Be Strong in the Lord

Lord bless you this morning and may you receive the preaching of his word. If you can please turn to Ephesians chapter 6 and stand when you have the reading.

I should have kept you standing since we were standing up for Jesus, but please do stand when you have the reading starting in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10.

Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord. Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in that evil day.

Having done all to stand firm, stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end.

Keep alert of all perseverance, making supplication for the saints and also for me the words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which

I am an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

Amen. May God bless reading his word. You may be seated. Father, we do come before you this morning praying that you would impart to us the great gift of thy

Holy Spirit to be able to comprehend the greatness of the challenges that lay ahead of us as Christians that our life is indeed a war and there's an enemy out for us.

May we see the need that we have of you O Lord, the need to be strong in you, to be fastened in you, to be rooted and established in you so that we may have all that we need to be ready on that great day when temptation arises and also ready on that great day when we stand before you.

May we stand approved in Jesus. In your name we pray, Lord. Amen. Brethren, the word of God starts off in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10.

Our main verses will be verses 10 through 12 for today's preaching, but there's an admonition that the

Apostle Paul opens up with. Remember that as Paul's been going through this letter, really starting in chapter 5, he talks about the newness of life that is unique to the

Christian experience, that the Christian is indeed a new creation, a new creature.

The Christian is the one who has put his faith in Jesus Christ, who has now bound his life to Christ's life, who is now identified in his life, in Christ's life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection, and that we in fact are the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

He then begins to show how the gospel infiltrates every aspect of the Christian life, how the gospel is indeed for all of life.

The gospel isn't just for Sundays, the gospel isn't just for church services or when we come together as Christians, but indeed the gospel has implication for all of life.

He goes on to describe the importance of living out the Christian life in regard to the context of brothers and sisters in a church, how we are to treat one another, how we are to put off the old self and the old practices and put on the new self.

Then it goes on to say how it is that this new creature, this new heart that Christ has given, how that affects us in our most intimate relationships, including that of a husband and a wife, how wives are to submit to their husbands and how husbands are to love and lead their wives as Christ loves and leads the church.

Chapter six, verses one through four, Paul brings out the importance of the gospel in rearing our children, in being gospel centered parents, but also gospel centered children who hear and receive the instruction from our parents, and that parents be those who are worthy of emulating and be worthy of bringing forth the gospel to their children, so they may not provoke them to anger, but instead to bring them up in the joy, discipline, and instruction of the

Lord. Verses five through nine, Paul focuses on the relationship between a servant, a slave, and his master.

Today's context, that would be rightfully an employer -employee relationship, and how we are to serve even under dire circumstances, that the

Christian life isn't about one's personal gain, but instead being a selfless servant, first and foremost, of Jesus Christ.

So Paul takes all these ideas and he wraps them up in verse 10 by saying, finally, in conclusion, after all these things have been heard, finally take what

I say now and be strong in the Lord. The Christian life requires strength.

Let me tell you something, being a Christian is hard. It's not easy. Being a

Christian is probably the most difficult thing a person can do. Why?

Why is it so difficult to be a Christian? Have you seen the world we live in? A world that celebrates sin, a world that celebrates confusion and chaos, a world that is in itself devolving into more and more confusion and chaos, and yet here we stand as Christians saying, no, there's a standard.

Here's the Word of God. It's also difficult because the Christian life is not that of a worldly hedonist, where the world celebrates, confesses, and encourages people to do as they will, for people to live as they please, that there's no guardrails to life, that you can do and be whatever you want to be, whenever you want to be, and if anyone tells you otherwise, then you shame them, and you tell them that they're a bigot, and that they're a monstrosity amongst civilized culture, and yet here we are as Christians in need of strength to live godly in a godless world.

The world is increasing in its ungodliness. It's increasing in its hatred for truth, its hatred for the things of God.

Therefore, we are to stand firm, strong in the Lord. This is a call by the

Apostle Paul to the people of God for perseverance, because you will need strength. You will need strength to be a

Christian in this dark and wicked world, especially in a place like this, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, the

Bay Area. This is probably the seat of ungodliness in many respects.

This is a place where we import not just technology, not just big fortune 500 companies, but we import culture, influence, wealth.

In the ancient world, there are many seats of powers, and Jesus, when speaking to the one of the seven churches, says,

I know where you live, I know where you are, where Satan's throne dwells. I often wonder to myself, where would

Satan's throne be today? And I can't say for certainty, no one can, but I would certainly put

Silicon Valley up there on the list of places where Satan's throne may indeed dwell, because Satan's throne is where his influence is strongest, and where his influence is imported to the most places as possible.

And yet here we are in the midst of a godless culture and a godless world, and the Apostle Paul affirms and finally concludes this thought by saying that we must be strong.

Not try to be strong, not maybe be strong, be strong in the

Lord. Be strong. All of us find areas of strength that we may even draw strength from.

Many of us may draw strength from our families, rightfully so. Many of us may draw strength from the relationship between our spouse.

Maybe some of us draw strength from a relationship with someone in the church. All great places to draw strength from.

Sometimes even we may draw strength from our own selves, thinking that we and ourselves are sufficient to draw strength from, and that I am sufficient to be the one to provide strength for myself in all circumstances.

That would be folly. That would be foolish. Where is the fountain of our strength?

From where can we and should we draw our strength from? Clearly, it is in the

Lord. The Lord is the fountain of all strength. You know, when we were young and we're energetic and we're strong,

I remember what it's like to be 16, 17, 18. Back in those days, I can go to Burking and eat like five whoppers and not gain a pound.

I just look at a whopper now and I feel the pounds starting to accumulate. You know, life changes.

Your strength, your vitality begins to slow down. It begins to change and alter. And when you're young, you feel like, oh, this is what life's going to be like forever.

It's always going to be this good. It's always going to be this easy. And yet, as we grow older, and I'm not that old yet, so don't misunderstand me, but I'm getting old enough where I'm starting to see the effects of the fall in my own life and the weaknesses of my own flesh.

The things that I once could do, I could no longer do. And yet, here is the call for us.

The call is not to look into oneself for strength. It's not to look within one's own strategy or capabilities, but rather we ought to draw strength in the

Lord Jesus Christ and the strength of his might. I want you to write this in there.

In closing, Paul affirms that we must find our strength in the Lord. And the reason why this is so essential, brethren, is because we are indeed, if I haven't made this clear already, we are in a conflict.

And the conflict isn't just with the culture. The conflict isn't just with maybe other religious groups.

The conflict isn't only just with our politics, but the conflict that we are in is a cosmic one.

It is a cosmic conflict. Life is not easy in this fallen world.

Job chapter 7, verse 1, the ASV reads, is there not a warfare to man upon the earth?

And are not his days like the days of Hyrulean? In Job 7, verse 1, the idea is life is hard.

Life is difficult. Many trials and tribulations. It's like living life as a slave, as a

Hyrulean. The man's days on earth are like warfare. And indeed, this is especially true for the

Christian. Your life in this world is indeed a warfare. You are in a constant fight, whether you recognize it or not, whether you accept it or not.

You are in a battlefield. Look at the culture and how it infiltrates people's minds, for instance.

We have things in this country called billboards. And billboards usually are to grab your attention while you're driving.

And some of the most prominent billboards you'll see are things having to do somewhat with human depravity.

You have this nice scenery of a beach, nice cool glass of beer. And that is to invoke in you a desire to be not where you are stuck in traffic on the 101, but instead to be there on the beach, to be thinking of being somewhere else, being transported.

That that succulent drink there is going to fulfill in me a desire, and it's going to make me feel good.

You see how subtle the enemy is? For women, can't go down a aisle on the grocery store without seeing these magazines of a unrealistic body type.

And oftentimes, young women, especially in this world, in this culture, see those unrealistic body types of other women and begin to feel themselves that they are inadequate.

And I need to be like this. I need to look like that in order for me to be desirable.

Another sly way the enemy infiltrates the heart and the mind to alter oneself and to find strength in things that do not offer true and lasting strength for the war that we are in.

Instead, the enemy is very cunning, and he will put things, whether it be advertisement.

All advertisements essentially are the same. They are to make you feel inadequate without the item they are selling.

So whatever it is that they're selling, whether it be the new iPhone or there be, you know, Corona beer, all these things are meant to make you feel if you do not have this in your life, you are missing something.

And from these things, you may draw great joy, pleasure, and maybe even strength.

Life is indeed a constant struggle to battle, to war. We can't go to the grocery store even without being confronted with the implications and the slyness of Satan the devil.

Life in this sinful world is difficult and has many challenges, and we must indeed contend with the flesh, with the world, and with an unseen enemy who is bent on destroying the remnant of God's people, even the seed of Jesus Christ, the church.

We are in a fight for holiness. The culture of the world is unholy.

It doesn't look at holiness as something that is to be admired or to be practiced, but instead they practice all sorts of ungodliness.

Look at Romans 1. You read Romans 1, you look at the world that we're in today. We are living in a Romans 1 culture.

People giving themselves over to their own desires, onto their own destruction, and yet ours is a life, ours is a battle for holiness.

I want you to write that in the last part there. Closing, Paul affirms that we must find our strength in the Lord to fight the battles of life and holiness.

As Pastor Josh opened up the service this morning from Psalm 121, when we lift our eyes up to the heavens, from where shall my help come?

From where will my strength come? You may ask yourself that question often because even as a

Christian, it would be wrong for you to assume that just because you're a Christian, just because you've received

Jesus Christ one time a long time ago, that that is sufficient for the daily battle of life.

Rather, ours is a constant search for strength in Christ.

You can turn to Isaiah 40 and examine with me this beautiful passage, not to steal any thunder from Pastor Conley when he preaches on this in the coming weeks, but in Isaiah chapter 40, starting in verse 25, hear ye the word of the

Lord from the prophet Isaiah, to whom then will you compare me? That I should be like him, says the

Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who created these, he who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

You know what the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, is doing in this text? He is demonstrating his grandeur, his greatness, and his ability to bring strength to his people.

He begins by saying, to whom will you compare me? God is not to be compared with any other creature.

He is unlike anyone or anything you've ever encountered. He is wholly, totally separate from this world and from the cosmos that we reside in.

He is indeed great and greatly to be praised, and so different, so great, so exalted is this one that he can say, lift up your eyes on high and see who created these.

Here in Sunnyvale and in Santa Clara County, it's kind of hard at nighttime to look up and and see the stars.

It's not like where I grew up in Wisconsin, where I lived in Wisconsin previously, where I can go to my backyard and look up and I can see all the stars and their grandeur and their beauty.

Here, all I see is planes. I thought, is that a shooting star? No, that's a plane, and there's a bunch of planes in the sky, and you can't really tell the stars apart very well here, but yet the implication is this, when you lift up your eyes and you see the magnificence of his creation, the grandeur of space, the grandeur of the stars, you ask yourself, who created these?

And the answer is the Lord. It is he who brings out their host by number.

There are so many stars in this galaxy, not even the best scientists can discover or put a number on exactly how many stars there are in the universe.

Yet God knows. God not only knows, he created them, he fixed them in their appointed places, he brought out their glory and their host for our eyes to see, and it is this very same

God who, by his greatness and the greatness of his might, calls them all by name.

Beloved, if you are in a time in your life where you are in need of strength, know and be comforted by this.

God knows you, he knows you by name, and he knows his stars and the host of the heavens that he has made.

Nothing is too hard for him because he is strong in power.

He's strong, so strong that not even one of his hosts are missing.

He goes on to say in verse 28 of Isaiah 40, have you not known, have you not heard, the

Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

Here, beloved, is where we can draw our strength. There's a fountain for us to draw strength for the battle ahead that doesn't run dry, doesn't grow old or withers away, but instead there is a sure anchor for our soul here in Yahweh, in Jehovah God, the everlasting

God, the creator of the ends of the earth, because he does not grow faint nor does he grow weary.

But you, beloved, you do grow faint, you do grow weary, you are in need of that fountain of strength, that fountain that is other than yourself, that even goes beyond the things that you draw strength from in your family, in your relationships, in your children.

Those are all great motivating factors, but our true strength to be the father that God desires us to be, to be the husband that God desires us to be, to be the friend, the spouse, the individual, the

Christian who God wants us to be, we draw that strength ultimately from the everlasting God, from him.

Verse 29 says, he gives power to the faint. If you're growing faint, beloved, know that he can give and offers you power even now.

And to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even you shall faint and be weary and young men shall fall exhausted, but they who wait for the

Lord shall renew their strength and they shall mount up like wings like eagles, they shall run not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Brethren, the call to a Christian is one of perseverance and it requires the strength that only

God can provide. Find your strength, find your very being and substance in the everlasting

God who does not grow faint or weary and indeed shall empower even youth, young men, old men, young women, old women to do the work that he's apportioned for us to do so that we may be mounted up on the wings like eagles and run and not be weary.

Paul put it this way, that our life as Christians, it's like a race, it's like a marathon.

And what awaits for us on the other side of that marathon of life is a crown unfading of glory.

In order to run, you must find strength, you must be well conditioned, spiritually conditioned, and you find that spiritual conditioning in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is our fountain. The gospel says this, you and I are not strong, you and I are not capable of becoming righteous before a holy and a righteous

God, that we have fallen short of the mark, that we have sinned every one of us and we've all gone our own ways and yet God in his infinite love, his mercy has made a way for us to be made right through the ransom sacrifice of his son

Jesus Christ whose sin is a propitiation for this, for God.

Our sins are now been purified through the propitiation that God has made through Jesus Christ.

It is through his offering, it is through his shed blood that you and I can have everlasting life and we go to the cross knowing that Christ is no longer on that cross, he's now risen, ascended to the right hand of the

Father and we draw strength from him who is ascended above all power, authority, and every dominion and every name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come.

The Lord is our everlasting strength, amen? Therefore, find your strength for life, for holiness in him because again there is an enemy.

We can turn back to Ephesians chapter 6. There is an enemy against us who desires to wreak havoc against not only the world but the remnant of God's people, the seed of Jesus Christ and it says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

We are in a fight brethren and our enemy is the devil,

Satan the devil. The word Satan and devil mean accuser and it means deceiver.

We have one who is an accuser of the brethren. We see this early on in scripture even in the first, what likely is the first written book of the

Bible, the book of Job. In Job chapter 1 and 2 you see Satan coming in amongst the people, the children or the host of heaven and he begins to bring an accusation against God's servant, his elect,

Job and the charges is I bet you God that if you allowed me to put a finger on this man's livelihood, even his own life, he would curse you.

He's the accuser. He's the accuser which is why we see in Revelation chapter 12 when this great conflict emerged in heaven between Michael the archangel and the host of Satan's army and Satan was hurled down to the earth.

What did the angels of heaven proclaim? They said praise God hallelujah because the accuser of the brethren has been cast down.

The accuser has been cast down which is why now for Christians Paul can rightly say in Romans chapter 8 verse 1 therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Later on in chapter 8 he says for who can bring an accusation against his elect?

Who can bring an accusation? The devil is indeed the accuser.

He is indeed the deceiver yet for those who are in Christ his accusations fall on deaf ears because we received the perfect offering for sin and so when the accusations come there stands the righteous one

Jesus Christ who stands on your behalf imparting his righteousness to you imputing his righteousness to you and therefore the father can say he is justified he has been made free and your accusations oh devil will fall on deaf ears yet though our righteous standing before God through justification is made certain through the blood of Christ we still contend with he who is the accuser and we still contend with he who is the deceiver and his wicked schemes are meant to lead us away from the fountain of strength that is found in Jesus Christ therefore

Paul gives the warning he says put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil once you write that in there our defense against the schemes or the devil's schemes is what what's our defense brethren what must we put on not just one time but daily it's the armor of God it's the armor that God provides next week we'll go into deeper um session as to what that armor entails and and what that means and the implications it has for the

Christian life but truly God has given us a means by which we can stand firm against our spiritual foe even

Satan the devil and that is the armor of God or the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the devil now let me tell you something you know this the devil is more powerful than you he knows more than you he's been around longer than you there's no way you can outwit him no way you can overpower him he is more powerful than you then in what way then does the scripture say that we can stand against the schemes of the devil how is it then that James could say also that if you resist the devil he will what flee but what's interesting is that dota devil ontologically as a spiritual being is more powerful wiser has more knowledge than us we have something that he doesn't and it's the spirit of the living

God it's a spirit of Christ living in you that is what makes you strong that is what gives you power that is what it means to put on the whole armor of God is to be in Christ found in him not having a righteousness of your own but having a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus that this leads to the new man the new creation putting on the whole armor of God every day knowing that every day is indeed a battle and what does it mean to put on the whole armor of God well let me just let you know practically what some of these things look like it means reading the word of God daily because if you're not reading

God's word which is the sword of the spirit you will fall short in your battle against the enemy it's like going to war without proper weaponry you will go out and you will die because your enemy will overpower you it also means that we pray we pray regularly that prayer becomes such a reflex in our walk with Jesus that when temptation rears its head our response isn't to contemplate but instead to pray that that's our reflex as a

Christian people not to contemplate the temptation not to entertain it but instead to run to Jesus in prayer it also means it has implications for us as a church family as a church how are we doing in that regard

I think this is a church that has a phenomenal high view of the word of God I really do

I think we have a very high view of God's word and I think we're a church that is attempting to be serious about prayer but we're only attempting it

I don't think we've arrived there yet one of the graces that the Lord has given the church is the ability to pray and to gather together and I want to encourage you by way of reminder every

Sunday when we gather in the Lord's day we come not only for the preaching the proclamation of his word in the morning but we also should ought to have in our hearts the the momentum and the desire to stay and be in prayer with one another our church we have a service not only at 11 but we have one at two and at two o 'clock we have uh one of the pastors coming brings you the preaching of God's word declares to you the word and then we pray based off of the things that were preached and we pray in relation to those things and we've noticed over the last several months we've been waning in that area we've noticed that over the last several months we've seen less and less people attend that service now we don't say this to your shame but if you're shamed by it then maybe that's the spirit communicating something to you but we say this to spur you onto good works to spur you to desire prayer in your life and in the context of God's people because if it is true that outside these walls is a war a war for your heart a war for your mind a war for your soul then how is it that we can just so casually leave the doors of this church and not be ready and armed with prayer we ought to make it our aim not of a legalistic center or because we have to but because we want to that we're growing in the

Christian character and we're growing in holiness therefore we desire these things we ought to desire to be together in prayer and let me be honest with you sometimes it's hard Sunday can be a long day does she after a nice lunch can be difficult to stick around and pray but this is where perseverance comes in this is where spiritual discipline comes in you beloved are in need of spiritual perseverance and discipline and these are not things that just come naturally or just come by osmosis these are things that must be built up in the