A Place Of Grace
6-21-26
  • The American Revolution gave rise to dozens of rallying cries— In March 1775 in an address by Patrick Henry, written was an immortal line calling his fellow man to stand, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Henry’s speech convinced the Second Virginia Convention to raise militias, and his words immediately became a battle cry among colonial minutemen, who considered them a symbol of their determination to shake off the yoke of British rule.
    These words of his challenged a generation, a nation to take a stand…
    Joshua… would stand before the people of Israel as they were about to take the Land God had given them. Reminding them of ALL God had done he stood before them and declared in Joshua 24:14-15 …
    Joshua 24:14–15 NLT
    “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
    That generation stood fro the Lord, known as the greatest generation Israel has ever seen.
    TODAY: our passage calls believers (men and women alike) to stand firm… ( and TODAY… I will point specifically to men, to fathers, husbands, leaders in the home )
    We saw last week there is a battle raging
    The battleground is our homes, our families, our marriages, and our workplaces
    There is an enemy… while he was defeated at Calvary, he is still powerful and dangerous!
    And so men… Father’s, husbands… I call on you! It is time to step up, there is a battle, and we need to be battle ready!
    I would like to ask you all to stand as we read from Ephesians 6:13-20 as we read our call to STAND FIRM! (pointless to sit while being called to stand)
    Ephesians 6:13–20 NLT
    Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

    A Call To Action!

    Verse 13 of our passage connects (THEREFORE) our previous passage concerning the battle and our enemy with the practical approach that we engage in this battle prepared and ready for what comes and able to STAND FIRM!
    We are instructed to “put on every piece” …
    We need to do this each and every day (DAILY) without fail… or else church we will FAIL!
    Called here to “RESIST” this is a DEFENSIVE posture of standing our ground, “standing firm” in the victory we have through Jesus Christ our Savior!
    As we consider being battle ready today we will see that there are:
    FOUR things that we need to “PUT On”
    TWO things we need to TAKE HOLD OF
    ONE thing that we are called to ENGAGE IN
    The armor of God is not about praying some daily prayer of “praying on” or imagining the armor going on in your mind… (that would be mere lip service)
    RATHER: It is a call to action, a call to live one’s life & lifestyle driven by the things one believes (thier morals) … “Belief Creates Behavior!” and we see no clearer than when we speak to the armor of God…

    Practical Preparedness

    Verses 14-20 embody one of Paul’s long sentences once again. All of what he is saying is crucial to having “every piece” of amor. As Paul writes this he has around him Roman Soldiers in their battle attire… his mind is pulling from the Old Testament where God speaks of His armor even thier…
    Isaiah 11:5 “He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.”
    Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.”
    These pieces of armor describe what the coming Messiah would be adorned with, ready for battle…
    Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!”
    Now as he writes he calls believers to adorn themselves NOT with their own armor… BUT RATHER THE LORD’S ARMOR!
    Let’s briefly consider how to practically put on this armor (let’s get real), by allowing this to be displayed in us, in our daily lives as a part of WHO WE ARE and also WHO WE REFLECT!

    1 The Belt of Truth

    Satan is a liar… in his attacks lies fly at us daily like poisonous darts!
    God’s Truth is an integrating force in the life of the believer… “HIS TRUTH” sets us free!
    Jesus Himself declared in John 14 “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life!”
    His Truth like a belt holds all things together, lies tear apart, destroy, and break down
    “Gird up your loins” is the literal phrase here… pull up the tunic, pull it tight (keep truth close) so all holds together, attaches all the armor in place, allows the sword to be carried, creates ability for swift movement and action!
    A man or woman of integrity, with a clear conscience, can face the enemy without fear, regardless of the lies he throws at you!

    2 The Breastplate of Righteousness

    NOTICE: it is not our own righteousness that we put on, but rather His!
    Ephesians 4:24 “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”
    Romans 3:22–24 “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
    This is called “justification,” it is the sovereign act of God where He declares the believing sinner righteous
    Swindoll says this concerning this righteousness… “practical righteousness that flows from our positional righteousness by the work of the Holy Spirit. Though these two must be distinguished—the righteousness by faith alone and the right living that is a result of faith—they are never meant to be separated. Authentic faith always leads to authenticating works.”
    When Satan accuses the Christian, he goes to the very heart and attacks out faith. It is the righteousness of Christ that we adorn that assures the believer of his salvation.
    But remember this… our positional righteousness in Christ, without practical righteousness lived out in our daily lives, only gives Satan opportunity to attack us.

    3 The Shoes of Peace

    This footing brought stability and sure footedness to the soldier in thier STAND
    Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
    This is the message of the gospel… how beautiful the feet that bring this good news of Jesus Christ!
    This should be a part of our DAILY lives…
    D.L. Moody said: “There is no greater honor, than to be the instrument in God's hands of leading one person out of the kingdom of darkness into the glorious light of heaven."
    Talon Canterbury stated: "If we had a cure for cancer, would we be as silent about it as we are about sharing the cure for eternal death?"
    Leighton Flowers declared: "The only thing more devastating than a lost soul is a lost soul without anyone looking for him/her or providing him/her hope of being found."
    I love what Warren Wiersbe had to say about these shoes… “We must be prepared each day to share the Gospel of peace with a lost world. The most victorious Christian is a witnessing Christian. If we wear the shoes of the Gospel, then we have the “beautiful feet” mentioned in Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15. Satan has declared war, but you and I are ambassadors of peace; and, as such, we take the Gospel of peace wherever we go.”

    4 The Helmet of Salvation

    The mind… we must constantly remind ourselves of the salvation we have!
    With our salvation comes living in truth, walking in peace, and receiving His righteousness…
    We do not do these things, live this way to receive salvation...
    RATHER, we live these things out because of our salvation
    Right thinking… when God controls our thoughts and mind… Satan is not able to lead us astray.
    Romans 12 calls the believer to “RENEWED THINKING”
    To the Philippians Paul would challenge them to right thinking, rather than Satan’s lies… our thoughts matter
    Satan would like nothing better than to aim his arrows at our minds, convincing us that we don’t really belong to Christ, that we aren’t eternally saved. He would love to rob us of the hope of our resurrection, our glorification, and our eternal home in heaven.
    As these things are to be a part of our lives, who we are… Paul listed two items we need to take hold of…

    Taking Hold!

    Interestingly these pieces of battle attire are used both for DEFENSIVE and OFFENSIVE purposes…

    1 The Shield of Faith

    The faith here is not saving faith rather living faith, or our walk with God, trusting His promises and power…
    Our faith gives us DEFENSE… we are shielded from the Devil’s fiery darts of:
    Lust, lies, greed, hate, fear, pride, doubts, discord, conflicts, laziness, and so many other sins
    Sometimes shields were dipped in water to quench the darts of fire
    My favorite part of this piece of Armor that is taken hold of is that the shields of Roman soldiers were intended and designed to lock together!
    Their greatest effectiveness was when locked together they could protect from all sides
    Where one may be vulnerable another soldier would lock in and defend!!!
    OUR FAITH… is not lived out alone, there are no lone ranger Christians (even the Lone Ranger had Tonto)
    Men and women of God we lock in together, we worship together to help each other STAND FIRM!
    We need to take hold of what scripture teaches all over, our faith brings us into ONE BODY… ONE FAMILY, we are HIS BRIDE… we are ONE WITH CHRIST…
    We need to embrace this better as a church!
    So then together we take hold of and embrace the next piece of armor!!!

    2 The Sword of the Spirit

    This is God’s Word… powerful, sharper than any two edged sword that any Roman soldier would carry.
    Charles Spurgeon said this of the Bible: "Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a lion! Just turn the Bible loose. It will defend itself."
    Church God’s word is powerful, we need to hold it tight, preach it boldly and unashamedly, declare it in word and deed in our Homes, Our Families, unleash it in our marriages and with our children… let it speak into our lives and our hearts!
    We take it, hold it, know it and declare it and it will give the power to stand, advance and defeat the enemy!

    Now… Engage!

    To do this… we drop to our knees, we bow our head and our hearts before the King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator, and Heavenly Father!

    Prayer… Notice several things

    This is NOT a half hearted token attempt of praying
    We “pray in the Spirit”… His Power, His Ability, His Will, … NOT OURS!
    WHEN??? (all times, EVERY occasion!!!)
    WHAT ATTITUDE??? (an attitude of alertness/mindful and persistent… this is our only engagement!)
    FOR WHO??? (this doing battle with other saints and for other saints in prayer!)
    side note… pray for your leaders, children pray for your fathers
    Even your spiritual leaders need prayer for strength, boldness, clarity
    The Devil is quick to attack the leader… because there others will follow
    FOR WHAT??? (BOLDNESS… in living for Him, sharing the gospel, speaking up)
    “As We Should”… but we don’t
    It is through the Power of the Holy Spirit in us we do this not in our own strength
    Illustrate with the man who cut wood pile with saw only later to find out it was a powered chain saw
    I find it fascinating that our circumstances should not and do not hinder, prayer, the gospel, and God working in and through us!

    Who Will Stand Firm?

    On March 5, 1836, recognizing that General Santa Anna's Mexican army was closing in, Colonel William Barret Travis gathered his volunteer garrison. Travis allegedly drew a literal line in the dirt with his sword and told any man willing to stay and fight to the death to step across. Every man crossed the line, excluding one… Moses Rose. He reportedly said, "By God, I'm not ready to die." He slipped out of the Alamo that night and survived.
    Good News… Christ already died for you and I… we are called to live for HIM!
    "The line in the sand" may have been embellished or fabricated over time, however, the sentiment of the last-stand commitment remains deeply ingrained in Alamo history, and places fire in the hearts of those who use the symbolism…
    Paul in so many words has presented us, the church, with a “line in the sand”… who will cross and STAND FIRM for the Lord!?
    STAND… for something greater than yourself
    STAND… being called to live counter culture
    STAND… and embrace the truth in your life
    STAND… in declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ
    STAND… back to back with one another
    STAND… Prepared for battle
    REMEMBER… we STAND FIRM and fight… NOT FOR VICTORY, but rather from a position of the Victory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Who will step over the line?
    As for me and my house… we will serve the Lord!!!

      • Joshua 24:14–15NASB95

      • Ephesians 6:13–20NASB95

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