INTRO.- There is strength and there is strength.
ILL.- A young strong man at the construction site was bragging that he could outdo anyone in a feat of strength. He kept making fun of one of the older workers. After several minutes, the older worker had had enough.
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is," he said. "I will bet a week's wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won't be able to wheel back." "You're on, old man," the braggart replied. "Let's see what you got."
The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then, nodding to the young man, he said, "all right, get in." There is strength of body and strength of mind. And strength of spirit.
Genesis 39:2-23 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph’s care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house. (run Joseph, run!)
13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. Joseph was strong in faith, which counts for more than physical strength.
I Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
II Timothy 2:1 “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Psalm 18:32 “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 105:4 “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”
Our real strength comes from the Lord, His Word and His Spirit!
PROP.- The apostle Paul tells what it means to be strong in Christ.
1- We access God’s armor
2- We recognize God’s enemy
3- We serve God’s saints
I. WE ACCESS GOD’S ARMOR
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Put on the full armor of God. We don’t know much about putting on armor but back in the OT times the people put on armor to fight against the enemy. We must do the same, only our armor is not metal or material, but rather spiritual. Joseph’s armor was spiritual and so with Daniel, the three Hebrew boys who were thrown in the fiery furnace, etc.
ILL.- One preacher places a high value on education because he just got his doctorate degree in religion. He even proudly displayed his new pulpit gown on his facebook page. And he now calls himself the “Reverend Doctor.”
My friend writes some good sermons but I don’t know if he thinks calling himself “Rev. Dr.” is going to give him more authority with his congregation or not, but I’ll tell two areas where his doctorate won’t give him any more strength or any more authority: Number one, with God. And number two, with Satan.
Brothers and sisters, if we want strength to resist and/or overcome Satan it won’t come from man’s wisdom or devices. IT MUST COME FROM THE LORD. We must get our strength and armor from the Lord in order to be strong in the faith.
Here is the armor that we need to put on: truth, righteousness (that comes from Christ), readiness to share the gospel, faith (comes from what?), salvation from Christ, and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Simply put: We get our strength from Him. If we don’t, we have any strength. The human flesh and spirit will fail.
2 Corinthians 12:9-11 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
II. WE RECOGNIZE GOD’S ENEMY
ILL.- Preacher Wayne Smith from Lexington, KY, told this story many years ago in one of his sermons. It seems this boxer was getting beat up in nearly every round. He could barely drag himself back to the corner after each round. His trainer kept saying to him, “Go out there and get him. He hasn’t laid a glove on you.”
Finally, after being beat to a pulp, the fighter said to his trainer, “I’m going out there this round and I’m going to get him, but you keep your eye on that referee because somebody out there is beating the devil out of me!”
Do you know who is beating the devil out of you? It’s not the referee! It’s your opponent in the ring with you and his name is called Satan. It’s not some human person.
12 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.
Occasionally, we have people who give us trouble. Maybe someone at work or elsewhere, but we must realize: THEY ARE NOT THE ENEMY. They are not even our enemy. They may act like they are our enemies but in reality, they are not. Our enemy is the devil.
ILL.- I was involved in a local ministerial alliance in a big way when I preached in MO. I think there were only five churches in town and almost every minister participated. One day one of the preachers came to that meeting, armed and ready to argue with every other minister. He just knew that his church and doctrine was exactly right and all the other churches had flawed doctrine.
Well, he started in on every preacher, quoting scripture trying to point where he thought they were wrong in some area of doctrine or church practice. And how foolish he was! HE DIDN’T KNOW WHO THE ENEMY WAS! He was fighting with other preachers who believed strongly inthe Lord Jesus even if they didn’t have the same church practices!
I wonder what God thought of him and of us when we fight with other believers!
We must always recognize who the real enemy is! And even non-believers are not the enemy. They may play in the hands of enemy but they are not our enemies! They need Jesus! PLEASE RECOGNIZE WHO THE REAL ENEMY IS!
III. WE SERVE GOD’S SAINTS
18 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.
We serve God’s saints by serving them in prayer. And this gives us great strength. The more you pray for others, the stronger you get spiritually. Strength comes through service.
Matthew 20:26-28 “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If Jesus came to serve, what should we do? If He lowered Himself to serve then we must do this as well.
Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful
nature ; rather, serve one another in love.”
ILL.- Steve Sjogren launched the Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1985 with 37 people. Under his leadership, the dynamic congregation grew to more than 6000 in average attendance. From the onset VCC had a strong emphasis on servant evangelism, small groups, church planting and caring for the needy.
There is power in being a servant. Look at the power that Mother Teresa had over millions of people and it was because she was a servant to others! JUST LIKE JESUS. Jesus wielded great power because He was a servant! Servant Evangelism (SE) connects people to people in a natural, easy, low-risk, high grace way.
Who doesn't like to be given a cold soda on a hot day? Especially by someone who is smiling, happy, and having fun. Servant evangelism wins the heart before it confronts the mind. A small act of kindness nudges a person closer to God, often in a profound way as it bypasses one's mental defenses. The average Christ-follower is willing to hand a stranger a can of soda (low-risk). The high grace is seen in the typical reaction.
“Oh, thank you!” “This is so nice!” “I can’t believe this is free!” And “Why are you doing this?”
Kindness builds the bridge for the person to receive a touch of love from God. Add an invitation to church or other method of connection—even a simple card with your church's name, phone number, and times of services—and you’ve reached someone with the love of Christ!
It’s simple, practical, effective, inexpensive, and fun! We get reports from pastors, lay leaders, and ordinary Christ-followers all over the world who have discovered the power and impact of “showing God’s love in practical ways,” and again and again, we’ve seen relationships with God born from these simple acts of kindness in Christ’s name.
ILL.- Mother Teresa: “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Perhaps in small acts of service.
Strength comes through serving others.
CONCLUSION--------------------
To be strong in Christ: 1- We access God’s armor 2- We recognize God’s enemy 3- We serve God’s saints
ILL.- Josiah Perkins was celebrating his one-hundredth birthday when a reported called and interviewed him. “Do you think you’ll live another hundred years?” the reported asked. “Don’t see why I shouldn’t,” Josiah replied. “I’m a heap stronger than I was a hundred years ago today.”
The only way we’ll be strong in the future, as we age, is to find our strength in Christ. That’s the kind of strength that will never fail us!
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
