Be Strong In The Lord

Real strength

? Is not a matter of mere muscle power.

? Is not just brute force.

? Is not determined by how much weight you can lift.

? Is not represented in Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan or even Superman.

Strength that matters

? Is a thing of character, will, determination.

? Is a matter of the inner man, the spirit and soul.

? Is faith-based.

? Is grace given.

The individual who is truly a strong person is one who knows he or she is a weak one endowed with strength from the Lord.

When Paul was suffering an undefined “thorn in the flesh” he felt weak and appealed to God 3 times to remove it. God didn’t remove it, but said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

Paul concluded, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT).

And to the Ephesians Paul wrote, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV).

Sometimes we may all feel that our faith is weak and we feel like throwing in the towel – but far more enduring and powerful than the energizer bunny is the strength God breathes into those who trust Him.

That’s why David could say, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” Psalms 28:7 (NASB).

“Be strong in the Lord!” I want to share three observations about that from the text.

But to assist in doing that I want to tell a story. It’s called “The Man From La Mancha.” It’s sort of reverse illustration because the main character demonstrates what NOT to do!

In the story, Alonso Quixano, a man who called himself “Don Quixote” is a middle-aged gentleman from La Mancha in central Spain.

He became obsessed with the chivalrous ideals of knighthood he read about in books. He decided to become a knight, to take up his lance and sword and to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked.

His first problem was that he only had a rusty old suit of armor and a weather-beaten nag for a horse. His armor would be useless in any serious battle. Not so God’s armor. We, too, have a need for armament, and that brings me to the first observation. We need to

I. PUT ON THE RIGHT ARMOR:

A. Notice the text again:

1. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

a. The thought is borrowed from the typical armor worn by Roman soldiers. SHOW image. Paul uses this imagery in order to parallel the thought of the armor of God.

b. In another place he wrote, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV).