Stand

[0:00] Let's stand, shall we, as we read the Word of God. Ephesians 6 from verses 10 through 19.

[0:11] You might want to just read along in your Bible as I read these words.! Ephesians 6 from verses 10 through 19. It says this, and feel free to read along.

[0:23] Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[0:36] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[0:48] 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. 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.

[1:09] Above all, take in 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.

[1:24] And pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

[1:35] And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. Amen. Let's pray.

[1:47] Lord, thank you again for your word, for our gathering together unto you. Lord, for you to be lifted up in our time together. Lord, that you would be the one who would have the spotlight upon you.

[1:59] Lord, that we might be mindful of you, and encouraged in you, in our faith in you. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Please be seated.

[2:10] And my message today is stand. Verses 11, 13, and 14 say, stand. That's what God calls you and me to do.

[2:21] Here's a quote. End quote.

[2:48] Friends, it's time to take a stand. To take a stand. Now, it's a military term here. And as Christian soldiers, we're commanded to stand. I know I talked along the theme of being a soldier of late.

[3:01] It's a needful theme, I think, in such a time. It's a time that we need to stand. And stand, it means don't give an inch. It means maintain your ground, hold your ground, don't give in.

[3:12] Don't run off, but stand. So, my question for you today, will you take a stand? Firstly, there's something to stand against. First point here is to stand against the wrong.

[3:27] Stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6, verse 11, it says, Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[3:39] Now, it's been said that the devil is a Methodist. The devil is a Methodist. Because the wiles, the word wiles here, it can be transliterated methods.

[3:51] It's actually the word methods, methodology. So, Satan's got some methodology. He's got some methods. Some deceits, some schemes, some tricks, some strategies. He's a sneaky enemy.

[4:03] The devil has some methods. What are the devil's methods? I put to you, the devil wants weak, watered-down churches, Bibles, and Christians. Our archenemy has some wiles.

[4:16] There's some values that the world is giving our children and our world today. They're learning values, aren't they? The so-called values that come from screens that are always in our children's faces.

[4:28] It's in our faces, let's face it. There's many values being communicated to us, but really it's many falsehoods in some of those voices too. We're not always getting told the truth.

[4:40] And, friends, it's the wiles of the devil. The hostility that he uses, the carnality, the confusion. It's all part of his Dirty Tricks campaign. The wiles of the devil.

[4:50] We need to wise up for the wiles of the devil. You know, we think of, I suppose, the old-fashioned cartoon of the coyote, the roadrunner, and the wily coyote.

[5:02] It's the wily fox. You know, the wiles is the sort of sneakiness of this fox that is the devil. He's wily. He's tricky. He's got wiles. And he wants us to join in his work, his dastardly work, to be accusers of the brethren.

[5:18] One of the names of the devil is that he's an accuser of the brethren. He wants us to be a critic and a fault finder and to fall for his lies and to join in his falsehoods, his sneaky little lies.

[5:33] And we see today this plethora of errors of false doctrine near and far and all around us. And I know I've had occasion talking with some that there's false teachers out there.

[5:46] There's false teachings that are at times very popular and becoming more commonplace. But nevertheless, they're false teachings. We've got to be wary of that.

[5:58] We've got to be wary about the wrong teachings, wrong emphasis, or an entertaining kind of religion. And this is the point of the truth of God. It skirts around the clear teaching of God's word.

[6:11] And many Christians are ignorant of even the most basic of moral truths and decency and what God wants for us, that we would be a righteous, holy people. Another trick the devil uses, one thing that he tries to do, is that he tries to take away the word.

[6:27] You know, we hear the story of the parable of the sower. One of the things that the devil did was take away the seed. He wants to take away the word. He wants us to block our ears to the word. He says in Amos 8, verse 11, that the time is coming when there will be, he says, a famine, not of bread nor of thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

[6:48] He says the time will come when there will be a famine in the land. They will take away the very word of God. You know, we've seen many situations where we're more and more constricted.

[7:00] We know the current restrictions, thank God, are not too extreme in South Australia, but in other places, much more so. And the devil wants to take people away from the word of God, to block their ears to it, to shy them away, to trick them away to other things.

[7:16] And one of the devil's tricks too is to make us comfortable, to make us comfortable. We all love to be comfortable. And from our car seats, our mod cons, our homes, our domestic appliances, there's this emphasis on comfort.

[7:31] And, you know, when you think about it, as Aussies, we really do have quite a reasonable comfort and luxury. We've got plenty of food. We've got a relatively easy life here in Australia.

[7:42] And sometimes I think the devil makes us too comfortable. But we love our comfort. And he woos us to sleep, as it were, too. A lot of Christians these days seem quite sleepy.

[7:54] They're sleeping. It's been said the devil is never too busy to rock the cradle of a sleeping saint. He wants us to be asleep. He wants you to be asleep spiritually.

[8:04] And rather, God wants you to stand. He wants you to stand with courage, with conviction, stand for principle. We see right through the word of God this theme of either bowing down or standing up.

[8:16] We see the three Hebrew children in that place where there was a big plane and the huge statue that the king said everyone had to bow down to.

[8:28] And these three did not bow down. They stood firm. When the earthly king wanted them to bow down, they stood firm. When everybody else bowed down, they took a stand.

[8:39] It's not popular to stand for Christ. It's not popular to talk of sacrifice. I know we've received some mockery from dear ones that would mock those that would stand for truth and stand for Christ.

[8:55] And friends, we're in that situation where sometimes we've got to stand when others bow down. People don't want to hear the word sacrifice. And for Aussies, what do we have to sacrifice?

[9:08] Let's face it. Maybe a bit of sacrifice of time, of effort. We might have to, you know, make a little inconvenience for ourselves to come out when it's cold and wet.

[9:19] But really, we've got no big sacrifice compared to our brothers and sisters in other lands. It's really nothing. Some can't handle the least little challenge. They want life to be just plain sailing.

[9:33] And for church to be all about amusing and entertaining, that's what they go to. They don't want the word of God. And that's just what the devil wants us to be like. To be wanting just to be pampered and entertained.

[9:45] It's really, you could say, it seems like the devil is actually running many churches on planet Earth. You could say the Reverend Dr. Satan is the unseen head of modern apostate churchianity.

[10:01] It's like he runs many tele-evangelist ministries, where it's all about making people feel good rather than what the word of God actually says. And many in our society would say, if homosexuals want to be preachers, let's not frustrate them.

[10:17] Let's ordain them into the gospel. Of course, the Bible is very clear on such things as that. But many don't care about what the word of God says. And even those who know what is right and wrong, they know they're not standing for the right.

[10:34] And they're indifferent about that. They know what's right and what's wrong, but they don't stand for the right. In other words, they do nothing about their convictions. They just go with what's popular. It's been said, after all is said and done, more is said than done.

[10:49] People just have a lot of talk, but they don't do anything about their faith. They're not standing. There's an apathy and indifference. It's like we're absorbing all this programming, the world's programming, and our senses are getting dulled.

[11:06] We're absorbing the philosophies of a sin-sick world, and without thought for the spiritual damage that that does. It's true that as long as you tolerate even the slightest sin and inconsistency in your life, the devil has a toehold.

[11:25] Friends, don't give him a toehold, let alone a foothold. Don't let him have an inch. When you see something that you know deep down and your heart is wrong, steer from it.

[11:36] Steer from it. Stand against, it says. Stand against, against the wiles of the devil. Now, the Bible calls us to stand. Friends, I want to quote a man that I heard a message from recently.

[11:50] And I'm going to quote some bits of his sermon just in the next section here. And he's talking about being against, against some things. And here I'm going to quote.

[12:02] I might just skip a few bits here. But I'm quoting this preacher now. And he says this. In every evil age we read about in God's Word, there's always been a challenge to that evil age.

[12:14] A challenge to that darkness of that evil age. A challenge to the leadership of the apostasy of that evil age. And there's always been a triumph and victory of God's people in an evil age.

[12:27] I believe we've a responsibility to share the triumph of Christ in an evil age. The darkest days in church history were always the brightest days for the church of God.

[12:38] They were burning the saints of God, the gospel burnt with mighty fire. The great darkness of our day comes from darkened men who are blind leaders of the blind.

[12:49] Darkness in the pulpits. Darkness in the colleges. Darkness in the universities. Darkness in the assemblies. Darkness in the conventions. Darkness in the council of churches.

[13:00] Ecclesiastical, religious, spiritual darkness. Yet it says, God had commanded the light to shine out of darkness.

[13:10] It's shine in our hearts. Friends, the quote goes, I want glorious light when God shines in our hearts. So you have light. Light confronting, challenging the darkness.

[13:21] Now I love the rest of this quote here. Let me continue. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

[13:32] I like that word against. There are things that you and I are against. Yes, we are against them. I'm against the Pope. I'm against the World Council of Churches.

[13:44] I'm against the National Council of Churches. I'm against that great apostate denominations, whether they be Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Baptist, or called by any other name.

[13:55] I'm absolutely and totally against them. From the top of my head to my big toe, I'm against them. Every bit of me against them. I want to tell you, brethren, to let people know you're against something.

[14:14] I'll leave it at that for that quote there. Friends, the point is that we are against some things as a Christian. We're against some things as a Christian. And it says here in this verse, Ephesians 6 verse 11, it says, Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

[14:42] We have to say we're against some things. We're against false teaching. We're against it. We're against a weak kind of Christianity that makes no demands.

[14:55] A weak kind of gospel that doesn't declare the gospel. It's watered down. It's weak. We're against the devil and all of his wiles.

[15:11] We have to stand against the wiles of the devil. The Bible calls us to stand against the wiles of the devil. We are under attack. There's an attack against the Church of God, the people of God.

[15:24] Now these masks, these current restrictions are very trivial compared to what could be.

[15:40] We have to stand for truth. Stand against the enemy. And secondly, we read Ephesians 6 verse 13. It says, Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

[15:58] And having done all, stand. So firstly we stand against the wiles. And secondly we stand and we withstand. We wrestle.

[16:11] We wrestle. And it talks about an evil day. In other words, a day when things are not going easily. It's an evil day.

[16:22] A day where there's opposition and confrontation. Perhaps there's some fears. We know today, I know it's such a depressing thing walking around a shopping centre.

[16:36] Now even fellow sipping with a mask on. God helping us. And hopefully this is only for a few days before we'll be able to reverse that. But you know, walking around with these muzzles on, it makes you feel like you're an animal.

[16:50] Many people are filled with fear and concern. It's distressing. It's difficult. Many Christians are filled with fear. Yes, even Christians.

[17:01] There's fears that hold believers back. You know, we can be fearful to stand. The stands that are many and varied, you know, that give them these eloquent names like you might have acrophobia, the fear of heights.

[17:14] You know, sometimes when I climb a ladder and I get this sense of the, it's fearful, isn't it? Claustrophobia, fear of closed spaces. Pathophobia, fear of diseases. Maybe that's what people got now.

[17:26] There's a fear of disease, a pathophobia. And I think some Christians too have got this problem. Ergophobia. The fear of work. The fear of work. Not that we preach works, but as a Christian we should work.

[17:40] So let's not have ergophobia. Let's not be afraid of work. Amen? Now some people are afraid though. And there's days where there's fearful things. They're afraid to stand against the enemy.

[17:51] They care and weaken when they face the slightest challenge or a spiritual struggle. There's a fearfulness. And some don't stand. They actually capitulate. They give up.

[18:01] They give in. Friends, the world is not our friend. It's not meant to be. It says that we, it tells us here, James 4 verse 4.

[18:12] It says he adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Pessoeever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

[18:25] Friends, we're not to be friends of this world. This world hates God. This world crucified, the prince of life. We're not friends with it. We're not friends with it. This world is hostile towards God and his best for us.

[18:38] And really, in a real way, these are dark days. It's the evil day. These are dark days. Days that call for resistance. For protest.

[18:49] An uprising. I'm not saying necessarily go and protest about lust. But protest about something that's much more significant than vaccines or viruses. These are days of protest, aren't they?

[19:02] The world is going to hell in a handbasket. And we need to be those that will rise up and protest and stand. Rise up. And it's like Christianity is being treated with hate and mockery.

[19:15] In a constant feeding of our ears and eyes. In the media, there's a constancy of hatefulness against Christianity.

[19:26] A hostility from the men on the street. By the media. As if science is the new God. We know that science is always changing.

[19:38] It's not settled. But we can be a Christian and be a scientist. There's no conflict there. It's actually logical and intelligent and intellectual to be a Christian.

[19:49] It's a reasonable and rational thing to be a Christian. And yet, there's a hostility that's being pumped against us from the left side of politics.

[19:59] So, let's not fear, but let us stand and fight. We see there, as we read verse 12, it says, 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.

[20:18] Friends, it's really a spiritual conflict that's going on. And we're not just up against philosophies and ideas of men. We're actually battling against the enemy of our soul. There's an internal battle going on.

[20:31] This battle's been going on since, well, before the garden. We've seen this internal battle that's going on of these hostile spiritual forces that want to damn souls to hell.

[20:43] And we must stand against the forces of evil. It's been said, I know that the world has become an insane asylum and the inmates are in charge.

[20:55] It's almost like that, isn't it? Some of the governments of our world and the political forces of our world, it's like the crazies have taken over and they're running a show.

[21:06] But yet, our wrestling is not against them. It's against the spiritual forces that are behind them. It's a wrestling match that's a spiritual one that is going on.

[21:19] So think about it, friends, today, as we think about this withstanding, this withstanding, this standing, this withstanding. There's a standing for, a standing against.

[21:30] And look at what we see in the nation around us, even in our own nation. Where are the people who will take a stand? They will actually be willing to stand for Christ, even though it's not popular.

[21:42] And it never has been. And it never will be. To stand in the minority. To stand when godly laws and systems of government are under threat. Who knows what the next stage will be?

[21:56] What are they going to ramp it up to? God help us. God help us. But it's more in the spiritual vein. Ungodly laws are coming and they're being foisted on us.

[22:07] Ungodly laws such as abortion, euthanasia, in other words, murder. We see this increasing immorality, the godlessness. The morality is declining. And I know I saw a challenging video shared to me by a friend about truth.

[22:23] But it is really objective. Truth is always objective. And if you're interested, I'll share that video with you. A very, very challenging and truthful statement about truth.

[22:39] Truth. Today, nowadays, the popular culture looks at truth as subjective. You've got your truth. I've got mine. There's no such thing as absolute truth.

[22:53] But friends, truth is always objective. It always has been. Truth does not change. And friends, this truth is unchanging. It is true. It always has been true.

[23:03] It always will be true. This is the truth. The truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. That's what they say when they put their hands on it. Friends, this is the truth. And truth is always objective.

[23:15] So we are standing for truth. Truth is timeless. It's objective. It always is objective. And when we stand before God, we're not going to be judged by the world's fickle, changing standards and fans.

[23:28] We're going to be judged by the truth. By the one who is the truth, the Lord Jesus. And judged out of the dictates of his word, his word. And so I'm living by this. We stand, we withstand because we've got the truth to stand on.

[23:42] Truth that doesn't change. Truth that is beyond and above any standards of this changing world. So friends, there's a wrestling going on in the nation. And also it's a wrestling that's going on in the home, in the home place.

[23:55] Families are under attack. There's child abuse. There's wife abuse. There's husband abuse. The homes are under attack. There's families under attack. The world's messed up families and homes because they've abandoned the truth.

[24:11] They've taken the truth out. And so we need friends to withstand in the home. In the church too. The Lord Jesus took a stand. When you look at when he first came, what he first did.

[24:24] That he went into the house of God and he drove the money changers into the street. He made a very strong stand against the false religion. Friends, the gospel is under attack today.

[24:35] False doctrines. They're multiplying. Multiplying. And even amongst well-meaning Christians, there's false ideas about even the most fundamental of things.

[24:46] Like the security of our salvation. Friends, that is the devil. He's got his fingerprints all over that. When he would attack the very foundation stone that salvation is secure, then he would make it something that is not.

[25:01] The false doctrines abound. We're not talking necessarily Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses or a number of false cults. We're talking about even the most basic of Christian fundamentals are under attack.

[25:15] Where there's these wacko ideas, charismatic teaching, this crazy talk and crazy antics, materialism and falsehood. And many that are in the mainstream corner of Christian church are getting swept along with a great flood tide of false doctrine.

[25:32] So friends, the church is another place where the attack is very evident. So let us study the truth. Preach it. Contend for it against those who would promote error.

[25:45] And that means we need to withstand. You know, wise up. Open your eyes and see the false doctrine and oppose it. Oppose error. And let's get back to the fundamentals of our faith.

[25:59] To stand for Christ. To stand for the gospel. To not neglect our spiritual welfare. To stand and keep on standing. And wrestle in prayer. The Bible speaks about a wrestling.

[26:11] A prayer is compared to a wrestling, isn't it? As there was a wrestling by Jacob. You know, we need to wrestle with God. We need to get a hold of God in that spiritual wrestling of prayer.

[26:28] So there's a wrestling in the nation. A wrestling in the church. And there's a wrestling inside of you. Every one of you. Every one of us. It's been truly said, only you can change or damage your character.

[26:40] You know, you stand individually. You stand individually. And only you can change or damage your character. Stand firm as an individual Christian.

[26:56] When you face an attack. It could be addictions. Habits. They try and control you. Embarrass you. You've tried many times to break them.

[27:08] There's no retreat. You must take a stand. You individually. Each one of you. Each one of us. And stand with the power of the Lord Jesus to defeat that problem.

[27:19] Whatever it be. To get that daily victory. Day by day by day. Now think about what you're tuning into. What you're tuning into.

[27:30] Now, years back it was more the TV. Now it's almost any kind of screen that you can plug into. But some of you might have heard this one before. The 23rd channel.

[27:41] The 23rd channel. Who's heard of this one before? The 23rd channel. The TV set is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for his namesake.

[27:55] Because it requireth all my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian. Because it presenteth me with so many good shows that I must see. It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world.

[28:08] And keepeth me from the study of God's word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend the evening services. And doing nothing in the kingdom of God. Yea, though I live to be 100.

[28:20] I shall keep on viewing my TV. As long as it shall work. For it is my closest companion. Its sounds and pictures comfort me. It presenteth entertainment before me.

[28:32] And keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It filleth my head with ideas that differ. From those set forth in the word of God. Surely no good thing will come of my life.

[28:43] Because my TV offereth me no good time to do the will of God. Thus I will dwell in spiritual poverty all the days of my life. Francis.

[28:55] There's some truth there, wouldn't I think? There's a wrestling going on. There's a wrestling going on. Sometimes it's in your lounge room. When you're sat in front of the innit box. There's a wrestling going on.

[29:06] And it's happening. It's happening for each one of us. Soul by soul. Home by home. At an individual level. And it's in every one of us. France.

[29:18] A wrestling. As we said, your character is what you have left. When you've lost everything you can lose. Now keep your character. Stand for Christ. Make that individual stand.

[29:29] And yes, standing will mean a wrestling in the nation. In the home. In the church. And within you. It's in all of us. It's wrestling. This fight of the flesh and the spirit. It's in me.

[29:41] It's in you. It's in all of us. It's a wrestling. So stand. Stand against the wrong. The wiles of the devil. Stand with stand. Keep on wrestling. Stand with stand.

[29:52] Against those spiritual forces that conflict against you. And thirdly, stand for the right. Stand for the right. Here's another standing. Again, in Ephesians 6.

[30:05] Stand for the right. Ephesians 6.14 it says this. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Having on the breastplate of righteousness. Of course, there's all the other armour that's given to us in Ephesians 6.

[30:20] We're not going to touch on the whole. But read Ephesians 6. Read it through again. Read it through and read it through again. Think of the armour of God.

[30:32] You've got to stand for the right. Put on the armour of God. It's been said to know what is right and not to do it is just as bad as actively doing wrong.

[30:45] Now we can stand. We can say we stand. We can make a pretense that we stand. But to know what is right and not to do it is just as bad as doing wrong.

[30:58] Now there's the sin of omission, isn't there? We know we ought to do something and we don't do it. Not that we walk around with some burdensome yoke or I'm going to burden you with some expectations that you're not able to bear.

[31:12] God doesn't burden us with burdens we're not able to bear. But when we know to stand for something and we don't do it, that's a problem there.

[31:23] Friends, stand for the right. Stand having your loins girt about with truth. Having on the breastplate of righteousness. Stand for the armour.

[31:35] Stand for truth. Stand for righteousness. Stand for righteousness. And the Christian stand is about not only opposing the false, but standing for the truth. Supporting the truth is positive.

[31:48] Christian living is about communicating the gospel. You have the message of salvation. And you know that you are his messenger to those in your life.

[32:00] You have a message to deliver. Every one of you. It's time for us to live like we believe it. To live like we really believe it.

[32:13] It's been said some people take a stand for Christ and never move again. Now they may say, oh yeah, I stood for Christ. Back there.

[32:24] Back then. But they stop standing. They're not standing. Stand and keep on standing. Stand and keep on standing. Stand. Stand. Stand. Stand.

[32:35] Don't say, I took a stand for Christ back there, but then you've just stayed there. Keep on standing. Another quote, some people spend a whole lifetime developing one part of their body.

[32:52] The wishbone. The wishbone. They wish they were serving God more. They wish that they were a stronger Christian. They wish that they could do something bold.

[33:07] They wish that they would take a risk and step out of the comfort zone. They wish that they were able to do this, that or the other.

[33:18] But that's where they leave it. They know they ought to do something, but they never get around to it. Friends, I don't know how much time we've got.

[33:29] I really don't. How much time is there yet to come? To live this life till judgment comes, till Christ comes, till time wraps up and friends, it's finished.

[33:44] We must resolve to stand. To stand. To know what we ought to do and to stop saying, I'll get around to it.

[33:55] Stand for the truth. One day. No. Tomorrow never comes. So stand today. Stand for the truth.

[34:06] Stand for the truth. This world's full of lies. It's run by the father of lies. That's his name. He's a liar. Stand for what is right. Stand for integrity.

[34:18] For right living. For character. For holiness. Friends, this world would think, care little about morality and truth. People just, you know, willy-nilly, they're very careless in even the most fundamentals of morality.

[34:37] God's given us marriage for a reason. It's sanctified. Keep the marriage bed.

[34:49] Holy. It's honourable. Marriage counts. That's the place for intimacy between a man and a woman is marriage.

[35:02] It's very important. It's fundamental. True. This world would program us with all sorts of other ideas. Many influences would shape our world view.

[35:13] Some people get their morality from the TV set. From the reality TV shows. Which are not real. Let's face it. And the media all around us has become more and more powerful in the lives of everyday people.

[35:28] We need to see that for what it is. That's the world's programming. There's some truth, but there's a lot of lies. So we need to stand for the truth. Take this stand for Christ.

[35:39] Now this world used to imprison Christians. But now it's almost like the worldly cultures just make Christians and churches so blended in that there's pretty much no difference.

[35:52] You don't hear morality and truth and the fundamentals of Christian living. Some churches, some pulpits are silent on issues that matter.

[36:06] But we've got to stand for the truth. Friends, we've got to stand for the faith. It says in 1 Corinthians 16, 13. Paul says, Watch you. Stand fast in the faith.

[36:18] Quit you like men. Be strong. Now that word quit has got the Old English sense where we could put it, acquit yourself.

[36:30] Acquit yourself. In other words, determine. Make a stand. Determine to make a stand. Act like men. Act manly. Act as a man of God would act.

[36:44] Live like a man of God would act. Stand in faith. We've got a faith worth fighting for. Worth standing for. Worth contending for. To fight vigorously for as we see in Jude chapter 1, verse 3.

[36:57] Paul says, Jude says rather, I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation. It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

[37:14] There's an earnest contention here called for. And, you know, the world has got the slogan, no pain, no gain. When there's a contention, when there's an earnest contention, there's a sense of exertion here.

[37:31] There's a sense of pain here. Of entering into the combat zone. And it's been said that the job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be.

[37:46] In a way, there's a sense where we are in the training camp, as it were, that we're all in this struggle, this wrestling, this conflict zone.

[38:00] Of resolving to go against the flesh. To stand against some things and to stand for some things. To stand for truth. To stand for faith.

[38:11] To stand for the gospel. And if you'd like to compare it with that analogy of a contest, of a football match, of the Olympics, or whatever it be, of that sense of training.

[38:27] We should be training ourselves. We're going to talk a little bit about that tonight. But let's stand. Let's stand. Let's stand in the liberty that we have. In Galatians 5, Paul says to the Galatians, he says, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty, wherewith Christ have made us free.

[38:43] Be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. As God's people, we stand for liberty. This liberty that we have is absolute freedom.

[38:54] We have absolute freedom in Christ. True freedom. We're not ensnared or yoked. We've got a total liberty in Christ. A freedom from bondage.

[39:07] From worldly bondage. Sometimes I think we might overplay that liberty.

[39:20] There's risk of that too. But yet there's a liberty in that we're not confined by relentless. Rules and constraints. Our yoke.

[39:32] His yoke is easy. And his burden is light. And so we've got a wonderful freedom that is in Christ. A freedom from bondage. And so we stand in that.

[39:43] And some would try to yoke themselves with religious bondage that is actually contrary to the liberty that we have in Christ. There's a liberty. There's a liberty.

[39:55] There's a liberty. And yet we are yoked to Christ. And it's been said that God's greatest problem with laborers in his vineyard is absenteeism.

[40:09] Now having worked as a manager. Having worked with others reporting to me. I can identify with absenteeism. You know as a manager.

[40:20] As a supervisor. When your team doesn't show up. And it leaves others to do the work. Friends. There's liberty in Christ. But we don't want that to be an excuse for laziness too.

[40:33] But there's a wonderful standing in that liberty that we have. And another thing that we stand for is we stand in unity. In Philippians 1 verse 27.

[40:45] Paul says. And let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. That whether I come and see you or else be absent on my year of your affairs. That you stand fast in one spirit with one mind.

[40:58] Striving together for the faith of the gospel. There's a wonderful standing together. There's a standing together. We've got one another. We're not. Christianity is not a solo event.

[41:09] It's a team. We're together. We're God's people. And if one brother in Christ falls. If a brother fails. We don't shoot them. We help them.

[41:21] We lift them. We restore them. Because who knows whether sooner or later we're going to be the one. That's going to need lifting up. And the Bible says those of you who are strong.

[41:31] Pick them up. Put loving arms around the wing. Support them. Nurse them back to help. We're here to help one another. There's situations of need amongst us.

[41:45] We want to support one another. Consider one another. Stand together. So let's. Brothers and sisters. Be encouraged this morning. I know it's quite an elementary thing.

[41:56] But it's a fundamental thing. That we stand. That we stand against sin. We stand for Christ. For the gospel. For sound doctrine. And. Be willing to take a stand.

[42:08] Even when. It's easy. To not take a stand. It's easy not to take a stand. It's easy for us just to. Blend in.

[42:18] To bow down. To just go with the crowd. Follow the crowd. Go with the flow. But God wants us to obey him. To stand with conviction.

[42:29] To stand. And obey the word of God. To stand with him. The natural inclination. It's in all of us. Let's face it. The flesh. We're there to be wishy washy.

[42:41] To be like tumbleweed. Just to be blown around. By the winds. That are out there. To accommodate sin. To be weak need. To compromise.

[42:52] To just do what feels good. Rather than what's right. And friends. It's time.

[43:02] To take a stand. Another quote here. We cannot avoid growing old. But we can avoid growing cold. Look we're all getting old.

[43:14] Older. But we can avoid growing cold. Don't grow cold as a Christian. Don't grow cold as a Christian. Stand. Stand and keep on standing.

[43:27] Stand for the right. You must stand for what truly. Truly matters. Bear with me.

[43:40] One other quote here. Did honour ever satisfy any man? I've known men and women in the highest positions of honour in politics and social life.

[43:51] In culture and in all spheres of life. But I never knew a man or woman yet that was satisfied with honour. He's talking about earthly honour. Does power satisfy any man?

[44:02] Was any king or emperor or star, no matter how large his power, satisfied with the possession of power? He's talking about earthly power and that position. Next he goes on.

[44:14] Does the pleasures of life satisfy any man? Does the ballroom satisfy? Does the card party satisfy? Does the theatre satisfy? Does the race course satisfy?

[44:26] Does gambling satisfy? Is there any form of the world's pleasures that satisfies the human soul? Of course we know the answer. No. How mad then to forfeit your soul to gain money, honour, position, power, glory, pleasure or anything that this world contains when we know that they never satisfied anybody.

[44:52] What is true satisfaction? It's Christ. Our sufficiency is of Christ. That the truth and our salvation in Christ is the fundamental purpose for us to stand.

[45:11] Friends, stand with Christ. Stand. Even if you have to stand against the storm, stand. Stand even when others compromise all around you.

[45:24] When your family, your friends care little for the truth. Stand nevertheless stand. And enter the battle.

[45:38] Stand and take back ground. It says we should stand firm. Paul again to the Corinthians.

[45:51] He says, therefore my beloved brethren. Be steadfast. It's that standing there. Steadfast. Unmovable. Don't be moved around.

[46:02] Be unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. So friends, again, just as we wrap up and we shortly have a song I'd come from.

[46:17] Brother Tom. Thanks to James, our pianist here. It says stand. He'll help you navigate all the speed bumps of life.

[46:29] Stand and keep on standing. Stand for what is right. Stand for truth. Stand for the faith in Christ. Stand in that liberty that is in Christ.

[46:41] Stand in that unity as we stand together in Christ. Stand and keep on standing. As we read, again, in the last part here.

[46:53] Ephesians 6, 13. And again, read the context about the armour. Put it all on. The whole armour. Put on every piece.

[47:03] Every piece of that armour. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand.

[47:14] So again, to recap, stand against the wrong. Talks about standing against the wiles of the devil. Stand against what's wrong. Don't be afraid to say that's wrong.

[47:26] The Bible says it's wrong. That means it's wrong. Stand against some things. Stand withstand. Withstand in the evil day. There's a wrestling. Stand withstand. Stand withstand the spiritual forces that are against you.

[47:40] It's a spiritual thing. This is not about opinions of men. About whether some think something's okay and some think's not okay. This is not about opinions.

[47:52] It's about a wrestling against spiritual forces. And we need to wrestle. And stand for the truth. Stand for the truth.

[48:02] Contend for it. As it says, earnestly contend. For the faith once delivered to the saints. That's talking about the word of God, really.

[48:13] This is the faith once delivered to the saints. The word of God. Stand for the truth. And don't be afraid to contend for it. That there'll be some forces that would want to make you just accommodate.

[48:29] But no, we must stand against. Not accommodate. Let us pray. Lord, we pray that each one here might know the grace that saves the faith. That receives that gift.

[48:41] That pardon. That eternal life. Lord, that we might have a wholehearted trust that knows salvation is sure. And Lord, that we have a duty to stand and to keep on standing.

[48:56] Lord, help us to be such a people that will be encouraged in faith. That we'll be encouraged to go against that which is clearly false.

[49:06] And to stand for the truth. And having done all, to stand. Yes, to keep on standing. Lord, by your mercy, you'll enable us to stand and fight.

[49:19] To stand our ground. To stand firm. To stand on the truth. Lord, we pray for each one here today. That might be able to stand in the hope of the gospel.

[49:30] To know the wonderful, glorious, good news. That, Lord, you saved us. By the virtue of your blood saved for us. That we can have eternal life. And we thank you for that gift.

[49:40] Lord, help us to truly appreciate it. And not to be careless. But to stand. In Jesus' name we pray.

[49:53] Amen.