Finally Be Strong In The Lord (The Correct Response To Our Troubled Times)

Finally Be Strong In The Lord

AND LISTEN – though there are many more names and titles that we could dive into…

We are only going to discuss 2 more…

• I Am The Resurrection And The Life

(found in John 11), and

• Our Lord Jesus Christ

(a title used 60 times in the New Testament... 3 times in Acts, 4 times by Peter, 2 times by Jude, 2 times by James and 49 times in Paul’s letters)

HOWEVER THIS MORNING - I felt compelled once again to jump out of this series (like we did a few weeks back when we talked about, ‘Blessed Are The Peacemakers’)

IN ORDER - to talk about something that I feel is imperative for us to understand, in light of the struggles that our nation is going through at this present time.

NOW – the title for today’s conversation is very creative, it’s the first six words of Ephesians chapter 6:10…

"Finally, Be Strong In The Lord.”

UNDERSTAND - contrary to what we may think, see, feel.. OR WHAT OTHERS - may want us to believe…

OUR STRUGGLES – (even the current one that we are facing as a people and as a nation)

ARE NOT – ultimately against flesh and blood,

ARE NOT – ultimately against people

NOW – I don’t know about you…

BUT – for me this can be extremely hard for me to keep sight of at times.

UNDERSTAND B/S – there are always things going on in our world that are far beyond what our eyes are able to see…

“There are cataclysmic clashes and causalities. It’s unlikely that any of us will make it out alive, and no one will escape unscathed. All around us unseen bullets ricochet, and lives are devastated in the heat of the unnoticeable battle. Our eyes are closed to the spiritual narrative unfolding around us, but deep down we all are dimly aware that some poignant drama unfolds on this earth.”

– Greg Pruett (Extreme Prayer)

AGAIN - there are always things going on in our world that are far beyond what our eyes are able to see…

THEREFORE – as Peter warned us, we must…

Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith

- 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)

AND LISTEN – the apostle John in his Revelation paints this powerful picture… of our enemy as a dragon that has declared war on the followers of Jesus.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

– Revelation 12:17

The dragon was what? Enraged

And He went of to do what? to wage war

In the book ‘The Hobbit,’ J.R.R. Tolkien’s tells the story of a little guy named Bilbo Baggins who joins up with a remnant of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home.

The only problem is that a deadly dragon (named Smaug) now lives on that mountain.

Therefore, Bilbo and company need to be careful and not simply walk back to their old home without being mindful of his presence. As Tolkien writes…

“It does not do, to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

The fact is Maple Grove we too, live near a dragon.

UNDERSTAND – satan who was thrown down from heaven now prowls about the earth, and if we want to stay faithful we must be aware of his attacks.

The apostle Paul warned us in 2 Corinthians 2:11, that we must not let… “satan… outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes”

QUESTION – so, how exactly will the devil try to outwit and devour us.

LIKE – what are his schemes?

AND LISTEN – one thing that we must keep in mind, is that satan is not the equal opposite of God.

LIKE - he is not the ‘dark side of the force’ with the same power as the ‘light side’ of the force.

YOU SEE – while he is very powerful, he is not all powerful as our God is. AND – he also (unlike our God) is not all present, and he therefore cannot be everywhere at the same time. HOWEVER…

SINCE – satan, is such a cunning and intelligent schemer, he has devised an effective strategy to leverage his influence, for the largest maximum impact on our world.

SPECIFICALLY – satan targets societal structures and institutions that hold the greatest influence over vast numbers of people.

YOU SEE – he knows that if he can corrupt this smaller number of people who control these large cultural structures, then those institutions and structures will do his work for him, in the lives of thousands or even millions of people.