“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?
Then he says to pray in the spirit on all occasions. We “Know not how we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit makes intercession for us…” (Romans 8;26, 27).
2. WHEN NOT IF: After he goes over the pieces of armor, he says that when the day of evil comes—not if it comes—that you will be able to stand your ground. He tells us that we are not at war against people but against spiritual forces—against the devil’s schemes. What is a scheme? It looks believable but it’s not. If you were to say, “I don’t think God can do this, “People would say, “God can do anything.” The devil’s scheme would say, “Maybe God doesn’t do it today” or maybe he won’t do it for you.” You would find it more believable. So we are up against the schemes or trickery of the devil and we have to be prepared. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. When the devil comes along trying his schemes on Jesus he would say back to him, “it is written. Who do we say is our authority—“Thy word is truth.” We believe what people say too much of the time. We believe the doctor’s report too much of the time. We believe in our own strength too much. We have a 96 year old friend who if you take ahold of her arm to help her, she will swat your hand off and say, “I can do it myself.” We know that it is not if but when the devil comes along to steal,kill, and destroy.
The devil comes like a roaring lion. How do we know this? I Peter 5:8, “Be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Not drift along whatever will be will be.
3. There is a Remedy: You take up the whole armor of God that you may resist. This scripture says basically the same outcome—you be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, You put on the whole armor of God that when the evil day comes, you will still be standing. You take your stand and you don’t back down. This verse talks about prolonged standing. That’s hard to do. We forget about standing and cave in to the devil’s somewhat believable schemes. Pause before you determine what your response is going to be. Push the pause button. Then determine what the response should be. Your faith response will determine your outcome. A response in line with what Jesus has already done is the appropriate one. If he hasn’t done it, you can’t use your faith to get it. By his stripes you are healed. You know he has made healing available as well as salvation and provision. I am the Lord that healeth you. He sent His word and healed them. In fact II Peter 1:3 says “his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. Too often we make the wrong response and blow it again and again. We need to be on to the devil’s tricks and make our response in line with the Word of God. Thy word O Lord is truth.
