2 Chronicles 20:6: [KJV]
[The 14th book of the bible. It depicts Jesus Christ “As King.”]
Prophetic Scripture:
And said, O Lord God of our fathers, are not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?
It’s a good feeling to remember that God is in control of everything. He is our great, big Daddy! If you watch the television, it might appear like the kingdoms of the world are in control as they have taken prayer out of school, removed the Ten Commandments from public buildings, and eliminated the Name of God from record books.
It can be discouraging sometimes, because it seems like evil is prevailing, chaos on every hand and seems like the White House is in control. However, God is the one who rules over the kingdoms of the heathen, and they may all think that they are succeeding at eliminating God from things right now, but they have overlooked that all power is in His hands. In the end, nothing can withstand the power of God.
I’ve heard a lot of people ask, “Why me?” “Why, Lord? Why did this storm have to come? Couldn’t you have stopped it?” Or, as the disciples asked, “Lord, don’t you care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38).
• John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart (Be of good cheer)! I have overcome the world."
Trouble is coming! Hard times are coming! Grief is coming. Disappointment is coming. Why? Because storms happen. Life happens. Stuff happens. And nobody gets to bypass the storms. We all have different kinds of storms at different times in our lives.
Storms will come. Regardless of whether you’ve been naughty or nice. Not all storms are on the outside. Some come from within. The rains of sorrow will come. The streams of self-centeredness will rise. And the angry winds will blow and beat against us.
But! How are we going to make it? How will we survive the storms of life?
One perspective is that storms remind us who God is!
The late Andre Crouch used to sing the song, “Through It All.” “If I never had a problem, I wouldn’t know that He could solve them. I wouldn’t know what faith in God can do.” Through it all, God does promise us peace and grace as we learn to trust Him more.
But the word of God says, “And in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee!” (2 Chronicles 20:6)
To “stand”: means to rise to an erect position; to take up or maintain a specified position or posture; to maintain one's position, stand firm; to be in a particular state or situation.
With is a preposition. A preposition is a word (often a short word) that expresses the relationship between two other nearby words.
To “withstand” means to continue, remaining, end results, to resist or endure successfully.
God said that none is able to withstand thee!
But, in order for us to withstand we must first be Storm Ready.
So, begin to get into storm prep mode right now (whether you know what’s ahead or not). What can you do to be prepared for the storms that may or will come?
How many know that storm readiness starts from the ground up.
It’s all about the foundation! It’s not about how high you go or how good you look. It’s about building a solid foundation.
There is only one true foundation that will last.
• 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
We know that the gold is God’s divine nature, silver is the life of God and the stones are you-the people of God. These are enduring qualities, whereas, the wood, hay, and stubbles are temporal.
So how do we get the right foundation? Our foundation starts with Jesus the Christ!!! He is already here! He is Jesus! We must come to Him! On His terms!
Humble ourselves before Him and ask for His mercy and grace. He will forgive, heal, and transform us when we come to Him in faith.
We need to hear what the Lord has to say to us through His word and by His Holy Spirit. The foolish man hears what the Lord says but does not allow the truth to affect the way he lives. Hearing from the Lord is not the only needful thing…
Doing what He says:
• James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
We must put the truth we hear from the Lord into practice in our lives. If we just listen and nod our heads and give our agreement, but never allow the Lord to change the way we live, then we are missing it. Look what Jesus said in a few verses of Matthew 7.
• 24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
• 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
• 26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
• 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
The words of Jesus are so life-filled and practical, meaning real! If we hear and do what Jesus taught, we will be like the wise person who built on the rock and withstood the storm. And of course, our greater motivation will be to honor Jesus and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Then second to withstand:
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand (that’s defense) in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (that’s offense). (Ephesians 6:13).
The great Apostle Paul, in a Roman prison, saw in the uniform of his guard soldier a picture of what we as Christians are going to need in order to be what God has called us to be in the world. And he saw both defense and offense.
Interlocking, interdependent, like a horse and carriage, you can’t have one without the other!
Paul would say to us, first, you do need to have that good defense. The best offense is a good defense. You need to know that you are engaged in a battle that is more than what it seems on the surface.
You are engaged in a battle with the forces of evil, with the cunning tactics of the evil one. We are dealing, says Paul, not with mere flesh and blood, but with the wily strategies of evil, and you are no match for that by yourself.
• For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesian 6:12)
So put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand!
When you catalog the things we are up against, you have to admit that they do seem super-human, and they do seem to be more than merely flesh and blood and what the natural man can handle.
But our God has given us the means of escape!!!
• St. John 1:12: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
That word power comes from the Greek word exousia (ex-oo-see’-uh) meaning in the sense of ability, privilege, force, freedom, authority, right, liberty and strength over all the power of the enemy. Talking about None Can Withstand!!!
Talking about us having the power, we have the power sons of God!!!
• Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
• Acts 1:8: You shall receive power (dunamis [miraculous power]) after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
You are up against what Paul calls the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (which includes preachers not preaching the fullness of God’s power resident within us right now).
And who are we against all that? Again, God said None Can Withstand us!
• Luke 21:15: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
This means we must be on the defensive. This means we must be well-equipped to protect ourselves against all that would destroy us. This means there are things we must be ready to withstand.
And so Paul reminds us that our gracious God has provided us with defensive equipment, with armor well suited to keep us; some of the pieces of equipment Paul saw on his guard are clearly defensive items.
He looked up and saw the soldier’s belt, for example, and spoke of having our loins girded with truth and knowledge to know how life should be lived in order to end confusion in our own minds. The belt was there to organize the rest of the soldier’s equipment.
It is important to have a good defense. Maybe that is the best offense!
The phrase “full armor of God” comes from Ephesians 6:13-17:
“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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Ephesians 6:12 clearly indicates that the conflict with Satan is spiritual, and therefore no tangible weapons can be effectively employed against him and his minions. We are not given a list of specific tactics Satan will use. However, the passage is quite clear that when we follow all the instructions faithfully, we will be able to stand, and we will have victory regardless of Satan’s strategy.
The first element of our armor is truth (verse 14). This is easy to understand, since Satan is said to be the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Deception is high on the list of things God considers to be an abomination. A “lying tongue” is one of the things He describes as “detestable to Him” (Proverbs 6:16-17). We are therefore exhorted to put on truth for our own sanctification and deliverance, as well as for the benefit of those to whom we witness.
Also in verse 14, we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate shielded a warrior’s vital organs from blows that would otherwise be fatal. This righteousness is not works of righteousness done by men. Rather, this is the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan and secures our innermost being from his attacks.
Verse 15 speaks of the preparation of the feet for spiritual conflict. In warfare, sometimes an enemy places dangerous obstacles in the path of advancing soldiers. The idea of the preparation of the gospel of peace as footwear suggests what we need to advance into Satan's territory, aware that there will be traps, with the message of grace so essential to winning souls to Christ. Satan has many obstacles placed in the path to halt the spreading of the gospel of truth. So you must have your feet shod with the gospel (good news – glad tidings of unconditional love, eternal life, joy, divine health, etc).
The shield of faith spoken of in verse 16 makes Satan's sowing of doubt about the faithfulness of God and His Word ineffective. Our faith—of which Christ is “the author and perfecter”, (Hebrews 12:2), is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial.
The helmet of salvation in verse 17 is protection for the head, keeping viable a critical part of the body. We could say that our way of thinking needs preservation. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure gospel hope of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine or give way to Satan’s temptations. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because he is without the helmet of salvation and his mind is incapable of discerning between spiritual truth and spiritual deception.
• 1 Corinthians 2:14: But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Verse 17 interprets itself as to the meaning of the sword of the Spirit—it is the Word of God. While all the other pieces of spiritual armor are defensive in nature, the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon in the armor of God and it will also defend. It speaks of the holiness and power of the Word of God. A greater spiritual weapon is not conceivable. In Jesus' temptations in the desert, the Word of God was always His overpowering response to Satan. What a blessing that the same Word is available to us!!! Matthew 4 Jesus said 3 times It is written!
- Vs 4: Jesus said, “It is written”!
- Vs 7: Jesus said, “It is written”!
- Vs 10: Jesus said, “It is written”!
In verse 18, we are told to pray in the Spirit (that is, with the mind of Christ, with His heart and His priorities) in addition to wearing the full armor of God. We cannot neglect prayer, as it is the means by which we draw spiritual strength from God. Without prayer, without reliance upon God, our efforts at spiritual warfare are empty and futile. The full armor of God—truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer—are the tools God has given us, through which we can be spiritually victorious, overcoming Satan’s attacks and temptations.
I must speak not only for withstanding, but also for standing.
The offense equipment in Romans 13:12 and 2 Corinthians 6:7 will enable you to stand.
For without these two pieces of armor, “light” and “truth”, the armor in Ephesians 6 will not fit properly!
First of all we need light to see where we going:
- Psalm 119:105: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
The "lamp" will cause you to see where to safely place your feet and the "light" unto your path will give you a clearer and broader view of where you're headed!
And its truth that will make us free. What truth? The revelation (understanding; knowing) that Jesus "is come", and we have eternal life, perfect peace, divine health, dominion, authority and power right here and right now, because He "is resident within us". We don't have to sail off beyond the blue to have it, it's contained in us by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, who is Jesus Christ Himself!
- John 8:32: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
- John 14:6: I am the way, the truth, and the life!
Romans13:12: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
[This “light” is from the root word “phos”, denoting “light as reaching the mind” that expresses “knowledge” – having the mind of Christ, thinking as He thinks and seeing as He sees by having the “single eye”]
- Matthew 6:22: If therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light!
- 2 Corinthians 6:7: By the “word of truth”, by the power of God, by the “armor of righteousness” on the right hand and on the left,
Remember what God said in Isaiah eleven about the rod that would come out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots:
- Vs 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
- Vs 3: And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
- Vs 4: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
- Vs 5: And "righteousness" shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Jesus is this "Righteous armor" that we must put on so that what's contained in Him is in us!
- Jeremiah 23:5: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in the earth.
- Vs 6: In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
As we grow in Him we too become who He is: 2 Corinthians 5:21: For hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.
- 1John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world!
So having the “word of truth” is receiving that which God teaches us by His Spirit and us speaking not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual
- (1 Corinthians 2:13): Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
- (John 16:13): Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come (and he is here), he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.
Stand at attention and hear the Lord’s cry forward!
Stand up and be ready to march forward and claim new ground!
But stand in order to withstand!!!
If you feel today like the evil around you is prevailing in some way or another, then call on the hand of God; the hand of the Living God. Stay close to Him today and He will be your strength to succeed to intervene and save you from harm. Remember, no matter what happens in the world, nothing will be able to withstand you!
Clap your hands and give God the praise!!!
Prayer:
Lord, I am ever reminded that nothing can overcome Your power. You are
in control of everything, and I rest underneath Your hand of power. Lord,
protect Your people today and let Your mighty hand be upon me, upon us, for I know that nothing can withstand You! In Jesus’ Name, amen!
Evangelist Jackie Burton