Giants & Grasshoppers - Part Nine

Eph 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand....

Today we will look at what it means to 'stand', in the context of the spiritual warfare.

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Transcript

Sunday June 27th 2021
Giants and Grasshoppers
Part Nine




1). Eph 6:10 ¶ 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. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-

As we have seen in our previous studies, we are engaged in a spiritual warfare against spiritual beings who are far greater in number, power, and authority than us, the original rulers of the earth, those who govern this age of spiritual darkness, a spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places – Heb 2:6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? 7 You have made him a little lower than the angels….

The warfare has to do with territory, the Kingdom of the Heavens, and jurisdiction, an inherited rulership over the earth from that Kingdom in the 7th Day. And the battle itself is not fought in the natural realm but in the spiritual realm. It is a battle that can only be engaged by the spirit man, and can only be fought correctly, to ensure victory, if the Lord’s instructions to us concerning it are followed. Since the events of the Garden of Eden, Satan has systematically schemed to overthrow those created to replace him. Hence the warfare.
a). We will remember that God has provided His armor to protect us in this conflict, and that the armor is to be put on, ‘finally’. Within the context of Ephesians, this is the final thing to be set in place after all that has previously been laid out in the Book. There is then the necessity to come to a degree of spiritual maturity before it is possible to put the armor on.  It is spiritual armor and as such exists apart from any connection with the flesh - 2Co 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

The maturity we are to have that makes putting on the armor possible, goes beyond the accumulation of ‘epignosis’ knowledge of itself to the faithful obedience that comes out of it, expressed in organizing our lives in response to that which God has said, so that our inheritance can be assured - Eph 4:1 ¶ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 ¶ with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

2 Pe 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We have learned that we are to be ‘strong in the Lord and the power of His might’ and that His strength and might on our behalf are conditional upon our exercise of faith combined with works – 1 Pe 1:5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The belt of truth, as we have previously seen, is demonstrated in the resolute determination to enter the conflict with our enemy in the certain expectation of victory, a certainty that is based entirely upon that which God has said, irrespective of the seemingly overwhelming enormity of the task before us.  
b). And this has been exemplified for us in the resolve of Caleb and Joshua at Kadesh Barnea - Nu 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."

And exemplified again in Caleb’s unwavering resolve forty-five years later - Jos 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said.” 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

And last week we had seen that the breastplate of righteousness is something we put on through the continual practice of righteous acts, good works done in faithful obedience to the Scripture, with respect to our inheritance in the Kingdom of the Heavens. 
c). To perform these acts of righteousness will not only provide the protection of the breastplate of righteousness now but will also prepare our ‘wedding garment’ for that future Day when the Bride of Christ will become His Wife and rulership will follow.

2). It would perhaps be worth noting here that, although we see the armor presented to us in a sequential order in the verses from Ephesians, we should not see it made up of separate, independent pieces. Rather all the pieces of the armor are interdependent and so, we will either have the armor on or we won’t.  We cannot have on some pieces and not others.
a). Possessing the whole armor of God works in the same way as possessing the overcomers’ promises in the Revelation. We will either receive all the overcomers’ promises at the Judgment Seat as an overcomer, or we won’t receive any. It is quite impossible to receive some and not others.
b).  We can further understand this interdependence through the instructions given to Ruth to prepare for her meeting with Boaz on his threshing floor. We will remember that Ruth was told - Ru 3:3 "Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; 

Within the historical account, these instructions given to Ruth come after she had made the journey to Bethlehem and after she had worked in Boaz’s field, after she had beaten out the grain.  
c).  In the antitype of the process seen in the historical account, as it relates to the faithful Christian, we know from past studies, that making the journey, working in the field, washing, anointing, and putting on our best garment are all interdependent and are all part of the single process leading to spiritual maturity for the purpose of realizing our inheritance. It is not that we do one and then move to the next, all are taking place in the life of the faithful Christian concurrently, all the time.
d).  And of course, having on the whole armor of God cannot be separated from the process we have seen in Ruth, as both lead to the same conclusion – Ru 3:11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.

2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ….

For the sake of simplicity however, we will continue to deal with each piece of the armor in the order it is presented to us but let’s keep what we have just looked at in mind as we do.

3).  As we have seen in the verses from Ephesians Chapter 6, we are told to ‘stand’ three times and to ‘withstand’ one time all within the space of four verses. What we would conclude from this is the absolute necessity of having a sure footing, standing our ground, as we brace ourselves against the ‘wiles of the devil’.
a). Through the idea of standing our ground we can see the placement of our feet picturing the proper foundation, upon which our hope is secured and from which we cannot be moved by the deceit of our enemy.
b). Jesus spoke of this very thing in – Mt 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

At the beginning of these verses Jesus spoke about ‘the way which leads to life’, ‘life’ in the age to come. And of necessity, to have life in the age to come would mean gaining victory over our enemy in the spiritual warfare. It would necessitate putting on the whole armor of God.
c). We then see what our enemy has deployed to block ‘the way that leads to life’, to deny access to those who would enter in, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. This same warning was repeated by Paul to the elders of Ephesus, at Miletus – Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

And with the predatory nature of deception to the fore we will remember the reason the Lord gave pastor-teachers to His Church as seen in Ephesians Chapter 4 – Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; [KJV]

It is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to proclaim the whole counsel of God so that all will come to spiritual maturity in the unity of the faith and of the Spirit, the only safeguard against deception.
d). The necessity for this is seen in the verses from Matthew Chapter 7 that follow those we have just looked at - Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Those seen in these verses are without doubt eternally saved and are seen to have ‘done many wonders’ in the Lord’s name, believing they were doing what the Lord required of them. But the fact that their actions are described as ‘lawlessness’ shows clearly that they had acted outside of that prescribed in the Scriptures. And there is only one reason they will have acted in this way – because of having been deceived. They will have fallen victim to that seen at the end of Ephesians 4:14.
e). Having laid out the very real threat of deception and the consequences of it with respect to life in the age to come, the Lord then continued – Mt 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

V24 is echoed in James – Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

We will note in v24 that Jesus refers to those who hear ‘these sayings of Mine’ and who do them. Just as we have seen in James. And those who do are classified as wise, with echoes of the 10 virgins and the one who wins souls. And the metaphor of building the house on the rock corresponds to us standing our ground from Ephesians Chapter 6.
f). And within the context of the spiritual warfare, the rain, floods, and wind of Matthew 7:25 and 27, are ‘the wiles of the devil’. His systematic schemes for our overthrow exercised through deception.
g). And again, through the verses from Matthew Chapter 7 we see the paramount importance of our proper preparedness to be able to ‘stand’ so that we might withstand in the evil day and having done all to remain standing in the presence of the Lord at His Judgment Seat.
h). No doubt it is easy to see in this the inextricable connection between our sure-footed stance, the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness – 1 Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Php 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

Php 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

2 Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

4).  To go back to Ephesians 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace…… 

The ability to stand our ground is to come from having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
a). The word translated ‘shod’ is a Greek word that can be understood in the sense of binding the foot securely. And given what we have already seen, this would work ideally for our understanding of it.
b). To this we can add the word translated, ‘preparation’, which means to prepare thoroughly, and would refer to an internal fitness rather than anything external. And here we might see the work of the metamorphosis.
c).  Clearly then, we are not dealing with putting anything on our feet but with a securely fastened internal preparedness with respect to the gospel of peace – the good news of peace which will enable us to stand against the wiles of the devil.
d).  Within Scripture the good news of peace can be seen in relation to the free-gift and the salvation of the soul. Both are essential to our race of faith and to our being found worthy at the Judgment Seat.
e). Every eternally saved Christian has peace with God because of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary – Ro 5:1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

It is because we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, our eternal salvation, that we then have access ‘by faith’ into the grace in which we presently stand with respect to the hope of the glory of God –
1 Pe 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ….

Although it would be a self-evident truth that we could not have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace apart from having peace with God, it really cannot be this to which the Ephesians Chapter 6 verse refers.
f). We do not need to stand firm in the good news of our peace with God as our eternal salvation is not what the spiritual warfare is about and nor could our peace with God within an eternal context be anything other than secure and immovable, as it is based entirely upon the finished work of Christ at Calvary.
g). Our having peace with God is a given that is always in the background, but the focus we are to have is always on that which this ‘peace’ has made possible – 1 Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.

In these verses from Ephesians Chapter 3, the foundation which is laid is our eternal salvation, but the focus is on the building that is then to take place after it. The works of gold, silver, and precious stones are the good works, the acts of righteousness that constitute the breastplate of righteousness and make up the ‘wedding garment’. And these works themselves can only be produced out of the immovable steadfastness of the hope that comes from the gospel of peace – Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end….

The gospel of peace with which our feet are to be shod, is the good news concerning the coming day of the Prince of Peace, which is one of the Messianic titles of the Lord with respect to His rulership in the Kingdom age along with the many sons He will bring to glory, and then the endless ages that will follow.
h). And the further connection between the good news of the coming of the Prince of Peace and our feet can be seen in – Ro 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

And here in Romans Chapter 10 we see feet as the vehicle and the foundation by which the gospel of peace is to be taken and preached by those who are sent to do so to the eternally saved.
i). And this will take us back to the role of the pastor-teacher given to the Church that we have seen in Ephesians Chapter 4. Depending on the pastor-teacher’s audience, the gospel of peace would encompass peace with God for those who have not yet heard the gospel of grace and then the good news of the peace that is to come yet future when the Prince of Peace is present for those who are already saved.
j). And the gospel of peace for the saved would be synonymous with the gospel of the glory of Christ, the Word of the Kingdom. And as this Word is preached, so those who receive it will grow to spiritual maturity, they will understand the spiritual warfare and will consequently have the same determined resolve as Joshua and Caleb to enter the battle and take the land promised to them as an inheritance.
k). Out of this resolve will come the works of righteousness that make up the breastplate and because of both of these the faithful Christian will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; he will be the house that was built upon the rock in Matthew Chapter 7, the antitype of the properly prepared Ruth in the Book of that name. He will have the immovable foundation, pictured through standing his ground, with his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, so that he can withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand – 
1 Co 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.

More next time – if we remain and the Lord is willing.