Ephesians 610 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
The Old Testament tells us that Moses was
chosen by the Lord God to follow him. He was chosen for a special task, the
task to free the Israelites, God’s chosen people. Moses was little hesitant to
go to Egypt to accomplish the task for which God called him. May be he could
not come out fear that he had when he ran away from Pharaoh. But God gave him
courage and the assistance of his brother Aaron. Many a times fear prejudges,
preoccupation takes precedence over the calling of God. The fear of livelihood,
day-to-day problems, health, family situations, finances, etc. overrules and
governs us most of the time. In the same way like Moses, we are also chosen by
Almighty God to be His disciples. Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to go to
all the nations and make disciples for Him, baptise them in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and also teach them to obey everything He
have commanded us. Unfortunately we ourselves do not obey His commands, so the
question of teaching others and making them His disciples doesn’t rise. We also
hesitate like Moses and give lame excuses.
To avoid Moses gave 5 excuses -
- Ex. 311 “ ----- who am I, that should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.”
- Ex. 313 “----- Israelites would ask me, what is the name of the God of our ancestors.”
- Ex. 41 “ ----- what if they don’t believe me or listen to me and say the Lord did not appear to you.”
- Ex. 410 “----- I have never been eloquent.”
- Ex. 413 “----- please send someone else to do so.”
On hearing the 5th excuse God became angry, how could
Moses continue to refuse? After the series of rhetorical questions; God
revealed that His power could overcome any inability which Moses might have
felt. As a final gesture of Divine patience, God promised him assistance of his
brother Aaron. In Exodus 4, Vs.18, the fact that Moses did not reveal his
father-in-law, the real reason for his departure to Egypt possibly suggests
that Moses remained unconvinced of God’s ability to accomplish his plans. God’s
call to Moses is a vivid reminder of how we all are called to serve the living
God.
In the letter to Ephesians, Paul addresses the whole Church
corporately as an army of the Almighty God, not as an individual. Paul’s
exhortation doesn’t prepare soldiers to make a quick moving attack but to take
stand (Eph.611); to stand your ground (613) and to stand
firm (614). The strong position Paul has
in his mind, will be clear to his readers ; it is our union with Christ, the
head over all the things, far above all principalities and the powers and His
resurrection is the power of Almighty God at work in us. Even the armour and
the weapons turn out to be a mixture of God’s very own (Is.5917) with those of His Messiah (Is.114-5).
Is.59 17
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“He put on righteousness as his breastplate and
the helmet of Salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and
wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.”
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Is.11 4-5
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“but with righteousness he will judge the
needy, with justice he will give decisions for
the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth
with the breath of hid lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be
his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
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(A)
“Be strong in the Lord”
literally means to find strength in the Lord. Emphasis is on the God’s mighty
powers for the Spiritual fight. In addition to divine strength they will need
the full armour that God provides.
(B)
A repeated “Stand Firm” in
togetherness introduces the portrayal of the armour. The readers would no doubt
have thought of the Roman soldiers but Paul has cast his description mainly in
the terms of God’s armour. Here the Messiah’s belt of truth and breastplate of
righteousness are added along with his powerful word which strikes judgement.
Paul is saying that the Church’s basic equipment in the spiritual battle is
integrity and righteous living. It is a deep spiritual understanding of the
gospel of peace that provides the church with this firm grip that is the
preparation for the battle. The shield of faith would protect from the fiery
darts, would include anything from direct occult attack to devilish
persecution, but above all the steady rain of temptations to fear, bitterness,
anger and division that would break the church unity. These darts are to be
countered with faith. Taking the shield of faith suggests a deliberate and
positive holding onto the God’s revealed in the gospel, firm and resolute
dependence on the Lord which quenches the fiery attempts of the
enemy to harm and to spread panic.
(C)
A constant watch is needed.
This doesn’t mean that prayer is one of the pieces of armour but spiritual
understanding of the gospel combined with an alert prayerfulness is the
combination of prayer-warrior, such prayer will be guided by spirit who gives
access to God.
APPLICATION:
- Do we hear God calling us ?
- How do we respond to his calling?
- Does any kind of fear stops us in listening God’s call?
- Are we fully equipped with all the things necessary (i.e. The Spiritual armour) to fight the spiritual battle?
- With whom do we think, we have to fight this battle?
- What measures are we taking to overcome our fear?
These are some of the questions that we
have to ask us and see where do we stand. We are on the God’s side as a soldier
or on the Satan’s side as an enemy?
