Eph. 6:13 “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”
Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to those in our church and school who have served in our military! We appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made for the benefit of the whole. Someone has to responsibly “bear the sword” for a civil world to be enjoyed. Thank you for being willing to do so.
Chip Lawry shared from Ephesians 6:10-13 last night at Prayer Meeting. He reminded us that until we go to heaven, we’re all still on active duty spiritually. To which I responded, “Amen, that’ll preach!” He was right, and it brings home the point of Paul’s passage.
A second highlight was the phrase, “in the evil day,” and earlier, “….because the days are evil”(5:16). Paul elsewhere calls it”….this present evil age” (Gal 1:4). John reminds us that the “whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19). This has become increasingly clear in our world today as the mores and mindset of the culture becomes further corrupt and godless.
Eph. 5:15 describes “days” that are evil, Gal. 1:4 an “evil age”, and here in Eph. 6:13 “the evil day”. How do they relate? Simply this, the general trend of the age (until Christ returns) will pulse with an unrelenting evil. That’s not to say all the world is utterly evil. It’s still God’s world that also pulses with His common grace (Matt. 5:45). Nevertheless, Satan’s agenda advances with deceit and destruction – grasping for God’s throne and human minds (2 Cor. 4:4; 2 Cor. 10:5). It is evil. That’s the “age”, the “days”. But specifically, there are pointed times when God permits him to have the upper hand – for a temporary time. Job’s sufferings illustrate this (Job 1-2). Jesus’ temptation, and then Satan’s role in the crucifixion also illustrates it (Luke 4:1-2,14; 22:3, 53). Likewise, Jesus forewarns the church in Smryna, “Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison…for ten days.” God knows it. God allows it in His sovereign plan. Their charge is, “…be faithful unto death.” Those are examples, of “the evil day.” It is a unique time when the overall surge of an evil age is permitted to attack God’s people.
We live in a time when that surge has become stronger. But note Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 6:10-20 for how the church is to respond. 1) We are to be prepared with spiritual armor. This is a corporate command here – he has the whole church in mind as a band of brothers (not a singular spiritual super-hero). 2) We are commanded to “stand firm.” This is a typical military term of resistance. In times of attack, the church is to hold the line. To be spiritually solid, stable, firm, armed with: truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. 3) We are to pray always, being alert. Believers down through the ages have been protected by these. They will protect us in these evil days.
Are we armed with these things? When our “evil day” comes, will we be found prayerful and alert? Are we ready to stand firm and be faithful? May it be so for us here at Calvary!
Thanks! See you Sunday
Pastor Dave
