How to Be a Strong Christian

HOW TO BE A STRONG CHRISTIAN

Ephesians 6:10–24 KJV 1900

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you 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 with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

When a founder has cast his bell he does not at once put it into the steeple, but tries it with the hammer, and beats it on every side, to see if there be a flaw. So when Christ converts a man he does not at once convey him to heaven, but suffers him to be beaten upon by many temptations and afflictions, and then exalts him to his crown. As snow is of itself cold, yet warms and refreshes the earth, so afflictions, though in themselves grievous, keep the Christian's soul warm and make it fruitful.—Mason.

Four times in this short passage we are told to stand. We are to occupy what God has given us and to not retreat nor to let Satan make inroads.

Too many Christians today are mowed down by a failure to stand their ground in the Lord. We sit and walk and stand all at the same time.

If we only sit and do not walk, then we rest so much in grace that we do not contribute any practical good to this world.

If we walk and do not sit, we become insecure and uncertain of our walk and our salvation in Christ.

And we cannot stand really without successfully walking and sitting.

We become strong, Paul says, as we put on God's full armor, so that, having sat with Christ in heavenly places, we are now walking with Him, we can stand by, putting on the full armor of God so that we may know the devil's schemes. The devil is our adversary, our slanderer, our accuser. The person who continually reminds us of our failures and who attempts to deceive us.

The first thing that would go on the Roman soldier was the belt or the girdle.

Roman Soldiers Girdle

1. The purpose of the belt was the draw the robes up. The robe could have been one down to the feet. But unless you have a belt on, you're going to be tripping on your robe and you're not going to have the freedom of movement, as you get involved in combat or battle or moving around. The purpose of cinching the belt was to gird yourself so that in the activity of battle you have complete freedom to maneuver any direction you want. The soldier's first duty, in terms of getting on his armor or his dress, was to fasten this around his waist.

2. "This is our first duty as a believer as well. We must put truth around us." It is so important to put truth around our lives. Because if we are living our own lives with our family experience, with other persons, or even with God, by playing games that are dishonest, we do not have freedom of movement to maneuver with the enemy.

3. He knows that there are dark patches in our life that he's got us trapped in. If there is something that I have learned about Satan that will absolutely drive him out of your life is that there are two things he cannot stand. One is love. Expressions of love. And he cannot stand truth. Truth is like having a thousand-watt light on the corner of a dark parking lot. He just cannot maneuver at all when the truth is on.

Romans Soldier’s Breastplate

1. The purpose of this was to create an inner defense. If somebody is shooting an arrow, the first thing the arrow's going to hit is the shield. If it's deployed properly, the first thing to stop the arrow will be the shield.

2. But sometimes, the shield is not deployed properly and the arrow gets past the shield and it will hit the breastplate, strike the heart.

3. The inner defense of the Christian is really integrity or character. It is what we are in our true selves. When you have integrity, your life is really put together in Christ. We can resist attacks coming against us.

Roman Soldier’s Shoes

1. It's possible that these also had kind of shin guards with them. They're very light. They're not heavy, boot-like kinds of things.

Shoes

2. if they were heavy boots, they wouldn't provide a real quick movement. It's kind of hard to fight in any sort of warfare with bare feet.

3. You want to wear something that has the ability to get you from one place to another quickly. Paul is therefore telling us that we're to wear the right shoes, shoes that are ready to take us to spread the gospel of peace. In other words, we must think of our feet as always being ready to move quickly on any occasion where there might be an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Shield Of Faith

1. It's possible that a Roman shield was 4.5 feet long and 2.5 feet wide. They were almost body size. Some of the Roman shields were coated with leather, and were treated in such a way that some of the instruments of war were fiery darts, flaming missiles that were shot against a person.

2. The leather and whole armor was treated in such a way that the fiery dart would hit it and fall to the ground without of course injuring the soldier who was defending himself.

3. The purpose of the shield of faith is to get out there and to defend against the missiles coming in. What the apostle Paul is saying in our lives is that faith is a vital part of our armaments. Faith is our outer defense. It is where we first meet the missiles that are set against our way. The arrows of the enemy will fall at our feet if we will use faith.

The Helmet

Scripture says we need something solid on our heads. Salvation is a protector for us. When a missile comes, if we miss it with the shield, if it is higher than the breastplate of righteousness, it will fall against the helmet and not injure us.

2. Those of you who ride motorcycles know how important this is. The head is vulnerable. That's the case of the doubts of the enemy that come against our mind. We're to put over our mind the helmet of salvation, realizing we are truly God's people. I must get it in my head that God will protect me and care for me.

Sword Of The Spirit

By the time all is on, one has to use both hands; one for the shield and one to rip out the sword.

2. The sword, which is used to represent the Word of God—we have to think about the way in which God's Word can be used in our lives.

3. I think of Scriptures that God has made especially meaningful to my life. It's a sword in my hands against the enemy. The Scripture of all the Scriptures that has had most meaning for me is a strange Scripture.