Today’s Scrip-Bit 30 May 2021 Ephesians 6:13.

Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore take unto you (take up) the whole armour of God,that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning; time to gather together for a song, a song of praise, worship and thanksgiving! And why not eh, if our eyes have opened to behold God’s great creation called the universe, in which we, mankind are celebrated as His most spectacular creation? Oh, I know the majority of us don’t behave like it, but that doesn’t stop our God from LOVING us with a fierce, true, unconditional heartfelt emotion! And for those of us who do appreciate His thrilling LOVE, it’s only right that we show our gratitude and sing His praises on this His Sabbath Day.

Now today’s song is most appropriate for these troubled and ungodly times. It’s titled ‘Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus!’ And, oh, how the world is dying to see us do that! But a little background on the song before we burst into praise. The song was written by one George Duffield Jr. (1818-1888) on the inspirational words of his dying Presbyterian preacher colleague, Dudley A. Tyng, who had been a strong anti-slavery advocate in the Philadelphia area.

It’s reputed that on his deathbed in 1858, from an unfortunate farm accident in which he lost an arm, he was asked by his friends if he had a final message. Tyng replied: ‘Tell them to stand up for Jesus.’ Later on, at Tyng’s memorial service, it’s said that Duffield preached on Ephesians 6:14, and ended his sermon by reading the text of his new hymn, ‘Stand up Stand up for Jesus.’

Wow! What an inspiring story! Now, having heard it, let’s raise our hearts, eyes, heads, hands and voices in praiseful worship and sing that awesome song like we truly mean it. And we going to sing it in a rousing reggae riddim, per Miss Carlene Davis, the famous Jamaican Gospel singer.

Altogether now: ‘Stand up, stand up for Jesus ye soldiers of the cross; lift high his royal banner, it must not suffer loss: from vict’ry unto vict’ry his army he shall lead, ’til ev’ry foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey; forth to the mighty conflict in this his glorious day: ye that are men now serve him against unnumbered foes; let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

(Chorus: Stand up, stand up, Stand up for Jesus, children stand up. Stand up, stand up, Stand up for Jesus children stand up. Yes we are standing on Christ my Saviour, standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ my saviour, standing on the promises of God. Stand up, stand up, Stand up for Jesus, children stand up. Stand up, stand up, Stand up for Jesus children stand up.)

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in his strength alone; the arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own: put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with pray’r; where duty calls, or danger, be never wanting there. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long; this day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song: to him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; he with the King of glory shall reign eternally.

Oh my fellow believers, that was a marvellous version which had all of heaven dancing and singing. But even more importantly is the urgent need we have to put what we just sang into immediate action down here on earth, because the enemy is running away with the battle while we sit on our fannies. That’s one thing we can learn from the enemy; not to sit on our fannies. Yes, we might have won the eventual battle through Christ, but in the meanwhile we have to keep that victorious spirit moving on down here on earth. We can’t ever let up, because the enemy is serious about trying to take back the ground he lost to Jesus.

And the good thing about that song is that it’s based on some very encouraging and worthwhile scriptures. Let’s look at a few of them nuh. We have already said that Duffield preached on Eph. 6:14 at Tyng’s Memorial service. And that’s a scripture we all should know very well, as it’s taken from Bruh Paul’s famous writings to the church at Ephesus on the whole spiritual armour of God. And we can see in the second to last stanza where the author refers to the entire portion of the scripture: ‘put on the gospel armour, each piece put on with pray’r; where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.’

We’ll just quote the two verses we mentioned. ‘Wherefore take unto you (take up) the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about (girded your waist) with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.’ (Eph. 6:13-14) Yes friends, we are involved in a spiritual battle and we can’t fight it successfully without the armour of God. So we need to put it on, and then stand strong!

And in the very first verse, the author characterizes us as soldiers in Christ’s army, no doubt referring to Bruh Paul’s exhortation to Timothy. ‘Thou therefore endure hardness (hardship), as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.’ (2 Tim. 2:3-4) And Christ has indeed called us to be soldiers in His army.

Then if we look at the second verse, where the writer says: ‘ye that are men now serve him against unnumbered foes; let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.’ That certainly resembles Bruh Paul’s exhortation to the church at Corinth: ‘Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men (be brave), be strong.’ (1 Cor. 16:13)

And the last scripture we’ll check out is the one concerning the part of the hymn that says: ‘to him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; he with the King of glory shall reign eternally.’ That seems to come from Revelation 2:10, where Jesus promises: ‘Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried (tested); and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.’

Oh my people, what better way to end today’s Bit eh, than by reminding us to stand strong, and endure the temptation and tribulation brought upon us by the enemy, so that at the end, we can have that glorious crown of life so faithfully promised by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Much LOVE!

…the world’s a battlefield…and Christ’s followers…are expected to fight on His behalf…

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