to take up the shield of faith.
a) This piece of equipment was typically metal or leather soaked in water so as to extinguish flaming arrows dipped in pitch and set on fire.
b) For the believer standing firm it implies that our faith in God and Jesus Christ will protect us from the false ideas, teachings, and perspectives we are bombarded with from Satan and the world.
c) Our faith in Jesus is a shield of protection against the devil’s schemes to make us irrelevant and useless.
2. The helmet of salvation is our protection given us as we accept Christ’s Work on the cross in bringing to us salvation.
a) When we are in battle we protect our head, our thoughts by having this constant remembrance of our salvation experience.
b) We are protected from wounds to the head as we focus our faith on the truth of Jesus’ provision of salvation from slavery to self and Satan as He paid for our freedom by going to the cross.
c) As the helmet protects a warrior from head injuries, our salvation experience protects us as a constant reminder of our salvation.
ILL. Perhaps a story about people who have no assurance of salvation.
3. The sword of the spirit is the word of God.
a) The author of Hebrews says that the Bible is a double edged sword, cutting through joints and marrow.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
b) Therefore we need to be students of the Word.
c) We must read it and apply it to our daily lives.
4. To not be wielding the sword of God’s Word in our day to day lives is a major error for us!
a) The Scriptures are too powerful to not be used.
b) Imagine a soldier forgetting his sword?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Trans: So we have seen that we are up against a difficult foe. All the efforts of the darkened spiritual realm are against us. Satan and his minions are our enemy and we are called to fight. That fighting is really an issue of standing firm in what we know to be right, and true, a righteous and honoring to God. And when we have done all we can to prepare and be ready spiritually for this battle, Paul finishes by telling us, PRAY!
III. We Are The Victorious Church Impacting The World When We Stand Empowered. (Eph. 6:18-24)
A. We are empowered through continual Prayer.
1. Specifically we are to pray in the Spirit.
a) This means we pray in line with, in tune with that which the Holy Spirit is instructing us to pray.
b) This requires an intrinsic combination of listening and speaking.
c) A prayer that requires a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s direction and path.
2. This appeal from Paul is that we pray with all kinds of requests!
a) Any type of prayer you have ever read about in the Scriptures are to be used.
b) Standing, sitting, lying down prostrate.
c) Out loud, silent, corporate, individual.
d) For others, for yourself.
e) Pray, pray, pray!
B. We are empowered through Prayer for those who lead the battle.
1. Paul asks specifically for prayer for himself.
a) No shame in that.
b) Each of us understanding our weakness and insufficiencies is important.
c) We should be quick to seek the prayers of the family of God.
2. Paul’s specific prayer was for boldness and wise words that would point others to Jesus Christ.
a) He wanted to be a fearless soldier fighting the battle!
b) Even though he was in chains and under arrest he wanted the help of God to be bolder yet!
Final Greetings: Paul finalizes this word from God as he reminds the church that he is sending Tychicus to come and report Paul’s status. People were concerned for Paul’s well being.
Conclusion:
conclusion: general howard a great general of the civil war once said; “ there was one proud day of my life, and that was when a vote of thanks was moved to me on the floor of the congress for my stand at gettysburg." in that day when the church militant becomes the church triumphant, and we stand together in christ’s presence, will a vote of thanks be moved on our behalf because, "having done all, we stood we stood for the lord against the powers of darkness
let us stand!!!!!! Enlightened----equipped -------- and empowered
