Be Strong in the Lord

Introduction: Your Fighting a Battle You Can’t Win

Quick Review:

Chapters 1-3 on the gloriouse Gospel of our Salvation.

Chapters 4-6 on our sanctification.

If you are going to faithfully walk with the Lord, you are going to face opposition.

“The great preacher John Wesley was riding along on his horse one day when he realized that three days had passed, and he had not been persecuted in any way. Not a single brick had been thrown in his direction. He had not been hit by an egg, or come under some form of attack. So he actually stopped his horse and said out loud, "Could it be that I am backslidden or I have sinned?" Slipping down from his horse, he knelt on one knee and asked the Lord to show him if there was anything wrong with him spiritually. About that time a farmer who disliked Wesley came along. When he saw him kneeling in prayer, he picked up a brick and threw it at him, barely missing the preacher. When Wesley saw the brick fly by, he threw his hands in the air and he said, "Thank you, Lord! I know I still have Your presence."

1. Be Strong in the Lord Because His Strength is All You Have. v10

John 15:1-5 ““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

2. Be Strong in the Lord Because He Will Arm You For the Battle. v11

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

3. Be Strong in the Lord Because You’re Fighting and Enemy You Cannot Defeat. v11b

1 Peter 5:6-10 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

4. Be Strong in the Lord because You Are Fighting and enemy you cannot see. v12

Not flesh and blood

Powerful

Spiritual forces

Wicked

Heavenly places

5.Be strong in The Lord Because You Are Fighting an Enemy that He has already defeated

Colossians 2:11-15 “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He amade a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

Conclusion: God is Creating Weakness in You so that you can be strong in Him

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with bdifficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”