Withstand in the Evil day

CIT: If we are built to stand then why do we fall?

Text:  Ephesians 6:12-18

Ill.  I love how everything in our world is multifunction. Your toaster can no longer make toast it has to tell time. The blender can’t blend, it has to puree, liquefy and a host of other things. Your tv has to be able to run my shows, computer, video game console, bathe the children and make my lunch. I may be mixing a few of these things.

This is simply because of expectation. Our expectations have grown in America today. I for one solely blame the infomercial capitalists. “it slices it dices.” The guy moves from room to room around the house showing us how your new weed eater is so much more than a weed eater. And you know the catchphrase as well as I do. “BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE”.

That is why I like a hammer. The hammer was built to do something – pound stuff.  This it’s job this is what it is designed to do.  This is not a recommendation this is a function.  The same for a screw driver or a saw. There are actions, and tasks these are to do and are not based on your whim or mine they are based on the manufacturers design. (Bring a hammer)

Trans:    Christian must have some things right before they will be victorious.

I. Check the Mode of your Warfare.

Exp: The passage tells us that “we Wrestle” but I am afraid that to few of us are actually wrestling. 

There are too few believers that have allowed themselves to imagine this is more than make believe.  If the believer is employed in a conflict he uses the wrong method in this fight.  

2 Corinthians 10:2–5 KJV 1900

But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Our Spiritual warfare is not a expression or determination of the will.  Paul taught the Corinthians that our battle were a battle of accepting truth over a lie.  So when When Paul speaks of Spiritual warfare it is not a separate teaching from Romans 5,6,7.  In these chapter he says that growth is count so (reckoning) what Scripture said about you.  

In fact Wrestling is fighting to stand.  If you are going to be found standing where you should be a year from tonight it will be completely based on whether or not you are still reckoning God’s Word as true.

John 17:17 KJV 1900

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Psalm 119:160 KJV 1900

Thy word is true from the beginning: And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

How do you know if you are wrestling...

“having done all to stand” are we really doing all to stand. 

Ill:    Maybe you have felt the relief of what could be a bad thing...

It's a glorious feeling when that piece of paper under the windshield wiper blade turns out to be an advertising circular. 

Dell Official Crossword Puzzles.

Finding out that the mess you're in is fully covered under your insurance policy

Discovering something you bought costing more than you paid for it

Finding something you thought you'd lost before you go out and buy a new one.

Realizing after you've locked the keys in the car that you forgot to close a window. 

Jane Goodsell, Press Associates.

None of these were equivalent to the feeling of the Cavalry Coming

We have heard the old addage “the Cavalry is Coming

The origin is kind of obvious.

Battles in the early Rome were fought on foot, lots and lots of soldiers with spears, swords, and shields. Cavalry was a determining factor in the victory of a battle. One man on horse could move faster, and was more impervious to damage. Therefore they were like the tank.

Another origin theory is from the Indian wars in the 19th-century United States. Tribes at war were a terror to settlers, isolated forts, and suchlike but not so much to regular Army cavalry units (with exceptions). So if you were in a fort under attack, you really really wanted the cavalry to come.

In fact, the phrase probably didn’t date back to the wars themselves, but from the Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s. In the movies about the battles of the early 19th century, the cavalry always showed up at the most dramatically appropriate time, to the point that it's a trope.

Lets be honest God is not asking us to secure him a victory. We have believers that are losing the fight because they just won’t stand on his word. But when your standing on the word of God you find out the Calvary’s already won the war. What a relief to know that our enemy is defeated at the Cross and you and I merely stand in his victory.

Argument: A.   don’t grow comfortable in you loss and sin. Choose to Wrestle. Choose to stand.

II. Know the Purpose of your Equipment.

Argument: A.  Paul instructs us that: If you want to stand in the evil day you will have to be prepared.

Exp:

Loins covered in truth - God’s Word is truth.

Breastplate of Righteousness - God’s Word is Righteous.

Feet shod with Readiness of the Gospel - God’s Word is the Gospel.

Shield of Faith - Faith Cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Helmet of Salvation - The knowledge of Salvation comes from God’s Word.

Sword of the Spirit - The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Imagine how useless it would be to attempt anything apart from God’s Holy Word.

Ill:     This may reveal the kind of conservative that I am. When I hear our government spending money on building our military that makes me happy. The Federal governments primary roll is to supply for the protection of our country and its citizens. So I want our military to have the best weapons, the best intelligence, the best support. Because how prepared you are will determine how successful you can be.

App: A.  Daily prepare to fight.    This is not speaking of read your bible and pray. The reason we read our bible is tighten our grip on the kingdom of God. The reason we pray is to loosen our grip of this one here.

B.  Everyday?  Well only those days that you don’t want to buy a lie.

Trans... This Says to me that we need something beyond our own ability.

We have won a battle but lost a war whenever we achieve some minor (or even major) aim that leads to wider loss. - Farnam Street

Consider with me the value of Standing today...

According to an article from Farnam Street One particular type of hollow victory is the Pyrrhic victory, which Wikipedia defines as a victory that “inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat.” That devastating toll can come in the form of an enormous number of casualties, the wasting of resources, high financial costs, damage to land, and other losses.

Another great example is the Cross. Satan didn’t know that the day he led a congregation of Jews to scream for the death of Jesus and the freeing of Barabbus. That Satan was securing his own loss. He would loose the fight the day that Jesus gave his life and I had access to the righteousness of Jesus in exchange for my sinfulness.

Another hollow victory occurs when you engage in a conventional war and prompt a response from an opponent who has significantly more firepower than you do. The attack on Pearl Harbor was considered a victory for the Japanese. However, by provoking an army with superior forces, they set something in motion they could not control.

You see your temptation to sin, to abandon faith, or to neglect the gospel is meant to provide Satan with a follow up defeat. The attack of Satan’s fiery darts was mean to disengage you from selfish endeavors and engage the equipment of God’s Word and prayer. Producing for Satan a second loss. Because when he comes at a believer he is attacking a saint with a superior Savior.

https://fs.blog/2018/02/winning-battle-losing-war/