BE STRONG IN HIS POWER

BE STRONG IN HIS POWER (first in series on Spiritual Warfare) Ephesians 6:10-12 April 25, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory I want to ask you to make a biblical affirmation with me, so please stand, and repeat these lines after me (they’re right out of the New Testament) I am a Christian, and I am a soldier I am redeemed and I am recruited The Lord is my Captain The Devil is my enemy I need not fear, I will not retreat My destiny is sure Because Jesus has conquered the devil At the cross and the empty tomb Victory is certain and my future is sure So I will stand and be strong in His power I will wear my spiritual armor And be fully protected From the enemy’s attack I am strong in battle Because Jesus already won I am confident in my walk Because Jesus empowers me I can stand against Satan’s schemes Because Jesus is greater in me Than the devil is around me And Christ has won, Christ has won My victory! We are beginning a new series of study from the Bible this week. It is on the topic of Spiritual Warfare. That excites some of you because you’ve been doing battle big time with the enemy lately and you’re looking for some encouragement. It scares some of you, because you’ve heard some pretty kooky stuff in the past under the guise of Spiritual Warfare, and you’re understandably skittish. I want to assure each of us this morning of a couple of things-the teaching I will do for the next couple weeks out of Ephesians 6 and several related passages will be solidly biblical, the applications will be rooted in real life, and you will feel equipped for your service for the Lord. I also want to assure you that I am confident I am being led of the Holy Spirit to cover this material for at least three reasons: 1) as we experience the Lord’s blessing in moving forward as a church, we will encounter (and have encountered) spiritual resistance, in a variety of forms tailored by the devil to our peculiar weaknesses--and we need to be strong so we can stand; 2) I have sensed what I perceive pastorally to be some areas of confusion regarding what it means to be at war spiritually, and it is important to clarify exactly what we are called to and what we are not called to; and 3) there has been immense confirmation and reinforcement in recent weeks that this is where we need to go for awhile. So let’s begin with the first three verses in the section of scripture which more directly speaks to spiritual warfare than any other. Beginning at verse 10 of Ephesians, chapter six: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The apostle Paul makes it perfectly clear that we who have come to Christ are involved in a war against Satan and this whole army of dark, evil wicked powers. And he sets about telling us how we can not only survive in such a hostile encounter, but how we are to gain victory over the devil. We Christians are soldiers fighting in a war we are destined to win, but we don’t know when. In the meantime, the struggle is often fierce. And we need to be well- equipped in order to win. Let’s look first at the COMMAND. 1. The Command - Be strong . . . In 1993, Bob Wieland won the Hawaii Ironman Triathalon. That is the year he bench pressed a record 507 pounds. The year before that he ran the New York and the Los Angeles Marathons. He also completed a three year walk across America in the early 1990’s. What’s so spectacular about that? Well, several years before those feats, Bob Wieland lost both his legs in Vietnam. All his life he had dreams of being a professional athlete. So, after getting over the shock of his accident, he started specialized training, including learning how to walk on his hands. That’s right, Bob Wieland didn’t just walk across America, he walked across America on his hands! It was on a custom made bike he completed the Race Across America. Bob Wieland is truly a STRONG man. He gives credit to the Lord, and says, “I do the best I can to apply the Word of God to my life because I know it works.” In the battle against Satan, do you ever feel like you are severely handicapped? Do you ever feel like saying, “Forget this warfare talk, and let’s go back to the other nice passages like, ‘My peace I give to you...Don’t let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’.” We yearn for the tranquil life, but Jesus also said, ‘I did not come to bring peace but a sword.’ So, we must learn to be strong. Earlier in the Ephesian letter Paul prayed that we Christians would know “his incredibly great POWER...” (Eph. 1:19) In that passage he piles up one synonym after another for emphasis on this power - “working” “mighty strength” he “exerted” “rule, authority, dominion” (Eph. 1:19-21) He promises that the power God used to raise Jesus from the dead is the same power he gives to us. We need God’s strength, because our fight with the hosts of darkness is fierce and often intimidating. Paul doesn’t just say, “Be strong...” though. It would be pretty hopeless for us if he did, because our own human strength is quite anemic in the face of the enemy--we’ve proven that over and again by falling prey to his temptations. Along with the COMMAND, he extends to us CONFIDENCE 2. The Confidence - Be strong IN THE LORD, AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER... To every Christian who has ever felt immobilized with fear because he felt the weakness of his own flesh and was sure he was no match for Satan, I want to say this--You’re absolutely right! But God does not say to be strong in your OWN power! It’s HIS power He’s giving you to make you strong against the adversary! Recall that great biblical reminder we sometimes sing, the words David boldly spoke into the face of Goliath as he faced him on the battle ground, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me...All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands...” (1 Sam. 17:45-47) And when King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites were ambushed by the vast army of Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites, the Spirit of the Lord came on the prophet Jahaziel and he said, “Listen, King Jehoshaphat, and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but the Lord’s...” (2 Chron. 20:15) That word fueled a great worship service that lasted through the war and sealed the victory of Judah over her massive enemy. Let me encourage you, child of God, when the storms of doubt come against you and you feel you’re about to give in, BE STRONG IN THE LORD’S MIGHTY STRENGTH! When discouragement feels like it has just about drowned out all your hope and you feel like there is no reason to go on trusting God, BE STRONG IN THE LORD, AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER! When temptation is crushing you, and you feel like all of hell’s forces have been unleashed just to get you to say “uncle” and you don’t have the strength to even pray, remember--THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD --trust Him to get you through. He will never leave you or forsake you. And, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Is it depression? A habitual return to a comfortable sin pattern? Or anger? What is it that has become Satan’s favorite target in your soul? God is greater! Trust Him! Turn to Him in your need and admit, “I can’t, God! I need your mighty power!” He will do it! 3. The Cooperation - “Put on the full armor of God...” Just because it is God’s power, my must not get the mistaken impression that we are just passive in this whole thing. Paul says that even though it is His power we are called upon to activate that power. A couple of weeks ago my micro-cassette recorder stopped working. Now, I rely on that little thing. I don’t know about you, but my best praying, and therefore my best ideas come about while I’m driving. I try to keep this little hand-held dictaphone-type thing handy so I can speak the fresh words right into it. All of a sudden it stopped the other day, and I assumed it was the batteries, so I replaced them and it still didn’t work. I fiddled with it, turned it over several times, laid hands on it & prayed for it. Just before giving up on it, I checked the batteries once more. Then I discovered that I had put two of the batteries in backward. You know recorders don’t work when you co that! Sometimes I think believers get real upset with God because it seems to them like His power has dried up. And they stomp their spiritual feet and say, “Why hasn’t God stepped in here?” Very often it’s because they haven’t appropriated His power through believing prayer. God’s power is not automatic. If you’re not faithfully seeking Him and humbled before Him, your batteries are in backwards, and you’ll get no power. When there is no power in a Christian’s life to war against the enemy, it is not God’s fault--it’s always operator error. There is a cooperation that is necessary between the troops in the Lord’s army and their Commander-in-Chief. Look at Ephesians 3:20-21 to see it: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus...” I call this cooperation ACTIVATED FAITH. We always think we HAVE FAITH, and I guess that’s true; but I believe the Lord would make that faith into an active verb. This is what Paul is getting at when he says that it is God’s mighty power, but we still are called upon to “Be strong” and “Put on the armor”. God’s power + our “yes”. 4. The Covering - “the full armor of God” While Paul mentions the armor here, he will go into an extensive explanation of the armor in verses 13-17, and we will cover that in the weeks to come. But suffice it to say that God has provided for our absolute protection from the enemy. His will is to shepherd and guard us against the enemy who would sneak in and steal kill and destroy. So he has provided all that we need to be fully protected. While every piece of the armor is spelled out in detail in this chapter, there is an easy way to see the entire package--it is Jesus. Wearing the armor that protects us is no different from what John describes in John 15--we branches must stay attached to the vine. Brothers and sisters, if you’ve been lackadaisical about your prayer and worship before the Lord, and you’re wondering lately why you seem so vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks, wake up! How can he protect you when you don’t put him on! He is the belt of truth, but if you didn’t put him on, your spiritual britches are down before the devil! He is your breastplate of righteousness, but if you don’t wear him, you’re vulnerable. And the devil is going to step on your toes big time if you’re not prepared through devotion to Jesus to share the gospel. Your faith in him is your shield against the enemy’s fiery arrows--if you’re not holding it up in front of you, it cannot protect you. The command is to be strong in the Lord. How you do that is you stay close to him in faith, you commune with him, pray, seek him in the Word and worship, draw near... 5. The Conflict - “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.”  (vs 12) Next week I want to look more closely at the issues this verse raises in terms of levels of demonic powers and evil influences in our world. What I want to reinforce today is that we are, in fact, in a real war with a real enemy. All I read in the Bible tells me clearly that the devil is real and that he and his demonic hoards are actively trying to seduce you and me from our faith and into destruction. Every once in awhile we are reminded forcefully of the devil’s real existence and his power when we run into something that is so bizarre or so intrinsically evil. Try to explain the incident this past week in Littleton, CO without any reference to a very real and powerful force of evil in the world. And we pray that those who do not know Christ would have their eyes opened to spiritual realities by this horrible event. Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? One cold, east windy morning, I met Satan there.” I want to clearly say that, when it comes to the devil and the power he wields in our world and in our lives, we must have a clear and biblical balance. Some mistakenly think that Satan has unlimited power and can “enter in” to people and force them to do his bidding any time he wants to--even Christians. These people tend to honor the devil too much and have not yet understood or believed the whole biblical counsel on the matter. Others tend to dismiss Satan as completely harmless and unable to hurt them or their loved ones. They have forgotten that Jesus and Peter said, “Watch out, the devil like a roaring lion, is looking for someone to devour...’ (1 Peter 5:8) Peter goes on to say that the Christian must “RESIST him, standing FIRM in the faith...” These two opposite mistakes are equally dangerous to the Christian. One keeps the believer in such fear of the enemy that he is either paralyzed from service or always jousting with demonic windmills that really aren’t there. In either case that Christian is effectively neutralized as far as being an effective servant of Jesus. We’ll call this extreme FEAR, and the other one FOLLY. It is the case where the Christian simply ignores the presence and the danger of the one Jesus calls the prince of the powers of the air and the prince of this world. This believer is always vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks because of his ignorance, and can’t ever understand why he can’t seem to get anywhere in his spiritual walk. He’s Satan’s marionette, that’s why. He is able to pull a string at any time and keep the unsuspecting disciple constantly on his heels, and, again, effectively neutralized in terms of service and witness for the Lord. C.S. Lewis said, “We often err wither by ascribing too much or toolittle power to the father of lies.” What we need is biblical balance in our understanding of the devil and his ways, so that we are not ignorant of his ways. Here are a couple of facts we need to keep in mind: 1. The Satan and his devils are real and they really are out to get you. 2. Jesus has defeated Satan, even though the final sentence will not be carried out until the end of this world. (Colossians 2:15) 3. Meantime, we have the protection of the power of Jesus available to us, and it is our obligation to lay hold of it. “God is greater than our enemy, and we need not fear, because He has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love, power and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) From James Dobson’s book When God Doesn’t Make Sense - A missionary returned to his home in Africa only to find a huge python inside. He ran back to his truck and got his .45 caliber pistol. He went to his home and carefully entered through the door. The man aimed with precision and fired a single shot into the snake’s head. it was a mortal blow to the reptile but he didn’t die instantly. The missionary retreated from his as the snake’s movement broke and damaged many items within the house. After the house finally became silent, he slowly entered the house to find the snake dead. The interior of the home was a disaster as the snake had unleashed all its fury in those moments of death. But now, there was peace. Satan received a fatal shot to his head when Christ conquered sin and death. Now as he writhes in the pain of his defeat, he is unleashing a few remaining destructive blows. He still seems dangerous, but his fate is sealed..           [Top]