Be Strong in the Lord
Lord, Thank You. Teach us, Lord God, to abide in Christ Jesus the Vine, so we can grow up and bear the image and likeness of the Lamb of God. Help us to be like Him and bear fruit: the fruit of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23).
Salvation is free. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8, 9). The baptism in the Holy Spirit is free. Spiritual gifts are free. Prophecies, visions, healing, miracles, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits—all are free. They are gifts freely given by a gracious God.
But after these, your spiritual progress depends on your commitment to knowing God. Your progress depends on how far you follow the Lamb. If you follow the Lamb all the way, you will overcome. If you follow the Lamb all the way, you will become an overcomer like the Lamb, and will be made to sit with the Father on His throne, even as the Lamb overcame and is seated at the right hand of the Father on His throne.
Overcoming is not a gift. There is a price to be paid! There is a high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, let’s pursue the things of God with passion, and seek Him with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our strength. Let us press forward toward the goal to win the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you” (Phil 3:10-11, 14-15).
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev 12:11).
In this great conflict that rages between us and the forces of evil, we must understand the pattern of warfare that God has set up in His word for ultimate triumph. We must first know for sure that the battle is the Lord’s and not ours. Failing to realize this will only lead to prolonged frustration and perplexity as we struggle to stop the wave of iniquity that is breaking in upon us, the people of God.
The church of Jesus Christ has been on the defensive for too long. In fact, victory for God’s people has generally been seen from a negative standpoint. Victory has always been seen as knowing how to ward off the attack of the enemy, or to get healed, or recover from some spiritual setback. The church has understood victory to mean escaping the onslaught of the enemy.
But the hour is at hand when the Lord God of Hosts, the Man of War, and the Lord of the Armies will mobilize His forces for a decisive onslaught on the adversary. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against the onslaught of the church. When our Lord Jesus died on the cross, “He spoilt principalities and powers, and made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15). But in this end-time battle, God will execute the sentence passed at the cross, and crush the hosts of evil under our feet. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen” (Rom 16:20).
The central message of this site to “Blow the Trumpet in Zion” to awaken the church to put on strength. God desires to have his children walking in the realm of the supernatural. He hasn’t given birth to weaklings. His children are conquerors. They are world overcomers.
“Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that is born of God; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
Overpower and Overcome the ‘Strong Man’
The Lord Jesus said: “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Luke 11:21, 22).
In the statement made by our Lord above, you would notice there are two strong men. The Lord said that when a strong man, fully armed, guards his palace, his property is safe, until a stronger man shows up and defeats him.
The stronger man does three things:
1. Attacks and overpowers the strong man.
2. Takes away his armor. Disarms and takes away all the weapons which the strong man trusts in.
3. Divides the loot of the strong man; takes all the strong man’s possessions from him and walks away with them.
Who is the armed strong man guarding his mansion where he keeps his loot? Correct! It’s the thief, also known as the devil. The Lord is referring to the devil and his host here as the strong man.
And who is the stronger “strong man” that showed up?
Yes! That is you and me, and every born-again, Bible-believing, Holy-Ghost-filled children of God who knows their position of authority in Christ Jesus.
Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Forerunner, did this first when He spoilt principalities and powers, and dispossessed them of all authority and powers. Then He gave the keys to the church. We are stronger and more than conquerors through His Name. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me,” Jesus said; then He turned to His disciples and us and said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mat 28:19, 20).
Just as there are two strong men in the Lord’s message above, there are two armors. There is the armor of the strong man, and also the armor of the stronger man. The armor of God is represented by the armor of the stronger man, who overpowers the strong man and takes his prized possessions. The apostle admonishes us to put on the whole armor of God. The Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over Satan at the cross and in the grave. There He overpowered the devil and spoilt his goods. He robbed Satan of his powers and his authority. “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15). Jesus took away Satan’s armor from him and totally disarmed him as far as we, God’s children, are concerned. Then He was raised from the dead and became Lord of all, and gave us His word and the authority to use His Name to overpower the enemy. He gave us supernatural armor to fight and totally dismantle satanic strongholds.
Apostle Paul states:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 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.
“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 6:10-13).
“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Cor 10:4-6).