Strong in the Lord - Part 3
Stand Firm
Ephesians 6v13-14a
15th July 2016
We've been looking at Ephesians 6v10-18, where Paul writes about spiritual warfare. He began by exhorting us to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty strength" (verse 10) and he explained that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (verse 12a). We're engaged in very real combat, but our struggle is "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (verse 12b). That is, we struggle against demons, never against humans.
Paul says:
Ephesians 6v13-14a
Therefore put on the full armour 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. Stand firm then
Everybody faces difficult days sometimes. The day of evil will come. And when it comes, you have a choice: stand and fight, or turn tail and run. What are you going to do when the day of evil comes? Will you:
"Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss"
Or will you run and hide?
Can I suggest that if today isn't the day of evil for you, then it?s a good day to decide that when it does come, you will stand firm? Can we agree that we'd rather die fighting this battle than serve Satan, or run from him? There are worse things than being injured in the fight, whether spiritually, physically or emotionally. There are worse things than death.
Stand up for Jesus! Face your enemy! Because we're on the winning side, but mostly because it's the right thing to do, whatever the cost.
When I go to be in glory, I don't want to tell Jesus, "Yes, I hid in a bunker for thirty years but at least I got here in the end". I'd much rather be able to say, "Yes, I died in the conflict, but I died serving You. I was doing what I could for the kingdom of God. It wasn't much, but at least I faced the enemy to the bitter end".
I don't know what this will mean for you. I do know that tragedy strikes many families. I do know that many Christians experience times of great difficulty. But I pray to God that I will not turn tail and run when it's my turn to struggle. Let's agree now that we're not going to do it; we will fight.
The forces of good and the forces of evil march towards each other every day, and they'll keep on doing so until the day Jesus returns. I want to be part of the army of good - the army of God. More than anything else in my life, at the end of my life I want God to be able to say, "Phil stood firm. He may not have achieved much but he stood firm".