Stand (11-16-10)

Ephesians 6:11-18 - "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints."

We're told three times in this passage to stand. Having girded ourselves with the armor of God we need to stand. David reminds us in 1 Samuel 17 when he went up to fight Goliath that "the battle is the Lord’s." He'll fight the battle, and we get the privilege of standing and watching Him work.
In Exodus chapter 14 the children of Israel were in a fix. They had just come out of Egypt and they had mountains on either side, the Red Sea directly ahead, and the entire Egyptian army right behind them. But listen to what Moses said to them in verses 13-14 - "But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."" And you know the story. God separated them and the Egyptian army, He parted the sea and let His people pass through on dry land, and He drowned the whole Egyptian army.
Also, in 2 Chronicles 20 when great armies were coming against Jehoshaphat, he and all the people turned their attention to seek the Lord, and asked Him for deliverance. And the Lord responded in verse 17 by saying - "You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you."
The people had to gird themselves for battle and go out to the battle lines but they didn't have to fight. They simply had to stand and see the salvation of the Lord on their behalf. And God caused the armies to turn against each other and completely destroy one another and on top of that He blessed the people of Israel with the spoil from their camps. We read in verse 25 -  "When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found much among them, including goods, garments and valuable things which they took for themselves, more than they could carry. And they were three days taking the spoil because there was so much."
All this just for standing and watching. But that's what God commanded them to do, and He blessed them for it. In the same way, He has commanded us to put on the whole armor of God, and stand. God will do the fighting. We simply need to be obedient and stand, and watch the Lord fight on our behalf. In Ephesians 6 it doesn't say, "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to Fight." It says "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand."
Stand Firm. If God is for us, who could stand against us?