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FINALLY,
BE STRONG IN THE LORD:
Tou loipou endunamousthe (2PPPM) en kurio kai en to kratei tes ischuos
autou:
(2 Corinthians
13:11;
Philippians 3:1;
4:8;
1 Peter 3:8)
(1:19;
3:16;
Deuteronomy 20:3,4;
31:23;
Joshua 1:6,7,9;
1 Samuel 23:16;
1 Chronicles 28:10,20;
2 Chronicles 15:7;
Psalms 138:3;
Isaiah 35:3,4;
40:28,31;
Haggai 2:4;
Zechariah 8:9,13;
1 Corinthians 16:13;
2 Corinthians 12:9,10;
Philippians 4:13;
Colossians 1:11;
2 Timothy 2:1;
4:17;
1 Peter 5:10)
Finally (3062)
(loipoy from leipo = to leave, to forsake, to lack, to
fall short, to be wanting or be deficient) is an adjective that
describes that which is remaining - the remnant, the residue, the rest.
The specific phrase Paul uses here "to loipon" is used in classical
Greek to mean "as for the rest" and with the temporal sense
"henceforth".
In the present context the idea is as far as the rest is concerned,
beyond that, in addition. This teaching is vital to know and to obey
that the believer might prevail in every encounter with the devil and
his minions.
David Guzik
(Ephesians
6) writes that...
William Gurnall, a pastor, published
his book The Christian in Complete Armour, an exposition of Ephesians
6:10-20. He subtitled the work
The saint’s war against the Devil,
wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people,
in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief design
he hath against the saints; a magazine opened, form whence the Christian
is furnished with spiritual arms for the battle, helped on with his
armour, and taught the use of his weapon; together with the happy issue
of the whole war.
In his dedication, he describes his
book as a “mite” and a “little present” but it comprises three volumes,
261 chapters, and 1,472 pages - all on these eleven verses!
Finally: This comes at the end
of the letter - a letter that Paul has carefully established our place
in Jesus, and then the basics of the Christian walk. This is his last
section dealing with that walk.
· In light of all that God has done
for you.
· In light of the glorious standing you have as a child of God.
· In light of His great plan of the ages that God has made you part of.
· In light of the plan for Christian maturity and growth He gives to
you.
· In light of the conduct God calls every believer to live.
· In light of the filling of the Spirit and our walk in the Spirit.
· In light of all this, there is a battle to fight in the Christian
life.
The KJV has
"my brethren", but this phrase is not found in the more modern
Greek texts that most scholars consider to be as more reliable.
Nevertheless, the point is a good one -- Paul is not just calling on the
pastors or elders of the church to be strong for the battle but for
every believer. Spiritual warfare is the inevitable consequence of a
life lived in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and walking as a
stranger and alien in a world is under the domination of the one whose
very name is Evil. John explains that...
We know that we are of God, and the
whole (complete in extent) world lies in the power of the evil
one. (1John 5:19)
In this section
Paul sets forth his analysis of life, especially as it relates to the
Christian life. And in Paul's analysis, life is struggle, life is
conflict, life is warfare. And so Paul blows the trumpet sounding a
clarion call to arms to every Christian who whether they realize it or
not has been called into "active duty" and is to respond courageously
and armed with the truth. Remember the victory has already been won at
Calvary. Our goal is to learn to live, walk and war in the light of that
certain truth.
Ruth Paxson
writes that...
God has no place for a spiritual
pacifist. Every Christian is conscripted for both defensive and
aggressive warfare. He calls every saint to arms. "Not into a religious
playground or sports field, but into grim, terrible, bloody conflict are
we called." (The Wealth, Walk and Warfare of the Christian).
John MacArthur
reminds us that...
The idea of the Christian’s practice
can be illustrated by a car. The first three chapters of Ephesians
describe the car: its engine and its capabilities. The second three
chapters are the road map the car is to follow. The first three chapters
define believers as high-powered individuals; the second three chapters
show them where to go with their power. The ignition switch is
represented by the strengthening of the Spirit in the inner man. As the
Spirit fills and controls the believer, the power plant is turned on. He
then can begin to move out in obedience to follow the road map that God
has given. (MacArthur,
J.. The Believer's Armor. Chicago: Moody Press 1986)
Spurgeon
comments on "finally"...
as if this were a matter of the
highest importance, to be considered first and last. — ”Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” You
know how strong Paul himself was; he was a veritable giant for Christ,
and he here calls upon his brethren to be as he was, he did not want to
be brother to dwarfs, so he appealed to his brethren to “be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Ray Stedman
introduces this section writing...
God has issued to each of us a bugle
call to intelligent combat. It is a call to us to be men and women of
God, to fight the good fight, to stand fast in the faith, to be strong
in the Lord in the midst of the battle, in the midst of this dark and
evil world.
Those who ignore this call and the battle that rages around them are
doomed to be casualties. We cannot remain neutral. We must choose sides.
We must align ourselves with the forces of God, the forces of good. We
must answer the bugle call, we must put on our armor and stand our
ground or the battle will roll over us and in our defenseless,
bewildered state, the forces of evil will trample us into the dust of
the battlefield.
So we must learn to recognize how the dark systems of the devil work.
But more than that, we must learn the processes of overcoming the
systems of the devil not by flesh and blood, not by joining committees,
not by political action, not by taking up clubs or assault weapons and
attacking a human enemy. No, Paul says the weapons of our warfare are
not flesh and blood weapons, not physical weapons, not political
weapons. Rather, our weapons are mighty, through God, unto the pulling
down of strongholds and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). That is the path to victory!
Gracious Father, thank You for a
truth that startles me, prods me, and disturbs me. Thank You, Lord, for
Your word of reality that speaks to me in the midst of my complacency
and illusion. How easily I would drift on in futile ignorance, never
raising a finger against the deterioration of life and the destruction
of body and soul, were it not for this word of challenge that calls me
back and makes me see life as it really is. Lord, teach me to bow in
humility before Your Word and to say to the Holy Spirit, "O great
Teacher of God, open these Scriptures and make them real to me today."
In Christ's name. Amen. (Stedman,
Ray. Spiritual Warfare - entire book online
-- highly recommended. Here is a
quote from a review by Cyril Barber who writes that Stedman's work
represents "A clear, definitive exposition of Ephesians 6:10–20,
laying out precisely and accurately the resources God in Christ has made
available to His own. These studies are free of all sectarianism (such
as books on holiness frequently exhibit), and readers may safely and
confidently rely on this pastor/author’s wise exposition. A must for
every earnest Christian.")
Wayne Barber
explains that...
The word "Finally" means that
he is drawing everything to a close. In other words, everything that has
been said he is now summing up as he closes the book of Ephesians...
Look back with me
3:16. There is no way to go to
Ephesians 6:10 without first of all finding the context and the flow of
everything
that has been said. That word "Finally"
is wrapping it all up. What is the "all" that we are talking about. What
has been said in Ephesians? Well, his prayer in 3:16 tells us
everything:
"that He would
grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
power through His Spirit in
the inner man."
The word "power"
(dunamis)
(note)
means
ability, ability to do what you could not do before Jesus came into your
life.
The Holy Spirit
now is in our lives. He
lives
in the inner man in order to strengthen us, to cause us to be able to do
what we could not do without Him. The degree of the strengthening, he
says, is
"according to the
riches of His
glory".
Ephesians 1, 2
and 3 sum that
up.
Ephesians 1 (click
for messages) talks about the RICHES of His glory. Verse 3
sums it all up: We have been given
"every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ"
Then Ephesians 2
(click
for messages) shows us the REASONS of our salvation. We
"were dead in
your trespasses and
sins".
We couldn’t save
ourselves. It was God who came to save us, to pay a debt on the cross
that He did not owe.
In Ephesians 3
there is the REVELATION of our salvation (click
for messages). Now according to all that we have in
Jesus
Christ, He has made us saints; He has chosen us; He has sealed us. All
the things that He has done, according to all of that, we are to be
strengthened in the inner man with power by the Spirit of God.
The greatest weapon we have in the
spiritual war that we are cast into the moment we are saved is not what
we say to the devil. It is how we live the Christ-life before him. My
obedience, my surrender, my submission is my greatest weapon in
defeating the one who is the prince of darkness that lives around me.
We have seen this strengthening in the inner man, this brand new
garment, all of this. Now Paul says:
"Finally, be strong in
the
Lord and in the strength of His might"
We live in a
world that is hostile. I do not need to worry about what I have to say
to the devil. But when I bow and I say "yes" to Jesus and commit to
doing what
His Word has to
say, at that very moment, I become a fortress against him. That is my
weapon in the warfare I am forced into when I become a Christian. My
weapon is my submission to the Lord Jesus Christ...
We must daily understand the flow of
Ephesians: Be filled with the Spirit, be strengthened in the inner man
by the Spirit of God. That is our classic weapon against the evil one.
John Eadie
writes that finally has the sense of...
“henceforward.”...It is as if
he said, What remains for me to tell you but this?...The apostle now
represents the church as engaged in an active warfare with the powers
and principles of evil. Olshausen suggests that his residence in the
Praetorian at Rome, where the equipment and discipline of soldiers were
a daily spectacle, may have originated the allegory. Similar allusions
are found in Isa 11:5, 59:17; Ps. 18,144; 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Thess. 5:8. The
primary charge to the spiritual militia is (be strong) (John
Eadie, D., LL.D. The Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians)
Wiersbe writes...
It comes as a shock to the new
believer that the Christian life is a battleground and not a playground.
In my pastoral ministry, I could always tell when a new Christian was
starting to mature, because he found himself fighting battles. This was
a good sign because, as Spurgeon used to say, “Satan never kicks a dead
horse!” (Wiersbe, W. W. The Strategy of Satan : How to Detect and Defeat
Him)
In the Lord - In the sphere of the Lord is strength and in union with Him. It speaks
of the active efficacy of the might that is inherent in Christ. It is
the same as abiding in the Vine, as being filled
with His Spirit, as living in the reality of Christ Who is our life. Believers can only walk as more
than conquerors and can only fight as victorious ones in the glorious
truths in Ephesians describing every spiritual blessing by doing so
supernaturally, continually abiding, continually being strengthened by the
Spirit with God's surpassing resurrection power. This emphasizes the
importance of studying, preaching and teaching on Ephesians 6:10-18 in
the context of who the believer is in Christ, truths that are revealed
in the first 3 chapters. To study Ephesians 6:10-18 in the absence of
the truths in the preceding chapters is apt to leave the student
frustrated and even somewhat confused, for Paul is giving a number of
warfare commands but they are based upon the foundation he has
established in the preceding passages. Remember that the "practical
section" begins with a call to walk worthy, to walk in love, to walk in
the light, to walk in the Spirit, all intimately connected with our
waging of spiritual warfare.
Self-sufficiency
in spiritual struggles
is spiritual suicide
MacDonald
has a good word for all believers writing that...
Every true child of God soon learns
that the Christian life is a warfare. The hosts of Satan are committed
to hinder and obstruct the work of Christ and to knock the individual
soldier out of combat. The more effective a believer is for the Lord,
the more he will experience the savage attacks of the enemy: the devil
does not waste his ammunition on nominal Christians. In our own strength
we are no match for the devil. So the first preparatory command is that
we should be continually strengthened in the Lord and in the boundless
resources of His might. God’s best soldiers are those who are conscious
of their own weakness and ineffectiveness, and who rely solely on Him.
“God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things
which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:27b). Our weakness commends itself to the
power of His might. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson)
C H Spurgeon
has some interesting words regarding the reality and necessity of
spiritual warfare writing that...
There are no fair-weather soldiers in
God’s army. All must endure difficulty. Our courage must be tried and
proven. God’s ships never go to sea without being tested, and only when
their seaworthiness is proven do they go on longer voyages. Unless you
have been through a great trial, you cannot help those who are in great
difficulty.
If we were placed in a glass case, we
would not grow. If we were never injured, there would be no forgiving
grace. Without suffering, we would not have patience. We grow in grace
only when the stormy winds of trials blow. It is through harsh
experiences that believers grow “strong in the Lord and in the power of
His might” (Eph 6:10). Christian, when Satan tests and tries you,
hold the world loose but firmly grip the invisible things of God.
It is possible that God might use you
to scatter His seed with a hand that was never wounded, but He will not
use you to minister to the brokenhearted until trials have made you
tender and sensitive. Your present, painful experience is a necessary
preparation for something that will give you tenfold joy. If we are not
tested, we cannot be victorious. The rule of the kingdom is: no battle,
no crowns; no conflict, no conquest. (from Spurgeon, C., & Clarke, R. H.
Beside Still Waters. Thomas Nelson Publishers)
There's victory for you over sin and
its shame:
Look only to Jesus, there's power in His name.
The devil can't harm you nor cause you to sin;
By trusting the Savior the victory you'll win. --Anon.
Satan's ploys are no match for the Savior's power.
Ray Stedman has an interesting
analogy that applies to believers who are ignorant or apathetic
regarding their sure warfare and God's sufficient provisions...
I once heard of a mental hospital
that had devised an unusual test to determine when patients were ready
to go back into the world. They brought candidates for release into a
room where a tap was turned on, sending water pouring out over the
floor. Next they handed the patient a mop and told him to mop up the
water. If the patient had a firm enough grasp of reality to turn off the
tap before mopping up the water, he was ready to go out into society.
But if he started mopping up the water without turning off the tap, they
knew that more treatment was needed.
While you and I would never miss such an obvious step as shutting off
the tap before mopping the floor, the fact is that many Christians live
their lives in a way that is from a spiritual point of view equally
absurd. Each of us as Christians have been given the mop of God's truth
and we have been told to use it to help mop up the evil in the world
around us. But we can only be useful in mopping up the evil around us if
we first have enough sense to shut off the flow of evil that pours into
our own hearts from the world rulers of this present darkness...
It is a battle in which we are all
engaged every moment of our lives because "the world," the outer arena
of battle, is always around us while "the flesh," the inner arena of
battle, is always within us. We cannot escape "the world," nor can we
run away from "the flesh." We must always begin our battle right at the
point where we are.
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president
of the United States, was a commissioned naval officer during World War
II. In August 1943, the patrol torpedo boat he commanded, PT 109, was
rammed and sunk by an enemy destroyer near the Japanese-held Solomon
Islands. Kennedy and a fellow officer swam from one enemy-occupied
island to the next until they found some friendly islanders who helped
them get a message to U.S. forces. Years later, Kennedy was regarded as
a war hero. His response: "It was involuntary. They sank my boat."
So it is with us. We don't have to volunteer to find ourselves in the
middle of a war. It's involuntary. The war has already come to us. It is
raging all around us, through the channel of "the world." And it is
raging within us, through the channel of "the flesh."
You might be thinking, "That doesn't
seem right at all! I thought that when you became a Christian, Jesus
would set you free from the kingdom of Satan so that the devil could no
longer touch you! I thought that conversion would take you out of the
battle, not thrust you deeper into the conflict!" If that is your
concept of the Christian life, you couldn't be more wrong! When you
become a Christian, that's when the battle really begins! (Ray
Stedman. Spiritual Warfare
- Available online and highly recommended!)
Be strong
(1743)(endunamoo
from en = in + dunamóo
= strengthen
in turn from
dunamis =
to be able or to have power --
click study of
dunamis) is best explained if one first
understands the root word
dunamis
which refers to
inherent strength residing in a thing by virtue of its nature. The best
spiritual example this inherent power is the "gospel"
("the gospel...is the power [dunamis]
of God for salvation to everyone who believes"
Ro 1:16) which
has the inherent, omnipotent
power of God that brings about the salvation of a lost sinner who
receives this truth.
Dunamis therefore describes power
that overcomes resistance or effects a change.
Dunamis
is
used in the NT to speak of miracles or supernatural acts which have in
them the inherent power of God or in which one sees His supernatural
power exerted in their performance.
Endunamoo
then means "to put power in" (like a car needs gas for
power) and so to make strong, vigorous, to strengthen (active voice), or to be
strengthened (passive voice), be enabled or be empowered inwardly. This word is found only in
biblical and ecclesiastical Greek. The idea is to cause one to be able
to function or do something. It can refer to physical strengthening
as in (Heb
11:34) but is more often used with the figurative sense
referring to spiritual
or moral strengthening as in the case of Abraham who
"with
respect to the (humanly speaking impossible) promise of God (of the
birth of Isaac in his old age by Sarah), he did not waver (was not
divided, did not vacillate between two opinions - belief and unbelief -
implies a mental struggle) in unbelief, but grew strong (endunamoo
- was endued with strength or empowered) in faith (Godly faith is
not full understanding but full trust), giving glory to God (see note
Romans 4:20) (Comment: Isaac was
the result of a biological miracle performed by God in answer to
Abraham’s faith.)
Paul like a commanding general who is overseeing his troops in the heat
of battle, issues his first command to
be strong ,
a
present imperative
which is to be carried out by the Christian soldier continually.
To disobey a general's command in a crucial battle can be disastrous,
and it is no less serious in the believer's continual warfare against
his or her unseen foe.
Although clearly believers are to be
continually strong, there is some difference of opinion as to how this
occurs and this distinction hinges on how one interprets the voice of
the verb, either
passive
or
middle.
In a sense it is not that significant which voice one favors, because
all would agree that the source of the strength is the same, the
indwelling Holy Spirit.
Thomas Constable emphasizes this point writing that...
“Be strong” is a
passive
or
middle
imperative
in the Greek text. It probably meant
both “allow the Lord to strengthen you” (passive)
and “strengthen yourself in the Lord” (middle)
(Ephesians Expository Notes)
(Bolding and italics added)
John MacArthur writes about the decisive choice...
The Christian life is a question of
availability and appropriation. Know three things: First, it’s a war;
second, the power to win is available; and third, you have to
appropriate that power. You can choose to be impotent and fruitless,
even though residing in you is the power to do beyond what you can even
ask or think (Eph. 3:20). You could be lethargic, indifferent, and cold,
drifting in and out of church, and still be in heaven for all eternity
by the immeasurable grace of God. But if you choose to live that way,
you will forfeit the blessing God has for you in this life. And you will
fail to glorify God to the extent that you should. You can turn your
back on all the available power, blunt the energy of the Spirit of God,
and say no to the incomprehensible work that God wants to do through you
if you so choose. (MacArthur,
J.. The Believer's Armor. Chicago: Moody Press 1986)
On the
occasion of the Amalekites raiding and burning Ziklag and taking the
woman captive we read an OT parallel of being strong in the Lord in
order to fight the good fight...
Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people
spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one
because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened
[aorist passive in the LXX] himself in
the LORD his God. (1Samuel 30:6) (Comment: The verb for strengthened
in 1Samuel 30:6 is
krataioo - to become strong, but the principle is the same as the NT
believer's need to be continually strong to fend off the "Amalekites"
that seek to raid the camp of our heart and mind and soul and spirit!
Related resource on fighting the Amalekites -
Jehovah Nissi The LORD Our Banner and
Jehovah
Nissi: Exposition of Exodus 17:8-16)
The idea of the
passive voice
brings to mind the picture of believers who as vessels (of honor -
2 Ti 2:21)
make themselves available to and are strengthened by this outside force. In Ephesians we have learned that this
Source is the Holy Spirit Who strengthens us in our inner man as we
learn to yield our will to His, and allow Him to strengthen us. Are you resisting
or hindering
the Spirit (e.g., not necessarily overt willful sin which clearly
"hinder" His working in unclean vessels but even in subtle ways like
self-confidence, self-assurance, etc, all of which are simply
manifestations of pride - to which God is opposed and which cuts off the
flow of grace! - see
1 Peter 5:5)? You cannot empower yourself for this spiritual struggle. You
must be willing to surrender to the Spirit and allow yourself to be
strengthened. Be continuously
empowered in union with the Spirit of Christ. He is the source of spiritual power.
Spiritual battles are not natural and require supernatural spiritual strength. This dynamic
process is synonymous with being continually filled with or controlled
by the Spirit (note
Eph 5:18) and continually walking in the Spirit
(note
Gal 5:16ff) so that we will not
fulfill the desires of the flesh. The result is supernatural strength
for a supernatural life. As Paul testified in Galatians
"is no longer I
who live, but (Who) Christ lives
in me and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me, and delivered
Himself up for me." (see note
Galatians 2:20)
As someone has said, you plus God
equals a majority. No giant can withstand you when you are led and
empowered by God’s Spirit.
The fact that we
cast everything upon God does not give the soldier the right to sit back
and to do nothing. Cromwell’s advice to his troops was...
“Trust in God, and keep your powder
dry.”
In Philippians Paul explained how he had come to learn about his source of strength
explaining...
Not that I speak from want; for I
have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how
to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in
prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of
being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering
need.13 I can do all things through Him Who (continually =
present tense) strengthens (endunamoo) me. (See notes
Philippians 4:11;
4:12;
4:13)
David Guzik emphasizes that...
The detailed teaching of spiritual
warfare in this passage presents two essential components. First, you
must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Then, you must
put on the whole armor of God. The two are essential, and much teaching
on Christian combat neglects the first. If you take a weak man who can
barely stand, and put the best armor on him he will still be an
ineffective soldier. He will be easily beaten. So equipping for
Christian combat must begin with be strong in the Lord and in the power
of His might.
Before a soldier is given a gun or
shown how to fire a missile, he goes through basic training. One great
purpose for basic training is the build up the recruit’s physical
strength. It is as if the army says, “Soldier, we are going to give you
the best weapons and armor possible. But first we have to make sure that
you are strong, and that you can use what we give you.” (Ephesians 6)
(Comment: And what is "Basic Training" in Christianity? Is it not
making disciples, equipping them and growing them up in Christ likeness
- see notes
Ephesians 4:11;
4:12;
4:13;
4:14;
4:15)
John Eadie writes that...
This
command (Ed: to continually allow yourself to be strengthened) is one of primary necessity. No matter what armour is provided,
how finely tempered, how highly polished, or how closely fitted it may
be, if there be no strength in the heart—if the man have merely the
dress of a soldier, with the spirit of a poltroon. And the valour is
spiritual, as is the armour; for physical courage and intellectual
prowess are often, alas! allied to spiritual cowardice. Moreover,
soldiers have an invincible courage when they have confidence in the
skill and bravery of their leader; and the power of His might, in which
they are strong, has proved its vigour in routing the same foes which
they are summoned to encounter. As the Captain of salvation, “He spoiled
principalities and powers, and triumphed over them.” The order to the
spiritual host is now given, as if with the stirring peal of a trumpet
"Put on the panoply of God" (John Eadie, D., LL.D. The Epistle of St
Paul to the Ephesians)
In Second Timothy, Paul like a military general who
is turning over the command to his younger officer, he instructs
Timothy...
You
therefore, my son,
be strong (present imperative)
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. (See note
2 Timothy 2:1)
So just as he
commanded Timothy, Paul is commanding
the Ephesians believers to let the Lord constantly fill them with His strength.
Endunamoo is used in the
Septuagint (LXX)
in Judges to describe Gideon...
Judges 6:34 So the Spirit of the LORD came upon (Lxx has
endunamoo here = more literally strengthened =
aorist
active) Gideon; and he blew a
trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. (Comment:
Here the strengthening was related to the Spirit's coming upon Gideon.
Believers have the advantage of the continually indwelling of the
Spirit).
Luke uses
endunamoo in describing Paul's conversion writing that
"Saul kept increasing in strength
(endunamoo - passive voice = was being empowered - progressive increase
in strength as Jewish opposition grew) and confounding (this word
in English implies temporary mental paralysis caused by astonishment or
profound abasement) the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving ("knitting
together" - continually putting together in his mind the OT clues and
concluding Jesus was the Messiah) that this Jesus is the Christ." (Acts
9:22)
In his first
letter to Timothy Paul (probably alluding to his empowerment in Acts)
thanked
"Christ Jesus our Lord, Who" had "strengthened
(endunamoo)" him, because He considered (him) faithful, putting (him)
into service." (1Ti
1:12)
In his last words
to Timothy, Paul illustrated his personal example of being strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus writing that in the face of everyone
deserting him (as might happen to Timothy or any disciple who retains
the standard of sound words),
"the Lord stood with me (fulfilling
His promise never to “leave or forsake” His children) and
strengthened (endunamoo) me, in order that through me the
proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles
might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth." (see note
2 Timothy 4:17)
John Eadie adds that...
the strength of the charge is—Do not
enter into battle with such adversaries naked and defenceless, but take
to you armour. Do not cover one portion and leave another exposed; do
not assume the cuirass and neglect the helmet; but put on “the whole
armour.” Do not resort to any arsenal of your own, for its armour is
weak and useless; but put on the whole armour of God. “And
furthermore, we must neuer leaue these armours as long as we be in thys
worlde, for we shall alwayis haue batayle.” Taverner's Postils, p.
495; ed. Oxford, 1841. The genitive, Theou', is that of origination: God
provides the armour...Each of its pieces—its girdle, breastplate, boots,
shield, helmet, and sword—is furnished by Him. It is armour forged on no
earthly anvil, and tempered by no human skill. (John Eadie, D., LL.D.
The Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians)
AND IN THE STRENGTH OF HIS MIGHT:
kai en to kratei tes ischuos autou:
High King of
Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. (play)
In the strength of His might - This shows how
to get this strength and it does not happen by simply knowing these
truths or memorizing them.
Guzik puts it this way...
It is
not an incantation or a spell. You can’t just walk around saying, “be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” over and over and
it will happen. Christianity isn’t one of those self-help formulas where
you go around saying, “Every day, and in every way, I am getting better
and better.” Those kind of mental games can accomplish something, but it
certainly wasn’t what Paul meant here. (Ephesians 6)
Paul used the
identical phrase in chapter 1 praying that the saints would come to
know...
and
what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead,
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above
all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. (See notes
Ephesians 1:19;
1:20;
1:21)
In Ephesians 1 this phrase strength of His might relates to the surpassing greatness of His power and the power that
God used to raise Christ from the dead. It follows that Paul is
commanding the saints to be empowered with resurrection
power that conquered death and sin and Satan, so that they might be enabled to stand firm. The victory over
the enemy is certain because of Calvary, but as His soldiers we have to
daily win the battle against our relentless foe the Devil (the
world system he controls and the residual fallen flesh still in our
mortal bodies and at which he can aim fiery missiles).
Every
believer now has the resources within to deal with Satan, no matter what
onslaughts the devil may bring. But there however two conditions that
must be met -- (1) The believer’s strength must be in the Lord and not
in himself and (2) he must utilize the armor—the provision God has made
for him. Remember that God
would not command us to stand firm in (Ephesians
6:14) had He not provided us with the resources that ensure
victory in each and every battle. By faith in God's Word (the fruit of
which is obedience), believers can daily walk in the victory of the
Cross as more than conquerors...
For
whatever is born (perfect
tense) of God overcomes (present
tense) the world (all of which lies in the power of
Satan); and this is the
victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. (1John 5:4)
You are
from God, little children, and have overcome (perfect
tense - this tense speaks of the permanent overcoming
effect! PTL!) them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is
in the world. (1John 4:4)
(Context:
Ammon and Moab were threatening to invade Judah and in 2Chr 20:12 King
Jehoshaphat acknowledged his inability to defeat these mortal enemies --
"O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? For we are powerless
before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know
what to do, but our eyes are on Thee." It was in this
background of expressing dependence on God, that He sent His Spirit on
the prophet Jahaziel who prophesied) "Listen, all Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to
you, 'Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for
the battle is not yours but God's...17 'You need not fight in this
battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the
LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed;
tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you." (2Chr 20:15,
17)
(Comment: Note this is not just "Let go and let God". It
is true in one sense that Judah did not have to fight, they did have to
believe what God had promised and they did have to obey His instructions
to stand. This is the same "pattern" Paul outlines in Ephesians
6:10-18 - [1] Recognize that in spiritual warfare with invisible forces
you are totally inadequate and doomed to defeat if you trust in self.
[2] Believe that in Christ you have all the strength you need and He
will win the b | 
