Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter six? Now I would like to read verses
10 and 11 together. Ephesians chapter six. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and 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. Now, when
Paul is concluding this wonderful epistle, he concludes with this
exhortation to put on the whole armor of God. I want to do that,
don't you? Whatever means to do that, I'd
like to do it. Put on the whole armor of God. Now, Lord willing, next week,
we're going to consider this whole armor of God in one message. And then after that, I want to
look at each individual piece of the armor as the Lord enables
us to do that. But I want to confine our thoughts
Tonight, to verse 10, the way he introduces this, you need
this to put on the whole armor of God. Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Now, would he have said this
if it could not be? No. This is an exhortation to every
believer. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and the power of his might. Now I want to begin
with some thoughts on the power of his might. It's what is called
God's omnipotence. God is all powerful. That's what omnipotence means. Almighty. Have you ever heard
that saying, what happens when a omnipotent, all-powerful force
meets an immovable object? Have you ever heard that? Well,
it doesn't even make sense. If it, the force is almighty,
there's no object that cannot be moved by that omnipotent force. I think it's interesting the
way men make statements like that. And it doesn't even make
sense. God's omnipotence. Now this is utterly unique to
God. Only he is omnipotent. I love what the psalmist said,
power belongeth unto the Lord. I don't know of anything that
I find more, I don't even know what word to
say, but I can't stand it when people talk about powerful men
and women. There's no such thing. Power belongs to the Lord. Any
power any man or woman has is borrowed power that he's given
them according to his will. I love when the Lord was talking
to, or Pilate was talking to the Lord, and he said, answer
shall not me. Don't you know that I have power
to release thee, or I have power to have you crucified? And I
would love to hear the way the Lord said this. You have no power
at all over me. He wasn't gonna let him think
that for a second. You have no power at all over me, except
it be given thee from above. I love what the Lord said to
Sarah. The Lord had promised Abraham
a child in his old age, and Sarah was in her tent. And she laughed
when he said that. She said to him, I have pleasure
being old, and I've already gone through menopause. She'd gone
through menopause. That would be impossible to have
a baby when you've gone through menopause. And here was the Lord's
answer. Is anything. too hard for the
Lord. If he can create, that is not
a problem with his power. Now God's omnipotence is his
ability to do whatever he wills. What a glorious being. God's
omnipotence is his power to do whatever he wills. You know,
it's impossible to thwart him. If he wills to do something,
it will be done and nothing can stop it. That is God's omnipotence. He says in Isaiah, I have purposed
it, shall I not do it? Daniel or Nebuchadnezzar said,
he doeth according to his will. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay his hand. None can stop him from doing
his work. Saying to him, what doest thou? Give an account for
yourself. He gives no account of these matters. He's all powerful. That's the God of the Bible. David said, In Psalm 115, our
God is in the heavens. He hath done. Not he will do. Not he wants to do. He hath done
whatsoever he has pleased. God cannot act contrary to his
nature. He can't lie. He can't sin. He can't change. He is always consistent to all
of his perfections. He does whatever he wills to
do and no energy is expended. Now, when me and you do something,
what does it do? It wears us out. We're tired. We have to rest. We have to become
replenished. But God, when he acts No energy
is expended and he still has all the exhaustless power of
omnipotence. He has infinite sufficiency in
himself to do what he wills. And listen to this, he has no
needs. He has no needs. Did you know that he didn't need
you? You need him. You need him desperately,
but he does not need you because he has no needs. He is utterly independent. All he has is in himself and
he needs nothing else. Infinite sufficiency. Now his
omnipotence was first of all demonstrated in creation. There's so many theories about
creation, you know, the big bang theory and you've all heard of
that or just all of a sudden some kind of cosmic primordial
stew took place and life came out of that and all these different
theories and so on. God created the heavens and the
earth. That's what the Bible says. Somebody
says, well, you can't prove that by physics. Well, you can't not
prove it either, but that's not the point. God created the heavens
and the earth, and he did so out of an act of his own will. He simply willed this universe
into existence. There was a time when there was
nothing but God and the trinity of his sacred persons worshiping
one another. And he decided to create, not
because he needed to, but because he will do. To manifest his glory
and his perfections. And that's what he did. He created
this universe from nothing. Now what power that took. And it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard. Everybody knows
that God created the universe. They all begin that way at any
rate. Somebody says, well, I don't
believe that God created the universe. Well, you might've
got to that place by telling yourself he didn't because you
don't like the implications that would be if he did. But everybody
knows naturally that somebody made this and nobody made him. It is that simple. Somebody made
all this and nobody made him. He's the eternal God and he's
the creator of the universe and how that demonstrates his omnipotence
to create. I love that scripture in Hebrews
chapter 11, verse three, where it says, by faith we understand. that the worlds were framed by
the word of God so that the things which appear were not, which
are seen, were not made by things which appear. God created the
universe and that shows his mighty omnipotence. And really anything
else is irrational. Anything else is illogical. So
everything has to have a cause. And to think that all this happened
without a cause, it just doesn't make any sense. God created the
universe and that shows his power. Now his omnipotence is seen in
providence. Providence is everything that
happened in time. There was no time until God created
the universe. And all of a sudden we have this
thing called time. and space and matter. It was not there before God created
the universe, but now we have this thing called time. And everything
that happens in time is according to his providence, his purpose. Everything that happens, he is
the cause of. I love what the Lord said, not
a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly help. And
he didn't say without your heavenly father knowing it. He said, without
your heavenly Father. Everything that happens in time,
I don't care what it is, you can't take this too far. Everything
that happens in time, He's in control of. He is completely
sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of every man. He is in
control. Let me show you scripture in
Proverbs 16. This ought to be committed to memory by all of
us. But in Proverbs chapter 16, Verse 33, the lot is cast into
the lap. Now, you know what the casting
of lots is. Whoever gets the shortest lot, they're the one
who, you know, it's a thing of luck. That's what you think of. You cast lots and that, and whoever
has the shortest lot, he's the one who's done it or it determines
everything. And that's what we think of.
We think of luck. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole,
disposing thereof. The whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. And you know what that means?
That means everything that has happened to you, God is the first
cause. I don't care what it is. You
can't take it too far. What about the bad stuff? God's
in control of everything. And I would not worship a God
who was not in control of everything, but this is the God of the Bible.
And he controls everything. And once again, it's not hard
to him. There's not an expenditure of energy where he, you know,
you think of control by him, all things consist. He controls
everything and it is not hard. Everything takes place in time
is what he purposed before time. Now what omnipotence that he
controls everything, everything. everything in your life, everything
that you don't know about. God is in control of providence. That's why Paul could say, and
we know that all things, and that's a pretty big umbrella,
isn't it? Everything goes under that. We know that all things
work together for good. Oh, I'm so thankful for that
because I've, how many things have you regretted? You wish
you never said it, you wish it never took place. That doesn't
take away from the power of this truth. All things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Now that's a demonstration of
the mighty power of God, the omnipotence of God. And let me
remind you, this is a non-communicable attribute. This belongs only
to God. Me and you may have power, but
it's only power he's given us. We may have power to believe.
There was a time when we didn't. We do now. Why? Because he gave
it to us. God is all powerful. And you
know where it's seen most clearly? His omnipotence is seen in salvation. Now, the first thing that I thought
of when I was trying to think of this, I was thinking of God
and the three persons of the Trinity. God is one God in three
distinct persons. We know that from the Bible.
We would never guess it. Somebody says, do you think God's
one God in three persons and you didn't know the Bible? You'd
say, say what? What in the world are you talking about? I don't
know. I mean, that's crazy. But this is revealed in the scripture,
God, the father of God, the son and God, the Holy spirit. And
when I think of God's power, salvation the first thing I think
of is the surety ship of Christ when he stood for his people
before time began and took full responsibility for my salvation
before the creation and I say then what power what power he
demonstrated when he became flesh God the infinite God was conceived
in a womb by the Holy Spirit. And the scripture says, the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee. And that virgin was with
child of the Holy Ghost. He spent nine months in that
womb and was born a virgin. What power, God was manifest
in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
And what power he demonstrated in never sinning. 33 years, he never sinned. I can't even conceive of that. I can't go one second without
sin and neither can you. But he went 33 years without
sin. What power is demonstrated in
his righteous life. And then, his power to make sin not to
be. Now here's power. When he died on Calvary's tree,
with all the sins of his people. You know what happened to them?
They were put away. They are no more. Now listen to me. If Jesus Christ
died for you, all the sins you feel guilty about, they're not.
They're gone. They're put away. They're washed
away. They are not. He made them not
to be. You know that's the only thing
I can find any peace in is the fact that he actually made my
sin not to be so I stand before God without guilt, without sin,
perfectly righteous. What power there is in his death
when he made my sin not to be and what power is seen in his
resurrection when he was raised from the dead. Why was he raised? He was raised for our justification.
Here's the power of his resurrection. His resurrection made me to stand
before God, perfect, holy, without guilt, perfectly righteous. Now
that's power. What power is seen in the three
resurrections? The resurrection of Christ when
Christ was raised from the dead. What power is seen in the spiritual
resurrection when God gives a dead sinner life? I've watched people over the
years, their eyes are glazed over and all of a sudden their
eyes are opened. God has given them life. A dead sinner given
life to see the beauty of Christ. What power will be seen in the
final resurrection when the dead in Christ are raised? Jude 24
says, now unto him that is able. That's talking about his power,
his omnipotence. Now unto him that's omnipotent.
Now unto him that's able to keep you from falling. That takes the almighty power
of God. And to present you faultless. before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy. What almighty power. I love to think of the power
of Christ returning. I love that scripture in first
John chapter three, when it says, when he shall come back, we'll
be like him. but we'll see him as he is. You
know, I can't see him as he is. I'm talking about it, but I can't
see him as he is. But when I do, I'll be perfectly conformed to
his image. The power he demonstrates when
he makes a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Oh, the mighty power of God. Omnipotence. Power belongeth
unto the Lord. Isn't it glorious to worship
a God of omnipotence? A Holy Spirit of omnipotence? A Jesus Christ, the Son of God
of omnipotence. He said, all power is given to
me. The power of his might. Now notice, he says, be strong. in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. Now in
this epistle to Ephesians, 24 times we read of this phrase,
in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. It starts out in Ephesians chapter
one. Let's read a few of them. Verse three. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with
all spiritual heavenly blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Look in verse six,
to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made
us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of the grace. Now you can just go on reading throughout this
epistle, and this is the key to understanding the gospel in
Christ. All of God's salvation is in
Jesus Christ. God will not speak to you, nor
will he allow you to speak to him apart from the Lord Jesus
Christ and being found in him. Now, I understand completely
why Paul said in Philippians chapter three, verse nine, oh,
that I'm in Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness. I don't want to have anything
to do with that. You know why? Isaiah 64, six says, our righteousness
is as filthy rags. He said, there's none righteous,
no, not one. So when we talk about our righteousness, oh,
I don't want to have anything to do with that because I know
all I'll get out of that is hell. He said, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith. Now, when God comes looking for
me, Only one way I want him to see me is in the Lord Jesus Christ
so that all he sees is Jesus Christ and nothing else. I love what the Lord said. In
John 16, 33, these things have I spoken unto you that in me
you might have peace. No peace anywhere else. If you
get peace by looking at your own life and your own faith and
your own repentance and the strength of your love, you're in trouble. That's all I can say, you're
in trouble. You've been deceived. The only place that there is
peace is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord, in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord and
the power of His might. Be strong in the Lord because
in yourself, you have no strength. You believe that? Be strong in
the Lord because in yourself, you have no strength. Romans chapter five, verse six
says, for when we were yet without strength. Now, what do I mean
by being without strength? I mean, I can't believe unless
he gives me faith. I can't repent unless he gives
me repentance. I can't love God unless he gives
me that love. I can't live unless he gives
me life. That's what it means to be without
strength. The Lord said in John chapter
15, verse four, without me, you can do, anybody know the rest
of the verse? Nothing. It doesn't say without
me, you can hardly do anything. He says, without me, you can
do nothing. No man has any spiritual strength. You know, when the Lord taught
us to pray, Lord, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into
temptation. And you know what that prayer
is? You're saying when you make that statement, I am so weak. I know myself. I'm so weak that
if I'm tempted, I will fall. Don't let me be tempted. Put a hedge around me. I can't
take it. I am utterly and completely weak. That's a confession of weakness.
But didn't Paul say this when I'm weak? Then am I strong. Now in the context, he is exhorting
us to do what we can't do in our own strength. Now there's
so many things that he calls upon us to do in the book of
Ephesians and in the Bible that we cannot do in our own strength. I mean, read chapters four, five,
and six, all the things we're called upon to do. And we cannot
do these things in our own strength. But when he says, be strong in
the Lord, it's in the passive voice, literally be strengthened
in the Lord. I like that. Be strong, okay. Be strengthened, big difference.
Be strengthened in the Lord and the power of his might. Lord, strengthen me. Strengthen
me. It's very similar to in James
chapter one, where James says, if any of you lack wisdom, anybody
here fit that description? If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth
not. And we can say just as surely
if any man lack strength. Would that be anybody listening?
Let him ask God. who gives to all men liberally
and upbraideth not. Somebody says, but I'm so weak.
Well, Hebrews 11 34 says of the people who by faith out of weakness
were made strong. Now there is an inseparable connection
between weakness and strength. Turn with me to second Corinthians
chapter 12. I remember Paul had been taken
into the third heavens. What all that means, I don't
know. He said, I don't know if I was in the body or out of the
body. I don't know if this was a vision. I don't know if I was
physically actually brought up into the third heavens, but the
Lord taught him the gospel. You see, this gospel we believe
is a gospel of divine revelation. God brought Paul into the third
heavens and taught him the gospel. He said, I heard unspeakable
things which are not lawful for man to utter. That's how glorious
these things were. Look what he says in verse seven. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, And I try
to put myself in Paul's place. If I was brought into the third
heavens and you weren't, I think I might feel a little
bit of superiority toward you. Paul dealt with the same trouble. It's called pride. Thinking that
the Lord did this because of something in you. Oh, no, he
didn't. Oh, no, he didn't. And he says, lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. Who gave it to
him? God did. A thorn in the flesh. I dare say everybody in this
room feels like they got some kind of thorn in the flesh. God gives it, a thorn in the
flesh is not gonna kill you, but man is it painful. A thorn
in the flesh. I feel quite sure Paul's not
the only one who experienced this thing of God giving him
a thorn in the flesh, but God gave it to him. And look how
he described it. The messenger of Satan to buffet
me, to beat me black and blue, lest I should be exalted above
measure. For this thing I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." Somebody says, what
was it? I don't know, nor does anyone else. Paul doesn't let
us know, but we know it was a thorn in the flesh. And he asked the
Lord, take this away. And the Lord didn't say no, but
what did the Lord say? He said unto me, my grace is
sufficient for thee. Now you're going to have to be
satisfied to be saved by pure, free grace. Are you satisfied
with that? To be saved by pure, free grace. For my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my weakness that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions
and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then Am I
strong? You see, only when I'm weak can
I look to his strength. If I'm strong, I'm looking to
myself. When I'm weak, I have nothing
to look to. I'm made to look to him. Now, turn with me to Romans chapter
four for a moment. Beginning in verse 18, this is
said of Abraham. who against hope believed in
hope that he might become the father of many nations according
to that which was spoken. So thou shall thy seed be. God said it would be this way.
And being not weak in faith. I want to be there with him,
don't you? Being not weak in faith, he considered not his
own body now dead, when he was about 100 years old, neither
yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, she'd already gone through menopause,
yet God says you're gonna have a seed that's gonna be like the
stars of heaven. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. Now, that's what strong faith
is, believing his strength. He is able to give whatever he
has promised. I love thinking of those two
lepers coming into the house where the Lord was sitting. How'd
they get there? I don't know. The only thing I can think of
is they heard his voice and they just followed blindly. They stumble
into the house and the Lord looked at them. They're crying, Jesus
have mercy on us. He said, do you believe? They
wandered their sight. He said, do you believe that
I am able to do this? What a question. Do you? Do you
believe that he is able to make you perfectly holy in his sight
with absolutely no contributions from you? You believe that? Paul
says in 2 Timothy 1.12, he said, I know whom I have believed.
and I am persuaded that he is able. He didn't say I'm persuaded I'm
able. He didn't say I can look at my life and see he's done
a great work for me. He said, I'm persuaded he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. I turn to 1 Timothy 2, we're
gonna close with this thought. First Timothy, no I'm sorry,
second Timothy chapter two. Verse one, thou therefore my
son, be strong. There's that exhortation, be
strong, be strengthened. In what? In the grace that is
in Christ Jesus. Be strong. in the grace that's
in Christ Jesus. Now that means several things.
It means, first of all, be strong in the doctrine of grace. And
how can I emphasize how much of salvation is by grace? Well,
I think this is the way. How much of election is by grace? The children being not yet born,
neither having done any good, no good works to recommend them,
no bad works to disqualify them. Children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. God did not choose me because
he foresaw I would choose him. He chose me because in Christ,
because he's gracious. And how much of election is by
grace? It's all of grace. So is every other aspect of salvation.
Be strong in the doctrine of the grace of God, grace alone. Be strong in believing grace. When it says by grace, are you
saved? Say amen. I believe that. I believe I'm
saved by the sheer free grace of God. Be strong in the preaching
of grace. I love what Paul said. None of
these things move me. Neither I count on my life dear
to myself that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry
which I've received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of
the grace of God. Be strong in the doctrine of
grace. Be strong in believing grace. Be strong in preaching grace.
And now we, by the grace of God, be strong in the practice of
grace. Turn with me to Luke chapter
six. Now this ought to encourage us
in looking toward this thing of putting on the armor of God. It is the strength of God, the
might of God that enables us to do so. And so there's no reason
why everybody in this room cannot put on every piece of this armor
that is provided by God. These six different pieces of
armor. But look here in Luke chapter
six, beginning in verse 27. Now here's the practice of grace. But I say unto you which hear,
love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you. And pray for them which despitefully
use you. And unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh
away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every
man that asks of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods,
ask them not again. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. May the Lord impress
that in our hearts. For if you love them which love
you, what thank have you? Now that word thank is the same
word translated grace. If you love them which love you,
what grace have you? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you,
what grace have you? For sinners also do even the
same. If you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what
grace have you? For sinners also lend to sinners
to receive as much again, but love your enemies. and do good
and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall
be great, and you shall be the children of the highest, for
he is kind unto the unthankful and unto the evil. Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you
shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not
be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.
Give and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down
and shaken together, running over shall men give unto your
bosom. For with the same measure that you meet, it shall with
all be measured to you again. Now, be strong by the grace of
God in the practice of grace. Where do I begin? Well, it was
said of Apollos that he was mighty in the scriptures. He was mighty in the scriptures. Now there's no being strong in
his grace apart from you and I being mighty in the scriptures. May the Lord enable us to be
mighty in the scriptures and being mighty in the scriptures
will be mighty in the power of his might. May God cause us to
be so by his grace for the glory of his son. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would enable us to be strong in the grace that's in
Christ Jesus, that we might be strengthened
in his might by his power to lay hold upon by son and to not
let go. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, how we thank you for your mighty power How we thank you
for your power bestowed in creation, in providence, and in our salvation.
Lord, we confess power belongeth unto the Lord. In Christ's blessed
name, we pray.