Stage 3: Level 2 - Class 3
Pastor Simon
Strong in the Lord
The Whole Armour of GodA class on wearing God's armourOr how to skilfully stand in Christ's victory! - Pastor Simon |
| Class Beginning | Class Introduction | Class List |
Stage 3: Level 2 - Class 3 Pastor Simon |
Part One: Strong in the Lord |
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| Copyright © 1998 P.F. (Simon) Measures |
| W | earing the whole of armour of God can become easy and natural. For this to happen you have to switch over to another source of power and strength in your life. |
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You are going to have to switch over from your strength to the Lord's strength and from your power to His power! This is an essential, major switch over that needs to take place in your life!
Before Paul tells us about putting on the whole armour of God he exhorts us,
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." Eph.6:10 - NKJV
In the world before we came to Christ, we habituated ourselves to living in our own strength. We had no idea there was any alternative. When our strength failed - as it invariably does - we turned to prescription or non-prescription drugs - legal or illegal!
Now in Christ we have His strength available! After coming to Christ it takes time to realise this. Yet every believer needs to switch over to Christ's strength. We all need to learn to live consistently, day by day in the strength Christ makes available to us. (The same is true of His power and we'll look at that later.)
In his letter to the Philippians Paul tells us about living in Christ's strength. He says,
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil.4:13 - NKJV.
This verse is translated even more dynamically by Kenneth Wuest. His translation says,
"I am strong for all things in the One who constantly infuses strength in me." Phil.4:13 - Expanded Translation of the New Testament.
So how are you going to be strong for wearing the whole armour of God? You'll be strong enough in the One who constantly infuses strength in you!
You have two things to do then. First, set yourself permanently in Christ - like a branch has itself set in the tree. Second, let there be an infusing of strength into you from Christ - like the branch allows sap to flow in it from the tree. (See John 15:1-8.)
In practice, this means consistently building a daily, moment by moment, relationship with your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is all about maintaining a living, vibrant communion with Him in prayer and over His word as you read it and meditate upon it daily.
Power of His might
It's not just the Lord's strength we need to have though. We also need His power - the power of His might.
The power of His might was promised to us by Jesus. In the book of Acts we read,
"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me." Acts 1:8 - NKJV.
It is in being filled with the Holy Spirit that we have His power.
If you are going to be strong in the power of His might you're going to have to be strong in His Spirit. You're going to have to receive the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) and be becoming continually filled with the Holy Spirit by thanksgiving and heartfelt worship with song. (Eph.5:18-20)
Spiritually then, you grow up in the Lord and you begin to find putting on and keeping on the whole armour of God easier and easier. In the whole armour of God you find yourself able to stand against the wiles of the devil, resisting him in the day of adversity. Your stand turns him to flight while you enjoy Christ's victory!
| Part 2: Christ's Mighty Men | Part 3: My Gospel Shoes |
| Let's get a good picture of ourselves in God's armour and we'll see how we're going to stand. | Stand with firm-footed stability in the footwear that God's armour provides! |
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