September 4, 2005
Morning Worship
Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
Subject: The Armor of God ¡V Part 1 Knowing Your Strength
Title: Knowing Your Strength
In the wake of hurricane Katrina we see the devastation of property, loss of life, and the dehumanization of a culture. An enemy has blown through Louisiana and Mississippi and left chaos in its path. Our hearts go out to all those who have suffered and will suffer loss. Our prayers also go forth that through the devastation the gospel of Jesus Christ can literally raise people up out of the miry clay and set their feet on the solid rock of Christ in order that they might have hope once more. Katrina, like any other disaster, not only has taken its toll on life and property, but also has taken hope away from a people who border on hopelessness.
Duncan Campbell
Friday September 2, 2005
The Guardian
More than 150 years ago, the Illustrated London News pronounced loftily on a young American city. "New Orleans has been built upon a site that only the madness of commercial lust could ever have tempted men to occupy," observed the magazine in 1853. Now the planners and citizens of one of the world’s most famous cities have to decide how - and if - they can rebuild and what Hurricane Katrina has changed forever.
The church of Jesus Christ faces a similar situation every day of its existence. There is a spiritual storm that rages all around and we may not even recognize the destruction that awaits us. The enemy of your soul is constantly bombarding the church with false promises, false truths, and false accusations for the purpose of destroying the very foundation of who we are, so that there can be no rebuilding.
True story. A Christian leader -- we’ll call him Steve --as traveling recently by plane. He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something. Guessing the man was a fellow-believer; Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. "Looks to me like you’re memorizing something," he said. "No, actually I was praying," the man said. Steve introduced himself. "I believe in prayer too," he said. "Well, I have a specific assignment," said the man with the goatee. "What’s that?" Steve asked. "I’m praying for the downfall of Christian pastors." "I would certainly fit into that category," Steve said. "Is my name on the list?" "Not on my list," the man replied.
Common Ground, Vol. 10 No. 7.
Since we are up against such an enemy does it make any sense that we would try to fight the battle on our own?
Today I want to begin a series of messages on spiritual warfare. I want to base the series on Ephesians 6:10-20. As we go through various aspects of spiritual warfare my prayer for you is that you can get hold of what the Lord is speaking to you and stop the advances of the enemy before they ever start.
I. SPIRITUAL STRENGTH IN THE LORD (10) I don’t have to tell most of you that I am strong willed. I have always had the attitude that if I set my mind to do something I will do it. Not that I strive to be forceful or dominate; I just stick to my guns. But all the strong will that I naturally have is no good in a supernatural battle. Paul tells us in verse 10 that we are to be strong, but not in our own strength. We have to have the power of God’s might working in us to be able to stand. The word that is translated "be strong" in verse 10 comes from a compound word in the Greek "endunamoo". The first part "en" means "a position of rest" or "giving yourself wholly to something". The second part comes from the Greek word "dunamis" which means "a force; specifically, miraculous power." So Paul is encouraging his readers to be strong, not in their own strength, but in the supernatural strength that is working through them. Verse 11 tells us to be strong in the Lord and the Ppower" of His might. The word translated as "power" here is not the same word that we normally see, "dunamis". It is the word "kratos" which literally refers to God’s dominion or His vigor. Look at one more word in verse 10, "might". It is the word "ischus" which means "forcefulness". So using variant translations of those words let’s look and see what it means when you put it together. "Give yourself wholly, as a position of rest, to the miraculous power that comes through God’s dominion and do it in His forcefulness." The word "forcefulness" is not for the squeamish. Only those who are strong in the Lord will be able to fight and win the spiritual battles that come upon us. How do we get that spiritual strength? Ephesians 3:20, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." Go back to Acts chapter 1 beginning with verse 4, "4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ’which,’ He said, ’you have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be „Twitnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." There we see in verse 8 that word "power¡¨ again. This time Jesus uses the word "dunamis" to describe the fullness of the power we are to have. Strong’s Concordance defines the word like this, "miraculous power, the miracle itself, ability, abundance, meaning, might, power, strength, violence, wonderful work." This miraculous power is available to us through the baptism in the Holy Spirit. When I was in the fourth grade back in St. Louis County I was a fighter. I’m not proud of it now but that’s just who I was. And my best friend was the smallest guy in our class. His name was Jeff and everybody was always picking on him and I was always standing up for him. One day two fifth graders decided they were going to whip Jeff and I stepped in to prevent it. As I waded into the heat of battle I looked over my shoulder and Jeff was running as fast as he could towards home. Now I was in the middle of a fight with a strong opponent and no help. After what seemed like an eternity (about fifteen minutes) of fighting a car pulls up and my Mom gets out and pulls us apart. I didn’t realize it at the time but Jeff had the sense to call on a higher power before he entered the fight, while I went into with my eyes closed. We have the ability not only to stand in God’s power to fight the battle, but also to pursue the enemy and tear down his strongholds.
II. CONFIRMING YOUR ENEMY (11) Verse 12 Tells us to, "Put on The whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Direct confirmation with whom it is we are dealing. Christians must come to the knowledge that as much as God loves us and wants to give us abundant life, satan (small s) hates you and wants to take your life away. John Stott says: "The tactics of intimidation and insinuation alternate in Satan’s plan of campaign. He plays both the bully and the beguiler. Force and fraud form his chief offensive against the camp of the saints." Why do I say that we need to recognize our enemy? It would appear that the enemy has moved in the "so called" church because there is more infighting between Christian denominations than there is outward fighting against the enemy. We must make the determination that satan is behind the disruption in the church and I our lives and turn our sights on him. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." It is the "god of this world" who has set up strongholds everywhere. It is the enemy of your soul who wants to destroy the family unit both culturally and personally. It is the prince of the power of the air who has come to kill your body, steal your joy, and destroy the power of the living God that infills you. The good news is that the enemy cannot do it unless you allow him. So we must stand in the power of God and the truth of His word to defeat the enemy. The Lord has given spiritual weapons by which we can pull down strongholds. We will continue to bombard the gates of hell with the salvation message. We will continue to take the word of God as truth and stand on His promises and quote them to the enemy just the way Jesus did. It is written, "By His stripes we are healed." It is written, "Whatever you ask when you pray believe that you receive and you shall have it." It is written, "You have not because you ask not." God I’m asking now and devil, listen to the word of God and run because you cannot defeat me. The results? We bring our minds into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
III. PUTTING ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD. (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." I am going to go into greater detail in a couple of weeks about the armor of God, but I specifically want you to notice that Paul says to put on the "whole armor of God." If we don’t put on the whole armor we leave ourselves vulnerable in an important area of our spiritual life. Put on the belt of truth - know the truth about God and who He is. Deuteronomy 4:39, "Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." The breastplate of righteousness - Know the truth about the righteousness of Jesus in you. "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation..." The sandals of peace -inner peace and readiness to share the gospel through your testimony. "Be instant in season and out of season" The shield of faith - know the truth about your faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God, those who come to Him must believe that He is and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" Have mustard seed faith in God’s promises and move mountains. The helmet of salvation - know the truth about salvation - that it comes only through a relationship with Jesus Christ and no one can take it from you. "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height... of the love of Christ" Take the sword of the Spirit - know that God’s word is truth and be able to test the "spirits" - weighing them against the word of God and also taking the word as a sword and going out into the battle instead of letting it come to you. Choose your own battlefields instead of letting the enemy dictate where he wants to fight. Some consider that to be an unhealthy spiritual attitude. "I’m going to whip the devil." That’s not what I’m saying at all. Jesus already whipped him. I’m just going into his camp to get back the things he has stolen from me and I’m doing it with the word of God. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable in any area of your spiritual walk. Be covered. Be protected and be ready.
As I mentioned in the beginning, there is so much rebuilding that will have to take place in the aftermath of Katrina. Many decisions remain to be made. So it is with the present day church. We are in the rebuilding process. The enemy has blown in and stolen families and damaged relationships. But we have made a conscious decision to stand in the power of God and rebuild against all the attacks of the devil. And we do it in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
We need a different kind of storm in the church today. We have heard the rumblings in this church. We have seen the lightening flashes of God’s awesome power displayed in our midst. Could it be that this little cloud we see on the horizon could be the cloud of revival? Elijah prayed for rain and the cloud the size of a man¡¦s fist appeared. It brought rain to a land that had been without for years. How long have we been praying for revival?
The firestorm of revival brings the rumblings of God straight from His throne as the preacher preaches with more conviction and power than ever. The revival storm brings the flashes of the brilliance of God’s awesome power working through the church as the people long to be touched by the rain of heaven. Before the storm there is always the heaviness of the atmosphere that drags you down and keeps you from experiencing the freshness God desires for you. But when the storm comes the air is cleansed the atmosphere is lightened and the time of refreshing comes to every church, town and community in its path. With that cleansing and refreshing comes the newness of life as soul after soul is committed to Christ for eternal life. This storm is accompanied by wind like you have never seen before. The mighty rushing wind of the Holy Spirit blowing across the land in power, bringing signs and wonders, confirming God’s word and drawing all kinds of God seekers who will wonder "Why haven’t I seen this before?" "Where has all this power been hiding?"
It’s not hidden. God is doing it in this church so that during the storms of life we can be a lighthouse in this area and bring back the firestorm of true Holy Ghost revival to a dry and parched land.
Are you ready?
