#096 "How to Stand When the Evil Day Comes" (Ephesians 6:13)

"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 firm." (Ephesians 6:13)

In Episode #096 of The Abidible Podcast, host Kate walks word-by-word through Ephesians 6:13 to reveal what it truly means to “stand firm in the evil day.” 

This is not a shallow conversation about “spiritual warfare,” but a deeply biblical look at the unseen battle raging behind the scenes of human history—from the serpent in Eden, to the giants in the land, to David standing before Goliath, to Christ triumphing over Satan at the cross. 

With rich biblical theology, powerful gospel connections, and practical application for believers today, listeners will gain a clearer understanding of the armor of God, the reality of demonic opposition, the sovereignty of God over evil, and the courage Christians can have because Jesus has already won the ultimate victory. 

This episode helps believers see that their battles are never merely physical or circumstantial—and that standing firm begins by standing in Christ Himself.

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Additional Resources for Study*:

"Giants in the Bible" (Answers in Genesis Article)
"God's Devil" by Erwin W. Lutzer
"The Christian in Complete Armour" by William Gurnall
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Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Key Verse

Kate 0:00

Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're listening to the Abidible Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in Him through His Word yourself. 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 firm. That's our verse for today, Ephesians 6, 13. The very next verse, 14, that we're going to talk about next week, begins with stand, therefore. And verse 11, which we just did two weeks ago, said, put on the whole armor that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. So as I promised when we did verse 11, I said we were going to table the concept of whole armor and table the concept of stand because we would be seeing them again in verse 13. And voila, here we are. We are seeing the whole armor again mentioned. So we're going to get to spend some time talking about what that is, what is the whole armor. And we're going to talk a lot extensively toward the end of today's episode about what it means to stand. Clearly, Paul, through the spirit, through uh the inspiration that he is receiving from the Holy Spirit, he is drawing our attention to this word, stand. So I'm going to talk with you guys today. I am off script. I've got a ton of notes in front of me on my whiteboard. You have given me some very encouraging feedback that you love when I am off script and I not spitball, meaning I have not prepared and I'm just winging it because I never want to wing it when it comes to God's word, but you like when I'm just kind of talking a little bit more like this, talking off off the cuff. So that's what I'm going to be doing today, but with a little bit of um mixed-in portions that I have written because I really want to be accurate on some of the things that I'm going to be sharing with you today because they're a big deal and I want to get it right. So, first of all, I want to start with a story that you are very familiar with. Even if you are a newer Christian or if you're not yet walking with Jesus, this is a story that you have heard. And it's not just a made-up story. It is a battle that actually happened, a real place, a real time with real people, real armies, real people groups, uh, a real shepherd boy, and a very real giant. So we are going to be talking about David and Goliath and tying that in today to our verse here in Ephesians 6.13 about taking up the whole armor to withstand in the evil day. And your mind, I hope, is going to be uh blown. Maybe there's some things that you've never thought about, even though you're very familiar with this story, because there are things that I never thought about, even though I'm really familiar with this story. And it's really important that I give you the full context of the story. I'm not going to read all of 1 Samuel 17. I'm going to set the stage a little bit, but I am going to read you a significant chunk of it. And then I also encourage you, if you're a visual person, if you love movies or great, wonderfully produced TV shows, I'm going to encourage you to check out this battle brought to life with some creative license in House of David, which you can stream on Amazon Prime. Season one, episode eight, is uh the part two portion of the David and Goliath fight, and it's incredibly well done. Um, again, like with some creative license for sure, but um chills down the back of my spine transformed the way that I understood this battle and is something that really helped me prepare today's episode and see some things that I've never seen before in this story. So let's go there. We are in 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath. And what we have here are two armies that are encamped on opposing hills, on opposing mountains. On one side we have the Philistines, and on the other side we have Saul, King Saul, the first king of Israel, and the men of Israel. This is happening in the Valley of Elah, and it's around the year 1000 BC. So it's a real battle, real place, real armies, real people, real king. And uh we're gonna be introduced here in a moment to a shepherd boy and a giant. So it says, There came, I'm in verse four, out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze, and he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and his shield bearer went before him. He stood and shouted, he, Goliath, to the ranks of Israel, Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? And are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul, King Saul, and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now we're introduced here to David. It tells us that he is from Bethlehem, he's from the tribe of Judah, his father's name is Jesse. Jesse had eight sons. David was the youngest, and several of the sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle. Eliav, the firstborn, Abinadov, and the third Shema. David again was the youngest. So the three oldest follow Saul, and we see that David is going back and forth from his house and his fields where he shepherded the flocks in Bethlehem over to where this battle is taking place, where these two armies are encamped on these two hillsides in the valley of Elah, which is about 14 miles west of Bethlehem. So Bethlehem is east of this valley where this is taking place. And we're told that for 40 days, this is verse 16, for 40 days, remember that significant number we learned in the Into the Wilderness series? 40 days, there's something happening. Period of testing, trial. God uses this number frequently in the Bible. This Philistine for 40 days came forward and took his stand morning and evening. And so Jesse sends David back to the camp with some food for his brothers and for the commanders of their thousand and to see how they're doing. And so all of these men are fighting with the Philistines, but still no one is wanting to face Goliath. Everyone is terrified of Goliath. It was Saul's really, it was on him to come out, or at least to send a champion to come out against Goliath. And they're not sending anyone, they're terrified of this giant. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle army against army, and David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. So he comes kind of toward the front line to see his brothers. And as he's talking with his brothers, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And then there's just four words here that are very interesting. It says, And David heard him. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were very much afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? So we see that David's like outraged here. He's he's hearing what Goliath is saying, how he's coming against God's army, and David is incensed. He's outraged. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And so then his older brother is like, shut, you're making a scene, like trying to calm David down, trying to tell him to be quiet, trying to accuse him, really essentially, of being a show-off, that he doesn't belong there. He's just come to see the battle and to be a show-off. And so David, you know, kind of says, What have I done now? It seems like they have a contentious relationship, him and his older brother Eliav. And then he turns away from him toward another and he keeps speaking in the same way, trying to figure out who is this Philistine. So the word kind of makes it to King Saul that there's someone bravely asking about this uncircumcised Philistine. So Saul sends for David, and David says to Solomon, verse 32, Now, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. And David said, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go and the Lord be with you. Now pay attention. Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. And David strapped his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them the armor. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off. Then he took his staff and his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David with his shield bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. So he's from the land of Philistia, which would have been like Ashtaroth and Dagon were his gods. So he's cursing David now by his demonic, as we've learned, right? Demonic spirit gods, fallen angel gods. He's cursing David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field. Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head, and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. And then we know what happens, right? The Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David. David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine, and David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Listen, there was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And all the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath, on and on, okay? So they win this battle. And this is the beginning of David winning the hearts of the people of Israel. So we have a lot to talk about here. You know that story. I know you know that story, but I'm going to ask you to see it with new eyes today in light of what we are studying, which is a spiritual battle that is not against flesh and blood, but is against the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. There is something so much more happening in this story with David and Goliath than we most of us have been taught to understand. David saw it. David understood what was happening, and he I alluded to it by reading a few of the things that he said, essentially, most importantly, saying, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, defying the armies of the living God? Meaning, David saw that what Goliath was doing was defying God, mocking God, the living God, and it outraged David. And he understood. David understood something that King Saul didn't understand, and none of these mighty men of war, with all their armor and swords and shields, did not understand, which is that the battle belongs to the Lord. Last week, in my episode on Ephesians 6, 12, I shared something from an anonymous writer, the idea, the concept of taking a quarter, like closing your eyes and putting a quarter in front of, say, your right eye, and only opening that right eye and looking toward the sun. If that quarter, you've placed it in front of your eye, as you look toward the sun, it is going to block the entire sun. And last week I was saying what this writer shared, which is profound, is that a tiny little quarter that you can hold in your hand, the palm of your hand just takes up a small portion of the palm of your hand, can block out the sun that is six uh that is eight hundred and sixty-five thousand miles in diameter. So this little thing can appear to be greater than something so much bigger, more powerful. Okay, and we we were drawing the analogy last week to Satan and God, that he is so much less powerful and less significant. He is a created being, God created him. But sometimes when he is right up in our face, and when we don't have a good theology of God, and therefore a theology of demons, Satan and demons, we can get things backwards. We can get very fearful and afraid and blinded by the battle in front of us and the attacker behind the battle, which we're trying to learn, which we're trying to learn, we're gonna talk about here in one second, that that what we see with our eyes and what we experience in the natural world, that is just a portion of what is actually happening. In fact, behind the curtain, behind the veil, there is so much more going on because our battle, as Paul tells us, is in the spiritual realm. It is taking place in the heavenly places. There is a cosmic battle that is active at all times between God and these cosmic powers of darkness, these spiritual forces of evil who are trying to come against God and everything that God has planned and God's people. So David got that. Okay, it's like David understood what Saul and these other men of war did not, all he had to do that they saw only Goliath, they did not have the wherewithal in that moment to move the quarter and see that God was so much greater, the living God was so much greater than this uncircumcised Philistine. This, we're gonna see who who Goliath was specifically, but this pagan God worshiping blasphemer who is coming against the living God, Yahweh, the God of Israel. That's what we're gonna be looking at today. But first, real quick, I know that you love God and his word because you're here. When you click Support the Abidible Podcast in our episode descriptions, you help us cover our monthly expenses so that we can focus on helping more and more people know and love God more by abiding in his word for themselves. Thank you so much for serving God by supporting our mission. You can donate once or on a monthly basis. Click Support the Abidible Podcast to learn more. All right, so David moved the quarter. He saw what was really going on there, and we don't always do that, do we? We are fighting, but what are we fighting against? I think that we make two mistakes sometimes in fighting. The first, uh, this sort of came about in a conversation with my friend Shelly. We were talking about in our women's study, we were talking about how this idea of put on from verse 11, this Greek word, as we've already talked about, means like to sink into it, um, the armor of God and really put on your identity in Christ, who he says you are. And we spent a big chunk of time in our women's group looking at what Paul, the foundation that Paul laid for us in who we are in Christ, all the things that we see in Ephesians chapter one, that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We are chosen, we are holy, we are blameless, we're predestined, adopted as sons. Um, we are to the praise of his glorious grace. We have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. We um have been made known. The mystery of his will has been made known to us. We have been given an inheritance. Uh, it just goes on and on. We've been given hope in Christ, and we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Like we we made a list, and so we were thinking about like this is my identity in Christ. This is what Paul is saying. Remember, chapter six, verse 10, our passage for this series, the armor, starts with finally, meaning based on everything that we've already discussed, based on everything that I've already talked to you about, and part of that is this identity that we've been given in Christ. And so this is what's true. This is what we are to put on, put on Christ, put on our identity in him, be unified to him. And we were talking about how so much of this is not necessarily the stressful practice of grabbing the helmet and grabbing the breastplate, but but more about sinking into what is already ours. And we said this is kind of like agreeing, like agreeing with God about who we are. And and we talked about that in our group, and then I was texting her later, and I said, you know, we it's true whether we agree with it or not, so why fight it? And she said, Yeah, we spend more time fighting our identity than fighting the enemy. Whew, we spend more time fighting our identity than fighting the enemy. Think about that. I know that's true for me. I'm sure you can say that's true for you too, these things that I just listed. And there's many other pieces of identity that we've been given in scripture in Christ, who God says we are, and we fight it. Like we take our time and our energy and we fight and we we disagree with it. I don't feel, I don't feel forgiven today. I don't feel adopted into the family. I feel like I feel like um an orphan, you know, I feel like I'm all by myself, I'm over here. You don't care about me. You don't see me. You've forgotten me. So we fight like that piece of our identity. We don't feel powerful. We feel real weak. So we say, I don't, I don't, I don't agree with the promise that you've sealed me, that you've given me your Holy Spirit. I just don't feel that way. And so we fight that piece of our our identity. And we and we we do that over and over again. The things that he shed his blood to give us, who he now has made us to be, new creations in Christ. That's why Paul says repeatedly, put off the old self, put on the new self. You are a new creation in Christ. And here is your new identity. Here's who he says you are, whether you agree with it or not. This is what his blood purchased for you. You are holy and blameless before him. And we waste our energy, we waste our time, we waste our precious thoughts fighting our identity instead of fighting the enemy. Do you resonate with that? Instead of fighting, we want to learn to agree. I don't feel this way, but here's what you said. I believe, help my own belief. We're going to talk about the practical piece of how to walk this out at the end here. The second mistake I think we make in terms of what are we fighting, who are we fighting, is that we only look at what we can see. We only believe that what is before us, see, hear, touch, those that's our battle. We're facing these giants like Goliath. It's it's what we can see in the story in the flesh. There's this giant named Goliath, and everything that's taking place in that battle between David and Goliath is what you know, what we're told based on the eyewitnesses of the people who saw something of a real fight taking place in the natural world. And I think we very often live with our eyes parallel only to the ground in the natural world, forgetting that there is more to every battle that we face. Our problems, our issues, our battles, they are not all that's taking. That's this is not all that's happening behind each thing, even the little things, there is a war that is raging for your loyalty to Christ. Like I woke up this morning, I'm I'm changing a lot. This this series is really empowering me to see the battle that's taking place behind the veil and to remember that when I in my senses, my natural senses, am experiencing something hard. Whereas I would have allowed that thing to take me down for five minutes, ten minutes, a day, a week, a month, I'm finding that this awareness and alertness is enabling me to call it out for what it is, fight it, and move on. Um, my example today is that I've been working really hard to make some shifts and changes with my diet, with my sleep, with my exercise, just moving my body, even though it hurts. And I see the scale moving in the right direction. And that has been very encouraging because the extra weight that I'm carrying, it's literally Hebrews 12, 1, the idea of like casting off, throwing off the weight that hinders, and that has other meanings, but in my personal life, like I just the pain on my body from the extra weight that I'm carrying from everything that I've been through has been hard. And so I've been scales and moving in the right direction, and for the last two days, three days, it's stalled or gone up. And I was like, come on, you know, like I have so much weight to lose. This is not the direction that I'm supposed to be going. And I I noticed my whole mood shifted immediately, and I was cranky, and I think it ha it like lasted for four minutes, and I was like, shut up, Satan. Go away. I know what you're trying to do here, and it's not gonna work. Leave me alone, be gone. That's a big deal for me. Like, it's a big deal. I get zero credit because again, I've told you guys this before. Like, I know my proclivities, I know my behavior, I know my emotions, and how something can get a little toehold, a little hook, and take me down for a period of time. Praise God that He is teaching me something different through this series. Another thing happened where I was feeling a little bit anxious about a trip that we're taking and the fact that we don't have seats together because we bought the cheapest fare, because hello, airfare is so expensive. And um, I had a requested a callback. I've been waiting for 45 minutes for the callback to deal with this issue. And I had to go to the bathroom. I've been waiting, waiting. I go to the bathroom and I start brushing my teeth. And wouldn't you know that's exactly the moment that the callback happens? And I tried to like spit out my toothpaste and hit the button to answer the call to at least try to see if someone was there, and I hit the wrong button and I missed the call. And I was like, No, now please hear me for a second. I uh there are much bigger battles in life, but I want to talk, I'm talking to you about these little things because dang, like they can fly under the radar, and Satan can use them to put us in a certain way, put us in a mood, and then also sort of start stacking them up against God and make us not want to be with God, make us not want to trust God, make us not want to go to God with the little things. And over time, that affects relationship with God. So I'm I'm not, I'm gonna get to the big things in a second here, but I want to point out these little things because these are the day-to-day little like annoyances, little like buzzing in your ear that Satan tries to do to drive a relationship. So anyway, I'm getting upset about this thing, getting stressed. I was also behind on wanting to sit down and work on this episode. So I said I'm just gonna, I'm not, I'm not gonna get upset here. Like Satan, I'm not gonna give you this victory and this annoyance over me being anxious about what's gonna happen with seating on this trip because it's particularly about Liam. My son does not want to sit alone on a plane, and so I was trying to get the thing adjusted for a minor, which he still counts as. And um, I'm not gonna let you get the victory here. I'm gonna move on. I'm gonna sit down, I'm gonna start working on my episode and just trust you with the outcome of this. Not even five minutes later, my phone rings. This lady calls, I tell her what's going on. She's not friendly at all, seems quite put out by my simple request, which is a guarantee that their company gives. But nevertheless, she fixes it and gives us the seats so that Liam won't be sitting alone on the airplane, which is a big deal to him. And voila, like cool, cool that Satan didn't get ground there. Cool that I was able to see what was happening in that little because of the spirit in me and the study that I'm doing right now, this awareness that I'm asking God, give me eyes to see what's really going on in the day-to-day in the little things, so that I can stand. And so those are just two examples from today, from today alone, because this is a daily battle, the evil day. We're going to talk about what that means. This is a daily battle. However, there are also uh my point is just back it up for a second. This is a daily battle, but there's more going on behind the scenes. There's there's ways that Satan is trying to manipulate circumstances, people, situations, tones of voice, things that do happen, things that don't happen, uh, to get you in a tizzy. Okay, he's he's on the prowl at all times. Then there are bigger things. Like I have, you know, the pain that's throughout my body that I've talked to you about, that that's my bigger battle right now, trying to figure out am I ever gonna be healthy again? Am I gonna feel strong and good enough to be able to live and to do the things that I want to do? Serve Jesus, love my family, go on adventures, be available to my friends. Like, am I gonna get there? Will I ever feel better on this earth? That's my battle. There are big things like that that we experience where still, yet again, there is more happening behind the scenes than what meets the eye. And I can think of like it just feels like every single one of my friends who loves Jesus is in a hard battle right now. I think, you know, Christians in general are just under attack. It seems to be that's the sense that I'm getting where things are just hard right now, where we are being tempted, where we are being tested. And um, I've got friends that have had one heavy thing happen after another, so much so that it just feels like it's never gonna stop, like there's no light at the end of this heavy, grief-filled tunnel. Um, I've got a friend who just found out that they probably are gonna have to move out of their rental home, uproot their business that they run out of their home, their two small children, uh, their three adult teenage adult children, uh, big family, and not knowing how they're going to deal with that um on a short notice. So that's incredibly stressful. What is going on behind the scenes there? There's more to it than meets the eye. I've got a friend who has a very difficult, ugly, challenging relational thing happening with her brother that's been ongoing for many, many years. And they just had a meeting in person. God did some really cool stuff in that meeting. He enabled her to speak with love and patience and grace like she's never had for him before. And you better believe there was stuff happening behind the veil there. Whether it's financial, loss of a job, change of a job, job on the line, whether it's relational, somebody who has always been there for you, who is not currently there for you, or someone who's experiencing devastating conflict and you don't know how to come alongside them, or they're creating, causing conflict with you, and you're feeling like you're you're you're um covered in mud, whether it's um health related, whether it's any number of things. My point that I'm trying to make here is that we often know we're fighting some sort of battle because we feel it, we see it, we experience it, we're tired, we're stressed, but we don't always have the wherewithal and the eyes to see what's happening behind that. And there is something happening behind it. That's what Paul told us last week in verse 12 that this is not about just flesh and blood. Yes, there are things that are happening in the real world, in the natural world, but there is more behind the veil. And what's behind the veil? You know, like we think that we're facing giants, we think that we're fighting giants, but that's a mistake because we are actually fighting supernatural demonic giants, which sounds not very encouraging, but this is what Paul is talking about, and this is what Goliath represents in our story: demonic beings, demonic entities, what Paul calls rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil. We are facing supernatural demonic giants, things that are happening in the spirit realm that are playing out in the natural realm, and we live in an evil day. So this is what I have to say to you today. And it doesn't sound very encouraging, but it is going to be encouraging because it's gonna click a lot into place for you, and then we're gonna get to what hope we have and what the whole point of the armor is. So let's think a little bit more when I'm saying that we're spite we're fighting supernatural demonic giants. Let's go back to our story in 1 Samuel 17, because when we come to that story with David and Goliath, we tend to think of it like a simple story, straightforward. There's an underdog, there's a giant, and then there's this surprising victory, right? We've read it a bunch of times. We've watched movies about it, we've read it to our children, but there's more happening here. Scripture is actually pulling back the curtain on something much, much deeper, something that stretches all the way back to the earliest chapters of the Bible. Part of what I'm sharing with you right now, what I want to share with you right now, comes from an Answers in Genesis article, which I will add to this episode description if you are interested in learning more. Because the Bible doesn't just mention one unusually tall man. Okay, Goliath is not an isolated example or an isolated type of being. Does that resonate with you? Like, do you know where I'm going with this? Okay. The Bible consistently describes entire groups of people known for their extraordinary size and strength. So this article talks about the Nephilim, which are first mentioned in Genesis 4. These are described as mighty men, men of renown, who are connected to the union, products of the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. This word, sons of God, ben ha Elohim, is used in other places in the Bible specifically to talk about angels. Sons of God were present with God at creation and they sang songs of praise. Uh, that is from Job 38. And then we have examples in Job chapter 1 and chapter 2 of the sons of God having to come stand along with Satan before God in a heavenly divine council. We also have a judgment that is pronounced in a divine council on the sons of God, these angels, the fallen angels who have been unfaithful to God. We have this judgment in this heavenly council in Psalm 82, and we also have how God distributed, he disinherited and then gave the nations to the sons of God in Deuteronomy 32. So this phrase sons of God is referring to angels. So the Nephilim, Nephilim, are first mentioned in Genesis 4. They are described as mighty men, men of renown, connected to this union, the product of whatever this means, the sons of God, angels, and daughters of men. So these are fallen angels, uh, the book of Job and Peter also talks about how they left their rightful abode, their bodies to some way, shape, or form, in some way, shape, or form, and disobeyed God. And so we are told in Genesis 6, many of us have read right past this, I have read right past this, that there is a product of this unholy union called the Nephilim. But that's not the only place we hear about giants, okay? These mighty men. We also read about the Anakim. These are descendants of Anak, and they are seen in the land of Canaan as described in Numbers 13, and they're described as so large that Israel felt like grasshoppers in comparison. Then there's the Rephaim, which is a broader term that was often used for giants or giant clans. We see that in Deuteronomy 3.11. And then in Deuteronomy 2, we see two more: the Amim that are described as great and numerous and as tall as the Anakim, and the Zamzumim, which is another giant people group in the land of Ammon. So this is not random language, okay? This is consistent and it is structured and it is repeated across books, okay? So in Numbers 13, that one that I mentioned, when the spies go into the land, they say we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak come from the Nephilim. So these sons of Enoch, the giants who, when they're scoping out the promised land, these are the sons of Anak who come from the Nephilim. That's a direct connection, which means that that line didn't just disappear, the Nephilim. It continued. And so all throughout the Old Testament, we see these groups again and again. Anakim and Canaan, so large that Israel said they felt like grasshoppers in comparison, right? I said that. The Rephaim is a broader term for giant clans, the Amim and the Zanzumim, also described as great, numerous, and tall like the Anakim. This isn't like exaggeration. This is a consistent biblical witness about mighty men, giants in the Bible, before even Goliath, okay? The Bible then gives us physical detail about Goliath that makes it clear that this is not metaphorical. This is not just like, oh, he was strong. He did like really good chest and leg day, and he was like a mighty warrior. Because Goliath is described as six cubits in a span, which in many translations is around nine feet nine inches tall. Even in more conservative manuscript traditions, he is still far taller than the average man. We're told that his armor alone weighs about 125 pounds and the head of his spear weighs around 15 pounds. These are concrete measurements. So this is meant to be read as history. It's not symbolism. And Goliath, like I said, is not an isolated figure. He's from Gath, which was one of the last remaining strongholds of the Anakim. And later passages connect him to the Rephaim. He belongs to this same lineage. But there's more. Outside of the biblical text, there are also historical references to unusually large people groups. Ancient Egyptian records describe enemies in the land of Canaan whose heights range significantly above average. And scripture itself tells us about King Og of Bashan, one of the Rephaim, whose bed was 13 feet long. So again, we are dealing with physical descriptions, locations, rulers, and real world details that are anchored in history. But now here's where it gets even more significant. What happens when Israel enters the promised land? What are they told to do? Well, sometimes they're told to drive out the inhabitants. But in certain regions, and now hear me, in the regions associated with these giant clans, they are commanded to utterly destroy them. There is overlap with these places where the Anakim, Rephaim, and related groups lived. So that correlation we see in the text of the Bible. And it shows us that something about these groups was uniquely serious in terms of opposition to God's purposes. Now, this is what David saw. David understood that there was something more happening here. This was a spiritual battle. Because when you zoom out even further, you start to see a pattern forming across Scripture. In Genesis 3:15, God promises what? What's part of the curse for the devil deceiving Adam and Eve? That the seed of the woman, the offspring of the woman, will crush the serpent. That is the first glimpse, the proto-evangelian, the first gospel reference, the first glimpse of the coming Savior. God makes a promise. And you know who hears that? Satan, that through the offspring of Eve, he would defeat Satan permanently, that he would crush his head. Satan hears that. After the flood, or sorry, so then in Genesis 6, we see a strange corruption enter the human story. The sons of God come into the daughters of man, and we get the Nephilim. This is like a seed war. This is a war for offspring. Satan is trying to destroy the offspring of God, of man, understanding that it is through Eve's offspring that he will be ultimately defeated. So he's literally trying to destroy that offspring. So we see this corruption enter the human story, but we're told even after the flood that these giant lineages appear again and they stand in opposition to God's people as they move toward the land where that promise will continue to unfold. So that goes back to Abraham. He promises Abraham, God promises Abraham that he He's going to give them the land and that he's going to make him numerous as the stars in the sky. There's a promise being given to a specific people group in a specific land. And so it is in that land that we see and hear these accounts of giants. Where did they come from? And are they half spirit coming from the sons of God? This is crazy, I know, but it's in the Bible. And this is what Paul's talking about the realm that we cannot see. And this is how for a time that they came and walked on earth. I don't know where they are now. You can, we're not going to go there. But they came for a time and had the form of these giants, which are well documented as real beings. Okay. We're seeing a repeated pattern of opposition to God's redemptive plan. This is an ongoing conflict centered around the seed or the offspring. So we have David who comes and hears what's happening. He sees what's happening, right? He sees David. I mean, he sees Goliath. And he hears Goliath. And he steps onto the battlefield, knowing that he's not just facing a large, intimidating man. He is facing a representative, a literal representation of this long-standing rebellion against God. So Goliath, it's more than just a military threat. He is part of a lineage that has consistently stood in opposition to God's people and God's purposes, not just opposing, but wanting to utterly destroy, to wipe God's people off the face of the earth, so that this promise could not be fulfilled, the promise made to Eve. So listen to how David frames it. He says, I come to you, Goliath, in the name of the Lord of hosts. The battle is the Lord's. David understood that this was not ultimately about him and Goliath. It was about God and his glory and his plan and his promise. So this is a picture. This story is a spiritual confrontation. We're seeing like it break into the natural world what was going on behind the veil in the spiritual realm. And that is what David understood. And that's what Paul is getting at in Ephesians 6.12, again, when he says we're not wrestling against flesh and blood. Because even in a moment like David and Goliath, where flesh and blood is very much involved, there is always something deeper going on. And that's the spiritual reality always underneath or behind the physical one. And it is the point that we can't miss, that what we see is not all that's there. Just like in David's day, the battle looked physical, but it had a deeper unseen dimension. And the same is true for us. All right, so we're looking at this story of David. We're saying that sometimes we're fighting, but we sometimes are fighting against the wrong thing. We're fighting against our identity in Christ instead of fighting our enemy. And then our other problem can often be we've we're fighting an enemy, but we only look at what we can see before us, what's what's visible and what we can hear and touch in the physical world, not understanding what's happening behind the scenes. And so I was just giving you the example and the understanding that the Bible points to real demonic beings. Example in the story of David and Goliath, Goliath being connected to the line that came from Genesis 6, the Nephilim, that there is sometimes a crossover from the spirit realm into the physical realm of attack, a constant active attack that Satan and his demons, the rulers' authorities, cosmic powers, and forces of evil are waging against God, against his plans, and against his people. The last piece that is an issue for us is this idea of an evil day. Paul says in our verse that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. How many of you were studying going, what does that mean? What is the evil day? And commentator H.B. Charles does a really nice job of just explaining that even though we understand the days before Christ's second coming will be very evil, that's not what Paul's talking about here. He's not talking about the end days or the last days. He is talking about the present day. And so to help you understand that, I'm going to look back one chapter. We're in Ephesians 6 for our study. But if I go back one chapter to Ephesians 5, uh verse 15 and 16, he says, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making best use of the time, making the best use of the time because the days are evil. HB Charles says, Paul was not just referring to the cultural situation of his day. The evil day is any day the enemy attacks, when you are a new believer in Christ, when you are spiritually idle, when you are isolated from other believers, during times of loss, sorrow, or trouble, during seasons of transition in your life, after you have won a victory, and when you are near death. So all the time, right? That's the evil day. He says the enemy will never call you to warn you that an attack is coming tomorrow, the following week, or next month. It will always be a sneak attack. The evil day may be any day. Be ready for battle every day. Now, that has the potential, that understanding that these demonic forces exist in the heavenly realm and are planning sneak attacks on us every day, and that we need to essentially be rattled ready for battle every day. That could make someone very paranoid. That could make you very fearful. And we talked about this at the beginning of last week before we even dove into these spiritual forces of evil in verse 12. We talked about how God does not give us a spirit of fear, which is a spirit of timidity, of cowardice, uh, the idea of running from battle, turning our back to the enemy and running and fleeing. It's not the spirit that God gives us. He gives us a spirit of power, which is Duna Mis, which is essentially the Holy Spirit, the power to work miracles, the power to fight, a power that is not intrinsic in and of ourselves. And so what could lead us to fear and paranoia, because it's a very real battle, is actually meant to lead to total surrender, boasting in our weakness, total dependence on Christ, putting on Christ, surrounding us uh ourselves with Christ, and learning to stand. Now, in the end of chapter or in the end of episode eight that I was mentioning in House of David, as David is getting ready to go on the battlefield and face Goliath, his brother stops him right before he walks out onto the you know past the front line and says, David, why are you not afraid? He's so mad at him. And David looks his brother in the eye and says, I am afraid. And then he turns and he walks out onto the battlefield. And that is a really important and I think accurate description of how David must have felt. He understood that what was happening was bigger than what met the eye, that it was a spiritual battle, and he was the only one out of all these men who was confident enough in his God to go afraid. In Psalm 56, 3, David penned, so those are his own words, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Not I am never afraid, when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. And it was based not on David's own strength, but on who he knew his God to be. We've already talked about this in this series, the place where I forget where, somewhere in the Bible, somewhere maybe first or second Samuel, uh, we're told that David strengthened himself in the Lord, and that idea had nothing to do with the strength and strength intrinsic in his own body, and everything to do with the strength and power of God, as David remembered who God was, what God had done for him, the ways that God had delivered him before, right, from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. If he's done it before, he can do it again. And so David strengthened himself in the Lord, and that's exactly what he is doing now as he steps into this terrifying battle against a man who was like almost 10 feet tall, defying the living God. Now, when I was reading the story to you from 1 Samuel 17, I said, pay attention, listen to this. And if you did, you, and if you are a detail-oriented person, you caught the fact that scripture tells us after he killed Goliath, David had no sword in his hand. But the other very interesting piece of this story is that David went out on the battlefield without any armor at all. Saul tried to get him to wear his armor out onto the battlefield. You should wear the king's armor. You're gonna go fight this champion. You should dress like a champion. Here's my chainmail to protect your chest, here's my helmet, take my sword, here are the weapons that you need, defensive and offensive, to defeat this enemy. David tries them on and he can't do it because he has not tested them. God has not ever delivered David from the things he's delivered David from in the past while David was wearing this clunky heavy armor. So David says, I'm not gonna wear it. Imagine, like, imagine these men who have been terrified for 40 days. Nobody wants to go and fight this giant, who, by the way, also is covered head to toe in armor. The giant, Goliath himself, is covered head to toe in very heavy, better than Israel, because they had learned how to work with uh iron weapons instead of bronze, right? Yes, am I right on that? I think I'm right. So their weapons were even better than Israel's. And so David is stepping out onto the battlefield without any armor, and all these men are watching him fight. Go go to fight a it makes you laugh. Fight a giant who's clothed in our who's covered in armor, who even has a shield bearer who's before him with a shield that's like these are the kinds of shields that covered your entire body. We're gonna get into that and shield of faith. But but he is stepping out with a stick. That's why Goliath says, What am I, a dog? You're gonna hit me with your stick. And what Goliath doesn't see is that he also has a sling with a stone in it, secret weapon. But um what we're seeing here, and I've never seen it before, is that David was wearing armor, but his armor was God's armor. When Satan comes against God's chosen, he is defying the Lord of hosts, and all God is looking for is someone who will be strengthened by the Spirit of God to stand against whoever defies the Lord of hosts. So let's look back at the story and think about how David was specifically wearing the whole armor of God. This Greek word that we've seen now twice in verse 11 and verse 13 means whole, full, complete armor, not lacking anything, so that nothing is exposed. How was David actually wearing armor? Let's think about the belt of truth. David anchors himself in what is true when everyone else was gripped by fear. The entire army was operating out of what they saw: a giant, a threat, and certain death. But David speaks from what he knows to be true about God. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? David isn't denying reality, he is reframing it according to truth, right? According to what is true about God. He's moving the quarter because the sun is greater. Everyone else sees Goliath as too big to defeat. David sees him as too small to stand against God. He is filtering the entire situation through truth. God is alive, these are God's people. This enemy is defying God. That's the belt of truth in action. It is the idea of refusing to let fear or appearances define reality. How is David taking up the shield of faith? Well, he's actively trusting God's past faithfulness in a present battle. When Saul questions him, David doesn't hype himself up. He recounts what God has already done. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. So that's not optimism. That is future faith based on past fact. He is literally extinguishing the fiery darts of you're too young, you're not a warrior. This is impossible. This is a death wish, right? A suicide mission. How does he do it? He does it by holding up the character of God. The Lord delivered me, the Lord will deliver me. Faith for David, get this, and this is what we want it to be for us. It's not vague, it is rooted in remembered rescue. How does he put on or wear the breastplate of righteousness? Well, he refuses to be defined by others' accusations or limitations, right? His brother, Eliav, says, I know your presumption, meaning you're just arrogant and trying to get attention. And then Saul says, You're not able. David could have agreed with those lies, with those accusations, with those words. He could have shrunk back in insecurity or shame, believing what others said about him to be true. But he doesn't. Instead, he stands in a right identity, not in himself, but in his relationship to God. And we also have to see what he doesn't do. He doesn't prove himself, he doesn't defend his reputation, he doesn't spiral. He simply continues forward in obedience. So that's what it looks like to have your heart guarded, not by self-confidence, but by a settled confidence in God's calling and righteousness. What about the shoes of peace? Well, shoes are on your feet, and you need your feet to stand, right? David stands firm and he moves forward with stability while others retreat. We've seen this. The entire army of grown men, fighting age, warriors, men of war, mighty men. They've all been retreating in fear, but David runs toward the battle. Verse 48 says, Then David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. That's not recklessness. It's peace. David isn't internally chaotic. He's not double-minded. He's steady, and he's even to be, he's even able to be steady when he's afraid because his confidence is not in himself. It's not in the outcome. It is in God. That kind of peace doesn't make you passive, it makes you immovable. And when needed, it makes you move forward without fear. How about the sword of the spirit? We said, you know, it's specifically, I thought it was so interesting. I've never noticed that before. David had no sword in his hand. We're told that there's no physical sword in his hand, but he sure did have a sword, right? He had the sword of spirit, and David speaks God-centered truth directly into the face of the enemy. Goliath is cursing David, probably by Dagon and Ashtaroth. And David lifts the sword of the spirit and speaks God-centered truth right directly to him. Before he ever even throws a stone at Goliath, he says, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts. And then he also says, The battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand. David is not silent in the face of opposition. He declares who God is, what God will do, and who the battle belongs to. That's the sword in action, not just knowing what's true, but wielding it by saying what's true, by believing what's true, by agreeing, as I was saying before, by agreeing with what's true. How about the weapon of prayer? Well, we don't see David specifically praying, but we do see him operating in moment-by-moment reliance on God, which demonstrates just a life of prayer. His entire posture is one of dependence. Everything he says reveals it. He credits God for past victories. He trusts God for present deliverance, and he fights for God's name, not his own. Even his refusal of Saul's armor shows us that, that he's not going to go with those because he hasn't tested them. In other words, I'm not going to trust in human strength or human methods. That's just prayer lived out. It's not necessarily a moment where we see him bend his head or bow his head in prayer, which is not what prayer always is. It's sometimes a mindset of reliance. And for sure, you know that he was talking to God in his mind as he was agreeing to take this on and as he was stepping out onto the battlefield. A bonus, just to circle back, is this idea of rejecting false armor. I think we don't want to miss this as we learn about putting on the full armor of God because we are so tempted to put on false armor and to think that we're going to be strong by doing so, right? David looks at what's strong, you know, according to Saul, according to these men of war, which is this set of armor, and he refuses it because it's not from God. It looks right. It looks like what a warrior should wear, but David takes it off. And I think that's really practical for us. Not everything that looks like strength from the world actually is strength, right? Worldly strategies or self-reliance or self-help or image management or control, being in control of things in our own strength. David chooses what aligns with his trust in God, not what fits human expectation. When you step back, David isn't just being courageous. He's thinking in truth, he's trusting in God's character, he's standing in his identity, he's moving in peace, he's speaking God's word as he does it, and he is depending fully on the Lord. He is armed, he is fully armed. He has on the armor of God, not physically, but spiritually. And I'd never thought of that before. This shepherd boy going out into the armor with just his tunic, a stick, and um what's it called? A slingshot. I couldn't think of the word. And dang, he is armored from head to toe in the armor of God. And that is what Paul is calling us into. Not just to face battles, but to face them like this, dressed in the full armor of God. You know, God has armor. I don't know if you caught this in your cross references, but Isaiah 59, 17 to 18 says, let's see, he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. This is talking about God. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself as zeal for his cloak. Matthew Henry says, most people don't pick up the connection between this verse and Paul's comments on spiritual armor in Ephesians 6. This is the armor of God. And we're brought back to Isaiah 59, seeing that he literally has armor. God literally has armor in the sense that it belongs to him. And what he's doing through Paul is allowing us to use his armor. That's cool. That's really cool. This is the idea of the Lord will fight for you, meaning he is actually going to give you his armor. So put it on, take it up. We have two different phrasings in chapter or verse 11 and verse 13. Put on the whole armor. Here in 13, it says take up the whole armor. These two words, the idea essentially is sink into it and actually use it. Okay? Don't just take it up and do nothing with it. Actually use it. Sink into it, actually use it, agree with it. It we put on, we have this idea in Ephesians 4 24, the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. In other words, in other words, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, that's what we're being called to do when we're being told to put on the armor. In Christ, we have already been given the land. In Christ, we have already been given all the promises. All of God's promises are yes in Christ. This idea of every place the sole of your foot touches is a beautiful throwback to both Joshua and Moses. Joshua 1, 3, God says to him, to Joshua, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you just as I promised to Moses. In Christ, everything is yes. In Christ, the battles that we face and every step that we take into them, God has already given us the victory. Now it is very easy to look at the story of David and Goliath and think, be strong like David, conquer your giants, but that's not the story here, okay? When I was talking about the full armor of God and how David put it on, if you are super observant, you would have caught that I did not include the helmet of salvation. I didn't list it. Now it's not because I don't think David wore it. We know that he knew God was his salvation. One of the best examples we have of this is in a song that David wrote, Psalm 27, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? That is helmet language. He's not pretending that the enemies aren't there. In fact, in verse 3, he says, Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. But David knew how to set his mind. Think about what the helmet protects. We're going to get into this soon. Um, his his mind was set on the greater reality that God was his salvation. And because of that, fear didn't get the final word. Now think about this story. Think about what I'm saying. Put on Christ. The promises are yes in Christ. And let's go back to 1 Samuel 17. We've got Israel standing on one side of the valley, the Philistines are on the other, and every single soldier in Israel's army is frozen in fear. Goliath steps forward day after day, defying the living God, and no one will go out to face him. They should have fought. They were God's people. They had God's promises. They had seen him deliver them again and again, but they stood there paralyzed until David. David walks onto the scene, not because he's impressive, not because he's the strongest, but because his mind was already settled that he wasn't the savior of the day. God was, that the outcome wasn't in his hands, it was in God's, and that his security wasn't in the outcome or in surviving, but in the Lord. He looks at Goliath and says the battle is the Lord's. And then he runs at Goliath. He has already entrusted his life to the one who saves. His hope is anchored in God alone for salvation. That's his helmet of salvation. The size of the enemy doesn't matter. He, David, is not consumed by the possibility of death or defined by human odds. We know this is an incredible story of faith, but, but, but, but if we stop there, if the takeaway is just be like David, then we've actually missed the point. Because David, as courageous as he was, is not the true hero of the Bible. David trusted God in that moment, yes, but later David would fail. He would sin grievously. He would not always stand, which means that David can't ultimately be our example to follow into victory because he too needed saving. David isn't the greater hero, but he points to the greater hero, Jesus. Where David faced a giant, Jesus faced something far greater: sin, Satan, and death itself. And unlike David, Jesus never wavered. He never sinned. He never shrank back. Where Israel stood powerless before Goliath, we stand powerless before sin. We cannot defeat it. We cannot overcome it, and we cannot save ourselves. But this is where Jesus steps forward on our behalf. And at the cross, it looked like he was losing. It looked like darkness was winning. It looked like Satan had the upper hand. But what was actually happening according to Colossians 2, that I've already read you multiple times in this series, is that Jesus was disarming the rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame and triumphing over them, the greater Goliath fell, not by a stone, but by a savior who was crushed in our place and then rose again in victory. That's why Ephesians 6.13 is such good news. Because when Paul says, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm, he's not telling you to go win a victory by yourself. He is telling you to stand in one that's already been won. You don't fight for victory, you fight from victory because Jesus has already defeated the enemy. You could never defeat. David trusted God to save him. We get to look back and see that our salvation has already been secured in Christ. Our helmet isn't just God might deliver me, it's God has already delivered me fully, finally, and eternally through Jesus, which means that even if the battle is hard, we are secure. Even if we suffer, we are saved. Even if we die, we live. Now, if you are listening right now and you've never trusted Christ, today is the day to change that. This is the invitation. You are not David in this story. You are the one standing on the sidelines, unable to step in the battle, facing an enemy that you cannot overcome on your own. And that's exactly why Jesus stepped in for you. He has lived the life that you could not live. And he died the death that you deserve, that I deserve. And he has risen again victorious, taking out your greatest enemy, death itself. And the call is simple, but it will cost you everything. Bend your knee to him. Turn from your sin. Stop trusting in yourself. Stop trying to fight this battle in your own strength and put your full trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because there is no other victory coming. There is no other rescuer. You're not it, and nothing and no one else is it. It's Jesus alone. The cost is great, but the reward is greater. In him there is complete forgiveness, full freedom, and a victory that can never and will never be taken from you. Give him your heart and your life today in a simple prayer of surrender and invitation. It might sound something like this. Jesus, I'm a sinner. I confess that I need saving. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died for my sins to give me eternal life. I give you my heart and my life today. Amen. Praise God if you prayed that prayer, friend. Reach out to us at hello at abidable.com to let us know so we can come alongside you with some next steps. And for those of us who are in Christ, Ephesians 6 is no more calling us to be victorious on our own than 1 Samuel 17 is saying, be like David, face your giants, pick up your stones, and go win. If David was the hero, you and I are supposed to be the heroes, which means that we're all in trouble. We will always fall short. Scripture is not, neither in 1 Samuel 17 or Ephesians 6, telling us to be the David-like hero. It's all pointing to a better hero, to Jesus. That's the pattern. Jesus is greater. David faced a giant, Jesus faced Satan's sin and death. David risked his life. Jesus gave his life. David's victory was temporary. Jesus' victory is eternal. So that's why we put on the armor, why we take it up, why we put on Christ. This is such good news for us in the fight. You are not walking into your day trying to defeat sin in your own strength. You are standing in the victory of Christ over sin. You are not trying to overcome the enemy on your own. You are standing in the triumph of the one who has already overcome the enemy. The only way to stand firm in this battle is to belong to the one who has already won it. Matthew Henry says, We must not yield to the devil's allurements and assaults, but oppose them. Satan is said to stand up against us. Henry quotes 1 Chronicles 21:1, which says, Then Satan stood against David. Why did Satan stand against David? To incite David to sin. Back to Henry. If he, Satan, stand against us, we must stand against him. Set up and keep up an interest in opposition to the devil. Satan is the wicked one, and his kingdom is the kingdom of sin. So here's the big idea with some help from Matthew Henry. To stand against Satan is to stand armed by God against sin. Okay, we see this word stand four times. Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. That's 13. 14 starts with stand therefore. And in verse 11, we are told to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the devil. So let's close with how we walk forward. What does it look like to stand? Practically, this word stand, that's repeated four times in the Greek means to make firm, establish, fix. It's the idea of keeping your place standing, immovable, unharmed, ready, prepared. It is the idea of a steadfast mind, one who does not hesitate or waver. That sounds great. And I think what I'm realizing, you know, in this stand against Satan by standing against sin, is that I want to be a part of the battle. I want to be a part of the victory. Like God um fights our battles for us, and he gives us his armor, um, and he invites us to participate in the victory over this enemy who wants to destroy him and his plans, destroy God and his plans. And it's like what I'm realizing is the more that I love God, the more that I hate Satan, and the more I want to stand against him. I want to withstand, I want to stand against him. And uh 1 Timothy 118 talks this, talks about this as waging the good warfare. Paul is writing to Timothy and he says, wage the good warfare. We must understand and stand, like understand what's happening in the in the heavenly realms that we cannot see, and then actively take a stand, actively participate in it. And there is this quote from Screwtape Letters where Wormwood is describing the church to his nephew, and he says, as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That I confess is a spectacle which makes our bolder tempters uneasy. What makes Satan uneasy? What makes him flee? The church, when they are spread out across all eternity with banners in what is true about God, in what is true about their own identities. When we stand and fight, it terrifies the devil. When we resist him, he has to flee. When we turn our back on him, when we um like think about the fact that there is no armor for the back. If we turn our back to the devil, we we are completely exposed. So we can't turn our back on him. We must turn toward him and we must face him and withstand um immovable. And part of our cross-references from 2 Corinthians 10, 4 says, For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We have the power to destroy strongholds. Similarly, the next uh verse, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. This is David. He's like, What are you doing? You are blaspheming, you are defying the living God. We should be like David in that sense. Like, you, how dare you, Satan? How dare you lie about who God is? How dare you lie about who I am in God? We destroy strongholds, this idea of pulling down or demolishing to extinction strongholds, which oftentimes, you know, think about ancient times there were strongholds, there were towers that were used as fortresses for protection offensively and defensively. But here, what Paul's talking about strongholds are arguments and reasoning against an opponent. Satan is the father of lies. He is the father of slander. He slanders us to us, he lies to us about us, he lies to us about God. He slanders uh God to us. He is always trying to destroy God's reputation to us. That's what's happening behind the scenes. Those little issues in the day-to-day, the giants that we think we're fighting, the bigger issues in the day-to-day that we think we're fighting. Behind that, Satan is trying to slander the living God. He is trying to slander us, his chosen people, by getting us to fight against our identity instead of fighting against him. No, I want to stand and fight against Satan. I want to be a participant in the battle. I want to be part of God's victory. I want to be on the front line, coming against him, standing against him, immovable, without hesitation, with steadfast mind, ready, prepared, immovable. And I want that for you. I was thinking about my son, who is so literal, God bless, to the point that when I say it is eight o'clock, he'll be like, it's 7.59. Or when I say, I was telling a story about my uncle who was visiting from Arizona and how cold he was. I said, My uncle was just here. He wasn't just here. It's been seven years. Or when I was telling a story about an airplane taking off at the airport and it felt like the whole, I said, the whole ground shook. No, it didn't. It was just loud. I want to be like that against Satan. If he steps out of line, if he exaggerates, if he says even the tiniest white little lie, I want to say, no, that's not true. That's not what happened. It's not, it's not eight o'clock, it's 7.59. The earth didn't shake, it was just loud. Uncle Jim wasn't here recently, it was seven years ago. I want us to be on Satan's butt like that. That when he tries to manipulate us, when he tries to trick us, that we will stand against him, that we will stand against sin, and in so doing, stand against him, that we will set up, as Matthew Henry said, set up and keep up an opposition to the devil until the day we die. And that's it for this episode. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share the Abidible podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so we can make much of the word. Drop us a review, tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our Abidible Plus Women's Facebook membership community for $10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter. For those of you following along in the workbook, go ahead and begin working on our next verse in the series, actually, verses, Ephesians 6, 14 to 15 on pages 28 to 31 in your study workbook. You will notice that these verses have been combined this week and you'll see why. It's a very manageable load to look at them both side by side. For example, even with two verses, I didn't even use all my word study boxes. If you need to give yourself more time to complete both, do it. Ideally, you would have this section done before you listen to the next episode, number 97. In that episode, we will finally begin to look at the individual pieces of armor. Our verses next week are Ephesians 6, 14 to 15. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. What do the belt, breastplate, and shoes do? What do they protect, and how do we put them on? All the things. Looking forward to getting more clarity with you on all of that next week. I will pray for us and then close us out with our memory work for verse 13. We are super de-duper over time, as you can see. So I'm gonna pray kind of quickly for us. Jesus, you know all the things that we just talked about. Lord, you are perfect in your timing with the things that you call us to study in your word, the timing that you bring us those pieces of truth. And so whatever it is that you want to accomplish with today's message, Lord, I ask that you would accomplish it in my heart and in the heart of whoever's listening along with me. God, we acknowledge that we often don't know what we're fighting against and we fight against the wrong things, meaning we fight against our very identity in you, the identity that you purchased for us on the cross instead of fighting our very real enemy. Or we fight against the things that we can see here in the natural world, not understanding or forgetting that our fight, our wrestling, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers and authorities and cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. The reality is that we fight supernatural, demonic giants, fallen sons of God and their leader, Satan, the father of lies, who hate you, hate us, and are actively at work and at war against you, your plans, and your people. We are living in the evil day when sin abounds and when the attack is constant. He doesn't give us a warning call or a heads up that the attack is coming. It just comes. And that can cause a sense of fear and paranoia. And so I just come against that in the name of Jesus. I ask, Lord, that you instead would remind us that you have given us a spirit of power to work miracles and to fight this fight that you've called us to. And not only that, but you have equipped us with your actual armor, armor that belonged to you. And so you call us, Lord, to put it on, to take it up, the whole armor, not missing a single piece. So I ask that you would clothe us from head to toe in Christ, in your Son Jesus. Teach us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and that he is the greater David and He defeated the greater giant, Satan, sin, and death itself, because of your victory. We come from a place of victory. We get to fight out of the victory that has already been won. If you, God, can deliver us from death and the domain of darkness and transfer us into the kingdom of your beloved son and give us redemption and forgiveness of sins, then you can deliver us today from whatever we are facing. It is nothing to you to help us overcome our daily battles. The greater miracle has already been accomplished on the cross. And so I pray that you would help us to stand firm, to fix our feet, be established, to keep our place against the devil, that we would set up and keep an opposition, a constant opposition against the devil by standing against him, by standing against sin, by destroying strongholds, literally tearing them down. Pulling them down, demolishing any argument against you, against who you are, against what you've done, against who we are, against what we can do in you, Jesus. Help us to stand firm in the evil day. Help us to withstand all that the enemy comes at us for your glory, by your power, and in your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's close by doing our memory work together. I'm going to repeat Ephesians 6.13 five times. Say it out loud with me or quietly to yourself. You guys, my jaw is literally hurting. I'm like trying to, we're like at an hour and 30 minutes. I don't know what just happened. But I'm trying to, I'm trying to finish this out in my jaw, like I feel like my jaw is literally gonna lock. I've been talking for 90 minutes. This is unacceptable. What is happening? Okay, say it out loud with me or quietly to yourself. I don't know if I can say this five times. Yes, I can. Here we go. 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 firm. 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 firm. 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 firm. 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 firm. 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 firm. Ephesians 6, 13. Remember, I feel like I'm gonna be Yoda by the end. Remember, you are able to abide in the Bible. Oh man. You guys remember you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.