Sermon Tone Analysis

Stand Strong \\ Ephesians 6:10-18

 

Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble."

So how can we stand?

Looking back, it’s hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have.

As children, we rode in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pickup was always a special treat.

Our baby cribs were painted lead-based paint.

We didn’t have childproof stuff like lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets.

We drank water from the faucet or hose.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on and we didn’t have cell phones.

We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank sugar drinks, but we weren’t overweight; we were always outside playing.

We had Little League & football tryouts and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn’t learned to deal with disappointment.

Some students weren’t as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade.

Yet our generation produced some of the greatest risk-takers and problem-solvers.

We had the freedom, failure, success, and responsibility, and learned how to deal with it all!

Today, Americans are obsessed with survival.

We’ve mandated seat-belts and bike helmets and banned lead-based paint.

To guard our children’s fragile self-esteem, we’ve banned dodge-ball and picking teams and keeping score.

Our favorite TV show is Survivor.

And now there is a new show that shows us how to deal with life-threatening situations--you know, the common everyday survival techniques that we need to know if we’re ever attacked by a sea urchin while walking down the streets of Redding!

We are on a never-ending quest for a long life of ease.

We’re finding its easier to pass laws than to demand personal responsibility for people’s safety.

We’ve discovered that it takes a lot less work to medicate our children than to teach them self-discipline.

Yet in spite of all our efforts, people are less prepared to overcome adversity and trial than ever before.

In America, we have worked so desperately to insulate ourselves from trials that we could never endure what Christians in other countries face every day.

We freak out if we don’t have a place to watch the big game while the people of Africa are still digging out from years of Civil Wars that has left everyone with the memories of people being slaughtered with machetes.

Truth be told, we’re not so tough.

How will we ever survive?

Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trouble."

So how can we stand?

In Ephesians 6:10-18 the Apostle Paul invites us to stand strong, vs. 10-13… Paul exhorts us to "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

Standing strong requires us to recognize there is not only the natural, but the supernatural, and we survive in both realms by being strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

A. In the natural world, we recognize our enemies and we seek to eliminate them.

When disease spreads, we research it and do all that we can to eliminate it.

The battle goes on in our fight to eliminate cancer and AIDS and the West Nile virus, but we’ve pretty well conquered polio and rubella.

We legislate more and more safety laws hoping to make accidental deaths less likely.

And, if necessary, we can sue the big corporations to make sure we don’t burn ourselves with that hot cup of coffee.

But in

B. The supernatural world, we have an enemy that won’t go away. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to "be self-controlled and alert" because "your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

I’ve seen our enemy knock off a few of our brothers and sisters, and close friends.

If we don’t know how to be strong, we can be next.

Paul tells us that standing strong means giving God glory as we live as children of light, live a life of love, and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The devil is against that!

If we are not strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, we cannot live for God’s glory.

We become useless and ineffective.

The invitation to abundant life will only be a passing dream if you will not learn to be strong.

And Prayer is the source of our strength.

So Paul exhorts us: v.13 "Therefore put on the full 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.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

(NIV)

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this about our spiritual battle: “A man who does not understand the nature of the problem he is confronting is a man who is already doomed to failure.

Christian people are like first-year college students—they think at first that every subject is quite simple, there is no difficulty.

Well, we know what is likely to happen to such when they face an examination!

The first thing you have to do is to understand the nature and character of your problem.

So we have to realize that we are called, in the Christian life, to a battle, not to a life of ease; to a battle, to warfare, to wrestle, to a struggle.”

I want to encourage you along with Paul to do two things: 1) "be strong in the Lord" and 2) "be strong…in his mighty power" so that you can stand in the battle to make Christ known by living as children of light, living a life of love, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 

1.

There is a difference between being strong in the Lord and being strong in his mighty power.

We understand that difference by going back through Ephesians.

A. Being strong in the Lord comes from understanding that we are “blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

When we understand these blessings—the wonder of being predestined as sons of God, the glory of knowing Jesus as our prize, the awe of being his workmanship, and the joy of belonging to his family—we are rooted and established in the promises of Christ and, therefore, we are strong.

Confidence in Jesus and in his promise makes us unshakable against the devil’s schemes.

God gives you the freedom to make a choice that will make you strong in him.

The strength that comes from him is available to everyone and anyone who makes the choice to be informed about who Christ is, what he has done for us, and who we are in Christ.

The challenge to be strong implies that we must remain committed to our belief that Christ blesses us with his promises.

To do otherwise is like a boxer choosing to box with his guard down.

Sooner or later, the day of evil will knock you out!

B. Being strong in his mighty power means we are not only established with him in our faith, we receive his life in us by his grace.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead comes to us by the Holy Spirit and makes us able to stand.

We not only have the information that helps us choose Christ, we have power that comes from him living in us.

We can’t earn that power.

We can’t work that power up.

We can’t educate ourselves to become eligible to receive it.

The good news is the power is part of the promise.

It is his grace toward us that the life of Christ dwells in us richly to make us able to stand.

So to be strong in the Lord and be strong in his mighty power means that we have the brains and the brawns to make our stand against the devil.

And we appropriate that power through prayer and putting on the full armor of God. vs. 14-18…

 

2.

Put on the Full Armor of God.

We put on the belt of truth by holding fast to the truths of Christ in His Word.

We put on the breastplate of righteousness when we allow the Holy Spirit to testify to our spirit that we are made right with Jesus because of Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We put on A. the sandals of the gospel of peace by not being ashamed of the gospel and allowing it to bring peace with God to all we come across in the course of our lives.

We take up the B. shield of faith by taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ.

With confidence in his promises, we take the lies and deceptions and accusations of our enemy and we cast them aside.

We need each other to do this.

This shield is not the little round metal one for hand to hand combat.

This is the front line shield that is a large rectangular wooden shield with leather stretched on it and then wet down.

These shields would lock together on the sides so when the fiery arrows of the enemy were shot they could not penetrate the united front and the wet leather would put the flames out.

We are strong in the Lord and in his mighty power when we put on C. the helmet of salvation.

When salvation is on our mind, we are not overwhelmed by the troubles of this earth or age.

The word of God is written so that we may know that we have eternal life and not be shaken by the fear of what happens after death.

Our only offensive weapon in this armor is D. the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."

But it is also good at destroying.

Every other piece of the armor defends us.

But God’s word is a double-edged sword.

Who can withstand it?

When the devil tried to destroy Jesus in the desert before his ministry even started, Jesus slam-dunked him with Scripture.

When you and I are confronted with the fiery darts of wicked thoughts, we destroy that flesh with the written Word of God.

This battle is not like Rocky.