Hold Your Ground
ICS Daily Devotions
Ephesians 6:11 (Amplified) Put on the full armour of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armour of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
The Greek verb “stand” with the preposition “against” means to “hold your ground”. The word “stand” suggests that the ground contested by the enemy is truly God’s, and therefore ours!
Watchman Nee writes in his book, Sit, Walk, Stand: The Process of Christian Maturity: “Today we war against Satan only to maintain and consolidate the victory which Christ has already gained. By the resurrection God proclaimed His Son victor over the whole realm of darkness, and the ground Christ won He has given to us. We do not need to fight to obtain it. We only need to hold it against the challenges.”
Our task is to hold our ground and stand firm, rather than attack, although there is a place for it. The devil has been defeated, and the church’s job is to keep him defeated. The devil is fighting back in his attempts to dislodge us from our position. He seeks to deceive us, send temptations our way, create trials and tribulations so he can steal the Word sown into our hearts. He wants us to give up!
Our victory comes from being seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We are not trying to win the battle because the battle has already been won! The Bible tells us in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors!
Imagine Mohammad Ali, the renowned boxer, entering the ring to fight another formidable opponent. The fight is intense. After several rounds, Mohammad finally delivers a right hook punch, and the opponent cannot rise to his feet. Mohammad Ali is declared the winner, awarded a victor’s belt and prize money of US$10 million. He is a conqueror! He arrives home and hands his wife the US$10 million cheque. His wife is more than a conqueror because she possesses the money.
In the same way, we are more than conquerors because Christ has won the victory. It is Christ’s victory that has enabled us to sit with Him beside the Father. We did nothing to earn this victory. Therefore, we are more than conquerors. It is God’s perfect love that placed us in that position.
We should be aware of and watch out for the schemes, strategies, and deceptions of the devil. His main or primary objective is not to get us to sin but simply make it easy for us to do so by getting us off the ground of perfect triumph onto which the Lord has brought us.
Watchman Nee also writes in the same book, “Only those who sit can stand,” which means we must be very firm in our identity in Christ. The devil will try to deceive us into believing we are still enslaved by his power and sin. He wants us to abandon our position of victory and walk in the flesh once again, but thanks be to God that we are more than conquerors because Christ has won the victory.
Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign (Stand)
