Sunday, August 29, 2010 pm
SERMONS IN SONG
Soldiers of Christ Arise, #225
Tonight we want to
examine the words of another song that we sing from time to time.
We know it well and it is my hope that we give consideration to
its meaning. This song is a call to battle.
It was written by
Charles Wesley, who founded what would become the Methodist Church.
The lyrics were written in 1749 and originally entitled, “The
Whole Armor of God, Ephesians VI”.
When it was written, it was a lengthy song with 16 verses, each
containing 8 lines. The tune
was different than what we sing in our song books and each verse
contained the equivalent of two verses in our version.
It’s length was reduced when it was reduced to 12 stanzas, which
was divided into three separate hymns (24 stanzas if you consider how it
is tuned in our books). Our
version of music was composed by William Bradbury in the mid 1800s.S
It is said that this
song was written as Wesley and his brother John faced opposition from
the Church of England as Methodists were begin persecuted.
He wrote this song to encourage members to stand faithful, even
in the face of persecutions.
While written, by a
denominational teacher, we shall see that the message is true and thus
the song has a scriptural message with which we can teach and admonish
one another in song (Eph. 5:19).
In fact, if you examine the text of Ephesians 6:10-18 you will
find that this song is based upon that text.
Let us begin by reading this text.
a.
Soldiers
of Christ arise! - The “battle cry” –
Eph. 6:10-12 tells us that
we are at war. Such is
something we must constantly remind ourselves of.
Satan is the general of our enemy and he is out to defeat us and
the Lord’s church.
Therefore, we must ARISE and go to battle.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 also
describes this spiritual battle that we are engaged in as well.
Continually the Bible makes references to battle and fighting for the
right cause
b.
Put
your armor on – Ephesians 6:13-18.
The armor is described, and it is NOT described piece by piece,
but THE WHOLE armor.
c.
Strong
in the strength which God supplies through His beloved Son
–
In this battle we need to rely upon our God.
Prov.
3:5 tells us to “trust in
the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
There are so many passages that describe the strength of God in our
lives:
Ephesians 1:15-20 speaks
of the greatness of His power (vs. 19) giving us knowledge and
understanding and hope through Jesus.
Ephesians 3:14-19 - in
prayer, Paul’s desire is that He grant us, according to the riches of
His glory strength in the inner man (vs. 16), that Christ may dwell in
our hearts and that we comprehend His love.
II.
Vs. 2 - STRONG in the Lord of hosts
a.
Strong
in the Lord of hosts - This
verse elaborates on our strength being found in Jesus.
1 Cor. 16:13 calls upon us
to be strong.
2 Tim. 2:1 says, “You
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
b.
The idea
of “the Lord of hosts” is God or Lord of all creation.
This truly applies to the Godhead.
c.
Consider
Eph. 6:10, “Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
He is a source of strength that cannot be
matched with anything in this world.
d.
Who in
the strength of Jesus trusts?
Do we have the faith and trust in Him we ought to have?
Paul told Timothy, “For to
this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the
living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially in those who
believe…” (1
Tim. 4:10)
2 Cor. 1:9-11, speaks of
Paul trusting in the living God because he had “delivered
us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He
will still deliver us…”
Phil.
4:13, “I can do all things through Christ…”
e.
Is more
than conqueror – with Christ
on our side, we cannot lose.
Rom. 8:31,
“IF God is for us, who can be against us?”
Rom. 8:37,
“Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us.”
1 John 4:4 says, “He
who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
III.
Vs. 3 – STAND then in His great might
a.
Stand
then in His great might -
Eph. 6:10-11 continues, “Be
strong in the Lord and in the
power of His might. Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.”
Since our Lord gives us strength, we need
accept it. We need to STAND
FAST with it. Again
1 Cor. 16:13
says, “Watch, stand fast in the
faith,…”
Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand
fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do
not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
b.
With
all His strength endued – a
phrase meaning to take advantage of EVERYTHING you have available
through Him.
c.
But
take to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God – In our text, Paul proceeds to emphasize the importance of putting on
the WHOLE armor. He mentions
it twice in our text (11& 13).
We understand the need for complete armor in man’s army, what
about God’s army? IF we are
going to fight in this battle and successfully resist the devil, we need
every piece of armor God gives us.
Panoply, “1. a
wide-ranging and impressive array or display.
2. A complete suit of armor.”
Dictionary.com, Random House, 2010
d.
One
observation that I make with this verse is the reminder that our battle
is fought on two fronts – one at home where we defend the truth and
stand our ground against impurities AND where we go out and ENGAGE the
enemy. Our Lord helps
us with both.
a.
Leave
no unguarded place - A key
lesson to consider the in this verse is that we cannot let down our
guard anywhere.
In our text,
Eph. 6:11-13 we are told the nature of our battle, we “struggle…not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places…” have to fight this battle
everywhere, INCLUDING within.
Like so many other elements of the Christian life, our success
begins with purity at home.
“Every virtue and every grace” will help to fortify us.
b.
No
weakness of the soul - To
resist the devil we have to overcome weaknesses in our lives.
Romans 12:21 says to not
be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good.
1 John 2:13-14 speaks of
those who have overcome the wicked one.
1 John 5:4-5 says, “For
whatever is born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has
overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but
he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
c.
A key
continually emphasized in this is to take every virtue, every grace.
This is descriptive of doing the good things and developing the
attributes found in
2 Peter 1:5-7, Galatians 5:22, 1
Corinthians 13:4-7,
Matthew 5:3-10, etc.
In fact, consider in our text how we are to put on truth,
righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, hope of salvation and prayer.
d.
And
fortify the whole - With such,
you can fortify or build up, the whole body.
To fortify something is to strengthen it.
Oh how much we need good living to overcome evil living.
V.
Vs. 5 – That having all things done
a.
That
having all things done – in
this song, with its call to battle, the final verse answers the
question: “Is it worth it?”
The answer is obviously, YES!
Eph. 6:13 says, “Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all to stand.”
b.
And all
your conflicts past – In this
life we know we will face all sorts of conflicts, but as Christians, we
have hope. In this phrase I
see one who as Paul said in
2 Tim. 4:7 said, “I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith.” We should be
looking toward a time when we will no longer have to fight this war.
A time of eternal peace.
c.
You may
o’ercome through Christ alone
– while we need one another, Christ is our ultimate source of victory.
He will be with us through this life and He will be with us as we
leave to stand before God -
if we have been faithful
1 Corinthians 15:57 says,
“But thanks be to God who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Rev. 12:11, “and
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
d.
And
stand entire at last – when a
war is over, there is a victory ceremony and celebrations.
This was very prevalent as the New Testament was being written,
and it is usually true today as well.
Those who come home, do so to a hero’s welcome.
At last, they can rest with the pride of victory.
Paul, as he wrote of our spiritual battle always looked toward that
victory. That is why Paul
after telling Timothy he had finished the good fight he said, " Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me
only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:8).
in
Colossians 4:12, Paul
commended Epaphras to the brethren noting that he fervently labored, “that
you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”
What a day that will be, when we finally stand before God (in judgment)
and having done all we are able to stand (having passed the test for
eternity).
And thus we find
another song with its message for us.
Many of the songs we sing remind us of this war against Satan
that we are engaged in. When
we consider these songs, may it motivate us to a more devoted service in
His army, seeking to please Him first.
2 Tim 2:4-5, “No one
engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that
he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
Are we pleasing our Lord in this battle?
Let us sing!