We Win by Standing

It is not unusual for believers who are walking in faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ to occasionally feel alone and shut off. There are often those times for every believer that he feels that he is carrying a burden that is too big for him—that he simply can’t go on, and he can’t go back. There are those times when the attacks by the enemy are so ferocious that it seems impossible to maintain our faith and obedience. These are the times the Apostle Paul was speaking of when he said, “having done all—stand.”

In this sense, to stand is when one gets to the place that it seems he can go no further and the greatest advance he can make is to simply “stand, “ refusing to budge. To stand, however, does not require one to stand alone or with his personal resources. Paul knew the secret as a veteran of the warfare. He simply stated that we are to stand “in the power of His might,” i. e. the might of the Lord Jesus (denoting His presence).

To stand is to assume a posture of faith, obedience, and determination in the face of hostilities and seeming impossibilities.

There are many references in the NT to standing. A quick review might be edifying and encouraging.

1. The very foundation and launching pad to obedient living is the grace of God. Grace is God’s provision for our need at His expense with no merit of our own. “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). When one gets to the place that he feels all is lost or there is no way he can hang on, he should remember where he stands and on Whom he stands. He stands in the grace of the loving, powerful, and caring Heavenly Father.

2. The enabling factor of grace is one’s faith. To stand, in the Biblical sense, is a stance taken by faith. Paul reminded, “and you stand by faith” (Romans 11:20b). Faith requires one to walk in total dependence on the faithfulness of the living God. When a person can see how he can go on, where his resources will come from, and/or what the end result will be, faith is not required. As Paul said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

3. A stance of faith is not dependent on any human source or resource but on the power of God." That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5). When a person depends on man in his times of stress, he is depending on the shifting sand. At some point every man will fail, but God cannot fail.

4. One must stand on the Word of God. To stand on rationalization, feelings, or any other authority is to falter and fall. The Word of God is true, faithful, relevant, and sufficient to every need and situation one might face. It alone is infallible and truthful. As Paul declared, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand” (1 Corinthians 15:1).

5. To stand in Christ is to stand in liberty regardless of what one’s circumstances may seem to indicate. When one is standing, he will be tempted to make alliances and allowances of/for expediency that would seem for the moment to be the solution to his pressing needs. Paul warned against any such thing, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

6. One must be constantly alert to the subtle snares of Satan and stand against them. When the enemy comes, he doesn’t do it with waving flags and sounding trumpets. He inevitably comes presenting reasonable alternatives to faith making one think that just this one time it would be all right for him to function on some other basis rather than faith and obedience. The scriptures admonish, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

7. When one stands, he should be immovable and unshakable, knowing that although nothing visible offers any hope, he has not been forgotten. “Only let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God” (Philippians 1:27-28).

To stand is to “withstand.” To withstand is to stand against – to stand against every enemy of the cross. It is to stand IN the power of the might of the Lord Jesus in the good times and in the bad times, when one has light and when all appears to be dark, when one is encouraged and when none is forthcoming. Remember, He is faithful who has called you.

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061