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
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.