Wrestlers for Christ (continued)
The Wrestler: Equipment for Warfare
What are we to do? We must admit the power of the adversary. He is bent on our undoing or overthrow. But need the Christian be fainthearted? Need he be overcome? No! He need not be defeated if he will take hold of these few verses in Ephesians 6 and do the things he is told to do there.
The Assurance of Power In Christ
We will think now of what the Christian equipment is for this warfare as revealed in these few verses. First, the assurance of power in Christ.
"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Eph. 6:10).
"Be strong!" That is what He is saying to us. Oh, that these words might ring in your hearts: "Be strong!" What will the devil say to you? He will say, "Be fearful! Think of the dangers and difficulties ahead. Think of the home to which you have to return, the place of business, the social circle. Be cowardly! Give up and turn back. Be weak! Sink under the weight of the circumstances of your environment. Be a deserter!" That is what he was - a deserter! satan deserted God and set up a kingdom of his own, and he will try to get you and me to be deserters.
The devil will try to get us to look back and to turn back. You say, "I was moved at that meeting, but I am afraid it was all emotion." How the devil loves s to say that when some decision is made under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. In a moment when we are at our best - and it is only when we are at our best that we should make our decisions - the devil will try to get us to say that it was all emotion. That will be the devil's voice to you. But the Lord is saying to you, "Be strong!"
Our strength, therefore, does not lie in outward armor, but in an inward attitude, in the assurance of our power in Christ. Do we enter the conflict assured of the power to win, or are we overcome with dread and fear before beginning? "Be strong in the Lord!" The Lord is more than a match for satan. He already had bound the strong man: He already is Victor. Mark that little word "in" so that you cannot help but see it constantly. "Be strong in the Lord!" That little word contains the whole secret of victory over the devil. It is where we are that determines our victory. In Christ we are more than conquerors. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."
Our power is in a Person. Three times in the next few verses we need this word. "That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (v. 11). "That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day" (v. 13). "Wherewith ye shall be ale to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (v. 16). He is able, and we are strong in His power and in the strength of His might. Mr. Raws has a little child who heard that hymn, "Onward, Christian soldiers!" and the little three-year old was singing it, "Undone Christian soldiers!" That is the trouble with most of us; we are undone Christians rather than Christians marching on to victory all the time.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 27)
No comments:
Post a Comment