Stand Ready

Ephesians 6:13
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.

Depending on the translation of the Bible you read it says to "stand against", "withstand", "done all to stand", "stand". Paul is trying to create a picture here. Imagine old style Roman warfare, where there are two opposing forces on separate ends of the battlefield. Every soldier is lined up in place standing. They are ready for the conflict to begin at a moment's notice. It is a picture of being in the midst of the battle and not losing your strength but to endure to the end. So knowing that you are capable of standing and can endure; STAND now.

All of this is done in preparation long before the "day of evil". If we aren't prepared to fight we will loose the battle every time. A reason, I believe, so many Christians walk around beat down and have the faith like soggy fries is because they only begin to "stand" when the enemy has already started to attack. So they run defeated.

"Stand your ground" is a determination not to back down. There is no second guesses. The soldier is all in. You've probably heard this before, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." You can not deceive a person or quickly defeat a person who has an understanding.

This is our understanding:

Romans 8:37-39
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels not demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are to stand, prepared to fight. Nothing has the ability to overcome you unless you are not ready.

Don't Just Sit There, FIGHT

Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord in His mighty power. 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.

Notice all these phrases:

Be strong. Be spiritually powerful, tough, resilient in the Lord. Be empowered through your union with God. Draw strength from Him.

Put on. This is a command to commit to action. It is something that we must do. We're never told to take off.

Full armor of God. Every time it is mentioned it is the full or whole armor. Without putting on the full armor of God we won't be fully equipped for battle.

Here are some of the devil's schemes:  pride - lies - fear - discouragement - anger - complaining - gossip - regret - greed - self-pity - laziness - unfaithfulness - worry - anxiety; just to name a few.

Too long have we just got comfortable in our church pews and comfortable building churches that we forgot that we're meant to cause a righteous ruckus with holy indignation that hates mediocrity and self-absorption. We go to church not for our sake but to give the enemy a break.

Our battle isn't with the theology of another. Our battle isn't with an atheist, a homosexual, or a satanist. It is with the one who is behind all of it playing the puppeteer. Our battle is with:

The rulers. A person (in this case a spirit) exercising dominion.

The authorities. The power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.

The powers. The capability of doing or accomplishing something.

The forces. The capacity or active power to cause change.

This is not as cartoonist portray it as the fat angel and seductive devil on our shoulders. There is a spiritual battle that we are fighting. There is no spectating. Let me say this there are no innocent bystanders. I don't believe there is a demon behind every rock but I do believe that we have overlooked the reality of the conflict. We have become disengaged from the warfare we are called to fight in.

We are soldiers who fight the good fight.
We are soldiers who don't get caught in the nonsense.
We are soldiers who raze hell.

Don't just sit around in church, pick a fight.

Raze Hell

 


 

Raze

     1. to demolish completely (town, building, etc);

     2. level (esp in the phrase:  Raze to the ground).

     3. to delete, erase

I'm going to reference an old blog of mine:  Who In Hell Are You (if you want to read it fully click on the link).

Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

This verse is not a defensive scripture for the church. This verse isn't referring to the church being under siege by the enemy. Using this scripture as such is foolish and completely counterproductive to the true meaning of the church. This verse is about the church, or the True Christians, being on the offensive taking the battle to Hades. Look at this verse. The gates only belonged to the stronghold of that city. Gates don't fight a battle. They withstand the battle. True Christians take action in breaking down the strongholds of the enemy.

You can't raze something unless you battle against it. The principle for us is that in order for us to live right we must be prepared to fight. To be battle ready. Hell has dominated community after community and the church has idly watched from a distance rather than taking the battle to the enemy.

Forgive what I am about to say, but Christians "pray" about stuff too much. I don't need to pray about witnessing to my neighbor; I should just do it. I don't need to pray about whether or not I should serve somewhere in my local church or in the community; I should just serve. I don't need to pray to God for boldness and strength; He promised that to us already.

~ [sidenote] I can't tell you how many people I know that have asked for prayer to be bold in witnessing and when the time comes to act boldly they run away. What good is their prayer if they don't allow God to use them through it? ~

AW Tozer said, "If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?"

God has declared some things to us and we now have to stand on them and take the fight to the enemy.

You are a conqueror. (Romans 8:37)
You are victorious. (Psalm 18:35)
You are an overcomer. (1 John 4:4)
You are equipped. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Don't back down from the fight, start it!

Who In Hell Are You?

Reality TV finds a limitless amount of people who are willing to eat insects, lie in a bath tub of roaches, humiliate themselves trying to sing, dance, and match their intellect to 5th Graders. Why? Mostly because like one of today's popular songs says "I wanna be famous". Many people strive to do what they can to make their mark in this world. In this world, though, moments of fame come and go. The greatest mark a human can make in this world truly makes the biggest impact in the supernatural.

Accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord makes an impact on our present world. How we live, treat others, view social issues. Even more so "TRUE" Christians (emphasis on TRUE) also make a significant mark in the supernatural. We realize that the life we live in the flesh now is only temporary. In that realization there comes an action. An action that causes hell to tremble because a True Christian realized their purpose and authority.

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." - Matthew 16:18

First lets get past the idea that this church has four walls, a steeple, a nice encouraging marquee in front. This is not a church that has a superior sound system, comfortable seats, a choir, or a pastor. The church talked about here has life. It has two legs to take the gospel message where ever it goes. It has two knees that are bent often in prayer. It has two arms to show compassion to those around it. It has two eyes to see the need for a loving Savior. It has only one mouth and that mouth speaks the Word of God with authority, authenticity, and love. It only has one heart that beats after the will of the One who established it. The church is the True Christian.

This verse is not a defensive scripture for the church. This verse isn't referring to the church being under siege by the enemy. Using this scripture as such is foolish and completely counterproductive to the true meaning of the church. This verse is about the church, or the True Christians, being on the offensive taking the battle to Hades. Look at this verse. The gates only belonged to the stronghold of that city. Gates don't fight a battle. They withstand the battle. True Christians take action in breaking down the strongholds of the enemy.

So who are the True Christians? They are famous. I don't mean televangelist famous. I don't mean mega church famous either. I'm talking about hella famous. They are famous in hell.

"And the evil spirit answered and said, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know but who are you?'" - Acts 19:15

Of course, the evil spirit knew Jesus. Jesus took part in it's creation. At a time this evil spirit was holy and had dwelt with God. Until, along with Lucifer, this evil spirit rebelled. So this evil spirit knew Jesus well. It was Lucifer, aka Satan, who tried to have Jesus killed as a baby. It was Jesus who Satan personally tempted in the wilderness. It was Satan who prompted Judas to betray Jesus. And it is by the name of Jesus that evil spirits are cast out. Jesus is the King of kings so the evil spirit understood who the ruler was.

Paul, previously known as Saul was a great persecutor of True Christians. Yet one day he realized his need for Jesus as his Savior and took action. He told everyone he came into contact with about Jesus. Paul is a fantastic example of a True Christian. Leonard Ravenhill says this about Paul in his book Why Revival Tarries:

"He had no side issues, no books to sell. He had no ambitions - and so had nothing to be jealous about. He had no reputation - and so had nothing to fight about. He had no possessions - and therefore had nothing to worry about. He had no 'rights' - so therefore he could not suffer wrong. He was already broken - so no one could brake him. He was 'dead' - so no one could kill him. He was less than the least - so who could humble him? He had suffered the loss of all things - so none could defraud him. Does this throw light on why the demon said, 'Paul I know'? Over this God-intoxicated man, hell suffered headaches."

If we say we are Christians does hell know us? Is there a "Wanted" picture of us hanging up in hell saying, "Approach Carefully - Considered Armed and Extremely Dangerous"? Do we take hell by storm or are we overcome by the storm of hell? Do the gates of hell oppose us or are we comfortable inside those gates. We can only be on one side or the other. Are we like Paul? Do we give hell headaches? If you can't say that this is true about you; than more than likely you are not a True Christian. Only by name have you become a Christian.

Take time and think. Ask yourself, "Who in hell am I"? If you are a nobody in hell than you are a nobody in heaven. However, if you are a somebody in hell than you are a somebody in heaven.