Class Outline:

 

Sunday March 13,2022

Open: the psalms poetically reveal the sovereignty of the Lord over all the nations (one among many things). God is patient, but no one is going to get away from His judgment, either through Christ, or standing for themselves.

 

PSA 2:1-3:1

Why are the nations in an uproar,

And the peoples devising a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth take their stand,

And the rulers take counsel together

Against the Lord and against His

Anointed:

3 "Let us tear their fetters apart,

And cast away their cords from us!"

 

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,

The Lord scoffs at them.

5 Then He will speak to them in His anger

And terrify them in His fury:

6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

 

7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:

He said to Me, 'Thou art My Son,

Today I have begotten Thee.

8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance,

And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

9 'Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,

Thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.'"

 

10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;

Take warning, O judges of the earth.

11 Worship the Lord with reverence,

And rejoice with trembling.

12 Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way,

For His wrath may soon be kindled.

How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

 

Written 1,000 years before the birth of Christ and as tangibly true as if it were written during His life.

 

 

 

Divine strength is available to all believers but it is not always used because it fills us when we are doing what God wills, which is what His power is designed for and so it demands faithfulness, faith, and wisdom. The path of sin has no divine power at all. Sin is independent of God and so must be a path where we are on our own.

 

Why? God has created a world in which enemies would emerge, to whom God would give them a shot at Him. I would not say that this is the ultimate end of God’s purpose. He made the universe for the glorification of Himself in mankind, but the exposure of Himself to the enemy is a part of that grand purpose.

 

Where is the contemporary relevance? Spiritual things must be relevant to the soul.

 

EPH 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

 

We have spent our last several classes investigating this strength that is in the Lord.

 

We found that this mighty power was released to all believers when Christ sat at the right hand of God, in essence completing the final step of His complete victory over all rebellion against God and that rebellion’s results which are sin and death.

 

In this passage, God had given us His strength and His full armor so that we will be able to 1) stand firm against schemes, 2) withstand in the evil day, and 3) extinguish the devil’s fiery missiles. These three look like three different ways of describing the same thing.

 

Knowing that believers are not always strong, we set off to discover how a believer uses God’s mighty strength in practice. We found in 1Ti and 2Ti where Paul claimed that Christ strengthened (endunamoo - same word “be strong”) him because Paul was faithful to the Lord in the Lord’s service. This was very good news, because any believer can be faithful. I’m sure that some believers would rather that some ritual or prayer would make power operational, but if they are honest, they are only looking for a shortcut. And if we love the Lord and His life, we shouldn’t be looking for shortcuts. When you enjoy the journey, you don’t find a shorter way to get to your destination. Faithfulness as a condition means that if we love the Lord and thus love His way, we will find divine power to accomplish what we could only have dreamed of. Paul had the Lord’s strength because he was faithful to doing the Lord’s will.

 

Faithfulness is a combination of faith and obedience.

 

Like all good things, strength only belongs to the Lord (ISA 45:24), and so we find the use of His strength in Him, walking with Him, thinking and living with Him and His ways.

 

Every day, almost everything we do has a way that is the new and living way of God and that option sits beside all the other ways. Waking, thinking, planning, deciding, strategizing, working, playing, interacting, serving, learning, teaching, listening, resisting, preparing, relaxing, doing nothing, (more?) all have a godly way.

 

The passive command “be strong” shows us that the power is something done to us and not something we do to ourselves; and its present tense shows that it is continual. The is not instruction for a quick fix, but for a life spend drawing strength from God.

 

To be strong in the Lord means to know His strength and to draw closer to Him. It is an exhortation to act on what is known (1CO 16:13; 2TI 2:1; PHI 4:13; COL 1:11; 1TI 1:12).

 

We also discovered that the Lord stood with Paul and strengthened him through every trial. Again, Paul mentioned his own faithfulness to proclaim the good news to the Gentiles. This was the Lord’s will for the apostle and in doing it there was so much opposition that it nearly killed Paul, but, as he put it,” the Lord “delivered [him] out of the lion’s mouth” (2TI 4:17). Paul’s confidence in the Lord to stand with him and fulfill all the promises that the Lord made, gave Paul the strength to stand firm.

 

Throughout the Old Testament narratives, when the people go astray from God, they lose power and ability. King Saul was weak whereas David was strong. The only difference between them was that one loved the Lord more than anything or anyone and so walked in the way of the Lord (much of the time). Still, even when David went astray it resulted in weakness.

 

PSA 38:4

For my iniquities are gone over my head;

As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

 

PSA 31:10

My strength has failed because of my iniquity,

And my body has wasted away.

 

There are a lot of people in this world who want to sin and simultaneously possess strength. No. Welcome to God’s world. It’s His universe, not ours.

 

I should repeat that quite a bit of ink is used to warn us that sexual sins will take away strength.

 

PRO 5:9-10; 6:26

Lest you give your vigor to others, … Lest strangers be filled with your strength, … For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread,

 

I quoted this from Pastor Chuck Swindoll a few weeks ago. It is appropriate here again because all of our study on standing firm against the schemes of the devil will only remain as a faraway dream if you do not have the Lord’s strength at your fingertips - weapons for the right hand and the left.

 

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay. Whatever changes you need to make, start today. Don't hesitate because of the pain it may cause or the problems it may create. Surviving requires changes. Sometimes, drastic changes. Like turning away from evil. Like saying "no" to sin.” [Pastor Chuck Swindoll, Insight for Living Ministries, daily devotional https://insight.org/resources/daily-devotional/individual/a-survival-secret2]

 

Pastor Swindoll has experienced a lot of years in the pulpit and he only offers to us the exhortation to change our ways. There is no procedure or quick fix that is easier. I would add, that anyone who by faith commits to that change, will find the power of God to do it. The particular devotional that I pulled the quote from was based on:

 

2TI 2:19

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness [adikia = unrighteousness]."

 

That doesn’t mean that the change is going to be easy, it simply means that divine power is greater than the pain that change causes. Like standing firm, changing our sinful habits is not easy.

 

Look at some other passages that surround this one:

 

2TI 2:1

You therefore, my son, be strong [endunamoo] in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

 

2TI 2:15

Be diligent [spoudazo - make every effort] to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

 

2TI 2:21-22

Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

 

We stand in strength because we are faithful and God gets the glory.

 

The firm foundation of God stands. Be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ. Make every effort to present yourself approved to God. Be a vessel of honor useful to the Master. All things have been created by Him and for Him (COL 1:16).