Cp. 10 A Final exhortation - Part 1

The following is a paraphrased, condensed work of several exhortations found in Gurnall’s book, “The Christian in Complete Armor“. I pray that you’ll be as blessed by them as I was.

Vs. 10, “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” This is the word of encouragement to battle. The Christianity in all men needs courage and resolution. It requires more prowess and greatness of spirit to obey God faithfully then it does to command a great army of men. We must remember that while we are sinners saved by grace we have also enlisted as soldiers in the army of Almighty God. Def. 2 in the Webster’s Dictionary defines a soldier as an active, loyal and militant follower.

Instead of being weak, ineffective Christians we must be warriors for the cause of Christ, shining light into darkness and getting the victory over souls that are on their way to hell, putting them on the highway to heaven. Christ has told us that we would do greater things then He did through the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us. We are to proclaim and prosecute an irreconcilable war against the sins which we cherish in our heart. As Abraham was to take the son of promise that he loved and lay him upon the altar and stab him with a knife as God commanded, so are we to find the sins in our life that we long to cling to and in private, dig them out and bring them out into the light and slay them with the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Rom. 12:1-2 tells us “not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we might know the perfect will of God“. A Christian must be as strong as an oak against the winds of change in worldly morality. We must stand firm in our beliefs and principals. Shame is the major enemy here. If we are ashamed before men because of doing the foolish things of God then Christ will be ashamed of us before His Father in heaven.

In the midst of all the scandals that are cast upon the ways of God we must keep on our way to heaven and to have a holy resolution to bear up against discouragement as Joshua did when no man would stand with him and all of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt. Joshua stood up and said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The Christian must also trust in a withdrawing God. It takes a holy boldness of faith to keep trusting God when your prayers remain unanswered, the joy has left your heart and His promises seem long in coming. It takes the kind of spirit that the poor woman of Canaan had (Mark 7:27-28) who takes the bullets Christ shoots at her and with a humble boldness of faith sends them back again in her prayer.

The believers are to persevere in their Christian walk to the end of their lives. There are many who like to go into a battle against Satan and win a skirmish or two, but most of us don’t desire this battle as a constant trade. Persevering is a hard word, to take up your cross daily, praying always, watching night and day and never laying aside our clothes of armor and resisting temptation day after day after day. Yet this is the Christian’s duty. We don’t get a holiday that we can sin on, we don’t take a vacation from church and Christianity where it is ok to fulfill the desires of our flesh. This is why you need a determined resolve to stand fast in the rough times.

How many Christians when it comes to this crossroad, after the beginning joys of salvation has faded, leave the cause of Christ? This is where the body of Christ needs to come together, to pray for each other and exhort one another daily while we still can. Cowards never get to heaven, it is the violent and the valiant who take heaven by force, wresting it out of the hands of Satan, who is trying to block us every step of the way.

Take heart, dear Christian, for we follow Christ who is called the Captain of our Salvation. He will lead us in courage and deliver us with honor. He lived and died for you and He will live and die with you. Knowing that all would come against Him, He went forth (John 18:14) and said, “Whom seek ye?” He never lost a battle even when He lost His life, for even then He conquered death in victory. We march in the midst of gallant spirits (the body of Christ). Every one the son or daughter of the King. For we have a great crowd in heaven watching us as we fight our battle. Every exploit of your faith against sin causes a mighty shout in heaven. How can we be anything other then joyfully optimistic with such ennobling thoughts? Two things are required to fix our principals.

1. An established belief in these truths of God.

If you don’t know for what or for Whom you fight you may be persuaded to change sides. We must know the God we serve and be grounded in our faith knowing what the bible has to say on any given issue.

2. A sincere aim at the right end in our profession of faith.

We mustn’t be like the soldiers who once they have won a victory and received great blessing are content to live on these blessings and not seek after more. We must always remember that the Christian’s strength lies in the Lord and not in himself. God is at the top and bottom of our ladder as He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

You will receive the strength to go on not from doing battle and winning but while you are in the battle itself, from God. When praying, you don’t pray yourself strong, God will strengthen you in your prayer (Ps. 138:3). God daily comes to our hearts pantry and sees where we have need, whether it be grace, love or encouragement, etc. and fills us up with our daily needs as He finds necessary.

To “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” implies two acts of faith.

1. A settled firm persuasion that the Lord is Almighty in power and

2. That the Almighty power of God is engaged for the defense of His kingdom and for those who belong to Him, the universal church of God on Earth.

This helps to bear us up under all our trials, tribulations and temptations. If you depend on your own strength to overcome the devil, you will lose.

God has used the heroes of the Old and New Testaments as an example of how closely you should guard your own faith because these “heroes” constantly slipped in their faith. These heroes are not really examples of how Christians should be but rather how you should see God working through people even as they are constantly failing in their faith to God.

In our daily prayers and meditations we should make more use of the word “all”. Men can be wise, merciful and mighty but only God can be All-wise, All-merciful and All-mighty. If we leave out the word “all” then we are bringing God down to our level and God will not listen for we have temporarily forgotten who we are talking to. We are giving Him human characteristics when we leave out the word, “all”.