Christians: Be Strong in the Lord!
Ephesians 6:10-17
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
Series: The Book of Ephesians
(Prepared July 27, 2024)
MESSAGE:
*When I was 9 years old, we moved to Daytona Beach, Florida. We never went through a hurricane during the three years we were there, but I remember a northeaster storm that hit one time. We only lived a block away from the beach. And when the storm got close, we went to see the big waves.
*That was the only time in my life I could fully lean into the wind and not fall down. If that wind had been much stronger, it would have knocked me off my feet. Now, that wind was only about 40 mph, but an F5 tornado can have winds over 300 mph. A storm that powerful can literally peel the asphalt off a roadbed. And I once saw video of a place where that happened.
*Christians: Sometimes life is going to feel like an F5 tornado. How can we find the strength to stand in times like that? We must be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ, and God's Word shows us how.
1. FIRST: WE MUST REMEMBER THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH.
*This is why verse 10 tells believers to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." When it comes to our spiritual life, when it comes to the most important things in life, the only way to be strong is to be strong in the Lord.
*King David totally depended on the LORD to be his strength. The introduction to Psalm 18 calls it "a Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies. . ." And in vs. 1-2 David said, "I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
*Then in Psalm 27:1 David said, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" And in Psalm 19:14 David said, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."
*David was totally sure that the Lord was his source of strength. And now on the resurrection side of the cross we can be even more sure! We can be "strong in the Lord, and the power of his might," because our risen Savior is our ever-present source of strength. By His Holy Spirit, He is in us, and we are in Him. Every born-again believer is literally in the spiritual Body of Jesus Christ.
*Remember that when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, one of the miraculous things that happened was that His Holy Spirit came to live in our spiritual hearts. But at the very same time, God's Holy Spirit put us into the spiritual Body of Christ. Paul talked about this in 1 Corinthians 12:13 when he said, "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free. . ." This means we have been totally submerged into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ.
*This is an essential truth about Christianity. We know this because phrases like "in Christ" or "in the Lord" are used almost 100 times in the New Testament, including ten times in this short letter to the Ephesians.
*Please listen to a few more verses that talk about believers being in Christ:
-Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
-In Romans 16:7-10 Paul said, "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. . ."
-Ephesians 1:1-2 says, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
-And Ephesians 2:13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ."
*Christians: We are already IN CHRIST. That's why here in Ephesians 6:10 Paul tells believers to "be strong IN THE LORD, and in the power of his might." Our spiritual strength must come from the Lord. Paul lived by this truth. That's why in Philippians 4:13, with all of his suffering, hardship, and trouble, the Apostle could still say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
*And in Paul's last letter, he wrote these words in 2 Timothy 4:16-17, "At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."
*Paul was "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." He never could have stood in his own strength, and neither can we! We must look to the Lord.
*Kent Crockett told an old story about a pastor traveling on a bus down a bumpy road. A college student was seated next to the preacher, and he noticed that the pastor was reading his Bible. Almost out of the blue, the preacher asked, "Are you spiritually ready for the temptations that you will face in college?" The young man answered, "I don't have a problem with temptation. I have strong willpower."
*The preacher then took a pencil out of his pocket and said, "I can make this pencil stand up on the cover of this Bible even though the bus ride is bumpy." The young man said, "I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think you can do it."
*"Look, I am doing it," the pastor replied. "Yeah, but you didn't tell me you would hold the pencil up with your hand." "I didn't have to tell you," the pastor said. "Have you ever seen a pencil stand up on its own without someone holding it?"
*Then the preacher let go of the pencil. Of course, it instantly fell over, and the preacher said, "The only reason you stand, is because God is holding you up with His hand." (1)
2. HOW CAN CHRISTIANS FIND THE STRENGTH TO STAND? -- WE MUST REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH. AND WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR REAL ENEMY.
*We see our enemy in vs. 11-12, where Paul tells us to:
11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
*Of course Jesus Christ and His followers do have real flesh and blood enemies in this world. Paul was not suggesting otherwise. In Philippians 3:18 he wrote, "Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ."
*In 2 Timothy 4:14-15 Paul even called out one of the enemies of the cross by name. There Paul said, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words."
*Also remember that James 4:4 says, "Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." And Romans 5:10 tells Christians that "when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son"
*There are many flesh-and-blood enemies of the cross in the world today. But here in Ephesians 6, Paul reminds us that our greatest enemy is the devil. Satan and the other fallen angels are still very much at war with the Lord and His Church.
*Most people have no idea about the real struggle they face in life. A lot of people don't even believe the devil is real. Christopher Roberts told about an old study he saw in the New York Times. The article reported that "in a randomly selected survey of over 1,000 Americans, pollsters asked whether they agreed that Satan is 'not a living being, but a symbol of evil.'" Sixty-two percent agreed with that statement. And that means over 150 million Americans believe that Satan is just a symbol of evil, but the Bible tells us that Satan is just as real as we are. And in these verses, Paul reminds us that our greatest struggles are not with people; they are with the unseen forces of spiritual darkness in this world. You may not want to wrestle with the devil, but he most certainly wants to wrestle with you. (2)
3. HOW CAN CHRISTIANS FIND THE STRENGTH TO STAND? -- WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR REAL ENEMY. AND WE MUST APPLY GOD'S ARMOR.
*We see this truth first in vs. 11 where Paul tells us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
*Then God's Word gives us the details in vs. 13-17, where the Apostle said:
13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16. above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
*Christians: The first question is: How do we "put on the whole armor of God"? How do we "take up the whole armor of God"? The answer is BY FAITH! -- by faith in God's Word, and by faith in God's will for our lives. We know that God has provided His spiritual armor for us. We know that He wants us to put it on. And we know that we can't stand without it. So, by faith, we simply ask God to help us put His armor on, trusting completely that He will.
*And Christians, we've got some great armor! Steve May told the story about a teacher who injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. The brace fit under his shirt, and wasn't noticeable at all. This teacher was assigned to the toughest kids in school. But on the first day, he boldly walked into that rowdy room, opened a window, and then got busy with his work.
*Soon a strong breeze made his tie flap. That's when the teacher picked up the stapler from his desk and click-click, he stapled his tie to his chest. He didn't have a bit of trouble with discipline that year. That teacher had invisible armor, but Christians, so do we! And our armor is a whole lot stronger. (3)
*Thinking on these verses, Brian Fullerton and John Phillips remind us that Paul was under house arrest as he wrote this letter. He probably had a Roman guard standing right by him. So, man-made armor is a model here. But it can never be a match for the Spiritual armor we have in Jesus Christ. (4)
*We can look at the armor that God gives to Christians, and see how to defeat our enemy's attacks.
[1] FIRST IN VS. 14, GOD GIVES US A "GIRDLE" OR "BELT" OF TRUTH.
*That's because the devil loves to attack God's people with lies. In John 8:44, Jesus already told us that the devil is the father of lies. That's why in vs. 14, God gives us a strong belt of truth. This means as believers, our whole life is held together and held up by the truth. When we have Jesus Christ, we have the truth! And we know this because in John 14:6 He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life."
[2] THEN IN VS. 14, GOD ALSO GIVES US THE BREASTPLATE OR BODY ARMOR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
*And we need this spiritual breastplate of righteousness, because the devil tries to tell us that we are sorry and no good. That's why he is called the Accuser. But this breastplate of righteousness is not our righteousness. It's the Lord's righteousness!
*When Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, He took all of our sins. And when we receive the Risen Christ as our Lord and Savior, we receive His righteousness. That's why 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells Christians that "He (that is, God the Father) made Him who knew no sin (that is, Jesus) to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." We have the Lord's righteous standing before our Heavenly Father, because our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ!
*Plus, we also are born again with a new nature, so that in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul could say, "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
*Satan tries to accuse us, but God gives us the breastplate of righteousness!
[3] NEXT IN VS. 15, GOD COVERS OUR FEET WITH THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.
*This is absolutely necessary because the devil does everything he possibly can to keep us from moving forward for the cause of Jesus Christ. And that's why God covers our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
*Of course, the gospel is simply the Good News about Jesus Christ:
-That God loves us even though we are all sinners,
-That He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die on the cross for our sins
-That Jesus rose again from the dead forever victorious over sin and death!
-And that our risen Savior offers forgiveness and eternal life to anyone who will receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
*Christians, we have the Gospel of peace on our feet. Most of all, this means everlasting peace with God. But the gospel can also bring peace in our relationships, peace in our hearts, and peace in the worst storms of life.
*As believers, we have the gospel of peace on our feet, and it will take us safely over every rocky road we face. I have seen this happen many times in terrible situations, in times when people could have been in total panic and despair. But they made it through the crisis -- And how? -- By the gospel of God's peace.
*It's hard to walk on a rough road with no shoes, but God gives us spiritual shoes that can help us move forward on the roughest road! And best of all, we get to take the good news about Jesus Christ everywhere we go. We have the gospel of peace on our feet.
[4] THEN IN VS. 16, GOD GIVES US THE SPIRITUAL SHIELD OF FAITH SO THAT WE CAN QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED ONE.
*John Phillips explained that the wicked one is the devil, and Satan has many fiery darts to throw at believers. One Christian he attacks the lusts of the flesh. But the devil and his fallen angels can also attack Christians with lusts of the eye, and with the pride of life. These temptations can start fires of jealousy, greed, hatred, sexual sin, and much more in the minds of Christians. The devil knows our weaknesses and strengths. He sends his legions of evil spirits to inflame our desires, corrupt our souls, weaken our wills, deceive our minds, numb our consciences, and distort God’s truth.
*That's why God gives us the shield of faith in vs. 16. The shields used by Roman soldiers weren't small and round. No, a Roman shield was a big rectangle, two feet wide and four feet tall. It was big enough to protect your whole body. And when you stood by the other soldiers, it was big enough to protect the whole army. Christians, we have the shield of faith! (5)
[5] BUT IN VS. 17, GOD HAS ALSO GIVEN US THE HELMET OF SALVATION.
*One of the devil's favorite ways to attack us is to put wrong thinking into our minds. For example, he tries to make us doubt the Word of God. Satan also tries to make us doubt our salvation in Christ. But the helmet of salvation can keep his lies from getting through.
*Satan and his fallen angels are always on the job, trying to wear us down, trying to beat us down, trying to get us to think the wrong thing, trying to get us to do the wrong thing.
*But God gives us all the weapons we need to defend ourselves. And the Lord doesn't just want us to be on defense. He also gives us the best offensive weapon that anyone can ever have.
[6] IN VS. 17, GOD GIVES US THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.
*Church: The best way to put the enemy on the run is with the Word of God! That's why Jesus used it when the devil tempted Him in the wilderness. Listen to this report from Matthew 4:1-11.
1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
4. But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
5. Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6. and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over You,' and, in their hands they shall bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.'"
7. Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
8. Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."
10. Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"
11. Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
*Every time Satan tempted Jesus, He would quote the Word of God, saying, "It is written. -- It is written. -- It is written." And the Lord has given the same great weapon to us! The Word of God defeats our enemy with its light, and life, and hope.
CONCLUSION:
*That's how we can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And with these great spiritual weapons, we can resist the devil, so James 4:7 tells us to "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." You see, amazing strength is available to us as Christians, because we are in the Lord, and the Holy Spirit is living in us. We have the spiritual strength to do anything and everything God want us to do.
*A few of you may remember Paul Anderson from the 1970s. At the time, Paul Anderson was the strongest man in the world. In 1956, Paul had won the Olympic gold medal for weight lifting. He only stood 5'9" tall, but Paul weighed 375 pounds! His massive body allowed him to lift weights his competitors couldn't even imagine. One of Paul's feats was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was his back lift of over 6,000 pounds!
*Paul Anderson was also a very devoted Christian who put on shows to support the boys' homes he ran in Georgia. He did things like lift a table holding 20 of the biggest people from the audience. Paul also drove nails through two boards with only a handkerchief protecting his palm.
*Then he would proclaim: "If I, the strongest man in the world, can't get through one day without Jesus Christ? What about you?" (6)
*Where did Paul Anderson get his spiritual strength? Church: It came from above, and it lived in Him by the Holy Spirit of God. Now the same strength lives in us! So even if life hits you like an F5 tornado, put on the whole armor of God, and keep standing strong in the Lord Jesus Christ!
*But if you have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that is the first thing you need to do! Call on our crucified and risen Savior to save you now, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 123
(2) Adapted from SermonCentral illustration contributed by Christopher Roberts - SermonCentral Newsletter - 10/29/2002
(3) "The Story File Volume 1" - Copyright 1999 by Steve May - Source: Demo with MCHENRY'S QUIPS, QUOTES, & OTHER NOTES - Copyright © 1998, 1999 by Raymond McHenry - Published by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, MA
(4) Adapted from:
-SermonCentral sermon: "The Prayer of Encouragement" by Brian Fullerton - Ephesians 6:10-20
-EXPLORING EPHESIANS & PHILIPPIANS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Christian and His Battles" - Ephesians 6:10-20 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
(5) Sources:
-EXPLORING EPHESIANS & PHILIPPIANS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Christian and His Battles" - Ephesians 6:10-20 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
-SermonCentral illustration contributed by Christopher Roberts
(6) Sources:
-Adapted from Moody, November 1994, p. 6 - Source: Dynamic Preaching, fifth Sunday in May 2001
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Anderson_(weightlifter)
