Monday, July 31, 2006

Our Spiritual Battle (part 7)
Total victory

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.” (Eph. 6:13)

We withstand every sort of Satanic attack by putting on the whole or complete armor of God. To withstand in this verse means ‘to stand against,’ or to ‘resist.’ (Strong). This verse reminds me of James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The spiritual battle is sure to come, therefore our instruction from the Word is to stand or resist the Devil. However the spiritual battle manifests itself, our duty before God is to resist Satan, and that would mean we must not give in to Satan’s schemes. As Christians we are called to fight and win. We should never live a life that is resigned to sin. Perhaps there are those who profess to know the Lord as Savior and yet have no desire to obey the Lord, especially those who in their heart and mind think that living a life of sin is ok since they take refuge in a moment of religious prayer. In their hard of hearts they don’t intend to win the spiritual battle. In fact they most likely don’t even care about the things of God. This is a horrible condition to be in. A “Salvation” of this kind is highly suspect.

Yet as true believers, we can and should expect victory. The verse goes on to say “and having done all” that is ‘to work fully’ or to ‘do’ or to ‘accomplish’ or to ‘work out’ (Strong). We must make sure that we are doing exactly what God said to do if we are to win the spiritual battle. And not just doing what He says to do halfheartedly or even nonchalantly, we must be vigilant to obey God. This means that failure in the Christian’s life is due to disobedience. In other words, we are to take up the whole armor of God for in doing so we are accomplishing what God told us to do. This makes the panoply of God of utmost importance to every Christian.

Putting on the armor of God, making sure that it is the complete or full or whole armor, standing against or resisting Satan will ensure a particular result: “To stand” (Strongs puts it this way “abide” or to ‘continue’). We are guaranteed nothing less than total victory before, during, and after each conflict. We maintain our ground, not giving in to sin, or Satan’s temptations. We are just like soldiers ready to defend and stand our ground. What a mighty God we serve!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

will be back Monday...

I am on vacation this week, I will be back to the blogosphere soon. Meanwhile, we found an Independent Baptist church in Redding, CT. and are enjoying our neat 'get-away.' Calvary Ind. Baptist Church is an oasis in the southwest CT area.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Our Spiritual Battle (part 6)
The Evil Day

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Eph. 6:13)

This verse reminds me of what Jesus said in Matt. 6:34b "...Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Each day has varying degrees of 'evil' or 'hardships' (Thayer) or 'mischief' or 'malice' (Strong). JFB suggests "the day of Satan's special assaults in life...". Bad things do happen to good people. And in this verse we as Christians must be prepared to take on life's trials and pressures. Again the way to come out victorious is to put on or to take on the whole armor of God. We may not know what evil today may bring or tomorrow for that matter, but we must be ready to obey God's Word in putting on the whole armor that He has furnished for us.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Our Spiritual Battle (part 5)
Taking the panoply of God


"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Eph. 6:13)

Virtually a repetition of the command in v.11. The idea of the phrase 'take unto you the whole armor of God' means to take it up. God has provided for us everything that we need to win the spiritual warfare. This may sound repetitious but we need to be reminded about our responsibility to trust and obey the Lord.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Praising the Lord and Prayer request

Ahoy there blog world! Just taking a little bit of time to update you on the VBS events at Mt. Zion lately. We are rejoicing to see 15 kids (included in that number are 2 teens) thus far made a profession of faith, receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. I can assure you that our workers know how to give the gospel so as not to skim over repentance. We do not advocate what would be called 'easy prayerism.' The week has come and gone, but our closing ceremony is Sunday night and there will be many folks who are not sure about their spiritual condition. I will have an opportunity to preach Christ.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

There are, I suppose many things about our religion that could be deemed 'offensive.' We believe in 'local church only ecclesiology,' 'believers baptism,' 'King James only,' 'convictions and standards of dress and music,' however, to the unsaved man, none can be more offensive than the exclusive claim of the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the only way to Heaven, that no man cometh unto God except through Him.
Please pray with me that many would see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for me that I may present the gospel as clearly as possible.

Friday, July 7, 2006

VBS - Seafarin' Hearty Pirates

AHOY! ye land lubbers, VBS is on July 10-14 for all ages 4 through 12th grade. Registration is required, but free. Help defeat Captain Sinsbad, and find Promised Land!