Soldier For Life

“SOLDIER FOR LIFE”

Finishing Strong Principles from Ephesians 6:10-13

by Patrick Tan

June 25, 2006

Binondo Full Gospel Family Center

Good morning. Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ!

Today’s scripture is found in Ephesians 6:10-13. Can I ask everyone to stand and let’s read the Word of God altogether:

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV),

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you because You are our Father. You know everything about us – Everything that can be seen and everything that is hidden in secret. That is why, Father, we ask for Your cleansing as we stand before You. Cleanse our minds and our ears so that we can hear clearly what You want to say. Lord, may Your Word may compel the hearts of Your children to stand up and stand firm. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Introduction

This month we are in the subject of guarding our spirit. This is one of the components of the EPHOD discipleship called Monitor. And I believe the past messages have made a wonderful job in giving us awareness and practical measures about finishing strong in the faith. Here in BFGFC we are committed in finishing strong, meaning as followers of Christ, we will be committed to Jesus FOR LIFE (until He comes back or we go home, whichever comes first!). Just as Ptr. Zaldy had already shared to us, our Christian life is a marathon (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), it doesn’t matter how long it takes to reach the finish line, as long as you reach the finish line!

Background of the passage

Our scripture comes from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Just as we have studied last time Paul’s objective is to encourage and assure the Ephesian church of their salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

• On the first half of the letter presents reasons why we are now children of God…

• And in the later half, Paul explains, now that we are called children of God, we should act like children of God, becoming “imitators of God” (5:1). In other words, Paul is saying now that we are children of God, we must strive to be children of God FOR LIFE!

o Among these acts, Paul commands us to be strong and stand firm in the faith.

In this passage, Paul patterns the manner of how we should guard our spirits to that of a Roman soldier on guard (note the choice of words that he used):

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV),

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Paul then continues to describe in detail the armor which we must put on ourselves, which I will share in a little while.

Falling away in the last days

Just like Roman soldiers or soldiers in general for that matter who engaged in a physical battle, children of God are daily engaged in a spiritual war against evil.

And just like war where casualties are inevitable, it is not uncommon to hear stories of casualties among the brethren. There are people who were once on-fire for the Lord now MIA – Missing in Action. We find them back in their old life, worse. Let us not even go too far. Let’s look at ourselves. Perhaps at one time we were very passionate for the Lord – not one church activity missed, never missed daily devotion, number-one encourager of the brethren – now, puts Bible reading and prayer time in their lesser priorities and discouraged and defeated, now they don’t care if he/she misses worship time! (Do you know that worship time and offering is the time we give to God while hearing the Word is the time we receive, so let us not miss worship time.) Or perhaps some of us are living double lives, struggling in secret habitual sins that continue to torment us with shame and guilt.