Pastor’s Corner: “Take a Stand”
Ephesians 6:13 (NIV) – 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.
Now is the time for the “Church” to take a stand! We need to stand our ground against the enemy like never before. The Church has been comfortable, complacent and complicit. The state of the nation today with its division, corruption and moral decay cannot be blamed on anything other than the luke-warm Church. We have abdicated our post, the call and responsibility as Watchmen for the Lord – Isaiah 62:6 (ESV) –6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest. We are ambassadors of King Jesus and we carry the Good News that Jesus is the Way, The Truth and The Life!
The Bible has much to say about standing. We are exhorted to stand still, to stand fast, to stand fast in faith, to stand fast in the Lord; and, then after we’ve done all that, just stand! What does it mean to stand? Webster’s dictionary definition defines stand as to take up or maintain a specific position. Not just a position, but a specific position. The Lord is calling the church to take a stand for these specific positions: Sanctity of Life and Religious Freedom. No more compromise or making room for evil. If we do not stand for these core values, nothing else we stand for will matter.
Another definition of stand is to maintain one’s position, or to hold a course. I like the idea of holding a course. When you hold your course during a storm, you refuse to allow the pressures and winds of the storm to turn your ship and take you off course. You refuse to allow the helm to be turned away from God. You stay the course of walking by faith rather than by sight. You hold a straight course by the strength imparted through the Word of God. You refuse to allow the pressure and the force of the storm to influence your conviction. You resist the force of fear, which is striving vehemently to make your heart fail under the pressure of the storm.
The reason God tells us to stand firm against the devil has to do with what He has already given us. The Book of Ephesians tells us we have been blessed already “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). It tells us that we are “seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 2:6). We are to stand firm against the devil so that we do not lose one inch of blessing ground that God has already given to us. Jesus told us that the devil is a thief. He comes only to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). The devil comes at us to steal away our joy, peace, power and blessings that God has already given to us to enjoy.
How do you stop him? The way you deal with the thief is to take authority and stand firm. Sadly, The Church is failing to do this, and, as a result, we are letting the thief steal the nation blind. That’s right, I said, “Letting.” He cannot take anything from you unless you let him. Suppose some unarmed man that you knew you could whip were to walk in the front door of your house and start hauling off your stuff. He starts taking your TV, your computer, your refrigerator, your jewelry, etc. How would you respond? Would you just cower in a corner and let him have his way? Would you call your friends and wail and lament over all the bad that has befallen you? Of course not! You would face this one you can whip and tell him to drop it… and beat it! You would take authority and stand firm.
Jesus Christ has all power and all authority. If we are born again, Jesus Christ lives in us. The Bible says, “Greater is He who is in you (Jesus) than he who is in the world (Satan)” (1 John 4:4). We have power and authority over the devil and his demonic hoard. You have the full armor of God to stand up to your enemy and defeat him every time in Jesus’ name.
What will you do? We need to quit whining and crying while he steals us blind… and start standing up to him!! Take the full armor that God has given you and the weapons of the word and prayer and begin to defend your spiritual ground. As Nehemiah told the people who were building the wall in Jerusalem, “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and FIGHT!
Will you stand and fight for this nation? Will you stand and fight for your marriage? For your children? For your church? Will you stand and fight for the Christian values in America we see eroding away before our eyes every day? Will you stand and fight to keep all the blessings God has so graciously bestowed upon you? The battle is not against flesh and blood, it is against the devil and his demons. And we have the victory! The time is NOW for God’s people to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Are you with me?
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton