Stand and Persevere
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Watch, Persevere and Stand
What is the first thing we do in the morning? We wake up from our sleep –that is the only way you can start your day. We all had the opportunity to wake up this morning. God also tells us to wake up so we can start our day with him as a son of God!
Romans 13:11-14 (MGI)
And also know this, that it is the time and the hour that from now on we should be awakened from our sleep. For now our life has come nearer to us than when we believed.
Then the night is passed and the day is near. So we should lay aside from us the works of darkness and we should put on the armor of light.
And we should walk in this manner, as in the day, not reveling and not in drunkenness and not in a defiled bed and not in envy and in strife.
But put on our Lord Jesus Christ and do not have regard for the desires that are in your flesh.
There are key phrases in this section which show what we need to do NOW, from now on.
- Wake from sleep
- Lay aside the works of darkness
- Put on the armor of light
- Walk
When we wake up in the morning, we take off our pajamas, jump in the shower (get cleansed from the works of darkness), then carefully get dressed in the armor of God. Then we are ready to walk in the day and do the works that God ordained for us to do. There is another word at the end of verse 14 that I think is important: “have no regard.” That means we do need to have regard or concern for something. It is to WATCH.
I Thessalonians 5:5-10 KJV
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
The Aramaic translation of verse 8 is to “be watchful in our mind” for to be sober. The whole illustration of the armor is that it is a protection from the attacks of the Evil One. But the protection is not automatic. We need to watch and be awake to see what pieces to put on at any given time.
Ephesians 5:8-9, 13 14 MGI
for you were first of all [in] darkness, but now you are light in our Lord. Therefore, so walk as sons of light,
for the effectsof the light are in all goodness and justification and truthfulness.
for everything is exposed and is revealed by the light and everything that revealsis light.
Because of this, it is said, “Awake, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you.”
A sentry who is standing on the wall and watching for what is going on will usually have some kind of light, perhaps a searchlight or flashlight or even a high powered scope to help to see if there are enemies approaching. This is the kind of persistent watching we need to have, first for ourselves, but also for our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.
1 Timothy 4:16 ESV
Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.
The word persist is an interesting word in Aramaic. Its basic meaning is to be strong, or prevail. But in this verse, it is in an unusual tense called Pamel. It is a quadrilateral root, meaning it has four letters instead of the usual three. It has the addition of a “mem” after the first letter and is pronounced khamsen. This additional letter intensifies the meaning of the verb to mean endure, sustain, persist, hold fast or persevere.
We are to persevere in watching ourselves and our teaching or doctrine. Here is another use of the verb regarding holding firmly to what we have learned.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 MRD
Therefore, my brethren, be established, and persevere in the precepts which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle.
We are also to persist in a confession of thanksgiving for our hope.
Hebrews 10:23 MGI
And we should persist in the confession of our hope and we should not waver, for he is faithful who promised us.
Watch, persist in watching and thanksgiving and do not waver. That seems to be a great summation for what it means to stand, and having done all, to stand.
Watchman Nee in his book called Sit, Walk, Stand, sums up our stand in this way:
Satan’s primary object is not to get us to sin, but simply to make it easy for us to do so by getting us off the ground of perfect triumph onto which the Lord has brought us. Through the avenue of the head or of the heart, through our intellect or our feelings, he assaults our rest in Christ or our walk in the Spirit. …Because victory is His, therefore it is ours, if only we will not try to gain the victory, but simply to maintain it, then we shall see the Enemy utterly routed.1
Stand in verse 11 and 14 in Ephesians 6 has the sense of “drawing up a military formation for combat.” In verse 13 it refers to the triumphant stance of the victor.2 The military formation we stand in together with our fellow soldiers in the Body of Christ is with our shields locked and swords ready to shoot forward to protect not only ourselves, but each other. We stand together!
The armor of God section in Ephesians 6 ends with an exhortation to pray. It includes all the different kinds of prayer, including devotional praise, and another exhortation to watchfulness.
Ephesians 6:18 MGI
And with all prayers and with all petitions, pray at all times spiritually, and in prayer, be watchful in every season, praying continually and interceding for all the holy [ones],
All the words translated pray or prayer in this verse have to do with a leaning to God with praise and devotion. God provided the armor of everything we need to stand in Christ Jesus. We need to praise Him continually for that! If our prayers for victory are shot through with more praise that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, then we will see more fruit of answered prayer. For God loves to answer those prayers!
We can be like Jehoshaphat, who sent the praisers out in front, and watched God decimate the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites.
2 Chronicles 20:22 KJV
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten
Ephesians 6:13 KJV
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.
So let us put on the armor of God, watch and keep watching. Persevere in praising and standing together. Then at the end of the age, when Christ returns, let us stand to receive the victory trophies.
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