STAND THEREFORE

Ephesians 6:14-18 (KJV)

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

There are only two times the word church is categorically not used to speak of a local New Testament assembly of baptized believers. There are a few occurrences that some would deny that it speaks of such a church, but only two are clearly and categorically not speaking of a local New Testament church

Once it is Israel, the church in the wilderness,

Acts 7:38 (KJV)

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Pagan temples…

Acts 19:37 (KJV)

For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

There is another verse that uses the Greek word ecclesia, from which the word church is derived, and it also clearly speaks of something other than the local New Testament church Acts 19:39 (KJV)

But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

I want to begin my message by addressing this passage and usage of the word ecclesia for just a moment.

The Roman world in which Paul and his audience were surrounded (especially in a city like Ephesus) was based on Ancient Greek principles of democracy.

Greece defeated the Medo-Persian Empire and, though Greece was eventually conquered by Rome, one could say that Grecian thought had already conquered the known world.

In the Ancient Greek world, the ecclesia, the “assembly,” was the ruling body of any city.

We would think of it like our city council.

Only in the Greek world – especially the Ancient Greek world, every adult male was a member of the ruling assembly.

Here’s how as I understand it, that came to be.

In Ancient Greece, the threat of an advancing army was ever present. For an Ancient Greek community the question of an attack was not if but when.

Most often that attack would be by another Greek community.

Land was how they survived and prospered and the way to get land was to take it.

In order to protect the community – called a Polis, every Greek male was expected to stand when the time came to stand in order to defend your Polis

They were also expected to march into combat whenever the Polis needed to expand its land holdings.

Every Greek male was trained from a youth in the tactics of war, and when he came of age He was expected to take his place on the battle line.

He was the original "Minute man," ready to leave his fields and do battle when called for.

In exchange, this male was given the privilege of voice.

In other words, he had a vote in his community's civil matters.

It wasn’t technically a pure democracy because women and children were not allowed to vote, and there were always slaves with in the Polis, captives from previous battles – they didn’t get a vote either.

But the principle was, if you fought for the Polis, the city, you got a voice in the assembly of the city.

That assembly was called an ecclesia.

Of course, over the course of time, the ecclesia evolved.

·   In some cases it became larger than one city

·   Under Rome it became much more republic than democratic

·   Eventually the term was dropped from secular use and became a predominantly Christian term

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said,

Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

And then admonished them to,

Ephesians 6:14 (KJV)

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

These believers would have put that into the context of the ecclesia – the church.

Remember, he had just finished five and a half chapters of church doctrine, and only then had he said,

Ephesians 6:10 (KJV)

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Now we come to each of these pieces of armor and, for my purposes at least, I believe we have had enough teaching on them as individual pieces on individual persons.

I want to focus tonight on the fact that the writer, Paul, and his original readers, the church in Ephesus, would have seen these pieces as a whole within the whole.

Every piece of armor was essential, because every man was essential to the success of the battle.

I want to know that you have:

·   Your loins girt with truth

·   Your breastplate of righteousness

·   Your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace

·   Your shield of faith

·   Your helmet of salvation

·   Your sword of the spirit and that

·   You are “prayed up”

Why?

Because your success in the field means my success in the field.

Though warfare had “evolved” from its earliest days in Ancient Greece, Roman combat still centered around the Ancient Greek Phalanx.

These are the soldiers you picture when you read Ephesians, but there are many more than just one of them.

The Phalanx was a series of solders, shields locked side by side, shoulder to shoulder and three to four rows of men deep.

The men in the front held swords usually, but the rows behind them had long spears that they could extend over the shoulders of the rows in front. Everyone’s weapon was being used at the same time.

As the opposing sides advanced, they would eventually meet, shield to shield. They would begin to push on the opposing line – which meant the men behind you, who are most protected by your body, are pushing you into the enemy.

The object was to break a hole, called a breech, in the opposing enemy’s line.

Once that was accomplished, the battle would be over. The soldiers could not defend themselves once they lost formation.

Our contest with the devil is basically a pushing match.

And the one who keeps pushing:

·   Without quitting and

·   Without losing formation

is the one who wins.

Putting all of this together I want to characterize our contest with the devil under several headings:

I. IT IS EVERY MAN

Every Christian within the church is the glue that holds that church together.

Ephesians 4:16 (KJV)

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Picture those Greco-Roman soldiers, with their shields locked together and compacted together by the guys behind them pushing them forward.

That’s how the church is supposed to function, each one provoking the other to love and good works and building up the other in the faith.

II. IT IS ORDINARY PERSONS

As I studied for this message I learned two notable things about the battle itself:

A. It was relatively harmless

While it was brutal and bloody, the losing side usually lost less than 5% of their force.

Compare that to many of the Civil War battles where a losing army might have lost more than 50% of their soldiers.

However,

B. The losses were usually among their leading men

It’s because they were on the front lines.

The younger, less trained, and more inexperienced guys were behind them, pushing them.

That doesn’t sound that unusual to me.

Fighter pilots usually work in with a lead pilot and wingman.

·   The lead is the more experienced, higher ranking pilot

·   His wingman is a guy still earning his flight time

If you put the young guy out front, he’d just get shot down in no time.

On the other hand, if the lead pilot didn’t have a wingman, he’d likely get focused in on a bad guy and not notice the other enemy plane focusing on him.

The point is that every member of the church is as important as every other member.

You want the guys behind you pushing you because that way they can use their spears to defend you!

A third observation,

III. IT IS EVER READY

1 Peter 5:8 (KJV)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

These guys were the original “Minutemen,” always ready to pick up their armor and enter battle.

Christians know that our enemy is ever present.

·   It isn't if he will attack the house of God, which is the church,

·   It is when he will attack

The Greek Hoplite troops trained from a young age and stayed ready, armor by their side.

·   They worked their fields

·   They plied their trades

·   They minded their stores

but when called upon, they grabbed their gear and got to the battlefield.

IV. IT IS LOCKED TOGETHER

Ephesians 4:16 (KJV)

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Notice that the whole body is fitly joined together.

The shields of the Greco-Roman soldier were designed to lock together.

They did do some of that Gladiator sort of stuff, but not usually.

Especially in the context of the book of Ephesians

·   it’s not speaking about the gladiators –

·   it’s talking about the guys who are locked together in combat.

I think the greatest damage the doctrine of the invisible, universal church has done is that it has given individual Christians the perception they can be Gladiators.

People hop from church to church, sometimes never making a commitment to any church.

That’s never taught in the Bible.

·   It’s for sure not taught in the book of Ephesians

What we find here is every one of us locked together in our member covenant.

And every member supplying something to the whole body.

Number five

V. IT IS PROTECTING ITS OWN

During the American Revolution, the Continental Army was

·   Out manned

·   Out classed and

·   Out trained

The King of England absolutely knew that the Americans could never win.

One of his advisors cautioned the king not to be too confident. He contrasted the two armies.

“Our army may be better trained an equipped, but they are fighting for money, the Americans are fighting for their homes.”

The devil is after our homes.

·   He is out to destroy the Biblical model of marriage

·   He is out to destroy the family unit, a mom a dad and children

·   He is out to destroy the Christian’s faith in the Bible, “Yea hath God said?” and

·   He is out to destroy the local New Testament Bible believing (Baptist) church.

We have got to work together in this contest.

Finally

IV. IT IS ADVANCING ON THE ENEMY

Acts 1:8 (KJV)

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

It must never be forgotten that our place is not merely to stay home and defend what is ours –

We are to advance on the territories held by the devil and take the battle to his fields.

We do that through evangelization, and missions efforts.

·   That original Ancient Greek soldier grabbed his armor and went to battle when the enemy came to his home.

·   He also grabbed the gear and marched into battle when his community advanced the battle.

I liken that to visitation, witnessing and Faith Promise Missions.

Whenever the church calls us to go out in the

·   byways,

·   hedges and

·   highways

to call people to come in, we should ought to take that as our cue to drop whatever else we are doing, and lock in next to others.

Conclusion

Just as the old Greek Hoplite soldier won his right to vote on the field of battle, we ought to figure that really our right of influence in the church is earned by our participation in the fields.