Ephesians 6:13 Why take to you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. I. THE PROHIBITION INVOLVED IN THE PRECEPT. The conflict may neither be forsaken nor suspended. The following are forbidden: 1. Indolent or even weary sleep. 2. Cowardly or even politic flight. 3. A treacherous, or even a desponding surrender. Treachery is apostasy; despondency is sinful distrust. 4. The declaration of a truce, or even an application for it. There is a termination to the war, but no truce. No favour will ever be shown to the foe by our Commander-in-Chief, and the soldier of Christ does not really need the cessation of the conflict. 5. The giving up of a military position until the war is fairly over. The orders to the individual soldier run thus - "Unto death"; and until death the warfare is not accomplished. Death is in fact the last enemy. II. WHAT DO THESE WORDS DEMAND? 1. They require a distinct and solemn recognition of the fact that the time of our life on earth is a time of war - "an evil day." There are periods during which the sharpness of the conflict is greatly increased, and such seasons are peculiarly "the evil day" - but every day is a day of battle. 2. They require us to be always possessed by the conviction that we are personally called to this good fight. The true vocation of every believer is conflict; and to this rule there is not a single exception. 3. They demand the honest and manly facing of our foes. Some professed Christians turn their backs upon their spiritual enemies in contempt. They have speculated and theorized upon Satanic agency, until they have expunged God's doctrines concerning devils from their creed. They have flirted and compromised with the world, until they and the evil that is in the world are placed on the same side. They have modified and shaped their language concerning human depravity, until there dwells in their flesh, according to their opinion, no evil thing. And thus denying the existence of foes, they have turned their backs upon them. Other professing Christians look at our spiritual enemies more as spectators than as warriors. They are seen as objects of spiritual interest, and as subjects for religious inquiry, rather than as foes with which they personally have to do. To stand, in the sense of the text, requires that we face our foes - not to contemplate them; far less to despise them; but to fight them. 4. The text requires that having taken the field we keep it. We may not retire to the ranks of those who refuse to fight: we must stand. The militant position must be maintained throughout life. We may be weak; but must stand. We may be weary; but must stand. We may be fearful; but must stand. We may be defeated in some single fight; but must stand. We may See others fall about us; but must stand. Many may desert our cause; but we must stand. Consternation may spread through the army of the Lord of Hosts; but we must stand. It may seem as though all things were against us; but we must stand. The day of final triumph may seem long delayed, and with weak, and weary, and aching hearts, we may cry, "How long, Lord? how long?" - but we must stand. The measure of conflict and of service allotted to us may seem excessive, but having done all, we must stand. "Stand therefore." This requires, 5. that we be ready for attack or defence. To stand unarmed, is not to stand. To stand unclothed with armour, is not to stand. To stand in any sense unready, is not to stand. Having done all, your foes stand. Satan has done much; yet he stands. The world - the temporal, the sensual, and the social - has done much; yet it stands. The flesh has done much; yet it stands. Antichrist and error, and sin in every shape, have done much; yet they stand. No foe is as yet really slain. New foes are continually led to the field, and old foes show themselves in new forms. I read; "Gethsemane!" "Calvary!" Calvary? Who fought there? Your Captain - alone; for all His soldiers forsook Him and fled. With "Calvary" and "Gethsemane" on your banner, to be consistent, you must stand. Stand therefore! Now your orders are, Stand. Yet a little, and the command shall be, Retire. Come, ye faithful soldiers, inherit the kingdom prepared for you; and receive the crown of glory which fadeth not away. (S. Martin, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. |
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