Ephesians 6:11 (Amplified) Put on the full armour of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armour of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
The Greek verb “stand” with the preposition “against” means to “hold your ground”. The word “stand” suggests that the ground contested by the enemy is truly God’s, and therefore ours!
Watchman Nee writes in his book, Sit, Walk, Stand: The Process of Christian Maturity: “Today we war against Satan only to maintain and consolidate the victory which Christ has already gained. By the resurrection God proclaimed His Son victor over the whole realm of darkness, and the ground Christ won He has given to us. We do not need to fight to obtain it. We only need to hold it against the challenges.”
Our task is to hold our ground and stand firm, rather than attack, although there is a place for it. The devil has been defeated, and the church’s job is to keep him defeated. The devil is fighting back in his attempts to dislodge us from our position. He seeks to deceive us, send temptations our way, create trials and tribulations so he can steal the Word sown into our hearts. He wants us to give up!
Our victory comes from being seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We are not trying to win the battle because the battle has already been won! The Bible tells us in Romans 8:37 that we are more than conquerors!
Imagine Mohammad Ali, the renowned boxer, entering the ring to fight another formidable opponent. The fight is intense. After several rounds, Mohammad finally delivers a right hook punch, and the opponent cannot rise to his feet. Mohammad Ali is declared the winner, awarded a victor’s belt and prize money of US$10 million. He is a conqueror! He arrives home and hands his wife the US$10 million cheque. His wife is more than a conqueror because she possesses the money.
In the same way, we are more than conquerors because Christ has won the victory. It is Christ’s victory that has enabled us to sit with Him beside the Father. We did nothing to earn this victory. Therefore, we are more than conquerors. It is God’s perfect love that placed us in that position.
We should be aware of and watch out for the schemes, strategies, and deceptions of the devil. His main or primary objective is not to get us to sin but simply make it easy for us to do so by getting us off the ground of perfect triumph onto which the Lord has brought us.
Watchman Nee also writes in the same book, “Only those who sit can stand,” which means we must be very firm in our identity in Christ. The devil will try to deceive us into believing we are still enslaved by his power and sin. He wants us to abandon our position of victory and walk in the flesh once again, but thanks be to God that we are more than conquerors because Christ has won the victory.
Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign (Stand)
坚守阵地
以弗所书 6:11“要穿戴神所赐的全副军装（因为祂的真理，好像装备齐全的精兵所穿的荣耀军装），使你们能够成功地站立得住，抵挡魔鬼一切的诡计、策略和欺骗。”
希腊文中“站立”这个动词，配合“抵挡”的介词，意思是“坚守阵地”。这里的“站立”表明，被仇敌争夺的土地原本就是属神的，也因此是属于我们的！
倪柝声在《坐、行、站——基督徒生命成熟的过程》一书中写道：“我们今天与撒但争战，只是为着保守并巩固基督已经赢得的胜利。藉着复活，神宣告祂的儿子已经胜过了黑暗权势的全境；基督所赢得的地土，神已经赐给我们。我们不需要再去争取，只需要在挑战中坚守。”
因此，我们的任务不是主动攻击，而是站稳、守住阵地（虽然在某些时候也有攻击的需要）。魔鬼已经被打败，而教会的责任就是让他持续处在失败之中。魔鬼会反扑，试图把我们从得胜的地位上拉下来；他用欺骗、试探、患难和压力，想要夺走已经撒在我们心中的神话语。他的目的只有一个：让我们放弃！
我们的得胜，来自于我们已经与基督一同坐在天上。我们不是在努力打赢一场战斗，因为这场战斗早已结束！圣经在罗马书 8:37 清楚告诉我们：我们靠着爱我们的主，已经得胜有余了！
试想一位著名拳王穆罕默德·阿里进入擂台，与强劲对手展开激烈对决。经过数个回合，他一记右勾拳击倒对手，对方无法再站起来。阿里被宣布为胜利者，赢得冠军腰带和一千万美元的奖金。他是得胜者。回到家后，他把这一千万美元的支票交给妻子——她成了更胜一筹的得胜者，因为她直接拥有这笔财富。
同样地，我们之所以是“得胜有余的”，是因为基督已经赢得了胜利。正是基督的得胜，使我们得以与祂一同坐在父神右边。我们没有为这胜利做任何事，因此，我们是真正的“得胜有余者”。是神完全的爱，把我们安置在这个地位上。
因此，我们要警醒，留意魔鬼的诡计、策略和欺骗。他最主要的目标，并不是直接引诱我们犯罪，而是让我们离开神所赐完全得胜的地位，使犯罪变得“容易”。只要我们不再站在得胜的根基上，他就已经成功了一半。
倪柝声在同一本书中也写道：“只有坐下的人，才能站立。”这提醒我们，必须牢牢站稳自己在基督里的身份。魔鬼会欺骗我们，以为自己仍被他的权势和罪所辖制，想要我们放弃得胜的地位，再次回到属肉体的生活中。但感谢神，我们靠着基督，已经得胜有余，因为胜利早已属于祂，也属于我们！
讲章系列：细胞小组主题活动（站立得稳）