Stand Strong in the Resurrection Life

Every community of faith that’s established on the gospel of Jesus Christ is a community that the evil one wants to take down.  God’s church has always been in the cross-hairs of the evil one. But God has not left us without a plan to stand our ground in the face of opposition.  This morning we are going to look at the nature of our struggle – the opposition every church faces; then we are going to look at the stance we are to take in the face of our adversary. And then our source of strength for the battle.

Our Struggle: Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Our struggle is with the wiles of the devil.  His whole intent is to destroy God’s church through his deceitful schemes: His subtle trickery. He doesn’t play fair. He is the Father of lies. And one of his best schemes is to get a church to buy into works instead of grace. Because when we do that, the focus is on ourselves rather than Jesus. And if he can get us to focus on our righteousness, then he has gets us where he wants us – he can fill us with fear and doubt, he can discourage us and shame us, he can get us to keep score and divide us because we will always fail when it comes to living out of our own righteousness. His scheme is to keep our eyes off of Jesus, to keep preachers from preaching grace, and keep a community of faith from living by faith. And when he does that he can take us down.

Our struggle is an invisible battle with the cosmic forces of darkness. Although one of the devil’s best tactics is to get us to fight with one another; our fight is not with people – its an invisible battle with rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world: the realm of the evil one. It’s the realm of the prince and power of the air – who feeds our world with a philosophy that is opposed to truth and opposed to God. These powers are behind the worldview that tells us “man is the end of all things.” That tells us that we have the answers. That tells us that we are basically good and that we don’t need God.

Our Stance: Therefore put on the full armor 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.

Paul uses a military term here for holding ground. The idea is that we are to stand against or resist the forces that oppose us. In this verse, he introduces the battle gear that will help us resist the schemes of the devil and the influences of the dark forces. 

We don’t like to think of a Church as doing battle against a bully that wants to destroy us.   We like to think of a Church as a place of neutrality, a safe and comfortable community where we can simply enjoy the blessings of God’s grace. We like to think of Church as a community that’s a haven apart from the world, not a mission on the doorsteps of hell. And part of that neutrality mindset is one of the devil’s schemes. If he can get us to believe there’s no urgency, no danger or no battle… we won’t stand, we won’t protect or resist the powers that want to take us down. But God wants us to take a stand. Four times in this passage we are told to take our stand together:

To take our stand against the devil’s schemes… To put on the full armor of God, so you may be able to stand your ground on the day of evil. And after you have done everything “to stand.” Then in first 14 stand firm! Hold your ground. Stand firm in the truth. Stand firm in the Church that Jesus gave His life for. Stand firm in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stand firm in the Lord! These are our fighting words. We are in a battle for what Christ gave his life for. Stand firm in the Resurrection Life! 

Our Strength: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 

Our strength is found in our union with Jesus Christ.  We are not meant to stand against evil in our own strength. And the key to putting this command into practice is to understand that it is in the passive tense. That means everything we need to be strong has already been given to us in our union with Jesus Christ. His strength is to be our strength. So then, to obey this command is to act on what you have already been given in Christ. It’s to act on what is known about your new identity in Christ!

What is known? You are in Christ. You are the beloved, you are the redeemed, you now belong to God, You are alive forever in Jesus. It is the Christ in you that is our strength. We are not alone in the battle. We are in the Lord and as Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Our strength is found in the resurrection life of our Lord. Be strong in the Lord.

Our strength is also found in His mighty power!

This is the power of our relationship with God. His mighty power is the power of the resurrection. The power that now resides in Jesus Christ. And because Christ lives in us, we have this same power. Because He defeated death, we will defeat death. Because He is exalted, we are exalted with Him. He is Lord over all and yet He is our Lord. Therefore, no matter what evil we face, we need not fear. We can stand strong in His mighty power because there is nothing in all the universe can defeat Him or unseat Him. Not the rulers, not the authorities, not the cosmic forces of this present darkness. Nothing has power over Jesus. Therefore,

His power gives us the courage to face the evil that wants to take us down

His power gives us the nerve to face those who criticize us

His Power gives us the strength to keep standing when you feel like quitting

His Power gives us the resolve to resist evil with the love and grace of Jesus