Strengthened With All Power

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you strengthened in the LORD?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that our strength need not be in ourselves but all depends on GOD.

IV. TEXT:

Colossians 1:11 (Amplified Bible)

[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, [to exercise] every kind of endurance and patience (perseverance and forbearance) with joy,

V. THESIS:

Our strength need not be in ourselves but all depends on GOD

VI. TITLE:

Strengthened with all power

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Author: Apostle Paul

B. Date written: Between 60 to 64 A.D.

C. Purpose: To exhort and edify believers

D. To whom written: Church in Colosse, a city of Asia Minor

E. Main themes: Church, as body of CHRIST. CHRIST as Head of the Church. Warnings against trusting worldly wisdom

F. Keywords: CHRIST - the Head of all

Colossians 2:10 (Amplified Bible)

And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

G. Key verses:

Colossians 2:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature].

And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power].

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. According to His glorious might

"[We pray] that you may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory"

1. His might and power - His miraculous power, and His own vigor, power and strength.

That's why we don't have any stress, for we lean on the LORD GOD, those who have stress, have not used GOD's Glorious Might and Power, but their own power and might which are easily consumed.

2. Supporting verses:

Zechariah 4:6 (Amplified Bible)

Then he said to me, This [addition of the bowl to the candlestick, causing it to yield a ceaseless supply of oil from the olive trees] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of Whom the oil is a symbol], says the Lord of hosts.

2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified Bible)

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Hosea 1:7 (Amplified Bible)

But I will have love, pity, and mercy on the house of Judah and will deliver them by the Lord their God and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by equipment of war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.

1 Samuel 17:45 (Amplified Bible)

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied.

1 Samuel 17:47 (Amplified Bible)

And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.

Zechariah 10:5 (Amplified Bible)

And they shall be like mighty men treading down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle, and they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and the [oppressor’s] riders on horses shall be confounded and put to shame.

You see, my beloved, how can you lose, if the LORD owns everything in the battlefield, the horses, warriors, battlefield, battle and even the enemy is all His. We have a great warrior inside of us. We will not trust in our own strength, or our own abilities and resources and tools for the job, but our absolute trust and confidence is only in the LORD.

B. I may have great endurance

"[to exercise] every kind of endurance"

1. Endurance is patience, constancy, cheerful endurance, patient waiting.

2. Supporting verses:

Hebrews 12:7 (Amplified Bible)

You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?

James 1:12 (Amplified Bible)

Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.