Finding Your Strength

Finding Your Strength

Griffith Baptist Church – 1/25/09

P.M. Service

Text: Psalm 43

Key verse: Psalms 43:2 - For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Premise: God promises us strength. So why do we find ourselves more weak than strong? What can we do to ensure power for every task?

The Introduction

A sideshow strongman was exhibiting his prowess and as a final trick he squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands and then offered ten dollars to anyone in the audience who could squeeze a single drop out of it. Several husky men tried, to no avail. Finally, a small bespectacled man came forward. He took the lemon in hand, and to the delight of the audience, managed to squeeze one more drop from the lemon. As the strongman paid out the ten dollars, he asked the man, "What is the secret of your strength. How did you manage to get that last drop?" "Oh," the man replied, "I was the treasurer of our Church for 30 years."

Discuss the text:

o Here in verse 2 the Psalmist makes the statement about God being his strength.

o God has to be, when you see the situation the Psalmist describes in verse 1.

What do you place your strength in?

It seems like spiritual strength often eludes us:

o Temptation hits us and we give in

o Discouragement enters and we despair

o We struggle in this life with so much and find defeat

How do you acquire the strength you need on a daily basis?

Having and keeping your spiritual strength is a lot like building a fortress

o There is much that needs to be done

o It requires effort and upkeep

o It is necessary for your protection as well as your shelter

Body

1. You Can’t Build It Yourself – (spiritual strength needs greater knowledge than you know)

A. Often our approach to the Christian life is like a certain congregation that was about to erect a new church building. The building committee, in consecutive meetings passed the following resolutions: 1. We shall build a new church 2. The new building is to be located on the site of the old one. 3. The material in the old building is to be used in the new one. 4. We shall continue to use the old building until the new one is completed.

B. It is a supernatural work

i. 1 Corinthians 6:19 – What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

ii. God calls us “His building” and He has made us (1st Cor. 3:9)

a. He created us physically

b. He created us spiritually

C. It requires skills we do not possess

i. God alone knows the blueprints and what it will take to build you - Philippians 2:13 – For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

ii. The proper workmanship will lead to the right results - Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

D. It is too expensive for you to afford

i. So someone else needs to pay for it, and did – Jesus Christ

ii. 1 Corinthians 6:20 - For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

2. You Need The Right Foundation – (spiritual strength has to have a good groundwork)

A. Jesus Christ

i. Salvation - Acts 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

ii. He is the foundation and the chief cornerstone (1st Cor. 3:10)

B. Apostles and Prophets

i. The Plan - Ephesians 2:20 – And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets

a. God used the prophets and apostles to establish His new spiritual house

b. He used them in their writings

c. He used them in their lives and examples

d. He used them in their proclamation

ii. The Purpose - Ephesians 4:11-13 – 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the (1)perfecting of the saints, for (2)the work of the ministry, for (3)the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: