Standing Up for the Family
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Jun 22, 2008
- Series: Bringing Christ Into the Home
Bringing Christ into the Home: (Part IV)
STANDING UP FOR THE FAMILY
Matthew 12:29 (NIV)
29 "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
One of the more frightening and potentially dangerous crimes that can occur to a family is a home invasion burglary. Often, this crime is conducted while the residents are present. Many of you can probably remember the gruesome murder that happened sometime in July last year that shocked the residents of Cheshire, a small affluent suburban town near New Haven, Connecticut. The victims were the wife and two beautiful daughters of Dr. William Petit Jr., a prominent diabetes expert from Joslin Diabetes Centre. According to the reports, the two armed robbers committed the murders after they have successfully invaded their home. What was more traumatic with this story was the fact that Dr. Petit witnessed the crime against his loved ones. The Reverend Ronald A. Rising, a neighbor for more than 10 years was quoted saying, "They’re a lovely family, it's just awful to think it would happen to a family like that in this community.”
Can you imagine your family going through the same ordeal? I’m sure we will do everything to keep our homes safe and protected from home invasions. But do you know that there is another kind of home invasion that we usually take for granted. The effects are far more devastating because they have eternal implications. The assault is greater because it involves our spiritual lives.
The Bible never hides the fact that we wage a spiritual warfare against Satan who seeks to do everything to steal from us and destroy us (John 10:10). If you examine the prayer of Jesus Christ in John 17: 15, He expressed His concern for the protection of His disciples from the evil one. He said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
Since He has planned to keep His disciples on earth to be His witnesses about the truth, He intends to preserve them in the midst of the spiritual conflict.
Unfortunately, the efforts of the evil one to invade the home have often been ignored. Present statistics on marital infidelities, divorces, juvenile delinquencies, and teenage pregnancies are just some of the undeniable proofs of satanic triumphs. One very alarming trend was recorded by Dr. H. Norman Wright and Dr. Gary J. Oliver in their book Raising Kids To Love Jesus. They referred to a survey done to roughly 8, 000 protestant kids from fifth through ninth grades. In this survey, 87 percent of the ninth graders said they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on the cross and rose again. That’s really great! But the same survey revealed that by the time those young people turn 18, only 20 percent of them will say they are committed to Christ or will in any way define themselves as Christians. A staggering 80 percent will turn their backs on the Church, the faith of their parents and their own faith.
On this basis, I personally feel that we need to sound the alarm and warn our families with regards to the works of the evil one. We cannot continually allow him to rob us of our children nor can we continually allow him to have access in our homes. In Matthew 12:29, the Lord Jesus provided a principle that we should understand. The background of the verse is that Jesus just healed a demon-possessed man. Instead of acknowledging His power against Satan, the Pharisees accused Him of casting demons by the power of Satan. To show how absurd this idea was, Jesus reasoned that Satan would not fight against himself. If demons were subjects of the devil, why would the devil use his power to cast his own followers? Apparently, if Satan was the strong man in the house or in the life of the demon possessed man; Jesus was able to cast the demons because He had first defeated Satan. Jesus entered Satan’s kingdom and overcame his power, and claimed his spoils.
I believe the critical questions for us are: How can we keep the devil from becoming the strong man in our houses? How can we keep Him from even invading our homes? Who will stand up against him for your family? Here are several Biblical strategies to help us effectively stand up against the devil:
I DEPEND ON GOD’S STRENGTH: (Eph. 6:10)
As humans, we are no match to the power of the devil and his demons. But we can avail of the power of Jesus Christ, which He has shared to everyone who belongs to Him. As we have seen in Matthew 12:29, this is the power that overcame the strong man.
In Paul’s instructions to the Ephesian believers about spiritual warfare, he reminded them to consistently rely on the power available for them:
Notice verse 10, twice he used the word “in” – “in the Lord” and “in his mighty power.” This preposition is directing us to the location of our resource. If we are in Christ, then His life is our life, His power is our power. And so it is in Christ that we are strong.
You can find the apostle John having the same confidence as he seen in 1 John 4:4:
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
You see, if Christ defeated Satan on the cross, there is no reason for us to lose or be afraid. We just have to make sure we belong to Jesus, so we can have the necessary resource to gain victory against the devil.
II DISCERN THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES:
In order for us to successfully defend our families against the devil, we should be discerning about his subtle schemes. The apostle Paul clearly reminds us:
2 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV)
11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Obviously, to be ignorant means to be defeated. Today, the key in keeping Satan outside our homes is to be careful of some of the devices that he is using to lead people away from God. Of course, these devices are not bad per se, but if we are not careful, they can influence us negatively. Here are the two devices:
A. TV
One of the most prominent mind shapers of this generation is this little box in our houses. For one, television has successfully distorted today’s morality by giving a lot of weird ideas about love, sex, and relationships. Christopher Lyon, a contributor for Focus on the Family magazine, wrote, “Not only is there lots of sex on TV and in movies, more of us have also come to believe the Hollywood message that sex is both nothing and everything. On the one hand, we have learned that sex is simply a playground for consenting adults. It’s fun, It’s funny. It’s forgotten.” (The Frog, the Kettle and the Couch, Focus on the Family Magazine, March 2008)
B. Internet
Another moral polluter is the internet. A study conducted by the Carnegie Mellon University found more than 900, 000 sexually explicit sites readily accessible in the internet (Barbara Franceski, Cyberporn: Is It Free Speech). If we are not careful, some of these sites can find their way into our homes, and into the rooms of our minds.
There may be other subtle ways Satan is using to attack our homes. He is unquestionably out to destroy our family. He is relentless; he will do whatever it takes, so we have to be vigilant and seek the wisdom of the Lord in order to win against him.
III DRESS IN GOD’S ARMOR: (Eph. 6:11, 13)
Last but not the least; we should never ignore the armor that God has provided for us. Clearly in our text, we see the command that we put it on. It doesn’t do us any good unless we put it on.
Examining the command, it literally suggest to put on once and for all. It is not like a game uniform that you simply wear when you have a game; you put the armor on once and leave it on the rest of your life. You never lay your armor down until you meet the Lord. For our family, we need to help every member to wear the armor.
We do not have a lot of time to talk about the armor extensively, but allow me to enumerate them to you as described by Paul in Ephesians 6. Since Paul was chained to a Roman soldier as he wrote this, he used the Roman soldier’s uniform as a perfect illustration of what the believer needs to fight the enemy:
A. Belt of Truth: (6: 14)
The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains that this does not refer to the facts of the gospel but to subjective truth, a believer’s integrity and faithfulness. As a soldier’s belt or sash gave ease and freedom of movement, so truth gives freedom with self, others, and God.
B. Breastplate of Righteousness (6:14)
The breastplate guards the heart and vital organs. Only by righteousness can we protect our hearts from attacks. If a believer is committed to live in righteousness, it would be very difficult for him or her to easily fall into Satan’s traps.
C. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace (6:15)
For the Roman soldier, the sandals provided stability and surefootedness. Therefore, this has nothing to do with the sharing of the Gospel, but the knowing of the Gospel that gives believers the peace in the midst of the battle.
D. Shield of Faith (6:16)
The shield protected the soldiers from flaming arrows and darts. For the believers, faith is our shield. If we don’t trust God, we would not withstand Satan’s attacks. This suggests that we are not in the battle alone. We have to continually stand on God’s promises, presence and power.
E. Helmet of Salvation (6:17)
Helmets protect the brain. Satan wants to attack the mind by casting doubts regarding our position in Christ. Christians are preserved from the blows of the enemy when they have their assurance of salvation.
F. Sword of the Spirit (6:17)
The sword is the only offensive piece of the armor. For us, the sword is the Word of God, which was given through the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
As Jesus defeated the devil’s temptations in Matthew 4 through His skillful use of the Scriptures, we too must be equipped to use the Word of God in order to win.
G. Power of Prayer: (6:18-20)
Lastly, we need prayer. Prayer is crucial in everything because it is the energy that allows us to keep the armor on and wield the sword effectively. Prayer is the power for victory.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV)
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Beloved, we need to do everything to protect our loved ones from Satan’s destructive attacks. Remember, our enemy is relentless, and so we must keep ourselves strong, vigilant, and able to do battle against him. We should never be afraid. By God’s help, we can victoriously stand up for our families.