In this final message we want to look at the last chapter of Ephesians. Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.” The Greek word for empowered has the same root as the word for power in chapters one and three. This power is a dynamo; it is an energizing power and an exploding power. Here the word is used in the verb form, which means “to be energized, to be made powerful.” Hence, the proper rendering of this word is “be empowered.”
Verse 11 says, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.” Furthermore, verses 13 and 14a say, “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. Stand therefore....” Verses 17 and 18 continue, “And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.”
Ephesians 3 tells us that the great power is already in us. Then, before the close of the book, chapter six tells us that we need to be empowered. Actually, we have already been empowered. We already have the power, but now we need to be strengthened by that power. Hence, chapter six is no doubt a continuation of chapter three. The power is not outside of us; it is in us. So now we need to be strengthened with this power.
My burden in this message is to fellowship with you about standing. If you have not seen the revelations in the first five chapters of Ephesians, I can assure you that you will not know where to stand. However, if you have seen what is in the first five chapters, from now on you need to stand. Where do you stand? Of course, you need to stand in the revelations seen in the first five chapters. Suppose after reading these messages, you begin to study other things. Once you do this, you may be pulled away by these things. Even without this, you may still fall away from the visions you have seen. Thus, you need to stand in the visions which you have seen.
You have seen the vision of God’s eternal purpose, so you need to stand in God’s eternal purpose. You have seen the vision of the all-inclusive Christ, so you need to stand in the all-inclusive Christ. You have seen the vision of the Spirit, so you need to stand in the Spirit. You have seen that the unsearchable riches of Christ and His great power are in you and that you do not need to use outward human effort to improve your behavior or to be broken. You have seen that what you need is to let Christ’s riches and power be expressed through you. Since you have seen these things, you need to stand in them.
Keep in mind that in chapter one Paul did not speak about standing. If at the outset in chapter one, Paul had said, “You need to stand,” then I would ask him, “Brother Paul, where do you want me to stand? Should I stand on the elementary lessons of character cultivation in Confucianism? Should I stand on the lessons of the cross?” The reason we do not have to ask him where we should stand is because he tells us clearly in the first five chapters. We need to stand in the fullness of Christ, which is the church. We need to stand in the new man, who is also the church. We need to stand in the visions we have seen.
Today many Christian preachers preach from Ephesians with a very natural view, saying, “Oh, brothers, make sure that you do not fall! As young people you are often tempted to go to the movies. Some may even try to persuade you to go to dancing parties. However, you need to stand! Stand by the might of the Lord’s strength!” This is the kind of standing spoken of by Christians in general. It is a shame if we still speak of standing in this way. After all these messages, our eyes should be opened to see where we should stand. We should stand in our visions-in God’s eternal purpose, in the all-inclusive Christ, in the unsearchable riches of Christ, and in the great power.
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