Stand. Part 2

Stand against the schemes of Satan by being strong through the power of Christ's might. Don't be fooled by the physical propaganda all around you. Satan works behind the scenes seeking whom he may devour. Be strong in Christ, and you will stand against this insidious, invisible enemy of Christ Jesus. God bless.

Notes

Transcript

Stand. Part 2

Ephesians 6:10–11 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

1. Be STRONG in the LORD - 10

Ephesians 6:10 KJV 1900

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

A. The ASSURANCE that we are in the LORD.

B. I ACQUIRE the strength of the LORD.

C. His power is made AVAILABLE.

2. Stand against the SCHEMES of the Devil - 11

A. We have an INVISIBLE enemy.

B. Our INSTRUCTIONS are to put on God’s armor.

Ephesians 6:11 NKJV

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

God has chosen to illustrate His own power as a 1st century soldier’s armor; not only are believers given His power, but we are clothed in His power like a warrior clothed in armor!

“Put on the whole Armor of God” - “Put on” like in:

Colossians 3:9–12 NKJV

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

“Put on the new man...”Through faith and fellowship with Christ.

“Put on tender mercies...” By seeking the Lord and waiting on Him.

“Put on the whole armor of God...” is panoplia, pawn-oh-plea-ah, we get our English word “panoply” t(English: pan-awe-plea).

Panoply is the military equipment of a heavily-armed soldier. It is full armor for battle. Picture a modern day law enforcement officer dressed in riot gear; this might help you understand Paul’s meaning here.

His imagery is that of a “fully equipped soldier” revealing “that God supplies all the power and strength believers need to stand against the enemy” - Exegetical Comm.

In the ancient world, armor was worn in battle to protect vital areas of the human body: helmets were used to protect the skull and eyes, breastplates to protect the heart and lungs, belts to gird and protect the loins, greaves to protect the shins and knees, and large shields to take cover from arrows raining down while standing in the open field.

Today, our soldiers and law enforcement wear body armor to protect them from bullets!

I know of one American war hero-veteran who was shot 7 times by an enemy brandishing an AK-47 while he faithfully served in Iraq. Seven bullets hit him in the stomach area. As he explained to me, the kevlar (the body armor) that he wore saved his life though he has stomach issues to this day. I thank him all the time for his service to our country.

God has given every believer His very own armor! We are fully protected and empowered to stand against the wicked schemes, plots, and plans of Satan and those who are demonically induced and deceived by him to destroy the righteous.

C. The INSIGHT for the command - 11b

Ephesians 6:11 NKJV

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

“That” - what follows is the purpose for taking up God’s armor!

“Able” - dunamai, do-nawe,may - to possess capability, be capable. By God’s grace you are able to stand against Satan’s lies because He gives you the ability.

God makes us “able” - we have not power in ourselves.

2 Corinthians 3:4–6 NKJV

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

“Sufficient” - competent, adequate. “Our sufficiency is from God!” Don’t ever forget it! It’s never you; it’s always Him who gets the glory for our successes, power, and Christlikeness - our ability to stand against Satan’s schemes and temptations to sin.

God makes us able to...

“to Stand” - stand up against. Resist (BDAG). We are to stand up against and resist the devil’s “deceitful scheming” (R.W.P.). The infinitive “to stand” gives the reason why we must be strengthened by our Lord.

Satan knows every “chink” in our character; he knows our weak points. By his deceitful scheming, we have fallen into past sins, but now we are dressed in God’s spiritual armor which is a metaphor communicating that we are given the supernatural power of Christ through fellowship with Christ to over come temptations to sin, rotten attitudes, and to stand against wicked men and women who are deceived and perpetrate lies.

It is His power and His power, alone, that enables us to stand, resist, and overcome the devil’s evil plots to destroy our virtue, smash our Christlike pursuit, and to enslave us to do his bidding.

I cannot stress fellowship with Christ enough; fellowship with Christ is meeting with the Godhead in prayer and having heart conversations with your LORD. Do not neglect this most sacred privilege. It is the purpose for why we exist, and it is precisely by fellowship with Jesus that we are endued with power from on high:

1 John 1:3–4 NKJV

3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

Fellowship with God is the key and privilege of our everyday lives. It is through fellowship with God that we are strengthened with the power of His might!

1 John 1:5 NKJV

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6 NKJV

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1 John 1:7 NKJV

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

His blood cleanses us from all sin because we do fail even when we are following Him (not as though I had already attained either were already perfect but I follow after.. - Phil. 3:12) ; He, Himself, stands between us and Satan!

May you be in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and because you are, may you remain in fellowship with those who are in fellowship with Him. Our enemy is Satan. Because we are powerless against the devil apart from Christ, we are instructed to be strengthened by the power of God’s might by faith in His promise to make us so!