The Blessing of
Standing for the Truth
Book of Ephesians
6:10-24
We are advised many
times in the Scriptures to be strong. As Christians our character
must have two sides.
We must cease to do
evil and have a hatred of all evil while not hating those who do that
evil.
We must also learn
to do good before all those that hate us.
As we struggle daily
between these two things we will realize that the Christian life is a
battlefield.
As Christians we
will realize we are in a constant struggle in this evil world!
As long as we are in
our flesh we will also be in a constant battle with our flesh!
It takes a brave
Christian to always do right in every situation.
What is the one
thing we must understand? We have a Father that this world can never
overcome!
*****Eph 6:10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might.
We think of the
Apostle Paul as the greatest of all Christian missionaries but when
he says brethren he comes down to our level.
The Apostle Paul
became a very humble man once he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ
as his personal Savior.
We should also
understand that as believers we become Christian soldiers. There are
foes outside the church that will seek to cause us harm but there are
also foes within the Church who seek to destroy it.
We are at peace with
God and we have the peace of God, knowing what lies in our future but
day to day we are in a war with evil!
It is the brethren
who make up the army of God!
We can be strong
because our Lord is strong!
We can be strong
because of the power of His might!
Deu 20:4 For the
LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against
your enemies, to save you.
If we become weak
Christians, we will perish in this war. When our strength lies in the
Lord, we are never alone at any time and we can never perish because
he will never forsake us!
We must overcome the
battle we have with our flesh, while we battle with the evils of this
world.
We have seen that we
must be mature Christians.
We have a renewed
mind.
We have a changed
behavior.
We understand God's
will for us.
We understand our
relationship with all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We have been
prepared and it is time we get into this battle! We must stand for
the truth!
We are on the road
to Heaven, Satan will try to stop us, but our power comes from on
high and our Lord witnessed the time when Satan was tossed out of
Heaven.
Luk_10:18 And he
said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Satan is on the
losing side, but we must dress right, we must wear the armor of God!
*****Eph 6:11 Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
As I was taught in
the military, we must know the strengths of our enemy and prepare to
counter act his strengths.
Without the armor of
God, we will not be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
This is a simple enough reason to be obedient to the entire Word of
God!
God has prepared us
armor for every part of our bodies except the back, we are to always
face our enemy because to turn and run from the devil means he has
won you as his servant.
There are many times
in the Scriptures where we are told to wait on the Lord but even
while we are waiting on a specific answer from God, we are still to
be moving forward in this war with our flesh and this war with the
devil.
We already know this
armor has been tested and proven because it is the devil who will
flee.
Jas_4:7 Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.
The armor of God is
another gift of God's "Grace" because there is no weapon of
our own that can defend us!
This may seem to be
a form of works to those on the outside, but it is only living the
life of the Christian.
The Christian armor
is not designed for show but to be put in use for our own safety and
God says to take the whole armor which means we are not safe when we
just wear the part of the armor that we choose to wear!
Satan does not
possess the strength to take on the Lord for he would surely loose
and he has already lost every battle, but we do not have the strength
to face Satan alone without the armor of God.
Why do we need God's
armor? God also gives us this answer. It is because are war is not
really with any human being even those that are enemies to the
Church.
*****Eph 6:12 For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
If we cannot obey
the Lord in this thing, we will never conquer the greatest enemies of
our life!
We must understand
we are in a spiritual battle!
To wrestle is to
struggle, to strive, to contend and we can add resist.
As we know Paul has
used athletic forms many times and to wrestle is a contest between
two people, one trying to overcome and pin the other to the ground.
We are never to allow Satan or those who possess supernatural powers
to pin us down!
What is it that each
of us who believe must wrestle and win?
Principalities, the
power of that Satan uses to control those that reject the Lord.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in
time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience:
As we war with the
darkness of this world we must not get entangled with the affairs of
this life.
2Ti 2:3 Thou
therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 No man that
warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may
please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
As Christian
soldiers we must always listen to our God our Father in Heaven.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven.
We should understand
it is not any man who teaches the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ,
it is Christ Himself through the Holy Spirit.
As we look at our
world we can see that the forces of evil are very powerful.
The forces of evil
are very numerous.
The evil in our
world is organized!
These forces of evil
are also those who rule the darkness in our world!
Those in the Light
of Jesus go to Heaven.
Those who are in the
darkness of this world go to Hell and then on to the Burning Lake of
Fire.
Those who are in
darkness do not know this or they are willingly ignorant of these
things!
There are also those
who do not know where they are, but they refuse to believe that there
are spiritual forces behind the evil in this world!
Most of these are to
so-called intellectuals who highly educated.
It is these that say
that Christians live in the "Dark Ages".
Satan can only be in
one place at a time, but he is constantly moving about in this world.
Job 1:7 And the
LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the
LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it.
We must understand
that God, just because He is God, must always tell the truth!
God would not say
there was an evil force in this world if it was not true!
God would not say
that this evil force has access to the spirit of mankind if it were
not true!
It is Satan that
rules over this evil force and his followers.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Satan rules all
those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ, but he cannot touch the child
of God without God's permission and God will allow this from time to
time, but Satan cannot take away the salvation of any child of God at
any time!
1Pe 5:8 Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist
stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
God knows what He is
doing!
God provides the
necessary armament for each of His children and this armament comes
with instructions!
*****Eph 6:13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The war that we face
as Christians is a spiritual warfare, but God will equip us even for
this war.
Holy Spirit by the
hands of Paul has given us the material we need to remain strong in
this war.
We need the armor
designed by God, no other armor will keep us safe!
In all the great
armies of this world there were deserters and they received heavy
punishment in most all cases.
In all great armies
there was a time of retirement.
We must clearly
understand that in the Army of God there is no retirement date. Every
soldier in God's Army is to stand upon His truth!
It is our duty as
God's children to put on the armor of God every day. We must with
stand this day of evil!
Rom 13:12 The night
is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13 Let us
walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put
ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof.
The phrase "having
done all" refers the armor of God.
*****Eph 6:14 Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
We could say we must
where the belt of truth! We do not wear the belt of truth unless we
understand that it is all the Word of God that is relevant and not in
bits and pieces.
2Ti 3:16 "All
scripture" is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The belt is used to
hold the soldiers clothing close to his body just as we are to hold
the truth of God close to us! The truth of God must be so solid in
our inward parts that it shows in our outward parts!
How is our Lord
described?
Isa 11:5 And
righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the
girdle of his reins.
Luk 12:35 Let your
loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
We must also wear
the breastplate of righteousness.
The righteousness of
God is the perfection of His nature.
Psa 119:142 Thy
righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the
truth.
By ourselves we will
never be perfect, but we have the perfect Holy Trinity living within
us, if we belong to the Lord.
Righteousness is
doing things right and all the right things are listed for us in the
truth of the Word of God.
But we must also
protect our feet!
We must trust in
"Gospel" enough that the "Gospel" will direct our
every step which is needed considering the journey we have to go and
this race that God has given us to run.
When we stand on
these things that time we walk in the valleys will be short and we
can spend more time on the mountain top!
The breast plate of
righteousness is designed to protect our heart, which holds to the
truth of the Lord.
2Co_3:3 Forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God;
not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
Above all these
other things we have the shield of "faith".
It is our "faith"
which will quench the fiery darts of Satan.
It is our "faith"
that will cause us to avoid temptations.
It is our "faith"
that will give us the strength to just tell the devil to go back
where he came from!
When know the truth
of God we will never question our salvation.
We will never
question the call of the Holy Spirit.
We will never doubt
God's ability to save.
We will never become
defeated Christians, because we are on the winning side!
We must also realize
that our head is that part which must carefully needs to be defended!
One heavy stroke to
our head can be fatal.
Our thinking ability
is our greatest tool to claim victory and reject defeat!
We must have so much
confidence in the promises of God that they become a reality within
us!
These all the things
that we need to defend against the attack of the devil, but God also
equips us to go on offence.
The sword of the
Spirit
Satan may know some
of the Word of God having been around for so long. He may be even
able to quote part of the Scriptures, but the truth is Satan cannot
withstand a continuous assault of the Word of God.
When take our shield
which covers us head to toe and our sword, the Word of God, Satan
will go a running.
It is true that we
must defend ourselves against Satan, but we must also attack Satan
and hit him where it hurts with the Word of God.
Heb 4:12 For the
word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
We attack Satan,
when we stand on the Word of God and do not compromise with the ways
of the world.
We attack Satan,
when we battle our flesh and win every day.
The Word of God is
our greatest weapon, our "Faith" is our greatest defense
but our prayer to our Holy Father is our greatest tool and will lead
to our greatest resource.
It is just a great
honor and privilege to step right in to the throne room of our Holy,
All Powerful God!
*****Eph 6:18
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints;
Eph 6:19 And for
me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20 For which
I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I
ought to speak.
The Lord by the Holy
Spirit has just described to us in words that are easy to understand
saying that as Christians and the Saints of God, we had better wake
up to the fact that we are in a war with the evil in this world. Our
war is not with flesh, those who partake of this evil.
We first must
overcome the evil in our own lives and we do this by giving our
complete self over to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we grow in the
"grace" of God and face the battles ahead we are to tell
the story of Jesus to all whom we contact, while defending ourselves
against the evil in this world.
We can have no
strength without the Holy Spirit, we cannot have the Holy Spirit with
the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot have the Lord Jesus Christ without
acknowledging the plan of salvation from our Father in Heaven.
Every child of God
is equipped for this war, but the question remains, will you get into
this battle.
These things start
with prayer and it will be prayer that will carry us through to
victory!
We must pray and
then we must pray and then we must pray again, and this prayer must
be in the Spirit!
Remember prayer is
not always about asking, in most cases we just need assurance. Many
times, we just need to talk but every time we need to take the time
to listen.
We must realize
there is nothing we can say to God that He does not already know. The
Lord just wants us to be sure about what we are asking Him to do. and
how it is going to affect others.
An answered prayer
carries the force of the Almighty God!
Take a look at
Paul's request.
Paul said "put
me on your prayer list because we must always pray for one another.
We must always pray
that the Word of God will reach all this world.
We must pray that
the "Gospel" of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches all those who
are lost so they will get the opportunity to make a choice about
accepting the "Gospel" as the truth that it is.
We must pray for all
our brothers and sisters in Christ who are all in the same battle
with evil that we are!
Act 6:4 But we will
give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the
word.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of man.
What exactly is our
job as Christians? "To boldly make known the mystery of the
"Gospel". The same job that Paul had!
The same job the
other apostles had!
The same job our
pastor has!
Even while Paul was
chained to Roman soldiers, he professed the "Gospel".
Even while Paul was
locked up in jail, he professed the "Gospel"
Even throughout all
the sufferings of the Apostle Paul, he never once stopped professing
the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ!
Even Paul could not
go himself with his "good news" he sent others that he
trusted to proclaim the "Gospel".
*****Eph 6:21 But
that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved
brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you
all things:
Eph 6:22 Whom I
have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our
affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
When we face the war
with our own flesh every day we occasionally need some encouragement
Notice that Tychicus
was a beloved brother.
Notice that Tychicus
was a faithful minister.
This is all the
information that this church needed if they truly trusted the Apostle
Paul.
To this day not much
more is known about this godly man. In fact, what else does anyone
need to know about any of us other than we are brothers or sisters in
Christ and faithful ministers of the "Gospel" of Jesus
Christ.
What else needs to
be known of any of us?
Even God has chosen
not to remember our past. It is the New Man Tychicus that these
Ephesians will get to meet.
Tychicus would
inform these Ephesians about the Apostle Paul for sure but he would
also know if this church was true to the "Gospel" and take
that information back to the Apostle Paul.
If we are not
faithful to the Word of God, it will show when we have those who come
to visit our places of worship.
We can always learn
many things from Paul as he closes his epistles.
*****Eph 6:23 Peace
be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 6:24 Grace be
with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Paul is a spiritual
brother to every believer and Paul gave no consideration of himself,
but he would always give consideration to all brothers and sisters in
Christ.
Paul loved the
Church and it showed!
The Apostle Paul was
a prayer warrior for the Church.
Paul prayed for the
peace of the brethren in this church and we should also do this.
Paul prayed for all
to now the love of Jesus Christ.
Paul prayed that
love for Christ would come because of their faith in His promises.
Paul prayed that
each one of them knew the "Grace" of God that could come
only by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know the
"Grace" that comes by Jesus Christ?
Amen
Let's Pray!
