Sunday, September 27, 1998 This Week's Lesson:
In this week's lesson, which came from Ephesians 6:10-20, we studied about the importance of appropriating God's power for overcoming evil in our life. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, said that the people needed to know their enemy, that they had to put on their whole armor, and that they should always strive to pray in the Spirit. Most of us have to struggle with the problem of doing wrong things. It is so easy to be tempted and then to give into those temptations. Because of that, we would also do well to apply Paul's teachings to our own life. He encouraged the people in the Ephesian church to be strong in the Lord, and we should also try to be strong. Hebrews 12:4 says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." As Christians, our goal should be to glorify Christ and to keep ourselves unspotted in the world. According to Paul, we struggle not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, powers of the dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil.
As an absolute minimum, we need to be careful with Satan. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus had to fight daily against the temptations of the devil, but Romans 8:37 reminds us that we can be more than conquerors through our Lord. The key to gaining a complete victory over our adversary is to put on our full armor. In Ephesians 6:13-17, the Apostle Paul said that we need to be rigorously truthful with ourselves, others, and God. We should do our best to maintain moral purity, we should always be ready to share the Gospel with others, we should try to always walk in faith and in the assurance of our relationship with Christ, and we should always use the Bible as our guide. Often, our happiness depends on simply following the leading of the Holy Spirit and doing the right things. It is useful for us to remember that allowing any falsehood into our lives exposes Christ and us to shame and embarrassment.
In Ephesians 6:18-20, the Apostle Paul wrote about the importance of praying in the Spirit. In Chapter Five, he had discussed the fruits of the Spirit. As Christians, we can live a victorious life when we commit ourselves to the guiding of the Holy Spirit by allowing Him to develop His fruit within us and by letting Him be the Author of our prayers. Life can be very difficult, but we can gain the upper hand when we put on the full armor that has been provided us. During the coming week, let the Holy Spirit use you to minister to someone else.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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