Stand Boldly

INTRO

Time is our most precious resource, and every second as believers - spiritual darkness engages us in a battle none of us is equipped to face on our own. We cannot afford to be unprepared for the constant ambush of life.

SCRIPTURE

While imprisoned, Paul wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus and addressed Gentile believers throughout Asia. Ephesians is one of the great books of the Bible. John Calvin considers it his favorite letter of Paul’s, and it is way up there on my list also. We’re going to read the back half of Ephesians 6, but one thing we should always remember when it comes to the epistles is Paul was writing letters that would be passed around or would be read in church services, which oftentimes would be in the homes of early Christian believers. When you write a letter, you don’t usually intend for it to be read in bits and pieces over the course of days, but all at once. It’s a LETTER… not a book.

The first three chapters of Ephesians are among the most breathtaking and gorgeous in all of the Bible, because here Paul lays out what we have received in Jesus Christ – this is the Gospel message put forth in such a way that the only thing to do after reading is to close your eyes and pray… and praise… and worship… and sit in awe and wonder at the grace of God. If you want to be encouraged and humbled all at the same time – read the first three chapters of Ephesians this afternoon.

The back half of the book addresses the implications of God’s plan and His grace in the life of His people and in the life of His church, which again showcases the awesome power of the Gospel message and also the challenge that comes with accepting it. Here, we get to today’s text – Ephesians 6:10-20 – follow along with me if you would:

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

This is the Word of the Lord… let’s pray together. Lord Jesus, your Word is wisdom, your Word is beauty, your Word is truth – may it cut through our world and continue to bring your Kingdom more and more each day. We love you Lord and we thank you for the access we have to you thanks to your son Jesus – in whose name we pray – AMEN.

STAND FAST (10-12)

SEVEN times: Paul uses “all”, also “whole” or in some translations “every”

It’s number, it’s extent… Paul is saying it cannot stop, because what we face does not stop its onslaught.

We’re in the already - in the last days after Christ has won the battle against eternal darkness, but we’re in the not yet also - the Kingdom has not been fully realized and we are still living in this world.

Until that changes - we must not abandon our faith and belief. We will be encouraged to do so if we feed ourselves junk food and refuse nourishment. (Jeremiah example)

ASIDE: UNDERSTAND - Paul wants us to know and understand there IS a battle being fought…we must understand what opposes us and recognize the stakes.

To that end, Paul tells us this isn’t an ordinary battle… Vietnam was so difficult because of its asymmetrical nature - they knew the terrain, they knew what American soldiers didn’t. They had the advantage. This battle, Paul tells us, is NOT against flesh and blood but against supernatural evil, cosmic powers. This means it is unseen.

Ephesians 4:27 ESV

and give no opportunity to the devil.

We must respect the power of the other side… we are not ever called to initiate that battle - we are told not to take the side roads but to stay on the main path, knowing Christ has won that battle for us.

There in that passage, he talks of falsehoods, harboring anger, talk that discourages - these are the ways the devil tries to gain access to us. Peter talks of the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We cannot fight this war. And we aren’t called to.

STAND FAST: Do not run… hold your position. In order to stand fast, we have to know our position on the battlefield. It is always and forever to stand behind our conqueror. We stand fast because He is our rock, our refuge, our hope… our Lord.

STAND FIRM (12-13)

We know what we believe… Paul has told the church its battle, its position in that battle, and that we must not turn and run. “Once they see you running, they’ll never let you stop.”

THEREFORE (Conclusion) - take up the whole armor of God. If you’re a warrior or soldier, how confidently can you stand if the other side is clad in chain mail and you’re in a cloth tunic? Again, this is a war. This is a battle. There are in fact no rules of engagement. We never gave Satan permission to unleash his minions, but they attacked anyway.

How do we stand, then… we ensure we can defend ourselves somehow. We have armor to take some of those blows and also to exhibit to everybody watching… he’s ready for this. So now we aren’t sprinting away - but is that enough? No, because the fighting is still coming… there’s more to do.

ASIDE: WITHSTAND - Paul uses the term… “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day… and having done all, to stand firm.” (13)

This tells us - there WILL be in evil day (or there is one and it continues)

This tells us - that evil day is going to be difficult to contend against, in fact it is beyond our power to do so

This tells us - back to V11 - the only way to stand against the schemes of the devil is to put on the WHOLE armor of God. Part of it isn’t enough… we need it all. Remember, we can’t just have “some” of Jesus, “some” of the Holy Spirit - and He will not accept anything other than our UNDIVIDED DEVOTION TO HIM

If “stand fast” means stay put… “stand firm” means do not bend, do not break, do not be pushed off your spot. Against COSMIC SPIRITUAL EVIL, do not bow or be blown like the wind. Remain planted firmly in the power of Jesus Christ.

STAND FOREVER (14-20)

Isaiah 11:5 ESV

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Isaiah 59:17 ESV

He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

Righteousness and faithfulness… salvation - these are words without expiration dates. We can’t be declared righteous and faithful unless its true. We can’t be saved if we can be destroyed. If it’s temporary, there’s nothing to stand on - BUT… if it’s eternal, brothers and sisters we can, we must, and yes indeed we WILL stand forever.

Paul lists the whole armor of God, so let’s go through them here: Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness given by the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit.

Belt, breastplate, footwear, helmet, shield - yes, all sound like pieces of armor. But then there’s one that doesn’t quite fit… the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. What might that be? We know our human weapons are no match for spiritual warfare, but the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT - now that one sounds like it could help us. How do we get it?

Matthew 4:1–11 ESV

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Deuteronomy 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Psalm 91:11–12 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”

Deuteronomy 6:13 “It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.”

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT IS THE WORD OF GOD. DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. LOOK AT THE TEXT ITSELF… PAUL MAKES SURE TO TELL THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS THIS - v17 - “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of GOD!

Now let me show you something else:

THE BELT OF TRUTH (Where do we find truth?)

BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (Where is righteousness exemplified for us?)

READINESS & THE GOSPEL OF PEACE (What is the source of all peace?)

SHIELD OF FAITH (From where is our faith nourished and matured?)

SALVATION (Where can we find the message of salvation?)

The Word of God is what… Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When we stand on the Word of God, when we wrap ourselves in Scripture and when we unsheath it when the enemy tempts us, we stand FOREVER… because of the promise of the New Covenant - our Messiah, Jesus Christ. We know we will die unless He returns prior, but we also know that we will be lifted from the grave… to enjoy God forever. Our sin causes us to lie down… but He lifts us up - and then we will run and not be weary… we will soar on wings like eagles - in impenetrable joy being in the presence of our Father in Heaven.

ONE FINAL PROMPT - PRAY

Paul finishes by asking for prayer… praying at ALL times in the Spirit… ALL prayer and supplication… ALL perseverance… ALL the saints. One modern thinker describes prayer as the ONGOING DUTY OF THE ALERT SOLDIER. Jesus talked of it often and acted on it even more. When we pray, we acknowledge there is a lot (in fact everything) we cannot do on our own. It means we are submitting to God. We are alert to the struggle. James says, “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Prayer is the key to the battle - and it is the WORD OF GOD that both enables and empowers our prayer.

John Piper wrote this about prayer: “We cannot know what prayer is FOR until we know that life is WAR. That’s not all it is. But it is certainly that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to the neglect of that truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the Kingdom of Christ advances in the world.”

If you are here today and you have never prayed to God before, talk to me before you leave… if you haven’t prayed in a while, pray right now, pray without ceasing as Paul says in Thessalonians, pray in everything, pray for all things, and pray with BOLDNESS knowing only God is able… but God hears you and loves you.

How do we fight this cosmic battle against Satan and against the minions of darkness? We fight with God’s Word… provided and inspired by the Holy Spirit. We stand fast, we stand firm, and we will stand forever with Jesus…

And one last thing - not sure who said it, but it is just a phenomenal statement: We stand tallest on our knees. Praying is relying upon and enabling God’s power to take control… acknowledging our weakness, and letting the glory of God Almighty take center stage - as we watch in awe… as EVERYONE will watch in awe.

So - STAND… AND KNEEL… AND VICTORY IS ASSURED.