Well, it is good to be back with you again. It's
been about three years since I was here last
so Number of faces have changed some of some
of them are familiar some of them are new but
it's good to be with you all again and to have
the opportunity to come and Bring God's Word
as I said to Ken earlier. I think it's the If
my list is complete, I think it's the 50th time
I've preached here since 1998, so it was much
more frequent earlier on, but it is always good
to come back and see what God is doing here in
Annapolis among you all. So our text this morning
is from Ephesians chapter 6. I'm going to read
the passage from verse 10 through verse 20. It's
a familiar passage to many of you, I'm sure.
Our text for the sermon is only going to be verse
10. We're not going to try and deal with the
whole passage, but want to read it all to give
us the context that verse 10 introduces. So here
now the word of the Lord. Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might. Put on the whole armor of God that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood but against principalities Against powers
against the rulers of the darkness of this age
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places 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 Stand therefore,
having girded your waist with truth, having put
on the breastplate of righteousness, and having
shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel
of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you will be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful
to this end with all perseverance and supplication
for all the saints and for me that utterance
may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel for which
I am an ambassador in chains that in it I may
speak boldly as I ought to speak father bless
your word as we study it together today cause
it to take root deeply in our hearts and to strengthen
us that we might serve you and glorify you in
all that we do we ask this in Jesus name amen
so I've always appreciated the writings of the
Puritans their perspective on the Christian life
their focus on doctrine and practice dedicated
to the glory of God. One of the Puritan classics
is a little book just under 1 ,200 pages long
by William Gernal called The Christian in Complete
Armor. Grinnell devoted this book to the exposition
and application of the passage that we just read,
Ephesians 6, 10 through 20. Spurgeon said about
that book that he called it the best thought
breeder in all our library. It was a source of
inspiration and thoughts that encouraged him
in his preaching. and gave him much to work with.
In typical Puritan fashion, if you're familiar
with Puritan books, they never have a title like
The Christian Incomplete Armor without having
a subtitle that essentially provides an outline
of the contents of the whole book. So this is
the subtitle for for the Christian incomplete
armor a treatise of the Saints war against the
devil wherein a discovery is made of that grand
enemy of God and his people in his policies power
seat of Empire wickedness and chief design he
hath against the Saints a magazine opened a Mac
not a magazine like this but a magazine like
an arsenal kind of magazine, a magazine opened
from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual
arms for the battle, helped on with his armor
and taught the use of his weapon together with
the happy issue of the whole war. That's the
subtitle. Now we're not going to cover all of
that because it took him 1200 pages to do it
and I preached a version of this sermon Many
years ago is the introduction to a series on
that passage. I think it was, you know, 36 years
ago or something like that. It was around 1990.
Can't remember exactly. In it, I depended a lot
on Gernel for much of the structure and content
of the series, though I didn't quote from him
frequently, because most people these days have
difficulty with Puritan style and vocabulary.
So, I sifted and synthesized and adapted, but
most of the essential ideas come from Gernel
in one way or another. I'm in his debt for that
and I cheerfully acknowledge that debt and consider
it a reminder that we modern day Christians have
not sprung up into maturity as the Church of
Jesus Christ by ourselves. But we've built on
the labors of faithful ministers of the Word
throughout the history of the Church. So while
a lot of the essential ideas and some of the
structure comes from Gernel, I have updated his
vocabulary and shortened his sentences a lot
since reading that. Our text this morning is
the first verse in the passage. Finally, be strong
in the Lord and the power of His might. From
this encouraging introduction to the Christian
spiritual warfare come four propositions that
I want us to consider this morning. First of
all, you need courage and resolution to live
as a Christian. Number two, your strength is
in the Lord. Number three, you must labor to
strengthen your faith based on the mighty power
of God and number four you must sincerely believe
that God's power is at work for your defense
and help so let's examine each of these propositions
this morning as they apply to our lives first
all you need courage resolution, resolve, determination,
whatever you want to call it, to live as a Christian.
The differences between Christianity and its
imitations are sometimes missed today. Christianity
involves a total transformation of the person.
It's not a mere profession. Not empty words not
simply a set of rituals It's a new creation in
Christ Jesus Jesus said you must be born again
The Christian life begins with God giving you
a new heart so that you may believe the promises
in his word and be justified by faith through
the blood of Jesus Christ our Savior Your old
man was crucified with him that the body of sin
might be done away with so that you should no
longer be slaves to sin. You now present yourselves
to God as being alive from the dead and your
members as instruments of righteousness, Paul
says in Romans 6. Before you offered yourself
in service to sin. Now you offer yourself as
a living sacrifice to God, says Paul in Romans
chapter 12. It takes courage and determination
to live like that, to live as a Christian in
a world filled with enemies. As Matthew Henry
observed, is not our life a warfare? It is so.
for we struggle with the common calamities of
human life is not our religion much more a warfare
it is so for we struggle with the opposition
of the powers of darkness and with many enemies
who would keep us from God and heaven we have
enemies to fight against a captain to fight for
a banner to fight under and certain rules of
war by which we are to govern ourselves. Fighting
against yourself, your old self, and the spiritual
forces of wickedness is hard work. Old habits
die hard. Just when you think you've finished
them off, they revive to ensnare you again. You're
working diligently to control your tongue, and
you're making progress with the Spirit's help,
but just when you least expect it someone says
something that sets you off and you blast away
at them or you've made great progress in controlling
your thought life when seemingly from nowhere
evil imaginations flood your mind you're tempted
to give up the fight but you cannot for the new
life within you will not die You must have courage
and determination to return to Christ for forgiveness
and new strength to press on in the battle. You
must have courage and determination to live as
a Christian because that means being different
from the world. Being set apart for Christ. You
are not your own. You've been bought with the
price with the precious blood of Jesus Christ
says Peter in 1st Peter 1. You cannot live as
the rest of the world lives, for you are in the
world but not of it. Your citizenship is in heaven
and you serve a different kingdom. For some,
your old friends may mock your new lifestyle
or seek to draw you back into your old ways,
but by the grace of God you must not turn back.
For no one who puts his hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for service. in the kingdom
of God said Jesus in Luke chapter 9 verse 62
to have this kind of courage and determination
you must know for whom and for what you fight
unless you truly know Christ in a living and
powerful way you you can't have the strength
necessary unless you grasp the glory and the
righteousness of God the majesty of his kingdom
you will not have the kind of courage you need
Your aim must be to serve Christ and him alone
with the courage and determination of an Abraham
Heading up the mountain prepared to sacrifice
his only son to the glory of God To Christ you
must go for courage to live as a Christian for
you can do all things through Christ who strengthens
you but apart from him you can do nothing this
brings us to our second proposition your strength
is in the Lord the truth of this proposition
is revealed clearly in God's work of creation
and redemption in God We live and move and have
our being. In Christ all things hold together.
Should he withdraw his provision of sun or rain,
we would all perish. Should he alter his normal
controls of the forces of nature, everything
would fly apart. Without his providential care,
we could not even exist. In God's program of
redemption, He creates us anew by His Spirit
because Christ has purchased us for Himself.
Once He has given this life to us, He must sustain
it within us. We are no more able to keep ourselves
alive spiritually than we are physically. We
cannot live the Christian life on our own. Jesus
says in John 15, 5, I am the vine, you are the
branches. He who abides in me, and I in him,
bears much fruit. For without me, you can do
nothing. Our spiritual nature needs spiritual
strength, which can only come from the Lord.
It's not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,
says the Lord. I mean Zechariah chapter 4 verse
6. The weakness of the saints in the face of
indwelling sin and Satan's assaults underlines
the fact that our strength must come from the
Lord. Paul says in Romans chapter 7 verses 18
through 25, For I know that in me, that is, in
my flesh nothing good dwells. For to will is
present with me. But how to perform what is good,
I do not find. For the good that I will to do,
I do not do. But the evil I will not to do, that
I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do,
it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells
in me. I find then a law that evil is present
with me, the one who wills to do good. For I
delight in the law of God according to the inward
man. But I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me
from this body of death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul was a believer. Paul
was an apostle. But even he could not depend
on his own strength to deliver him Our hope is
in the name of the Lord God has not made you
self -sufficient and Left you alone to live out
the life. He gave you But he taught you to pray
give us this day our daily bread He's determined
to meet our daily needs by personally supplying
them as we come near to him and seek him in prayer
God has chosen to make us dependent on his strength
That he may demonstrate his love by his personal
care for us and by making us dependent on A strength
that is clearly not our own He's revealed his
power and brought glory to himself You cannot
say, God made me a Christian, but I've made myself
strong. You must depend on him for power even
to will and to act according to his good purpose.
As Paul says in Philippians 2 .13. It is he who
began this good work in you that must carry it
on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1 .6. So if then you must have courage
and determination to live as a Christian and
your strength is in the Lord Then you must labor
to strengthen your faith based on the mighty
power of God You can't strengthen your faith
by force of will You know, it's not like you
need to go back in a corner somewhere and sit
and clench your teeth and tighten up your muscles
and say I will, I will, I will, I will, I will
have more faith. It's not the way it works. Faith
is a gift of God and can only be strengthened
by the means he's chosen to use to increase your
faith. When Paul says be strong in the Lord and
in the power of his might, He's pointing us to
God's almighty power as the basis for greater
faith. It's as if he were saying, remember the
mighty displays of God's power that you've heard
about in the Word. Remember creation. Remember
the flood. Remember the ten plagues and the Red
Sea. Remember the walls of Jericho and the sun
standing still over Gibeon. Remember David and
Goliath. Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Remember Daniel in the lion's den. Remember the
incarnation. Remember the Gadarene demoniac set
free. Remember the raising of Lazarus. Remember
the empty tomb. And remember the testimonies.
Who is this king of glory? The Lord. Strong.
Mighty Psalm 24 yet their Redeemer is strong
the Lord Almighty is his name Jeremiah 50 34
God has also given us the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper that will celebrate together shortly as
a means of increasing our strength as we feed
upon our Lord Jesus Christ through faith and
Remember the grace given to us in his death resurrection.
It's no easy task to strengthen your faith when
you're confronted with temptation, yet this is
when it's most necessary. It's then that you
need the assurance that the almighty power of
God is able to deliver you from any foe, whether
within or without. It's then that you must lean
upon the mighty power of God to give new vitality
To your faith and bring the victory over temptation
Then you must lay hold of the exceeding greatness
of his power toward us who believe according
to the working of his mighty power which he worked
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
Seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
places far above all principality power and might
and dominion and every name that is named not
only in this age but also in that which is to
come Ephesians 1 19 to 21 Paul makes this point
and as Paul prayed for the Ephesian Church that
he would grant you according to the riches of
his glory to be strengthened with might through
his spirit in the inner man so we pray for ourselves,
for the church today. If we lose sight of his
power, defeat may seem inevitable and surrender
desirable. But if our hearts are certain of his
almighty power to dispel all his and our enemies,
we will press the battle against the enemy. Finally,
Fourth point, you must sincerely believe that
God's power is at work for your defense and your
help. You are kept by the power of God unto salvation.
You are God's child if you are in Christ. Will
your heavenly father allow his child to be destroyed
by sin and Satan? God has loved you with an everlasting
love so much so that He sent His Son to die in
your place. Will He not now love you enough to
exert His mighty power on your behalf? God's
covenant promise declares that He will be your
God and will deliver you. Will He now violate
His own covenant promises by failing? to demonstrate
His power on your behalf. Christ now intercedes
for you in heaven, seated at the right hand of
the Father as your great high priest. Will the
Father no longer listen to the prayers of His
beloved Son? If God be for us, Paul says in Romans
8 .31, who can be against us? Can you say with
Paul, for I am persuaded? that neither death
nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers
nor things present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other created thing shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord God's power is at
work for your defense and help You must believe
it and act upon it. You must not say you believe
in God's power and then give up the fight and
surrender to Satan and sin. You must, as the
gospel song says, trust and obey. For there's
no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust
and obey. If you doubt God's power or willingness,
you will not trust and obey. And when you stop
trusting, you lose your comfort in Christ. Brothers
and sisters, we must lean on God's almighty power
to deliver us from our sins even when our conscience
troubles us about the magnitude of our sins.
You must lean on God's almighty power when you're
struggling to overcome indwelling sin and temptations.
You must lean on the almighty power of God when
you're struggling with duties that far exceed
your abilities to complete them. So this morning
the good news is our strength is in the Lord.
But what of those who are without Christ? If
we who are born of the Spirit are so in need
of His power, what of those who do not have the
Spirit of Christ? They have no strength, no power
to save themselves, no power to come to God on
their own, no power to defeat Satan. They need
Christ. Brothers and sisters, pray that God would
save those you know who are in this condition.
For apart from Christ, they're without hope.
My friend, if you're here today without Christ,
humble yourself. Cry out to Christ. to save you
finally my brothers be strong in the Lord and
in the power of his might remember that you need
courage and resolution to live as Christian remember
your strength is in the Lord remember you must
labor to strengthen your faith based on the mighty
power of God and remember that you must sincerely
believe that God's power is at work for your
defense and help. Psalmist says, God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Our strength is in the Lord. Let's pray. Father,
give us grace. Give us grace to believe these
great and precious promises. Give us grace to
look to you when we feel weak, when we feel tempted,
when we feel despondent. Teach us to remember
that our strength is in the Lord. Teach us to
be strong in the Lord. and in the power of his
might. Enable us to do this by your Holy Spirit
as you dwell in us and empower us and as you
continue that good work that you've begun in
us until the day of Christ Jesus. We pray it
in his name. Amen.