Take A Stand
Ephesians 6: 10 – 20
Intro: An old Arab folktale says that a man went to his tent one night. After lighting a candle, he reached over for a fig and saw that it was full of worms. He threw it away and reached for another. It also was full of worms. After several attempts to find a fig without worms, the man blew out the candle and reached for a fig. Unable to see if it was full of worms, he ate it in the darkness. Many of us are like that man, thinking that what we don’t know won’t hurt us.
I Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, there is an active power of evil in our world. But, we pretend it isn’t there rather than stand our ground and fight.
A VS. 11 encourages us to put on the full armor of God, so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes
B The GK word here translated as schemes is methodeia (µe??d?a) which can also mean trickery, scheming, craftiness or methods.
C One day, someone will ask you to lie for them to cover their mistake. Someone will offer you something you know you should reject; but, you will take it because you don’t want to hurt their feelings. Someday, you be offered something you’ve wanted for a long time; but, in order to get it, you will have to compromise you commitment to God. This is the way Satan works: through craftiness, deception and trickery.
II The conclusion of this letter to Ephesians urges them to know the enemy. VS. 10 – 13 tell us who the enemy really is.
A Ancients believed the air was filled with evil spirits. Hence, “God Bless You.”
B In his book, “Fuzzy Memories,” Jack Handey writes about a bully who would demand his lunch money every day. Since Jack was smaller, he gave it to him.---One day, Jack decided to fight back and took karate lessons that cost $5. Jack thought about it and decided it was cheaper to pay the bully. So, he gave up Karate and paid the bully.
CAs “enlightened” people, we no longer fear demons in the air; but, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist just because we can’t see them.
Concl: The choice is ours. Do we give the devil His do? Or do we stand our ground against the evils in our community such as homelessness, poverty, literacy, blight and the many other evils?
