Shared Sermons by Dr. Odell Belger - SermonCentral.Com
Introduction:
There are times when we know somethings are important.
For example:
- YOU KNOW WHEN the telephone rings at three in the morning, more than likely someone has an emergency.
- YOU KNOW WHEN the sheriff’s department calls, it is important because more than likely your wife was caught speeding again!
- YOU KNOW WHEN the boss calls, more than likely it is not a social call.
Also, we need to recognize that it is important when God’s Word
tells us to “BE STRONG IN THE LORD.”
Look at Ephesians 6:10. We read, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
PAUL KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT!
We could not talk to a better person in learning how to be a STRONG CHRISTIAN than the apostle Paul.
• The best person to talk to about plumbing problems is a plumber.
• The best person to talk to about electrical problems is an electrician.
• The best person to talk to about spiritual problems is someone who is spiritual.
We would be wise to listen to what Paul has to say for he knew a great deal about being STRONG IN THE LORD.
WHY DOES GOD SEND THIS MESSAGE TO THE SAINTS?
Because, it takes strength and courage to be a victorious Christian. That is why God gives us this clear command - “...BE STRONG IN THE LORD...”
Never has this spiritual war been as great as it is today.
• We thought it was bad enough years ago when the devil began to produce all the rebellious music that many listen to each day.
• We thought it was bad enough when you could not hardly turn your television on because of all the filth that was being promoted from Hollywood, from the scum of the earth.
• But today the devil has a new weapon, it is called the Internet. All across this country we hear about people getting on the Internet and chatting with all kinds of people, and after they are on there for a period of time they leave their children and mate to meet a total stranger they do not know a thing about.
• On the internet men and women, in the privacy of their homes, have become hooked on pornography.
These are dangerous times in which we live, and we had better understand that as Christians we must be STONG IN THE LORD.
You are absolutely deceiving yourself if you think that you are a match for Satan if you are NOT STRONG IN THE LORD!
Illus: Do you remember the story of Charles Atlas the Italian body builder of the 50’s.?
Many claim it was he who made “body building” what it is today without the steroids.
It is public knowledge that he began lifting weights because one day he was on a beach, in his bathing suit, and some boys made fun of him. They called him all kinds of names.
He decided to do something about that and he became the Hercules of his day. No one picked on him again!
CAN WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION?
Yes! But before you can become a spiritual “Hercules” you will have to BECOME DISCONTENTED WITH BEING WEAK.
If you are content living a defeated life there is no hope for you ever becoming a STRONG CHRISTIAN…NONE WHATSOEVER!!!
Illus: Do not be like the author Jack Handey. He said…
• “There used to be this bully who would demand my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him. Then I decided to fight back.
• I wanted to take karate lessons, but the instructor wanted $5.00 a lesson, that was a lot of money at the time.
• I found that it was cheaper to pay the bully, so I gave up karate.”
Too many Christians believe it is easier to pay the bully than learn how to be STRONG CHRISTIAN.
But God wants each of us to be STRONG IN THE LORD!!!
But regardless of how old you might be it is not always easy to become a strong Christian.
In Ephesians 6:1-10 Paul give the Ephesian Christians a list of things they should do as a Christians.
He starts off with the children. Look at:
• Ephesians 6:1-3, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”
• Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
• Ephesians 6:5-7, “Servants (EMPLOYEES), be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eye service, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.”
• Ephesians 6:8-9, “And, ye masters (BOSS MEN), do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.”
After talking to them about these thing, he says in verse 10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
Notice, God is not talking about physical strength he is talking about SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.
Sometimes you will hear someone who is not saved, giving their excuse for not accepting the Lord as their Savior saying, “I do not want to be a Christian yet, because I cannot live the Christian life.”
Listen, that is true, but they can never live a victorious life over the devil until they recognize that no one can live this Christian life in their own might. We need His might. None of us are a match for Satan.
WE ARE BANKRUPT WITHOUT HIM!
Look at John 15:5b, "...for without me ye can do nothing."
But we can say what the apostle Paul said, in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
With every trial that we face, comes enough strength to overcome the obstacle that is placed before us.
Illus: A prison inmate scratched his philosophy of life on the wall of his cell: "Born to lose."
Christians believe that they were born to win. (Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
In order for us to be winners, we need to learn how to be STRONG CHRISTIAN
DID YOU KNOW TO BE STRONG IN THE LORD SPIRITUALLY WE MUST DO THE SAME THING WE HAVE TO DO TO BE STRONG PHYSICALLY.
For example to be STRONG PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY we must…
I. MAKE USE OF OUR TIME WISELY FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
One of the reasons that folks use for not exercising is: “I DO NOT HAVE TIME.”
The fact is, they have as much time as the POWERFUL WEIGHT LIFTERS. They just choose to use their time in a different way.
One thing for sure if you are going to become strong you have to make USE OF YOUR TIME WISELY.
Illus: In our society there are many things that are wasted, such as FOOD…
While people in other nations are literally starving to death and they are nothing but skin and bones, we in America have an obesity problem.
Now if we were a poor nation and we had to eat bugs and grasshoppers like they do we would not waste food.
But we can eat what we want to eat and leave half of the food on our plates to be wasted because there is always more if we want it.
Illus: – It is estimated that approximately 40 million tons of food waste arises in the US annually –
• This equates to around 200 pounds of waste, per person, each year.
• It is estimated that this waste amounts to a ‘store value’ of more than $150 billion dollars (or $1,500 per family each year). (globe-conscious.com)
We are a nation of waste, but the thing we waste the most is TIME.
Many are wasting their ENTIRE LIFE away!
They do not think a thing about wasting a day, week, month or a year of their life.
But if we are going to be strong in the LORD we are going to have to make time for God in our life!
We need to learn to use our TIME WISELY each day becoming strong in the Lord.
Physically if we do not exercise daily we soon began to look shabby!!!
Illus: Art Linkletter tells of the young woman who married a wealthy old man.
She was apparently quite fond of him in the beginning, but then she started to focus on the demands of maintaining a home.
• She told her husband that the garden looked shabby.
• All right he said spend some money to take care of it. So she brought in the gardening crew, and soon the grounds looked wonderful.
• Then she noticed that the cutting away of the shrubs and hedges left the house looking shabby.
• So she called in the painters, and soon the house looked just wonderful.
• But when she walked into the house, from this beautiful exterior, it made the inside of the house look shabby.
• So her husband told her to get an interior decorator, and she did.
• Finally, the entire estate sparkled and looked gorgeous.
• But as TIME WENT ON in the midst of all this splendor her husband looked shabby, so she got rid of him.
If we do not use our time to exercise our faith we will began to look shabby.
Solomon tells us there is a time for everything.
Looked at Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
Solomon gives us a list of things that we have time to do.
But if you going to be a strong Christian you are going to have to make time for two things in your life:
(1)PRAYER
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV, “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Chronicles 16:11 KJV, “Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.
God has always wanted us to be in constant contact with Him throughout the day.
Not once a week, not just once a day, not just before we go to bed, BUT THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THE BIBLE TEACHES WE ARE TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.
If we are going to become STRONG IN THE LORD as God has commanded us to be we need to do as the scriptures says, “PRAY WITHOUT CEASING.”
Illus: A story of a bus driver and a minister were standing in line to get into heaven.
The bus driver approached the gate.
• St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a bus driver. Since I’m in charge of housing, I believe I have found the perfect place for you. See that mansion over the hilltop? It’s yours.”
• The minister heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He said to himself, "If a bus driver got a place like that, just think what I’ll get."
• The minister approached the gate and St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a minister. See that shack in the valley?"
• St. Peter had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when the shocked minister said, "I was a minister, I preached the gospel, I helped teach people about God. Why does that bus driver get a mansion, and I get a shack?"
• Sadly St. Peter responded, "Well, it seems when you preached, people slept. When this crazy bus driver drove his bus, people prayed without ceasing."
One of the reasons we have so many weak Christians today is because they do not take time to PRAY DAILY.
They have time to:
• Talk to others each day.
• Play with their telephones
• Watch television each day.
But they do not have time to talk to God each day.
Yet! They claim to love the Lord. I wonder what God thinks of that!
I know what the devil thinks of that, he is thrilled they have time for everything but God.
Illus: Martin Luther the reformer said. "If I fail to spend 2 hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business, I cannot get on without spending 3 hours daily in prayer."
Life is filled with over indulging in things, such as:
• Sports
• Business
• Eating
• Sleeping
But we can never pray too much!!! Never!!!
• The more you pray you learn how to pray!
• The more you pray the more you receive from God!!!
• The more you pray the closer you get to God!!!
The less you pray just the opposite happens.
If you see a STRONG CHRISTIANS you can know that they MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER each day of their life.
Also to be a strong Christian you have to MAKE TIME for…
(2) BIBLE STUDY
2 Timothy 2:15 – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
We are commanded to "Study God’s Word" - the Greek verb in our text is second person "imperative." This means "I command you."
Illus: When asked, “What book has most influenced your life?” in a recent Library of Congress survey, respondents awarded the Bible the top position … [however,] of that group only 13% claim to read it daily.
• As a nation today we are reaping the results of the little value that is being placed on the Holy Scriptures.
• As a church today we are reaping the result of the little value that is being placed on the Holy Scriptures.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was sitting in a restaurant eating when some of his friends came by and recognized him. They were elated as they talked with him stating they just got a new pastor for their church. The wife said, “Yes, he is starting a series of lessons on South Carolina History.”
No wonder people are so ignorant of the Word of God. The Word of God is not being PREACHED nor is it being READ by the parishioners.
No wonder the Gallup Poll reported:
• 50% – adults interviewed nationwide could name [some] of the four Gospels of the NT
• 37% – interviewed could name all four of the Gospels
• 42% – were able to name as many as five of the Ten Commandments correctly
• 70% – knew where Jesus was born
• 42% – knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount
2. According to Barna Poll: “The Bible” –
• 38% – Americans believe the “entire” (OT | NT) were written several decades after Jesus’ death
• 12% – adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife
• 49% – believe that the bible teaches that the “root of all evil” is money, instead of “the love of money”
• 75% – believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.
If the Word of God is our SPIRITUAL FOOD is it any wonder that we have so many weak, frail, defeated Christians.
It is impossible to be a STRONG CHRISTIAN if you are not making time for PRAYER and the WORD OF GOD DAILY!
God commands us to be STRONG IN THE LORD.
Just like a person is STRONG PHYSICALLY THEY HAVE TO MAKE TIME TO BECOME STRONG SPIRITUALLY.
But to be strong PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY we have to.
II. DISCIPLINE OURSELVES
The apostle Paul was a STRONG CHRISTIAN, he said in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
Paul was a STRONG Christian. He tells us how he became strong, He said, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection…”
Illus: You heard the story of the old Indian who said, “Inside of me are two dogs. A white dog and a black dog and they fight all the time.”
Someone asked him, “Which one wins?”
He said. “The one I feed the most!!!”
Keeping this body that we live in each day under control is difficult. If we do not feed on the Word of God we will never become strong Christians.
We are paying a big price for neglecting prayer and the word of god.
Illus: This reminds me of the man who loved fishing very much who left work one Friday afternoon, but instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend fishing with the boys and spending his entire paycheck.
When he finally appeared at home Sunday night, he was confronted by his very angry wife and was barraged for nearly 2 hours with a tirade of his actions.
Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said to him "How would you like it if you didn’t see me for 2 or 3 days?"
To which he replied, "That would be fine with me!”
• Monday went by and he didn’t see his wife.
• Tuesday went by and he didn’t see his wife.
• Wednesday went by and he didn’t see his wife.
On Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye.
We cannot live an un-discipline life if we want to be STRONG IN THE LORD.
One of the hardest things in becoming strong PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY IS DISCIPLINE. This sinful flesh that we live in rebels against DISCIPLINE.
However, these strong POWER LIFTERS did not get that strength just wishing for it. THEY LIVED A DISCIPLINED LIFE!
They wanted to be strong and they DISCIPLINED themselves to exercise even when they did not feel like exercising.
It takes the same thing to become SPIRITUALLY STRONG - we have to discipline ourselves.
• Sunday morning the old flesh says, “I think I will lay in bed.” Discipline says, “GET OUT OF THAT BED AND GO TO CHURCH.”
• Come home from work and you tired and you just want to recline in that lazy boy and sleep but DISCIPLINE SAYS, “SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE LORD IN PRAYER AND THE WORD OF GOD.”
To be STRONG IN THE LORD we have to live a DISCIPLINE LIFE!!!
We become STRONG IN THE LORD when we…
I. MAKE USE OF OUR TIME FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
II. DISCIPLINE OURSELVES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Remember to be strong SPIRITUALLY we have to do the same thing we do PHYSICALLY TO BECOME STRONG.
Such as…
III. EXERCISE OUR FAITH
II Peter 3:18, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
When we are born into the family of God we do not start off being spiritually strong…WE GROW IN THE GRACE OF GOD.
Illus: A group of tourists visiting a picturesque village walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked him, “Were any great men born in this village?”
The old man replied, “Nope, only babies.”
Every person who is a born-again believer starts off life as a baby in Christ.
Whether the new convert is six or sixty, that person is still a new Christian and needs to grow in the Lord.
A baby Christian who has been saved for forty years is a tragedy. God intends for us to grow become STRONG IN THE LORD.
In order to become STRONG IN THE LORD you have to get up and exercise.
Illus: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' physical activity guidelines for adults recommends that all adults get at least 150 minutes of a moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular exercise each week.
Those we call “body builders” or “power lifters” put that much time in exercising daily.
Regardless how old or young we are we will always have to exercise.
Illus: This is one of the reason that schools have a recess time for children.
Illus: Our nursing homes have exercise classes for the elderly.
Did you know and I am sure you do, you can sit in a chair day after day and soon you will get so weak you will not have the strength to walk across the room.
HOW DO WE GROW IN GRACE!
Again, remember we grow spiritually the same way we grow physically.
Illus: To be physically strong power lifters start off small but they keep adding more weights each day.
If we Christians want to obey God’s Command to BE STRONG IN THE LORD WE HAVE TO STRIVE EACH DAY TO BE A BETTER CHRISTIANS THAN WE WERE LAST WEEK.
Let me share with you a few things about growing in grace. HOW ARE WE TO GROW...
1) We are to grow in knowledge
2) We are to grow in forgivness
3) We are to grow in having a more intimate relationship with the Lord
4) We are to grow in character
5) We are to grow in love
6) We are to grow in kindness
7) We are to grow in compassion
8) We are to grow in holiness
9) We are to grow in giving
10) We are to grow in faithfulness
11) We are to grow in boldness
12) We are to grow in wisdom
There are some Christians who have been saved for many years but they have never growned in these things.
Remember God’s commands us to BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND HIS MIGHT.
Conclusion:
Something that you hear among children is that they will be glad when they grow up.
I have never heard a child say, I NEVER WANT TO GROW!
It is a natural desire for a child to want to grow up and it should be a natural desire for every child of God to grow and become strong in the Lord.
Are you a Baby in Christ or a Child Growing in the Grace of God?
Illus: A young man was eager to grow in His Christian life. He got a piece of paper and made a list of all the things he would do for God.
• He wrote down the things he would give up.
• The places he would go to minister and the areas of ministry he would enter.
He was excited. He took that list to the church and put it on the altar.
He thought he would feel joy, but instead he felt empty. So he went home and started adding to his list. He wrote down more things he would do and wouldn’t do. He took the longer list and put it on the altar, but still he felt nothing.
He went to a wise, old pastor, told him the situation and asked for help. The pastor said, “Take a blank sheet of paper. Sign your name at the bottom. Put that on the altar.” The young man did, and then peace came to his heart. (Source: The Pulling Down of Strongholds, R.B. Ouellette)
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