STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS

 

Stand up, Stand up for Jesus is a song that we sing from time to time and I believe that it has strong message that we can learn from. Paul tells us in,

 

Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

 

I am going to show how this song can be used to edify, admonish, and encourage when we pay attention to the words and think about their meaning. When this song was written, it actually had 6 lines, but now it has 4, and these 4 lines are the ones we are going focus on. For our purpose today, we will look at different parts of each line and see what we can learn from them. Let us begin with line 1.

 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus!

 

Every line starts out this way and this does not simply mean that we stand up when we  sing this song. No, it means that we are stand up for the cause of Christ. It means that we are to be actively doing what we can to defend the truth and share it with others, and we certainly cannot do that if we sit around and do nothing. The writer continues and says:

 

Ye soldiers of the cross; Lift high His royal banner, It must not suffer loss:

 

When you study history, you find that when soldiers would go to battle sometimes they would have banner that represented their nation or their king and a soldier would carry this banner into battle because it meant a lot to those soldiers. If the soldier carrying the banner was killed, another soldier would pick up the banner and carry it in his place because it was that important.

 

We can relate to this when come to our flag. Most of us are proud to be Americans and we love what our flag represents, and we cringe when someone decided to burn the flag out of protest because we know what our flag represents and that it came at the high cost of solider lives.

 

As Christians, we need to realize that when we became Christians we signed up in the Lord’s army. Everyone of us is a Christian soldier. Paul told Timothy,

 

2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

 

We are not fighting a physical war, we are fighting a spiritual one, but we must stand up as Christian soldiers and face our enemy. As we battle against the evil way we must lift high the royal banner, which represents what we believe in what we are willing to fight for. The reason, it must not suffer loss is because every Christian solider looks to the royal banner that represents the righteous way and the hope of eternal salvation.

 

So, in a spiritual sense, if one soldier drops that royal banner, then another needs to pick it up and keep it high. The writer continues to say:

 

From vict’ry unto vict’ry His army shall He lead, Till ev’ry foe is vanquished, For Christ is Lord in deed.

 

 Jesus is the head of the church, and He knows how to help in our time of need. He has given us all the tools we need to win against our enemies because He has given us the power of His blood and the sword of the spirit, which is God’s truth. As Paul says,

 

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes

 

Whenever we resist the devil in the faith, he must flee according James 4:7. We have an advantage over the devil because we know his tactics and we can be prepared for them when we use the Word of God effectively.

 

When Christ comes again, the final enemy that will be vanquished is death itself.

 

1 Corinthians 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.  26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

 

Christ has shown us that He has power over death, and we are promised that we will be raised from the dead as well, which is why Paul says:

 

1 Corinthians 15:54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."  55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

 

All this will be possible because Christ is Lord indeed. Next, we will look at the 2nd line in its entirety.

 

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 danger, And strength to strength oppose.

 

When you look at some of the battles of old it was not uncommon for them to commence there attack when the trumpet was sounded. Before radio and or wireless communication this was the best way for the soldiers to know that it was time for them to charge against their enemy.

 

As soldiers of Christ, we have been called to duty. We must obey the trumpet call of God’s truth. As soldiers, we must follow the commands of our leadership, which is found within the Word of God.

 

Just as soldier in an earthly army will obey the commands of his leader and not question the orders given to him, we must not question or rebel against the orders give to us by our commander in chief Jesus Christ. We must learn to respect the chain of command, and realize that God has all the wisdom and answers. We must learn to trust in God an rely on His Wisdom, otherwise we may lose the battle against our enemy.

 

Our attitude should be the same as Peters and Johns who were told not to speak about Jesus anymore by the opposing Jews of their day, but they said,

 

Acts 4:19 "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.  20 "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

 

While man can kill us physically or persecute us, they cannot touch our soul because it belongs to God. So, don’t fear man, fear God who can destroy both the body and the soul. No mater how many foes we may face, we must stand up and serve God knowing that we are pleasing Him and glorifying His name on the earth.

 

Even when you feel that that your back is against the wall and your life is in danger, as the writer of our song taught, let your courage increase and use all your strength to oppose the strength of your enemy. As Paul clearly stated:

 

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,  18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

Next is our 3rd line:

 

Stand up, stand up for Jesus? Stand in His strength alone;

The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own;

 

When we do take a stand for Jesus, we need to realize that we are not alone, nor should we every stand on our own. If we rely on ourselves in our spiritual battle, we will eventually fail because our flesh is weak. But when we learn to trust in God and allow Him to work through us, we can accomplish great things as the writer of:

 

Psalm 37:1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.  2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.  3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.  5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.  6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.  7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

 

The worse thing we can do is rely on ourselves or rely on others to help us in our pursuit of salvation because others will fail us, and we will fail ourselves, but God will never fail us.

 

Psalm 146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

 

Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

 

Paul understood this idea, which why he said he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Jeremiah gives a good illustration of what a child of God is like when he allows God to be his strength.

 

Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

 

When you engage your enemy the devil and those who oppose the righteous way remember, when God is on your side, you will have all the strength you need to stand up for Jesus.

 

The writer of the song goes on to tells how we can be prepared to use the strength of God.

 

Put on the gospel armor, And watching unto prayer;

Where duty call, or danger, never be wanting there.

 

When a regular army goes out to fight their foe, they don’t just throw on some shoes and regular clothes, and they don’t just decide to go fight. No, the soldiers are trained on how to fight, and they are given the proper body army, tools, and the weapons they need to succeed when duty calls, no matter how dangerous it may be, they will not be wanting because they will not be unprepared.

 

The same thing is true when it comes to the Christian soldier. They must train themselves from the Word of God so they can get to know their enemy and how he works. They must put on the full armor of God so they can have the proper protection, and they will become even stronger as the use the power of prayer. Because when they pray they will know that God is listening and that He will be ready and willing to help them in their time of need.

 

Paul explains this in Ephesians 6, which is what this song we are studying is based on.

 

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  13 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.  14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;  18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints --  19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,  20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

 

If you want to have the strength to stand up for Jesus and to put the devil at bay, you need to get into God’s Word everyday, because if you do not train with the sword of the Spirit, then your not going to be prepared to fight your enemy. God has given us everything we need to know about being successful in our spiritual battle, but it is up to us to use the tools we have and to train with them.

 

Of course we should never ignore the power of prayer because it is another tool that God has given us that allows not only to praise God, but to ask Him for help with our problems and our struggles. Through the blood of Christ, we can come boldly before the thrown of Grace and make our request known to God. When we do these things, we will be ready to be called to duty no matter how dangerous it may be and we will not be wanting when we begin our spiritual battle.

 

Lets examine the last line of the song.

 

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.

 

The song writer is wanting us to understand that we will not have to fight the spiritual battle forever because it will only last as long as we are living. In comparison to eternity, as James says our life is but a vapor. While the battle may seem long, it is not that long and before you know it, it will be time for the victor’s song because when your physical life is over and you have fought the good fight of faith and have overcome the devil by remaining faithful to God, you can know that there is crown of life waiting for you in eternity.

 

Paul describes it this way:

 

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.  25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

 

Jesus said,

 

Revelation 2:10 "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

 

Revelation 2:7  To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '

Revelation 2:11  He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death

 

If we ever start thinking that the battle is going on to long and we begin go give up, we need remind ourselves that the battle is not long at in comparison to eternity and when we think about our goal of getting to heaven, it will help us to refocus our efforts because we should have a strong desire to finish our race and receive our crown of glory.

 

When we accomplish this and know that we have fought the good fight of faith, we can know that we will have rest as:

 

Revelation 14:13  'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them."

 

We can be confident that we will get to be with the King of glory forever in heaven.

 

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

1 Peter 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

 

Paul is a great example of man who stood up for Jesus and remained faithful until the end of his life. Since he believed in the promise of God, he said:

 

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

 

I hope all of us hear today will stand up for Jesus and as soldiers of Christ and do all those things this song suggest that we do, because if we do, we can say the same thing that Paul did at the end of his life, which means heaven will be our home. So, don’t every stop standing up for Jesus.