"Be Strong In the Lord" By Chris Ulrich October 12th,
2014
You
may be seated. It’s
good to see
everybody this morning. Actually,
at
this time, I’d like to ask Rob to come up, please, and lead us in prayer for this
morning’s message. ROB:
Lord Jesus, I give You thanks for this
day, Lord God, for Your Spirit and for You Word, Lord God. A pray that you would
anoint my brother,
Chris, and give him the wisdom and the knowledge to preach, Lord, what
You
would have him to preach, Lord. God,
Lord, I pray that Your Spirit would guide him; let him meet the needs,
let him
see the needs. Let
him say exactly what
You would have him to say, and I pray that he would be yielded to You. Lord, I thank You, and
give honor and glory
and praise. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.
My
name is Chris Ulrich, and I appreciate what you shared earlier,
Parrish,
introducing yourself, introducing Andy, introducing who we are as a
fellowship,
who we’re associated with, and we are a fellowship, as you mentioned,
Malcolm,
and that’s what we’re all about.
The
last couple of months, we’ve had a time of sanctification. It’s really been one of
those kind of things
where we’re going to get out of it what we put into it.
It’s not something that, if we put no effort
into it at all, then we’re not going to reap that benefit. But, if we do make an
effort, if we do take
it seriously, that’s what it’s all about. 2 Chronicles 7:16
For now
have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for
ever:
and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. It’s
something that, we look at it
like—we’ll get into this a little more later—but it’s a long-term plan. It's not something where
it's like a quick
religious experience, or something where we look at it like, "Well, I
just
want to dabble in the Lord." That’s not going to cut it; that’s not
going
to save our souls, and that’s not going to give us a long-lasting walk
with God. Our
theme for this month, has been
a continuation of the book of Ephesians which we started in September. Parrish preached from
Ephesians 4 last week
and really highlighted verse 11 about the different offices in God. You mentioned how that
these aren’t the only
positions and that a walk with God really isn’t about a position at
all, it’s
about each of us making a contribution for the glory of God. You also talked about how
that each part and
function of our bodies, and this is true with just about any living
organism,
affects the other parts of the body as well.
You gave some good analogies, such as a tree, if
there’s some part that’s
affected, or even in our own bodies, as far as if we—Bob, I know that
you’ve
shared many times; Bob had an accident many years ago, he lost part of
a finger. It was
something where—I know that you shared
that it affected you, and there were times when it was like you thought
it was
still there, and it wasn’t. It
affected
you until
you got accustomed to that, until you get
used to that. And
then you
mentioned something about some guy from a sports team called the
Baltimore
Ravens and, I’ve got to say, that’s where you lost me and I think you
lost everyone
else! I’m just
kidding little bit, but
Parrish is from Now
I’m aware that we are going in
numeric order as far as the book of Ephesians, with these chapters but
we’re
going to change things up a little today and look at chapter 6 today
instead of
chapter 5. There
isn’t any real
controversy here but myself and Jesse had to switch places and since
we’d both
already started preparing our messages, so that’s our reason for that Ephesians 6:1-10
Children,
obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; which is
the first commandment with promise;
That it may be well with thee, and thou
mayest live long on the
earth. And,
ye fathers, provoke
not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of
the Lord. Servants,
be obedient to
them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and
trembling, in
singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but
as the servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will
doing
service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall
he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
And, ye masters, do the same things
unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in
heaven;
neither is there respect of persons with him.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of His
might. I
know there are quite a few
highlights in this opening passage, but I’d like to focus your
attention on
verse 10. “Finally,
my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”
There’s a message right there if we’ll allow
it, that happens to be the title of the message, and it’s also the
first point
is that we need to be strong in the Lord. Having
said that, I’m sure that,
because we have quite a diverse group here, that there are those who
are asking
themselves, how can I be strong in the Lord?
It takes reading the Bible.
It
takes evangelizing. It
takes overcoming
temptations. And I
know there are some
who are already pretty sure about what it takes to be strong in the
Lord. And I would
venture to say that there are
those that say, “I can’t be strong in the Lord.” We’ve heard the
expression—we’ve probably seen the commercial, “I’ve fallen, and I
can’t get
up.” It's one of those things where it's like, you know, the Bible
says, “We’ve
all sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) but
it also says, "If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
I suppose, not here, but I suppose there are people
that say, “I don’t
want to be strong in the Lord.” I would say, for that, we’re not going
to make
it on anybody else’s coattails. We’ve
all heard that expression before, I believe, and if you haven’t, well,
you’re
hearing it. It’s
one of those things
where we need to strive to be strong in God.
It
does take prayer. It
does take living a godly life. It
does take fellowship. It
does take fellowship. It
takes seeking to do the will of God,
acting upon the still small voice of God, and having a plan that is
long term.. I’m not
saying that there are a million
things to remember but God will guide us if we allow it. There’s a balance to
having a successful life
in God, and that will keep us steadfast, if we are willing. Speaking
of steadfastness, and I
have to say that, there was, a couple of months ago, and a thought that
crossed
my mind that I would have to interpret as a challenge, but, it was one
of those
things where, I think, sometimes God gives us challenges—I’m not
talking about,
God doesn’t tempt us with evil, the Bible talks about that, but He does
try our
faith, and He does prove us. We
look at
it in the Old Testament, and we see it in the New Testament. I can’t remember if there
was any catalyst to
this particular thought, but it was something that I pondered for a
while. It was
asking about what it would take for me
to leave the faith. Now,
I know that you
probably are wondering did I actually—I would say yes; the question I
asked
myself was, “What would it take to get me to leave the faith?” I mean,
what
worst case scenario would cause me to just up and quit?
What if I found out that I had cancer, got
hauled off to prison, was a victim of identity theft, you name it? Oh, I get that we all feel
that, “oh, I’ll
never deny the Lord; I’ll never deny the Lord”
and that’s a good
thing, but sometimes battles come in such unexpected ways that
sometimes we get
caught off guard. I’m
not making excuses
for myself, but I’m being realistic.
Now,
having said that, it’s not
like I’m planning my departure, or that I’m not satisfied with my life
in God,
or that all of a sudden I think the gospel is a big lie or a conspiracy. It’s not that at all. I would actually subscribe
to the opposite
end of the spectrum, and say that I’m looking for reasons to stay in
the faith,
I’m very satisfied and thankful for what God has done in my life, and
that I believe
without a shadow of a doubt that being born again and baptized in
Jesus’ name
is absolutely the truth. It's
a matter
of looking at it like, okay, but a big part of being strong in the Lord
is
knowing what our weaknesses are, and when we know them, we can address
them. I'm not
saying that is always going to be
what would it take for me to leave.
What
if I had this misfortune? What if I have this accident? I’ve been
reading this
book recently, about the Jews displacement after World War II. About their going back to So,
I have to ask, what would it
take to leave? I
know that we all could
come up with reasons/excuses if we wanted.
But having said that, I also need to ask, or a need
to also ask, what
would it take to stay? Because,
that’s
really the more important question.
I
think the gold standard for perseverance, biblically speaking, is Job. I mean, if you read the
book of Job,
you understand some of the afflictions, and
some of the tragedies that he withstood, it’s about the most suffering
and
tragedy that I think one person could withstand and still survive. I would also be remiss if
I failed to mention
Jesus Christ, and the sufferings that He withstood, and the beatings He took , and He was
blameless; He was
faultless. We’re
talking about somebody
that absolutely did not deserve it.
On the
other end of scale we find Esau who sold his birthright for one morsel
of meat. My point
is, that you would think the person
who endured so much more suffering with just say, “Forget this. Absolutely, I am just
forgetting this. There
is no way this is worth it.” And you
would think that the person who had what was just a minor temptation
, or just a minor battle, would say, "I
can put up with this. I
can survive
this." Ephesians 6:11-12
Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the
wiles of
the devil. For
we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high
places. If
we’re not careful and we aren’t
spiritually alert we can allow our surroundings to dictate how we think
we
stand with God. In
other words, if we’re
in a positive place, all the bills are paid, we have job satisfaction,
live in
a nice place, and we’re getting along with everyone then we must be
right with
God. I’m not saying
those aren’t goals
to strive for, because they are. It’s
not a matter of, we’re looking to be masochistic, and try to make
things more
difficult than they actually need to be.
Because even Christ himself said, “Take My yoke
upon you and learn of Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The Bible also talks about, “Herein we understand the word of God, that
we keep
His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous.” We’re going
to have a
roller coaster ride, at times, of emotions, of situations, of
circumstances… I'm
not saying that those aren't goals to strive for, but, what about when
we’re in
debt, out of work, or we just can’t seem to catch a break? Do we base our
spirituality on that? We
shouldn't. I'm not
saying that there aren’t
times when we bring folly or misfortune upon ourselves, because there
is. There are times
where, the Bible talks about,
we're going to reap what we sow. If
we
sow seeds of doubt, or we sow seeds of distrust, or we sow seeds of
unfairness,
or just flat out sin, we’re going to reap that, but, like I said
earlier, in
Romans 3:23, it says, quote “All have sinned and come short of the
glory of
God.” But, again, God does give us forgiveness; if we confess our sins,
He is
faithful and just to forgive our sins. No
matter how good or bad it might
get, and I would highlight the good more as it relates to this point
since
we’re more likely to take our ease (sort of fall asleep at the wheel)
when
things are going well, rather than when we’re in turmoil. We
look at the book of Revelation, where it talks about the Laodiceans,
where it
talks about they were lukewarm, neither hot nor cold.
God said, “I would rather that you were hot
or cold , but because you are lukewarm, I will spew you
out of my
mouth.” Those are things that keep us strong, that keep us on the
straight and
narrow, that keep us focused. I
want to
share something: Jason, I know that you said something about a dream
that your
wife had, and you took the liberty of sharing that, and we appreciate
that. This is one,
years ago, and it was like, it
wasn’t anything profound, I think it was more important--and I was
telling Mark
Lanier this, he said, “You know, remember back when they first started
cruise
control?” He said, “Do you remember hearing like urban legends about
people
just getting in the back of their van and just do whatever, sit
around?” Well,
obviously cruise control only has to do with the speed of the vehicle,
it has
nothing to do with control. None
of
those ended well. There
was a dream I
had, I’m driving down the highway, doing the speed limit, of course,
and I
said, “Well, I’m going to go take a nap.” This was in a dream. So,
I somehow climb out of the driver's seat and into the back, and, of
course, the
vehicle goes out of control and Woooosh! It crashes into a
tree, and it
was like, I can’t say that I had an interpretation other than, one of
two
things: either God was saying you have fallen asleep at the wheel, or
make sure
you don’t fall asleep at the wheel.
It
was a wake-up call, and it was one of those things where it's kind of
like,
I’ve got to make sure that I’m spiritually alert.
I can’t just sit here and take this walk of
God lackadaisically, or not seriously, and I think that I’m going to
prosper, and
think that I’m actually going to make it to heaven.
Ultimately that’s what this goal is all about. I mean, there is nothing
more, there's
nothing less, that is our ultimate goal.
We still can never stop fighting against
principalities, powers, and the
rulers of darkness of this world.
I’m
sure there’s plenty of things, I mean, we know what’s happening now
with this So
what/who are the
principalities, the powers, the rulers of darkness of this world? Is it the government, the
establishment, or
the wealthy, the media, the people in Isaiah 14:12-17 How
art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to
the
ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the
most High. Yet
thou shalt be
brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look
upon thee, and consider
thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did
shake
kingdoms; That
made the world as a
wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house
of his
prisoners?
So,
God is showing us that we are wrestling not against flesh and blood,
but against
these principalities, against these rulers of darkness.
It's not always a matter of just saying,
"Well, I don't like the government." “I don't like this profession of
people.” “I don’t like this country.” Or whatever it might be. But then we have to
understand that we have
to shake that off, and I’m not saying that there’s not times where it’s
absolutely cut and dried that there’s some enemy.
I had mentioned before about what had
happened in We
could talk about how corrupt
society has gotten and the morals declining further and further. We could talk about how
we’ve lost
generations and how the spiritual landscape looks bleak. Or we could talk about how
difficult it’s
gotten to live a Christian life and wonder if it’s really worth it. But I’d rather talk about
the victory in God
and how to keep that victory; how to be strong in God.
My second point today is about protecting
ourselves in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Everybody
knows that the only way
to protect yourself is to arm your self.
Don’t mishear me, because I’m not talking about
guns, or tanks, or
nuclear weaponry, or any outward display of power, I’m talking about
spiritual
armament. We all
understand that we live
in a physical world so it’s not always so cut and dry to separate that,
but the
there is a verse in Hebrews 11 that the world is framed by the word of
God so
that the things which are seen were not made by things that appear. It’s difficult to for us
wrap our minds
around that, but once we do, we get that victory, because then we
understand,
“You know what? Everything that I see, is made up of things I can’t see
which
is God,” I know there are plenty of people who looked at, and they
don’t have
faith, they don’t know God, “Oh, that’s hogwash.” They try to ridicule
it… Hey,
believe whatever you want. There
was
something I read recently, and I know Parrish had mentioned it a few
years back,
about Stephen Hawking. For
those of you
that don’t know him, Stephen Hawking is supposed to be some genius. I don’t really know a lot
about him, but
apparently, his opinions are highly esteemed in the scientific world. Recently, he made his
declaration, “I’m an
atheist. I don’t
believe in God.” So
what? Honestly, I look at that, and I don’t care whether the guy
believes or he
doesn’t believe. His
opinion isn’t going
to affect my walk with God, or sway me whatsoever.
It’s a matter of looking at it like, this guy
has brought forth any fruit before God.
I
mean, it’s like double minded, if anything, along the way, because, way
back,
he said, “I believe in God,” then, “I don’t believe in God,” then, “I
sort of
believe in God,” and now, he’s like, “I absolutely don’t.” As he
approaches
Judgment Day, he’s actually going the wrong direction, if you stop and
think
about it. We have
to be like that, and I
don’t mean go out and start fights with all the atheists out there,
because one
thing is for sure—and I used to be an atheist myself--if they were
really
atheist, then it wouldn’t matter to them what kind of life we are
living. If they
were sure of themselves, to say, “I
don’t believe in God,” then their opinion would be, “I don’t care how
you live. You can
do what you want.” Why does it
actually angry them if I say, “Thank God,” or “Thank you, Jesus.”? I
mean, it’s
not like I’m, you know, their boss or something. Ephesians 6:13-18
Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of
peace; Above
all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the
wicked. 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, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and
supplication for all saints; We
need to stand on the Word of
God and make sure that we study it and know it.
That’s our lifeline.
We need to
walk the walk of Christianity which is the gospel of peace. And above all, we need to
walk by faith and
not by sight. I’m
not going to get into
how that we need to make sure all parts of our body need to be covered
when we
prepare for battle, because I think we already understand that. But we have to ask
ourselves how we’re doing
in the areas that keep us spiritually protected because that’s what’s
going to
keep us long term. The
goal here isn’t
to be a shooting star, or to make a big splash, or to hit it big quick
and then
fizzle out, or get rich quick... There’s
no shortcuts in God. I
guess it’s one
thing I would like to put emphasis on: we can’t fake it, we can’t take
shortcuts, you can’t cut prayer time short, or fellowship time, or the
seriousness in God. God
will bless us
for it. I mean,
this isn’t is that we
aren’t receiving something, because we are.
The Bible talks about, He daily loadeth us with
benefits. That’s
something where—I mean, there are
innumerable things to be thankful for, but, it has to come down to, MI
looking
for a way out, or am I looking for a way in? Am I looking for a way to
continue
in Christ, or am I looking for way to, “Forget it, I’ve had about
enough of
this.” You know what? I’m going to share something that, when those
temptations
do come along, there can be there for a while, but they’re not going to
be
there forever. When
that window of
opportunity shuts, it’s gone. I’m
not
saying that other things aren’t going to come up along the way, but ,
we have
to put that behind us, and burn that bridge.
I’m talking about, burn that bridge of the
temptation that affected us,
and make sure that we’re not regretting that decision that overcame it;
that we
decided, “You know what? I want to stick with this; I don’t want to go
back to
that. I don’t want
to live that life. I
don’t want to live in that world.” So
how do we protect ourselves in
a world that gets more corrupt every day?
Well, how are we doing in the having fervent charity
department? How
about the study to show ourselves
approved unto God department? What
about
visiting the sick, the stranger, or the prisoner?
Or the weeping with those who weep and yes,
rejoicing with those who rejoice? It’s not all about affliction; it’s
not all
about suffering. It's
not all about--I
guess you could say--enduring. We
have to endure to the end. Jesus
said Himself, when the disciples
asked about the end times—that’s a hot topic, that’s something you hear
about
all the time. It’s
like, “The end of the
world; the end of the world!” What puzzles me is, as much as you hear
about the
end of the world in the media, and in movies, I mean, how many
different ways
can you destroy the earth? I mean, whether it’s a volcano, or a tidal
wave, or
a nuclear holocaust, or some kind of rabid locusts, or whatever, I
mean, it’s
like, it seemed like that was the hot movie for about 10 or 12 years,
and it’s
like, it would seem like, well, get ready.
And I’m not saying--because, no man knows the day
nor the hour when the
Son of Man shall return. But,
why is
that such a popular theme? Because it’s the ultimate.
I think it’s like, “This is the ultimate, and
there’s nothing we can think about or
talk about or
film after this.” But, when it really does happen, because ultimately,
it is
going to happen, and it’s not going to happen in some I’m
going to share something: I don’t know if Jennifer—we were
doing studies at the Orelup’s, several years ago; Kirk asked those in
attendance, “What topics would you like to hear?” Jennifer
had mentioned, "I'd like to hear
about the end of the world." So,
it was like, okay, and it was really, to me, it was a topic
where it was like, let’s look at it biblically.
Then, it was like—she’s what, 13? 14? 13. Okay; Kirk’s giving me
signals. Am I going
to say, “Jennifer, all you have to
look forward to is blood, sweat, toil, and tears.”? I know I’d be like,
“Gee, I
don’t know if I really want a part of this.” What I liked was, as we
put it
together, there’s going to be a lot of times where you wake up, and
it’s going
to be sunny, like it is today. It’s
going to be a beautiful day; you’re going to have a fun time. You are going to go on
outings. It’s not a
matter of we just sit there and
live in constant fear, because perfect love casts out all fear. That's what it's about, as
far as living in
Christianity. So, I
appreciated that
topic, and looking at it like, let’s teach it in such a way that the
youth will
get something out of it, and they will have something to look forward
to, not
just a life of torment and suffering.
That’s
not what it’s all about, not by a long shot. Those
questions and I ask, I’m not
asking that while letting myself off the hook.
I’m certainly not asking these things without
considering that I’ve got
work to do myself. There’s
always room
for improvement in the Lord, but the great thing is that God’s wisdom
is pure,
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated.
The Bible describes the voice of the Lord as a still
small voice and
it’s up to us to hear Him. Be
strong in
the Lord and put on the whole armor of God.
That’s what’s going to keep us and protect us from
here on out. Thank
you for your time.
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