Life on the edge

Peninsula Community Church

Ephesians – The Helmet of Salvation

June 14, 2015

Ephesians 6:17 …and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In the text today Paul is calling us to take the helmet of salvation with us. It is interesting to note that Paul does not say put on the helmet, but he says to take the helmet of salvation. Paul also refers to the helmet of salvation in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. It is he that he describes the helmet as the helmet of salvation of hope. Paul states But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 

Because of Paul’s emphasis on the helmet of salvation as hope, my desire today is to focus on this one aspect of salvation. And that is the hope we have in Christ. If we look around our world today it will not take us long to see that hope is fading for so many. A few years ago, we were offered hope and change. We have seen a lot of change but have experienced a lot less hope. Please note that this is not intended to be a political statement but it serves as an overview of the landscape of the society in which we live. There is so much to feel hopeless about. There is so much in our world to cause us to lose hope and to cause us to want to give up.

We live in a world where morality and right and wrong have been turned upside down. We live in a day where one who has had a sex change is elevated as being heroic and awe inspiring while those who fight for our freedom have been deemed cowards. We live in a day where the Ten Commandments can’t be posted in the public forum because it supports one religion op era another but teachers in some public school are free to teach the Islamic faith without hindrance. We live in a day where those who work hard are punished for their hard work while those who do not work and are able to, expect to get everything for free and are allowed to do so. We are living in a day when a man on the street can be killed by a cop who is carrying out his job and there are protests while a cop can be murdered and there are those who attempt to justify it because their desire is to make political points. There is so much that is present today that serves to discourage us but it doesn’t have to be that way.

To understand hope we must begin with the fact that real, genuine salvation brings hope! Here is the deal! When we receive salvation, we receive hope. To fully understand this, we must understand that Biblical hope is more than a desire to see something fulfilled or to wish for a particular outcome. Therefore, it is more than wishful thinking! Biblical hope is a certainty that is manifested in the heart of the believer who fully trusts and commits their life to God. G.K. Chesterton stated Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all…As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.

What does G.K. Chesterton mean by this? He means that real hope is not measured by how much hope we have when everything is going great. Nor is it measured by how good or bad our circumstances are in any given moment. The fact is that we can lose hope when our hope is based solely on our circumstances or on our experiences. For most people, their hope is based on how good or bad their particular circumstances are. This has been called circumstantial hope which is in reality a desire that our circumstances will fit within a specific context or within a specific set of desires. Let me illustrate this. We can hope that our favorite team will win. We have no assurance they will win, however, we simply base our hope in their potential for victory which is based on one’s past experience with the team and also the team they are playing. But the reality is there is no guarantee associated with this kind of hope. It is nothing more than wishful thinking. The problem with circumstantial hope is that it is fragile and and it is easily changed. It is so fragile that when the events of life don’t work out as we hoped they would, we are affected negatively. We are easily shaken, we are easily depressed, and we lose hope.

Our hope, however, must be anchored in God who is unchangeable and is forever faithful. This is the hope that keeps us steady. He is the anchor that solidifies our thinking about life because understand who God is and He never fails us. It is this anchor that keep us hopeful when the storms of life are blowing hard against us. A great illustration of this is the story of Joseph. He had a promise from God but there was no way he could know the outcome of the promise. He certainly did not expect the road God would take him on to fulfill the promise. There was no way for him to know how God would use him to set his people free or give them life.

For those who do not know the story, let me refresh your memory. Joseph had a God given dream that his brothers would bow to him and serve him. This enraged his brothers, so they sold him into slavery. Once in Egypt, he found favor and was soon promoted to Pharaoh’s assistant. This was short lived when Pharaoh’s wife made a pass at him and Joseph, being a man of integrity, rejected the advance. She falsely accused him. He was imprisoned for doing the right thing. What would that do to your hope? If you were falsely accused could you continue to trust that God had called you and that He would keep you? Or, would you lose hope.

We know now that even while Joseph trusted God, the downward spiral continued. While in prison, he was forgotten even though the chief cupbearer for Pharaoh promised he would put in a good word for him. With this turn of events, he could have lost hope but his trust was in God and not in his circumstances. He kept his faith and trust in God! In the story we see this paid off as God did not forget him and at the right time he was released and restored as Pharaoh’s right hand man. Through this action he was positioned to save not only Egypt but his entire family. You see God was at work even when Joseph did not sense it. The real testimony here is that Joseph did not let his circumstances dictate where his hope would lie.

The second idea presented by hope is that we must refuse to adjust our belief system to the circumstances we experience. Life is filled with events that will destroy our hope and cause us to change who we are as believers. While God will use the circumstances of our life to grow us and change us, we must never let the circumstances of life dictate our belief system. This should be determined by who God is and what he has done for us. Remember, we must adjust our lives to the gospel and not adjust the gospel to our lives. The three Hebrew children understood this principle. Their hope was strongly anchored in God’s faithfulness. This position of strength helped them to stand against the king who ordered anyone not bowing to Nebuchadnezzar’s god to be sentenced to death. Their hope was so strong in God that they could proclaim that no matter what was to come, they would still worship God. That is real hope!

Listen to the exchange between the king and the three Hebrew children in Daniel 3:15-18. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Did you see it in the exchange. They refused to adjust their belief system in order to meet the requirements of the times. They were more faithful to the integrity of their beliefs and their hope in God than they were to personal pleasure that would only last for a moment. They stood steadfast in the hope that God was on their side. They had a confidence that He would deliver them. As a result, they were able to focus beyond the furnace and the possibility they might die, to the hope of God’s protection. The Hebrew children’s story is reminisce of the words spoken by Job when he faced very difficult circumstances. Job stated, Though he slay me, I will hope in him (Job 13:15). He is confirming the fact that our belief system must not be adjusted based on our circumstances.

Finally, note that this is a helmet of salvation. The helmet was intended to protect the head from damage that could potentially end one’s life. To live in hope we must take every thought captive to the glory of God. The enemy knows he does not have to get us to give up, all he has to do is simply cause us to begin to doubt God’s word, His will, and His ways. He knows that if we begin to doubt what God has said, we will begin to lose hope and we will begin to put our hope in those things that do not bring life or a future in the long run.

Because of the ability of our thoughts to dictate how we think and who we are, we must know the word of God. This means that we must know the promises of God and must follow the ways of God in all we do. When Jesus was tempted, He did not use positive thinking or cute pithy sayings. He used the word of God to combat the enemy’s temptations. Today, that is what we need. We need to combat a lack of hope with the word of God. We must combat the tactics of the enemy with the intellectual exercise of reading the word, meditating on the word, and then making application of the word into our life.

By saturating our hearts and minds with the word of God, we are filled with hope and we are assured that we have a future. This does not have to be a debatable issue when our hearts and minds are on God. So do you feel hopeless today? Do you feel your hope waning? If so my prayer is this. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13). May you be filled with the hope that is yours in Christ.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

Peninsula Community Church 

Ephesians – The Shield of Faith 

June 7, 2015

Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one…

As in the previous parts of the armor we have discussed, when we read this passage we encounter a practical illustration of a spiritual principle. The soldier of Paul’s day was equipped with a shield when they went into battle. The purpose of the shield was to protect the soldier from the darts, arrows, and spears that would be lobbed their way. The shield itself was made of metal, leather, or heavy cloth which was often bound by metal straps to hold it all together.

It is noteworthy that the shield had several uses. For one, it was a defensive weapon that could be moved about to ward off the attacks of the opposing army by way of the darts that would be flung at the soldier. In Paul’s day, soldiers would often soak their arrows in tar and oils so they could be lit and then fired at the opposing army. If hit by one of these arrows the soldier would not only be wounded but would also feel the effects of their skin and clothing being burned.

The shield would also protect the warrior. The soldier would hide behind the shield while in battle, not out of fear but for protection against the onslaught of the enemy. The shield was long enough and wide enough that it could be placed in front of the soldier so that he could squat behind it. Thirdly, the shield protected those soldiers around them as shields of that day were designed to be interlocked with the shield next to it. For example, in battle, the front line warriors would position their shields so that the army behind them would be protected. The second line of warriors would in turn extend their spears beyond the line of the shields so that the onslaught of the enemy would be thwarted. The idea presented here is that the soldiers needed each other and would work together for the success of the entire army.

Spiritually, the believer in Christ uses the shield of faith to protect themselves against the fiery darts aimed at them. The bad news is that the evil one flings darts at us every day and all day long. His attempt is to get us to sin or get us to give into the temptations hurled at us. This barrage of flaming arrows from the evil one can take many forms. Let me give you a few. There is temptation, doubt, anger, frustration, pride, despair, fear, guilt, shame, confusion, deception, discouragement, depression, hopelessness, greed, lust, presumption, stubbornness, laziness, suspicion, jealousy, hate, wrath, discord, and conflict. His darts might also include the bitterness over one’s spouse’s busyness or their inattentiveness to one’s needs. It might include the guilt about yesterday’s lust, the sense of failure, or it can be the thought that you are not good enough. The list continues to go on and on. These darts while they are spiritual, emotional, and mental are also very real and therefore must not be ignored. To do so would subject us to his attacks.

While this is the bad news, there is also good news and it is very good news. The good news is that we have the means to fight back and resist the darts that are thrown our way. The shield of faith combined with the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of peace give us the strength to overcome the power of the evil one. These tools help us combat the darts thrown at us. The shield of faith is raised against the barrage of darts thrown at us. But what is the shield of faith? Faith is based in having trust in something or someone. For us as believers it is a faith in God who never fails us. By knowing God and who He is, our faith and trust in Him grows. Our faith is in the Lord who is able to protect us and keep us safe! I have always said that to understand faith we must get to know God more. The more we truly know God and understand who He is, the more our faith will increase. So in essence we trust God who is our shield. Like the soldier, when trouble comes we hide behind him and find protection in him because he is our shield.

The Bible is replete with passages that relate to God as our shield. Listen to a few of these. In Genesis 12:3 when God called Abraham to a covenant relationship, God spoke to Abraham that He would be his shield. That is, He would be Abrahams’s protection and covering. David had a view of God as being his shield, as well. Listen to David’s words. O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah (Psalms 3:1-4). But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield (Psalm 5:11-12).

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies (Psalm 18:2-3). The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him (Psalm 28:7). Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you (Psalm 33:20-22). He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday (Psalm 91:4-6).

Solomon when he penned the Proverbs also saw the power of recognizing God as our shield. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints (Proverbs 2:6-8).

While God is our shield, it is interesting to note that the shield of faith is used to protect others thus we know that we are not alone in the battle. How awesome is it to know we are fighting many of the same battles? We are interconnected to one another just as the shields of the Roman soldiers were interconnected to protect the individual soldier but also the soldier next to them. Roman shields were interlocking. Two-thirds of the shield would cover a soldier and one-third of the shield would cover the person next to him. This made the Roman army nearly invincible, because there was no gap in the battle line.

Sometimes our faith is weak but when we have others along side of us our faith is strengthened. When we see the faith of others, our faith is built up. The fact is Christians cannot stand alone against opposing forces; we need each other in order to live faithfully. A Christian community helps us stand strong. Faith knows that our worth is derived from the One to whom we belong, that God’s love embraces us, sets us free to be truly ourselves, and helps us accept the people around us.

The third idea here is that not only do we need to know the God who is our shield but we must know that the shield of faith fits us properly, it is our shield. We might reject the call of God to take the shield of faith or we may try and add to the shield of faith but we will fall short when we do that. We must know that it is our faith and it is a faith that has been given to each of us. I am reminded of the story of David when he went to fight Goliath. Saul wanted to give him his armor but it did not fit David. Saul was a tall large man and David was just a young boy at the time. Instead of using Saul’s armor, David used what God had given him. You see, all we need is the faith God has given us. The Bible tells us that faith does not have to be any bigger than the size of a mustard seed to accomplish great things. Think about this. The smallest of seed has the greatest of results! So here is the point, our faith, no matter how small, has the power to move mountains when it is focused on Christ as our shield and our protector.

The final point is this when do we use the shield? The Scripture here tells us that the shield of faith is to be used in every circumstance of our life. When we trust God, we will always have enough faith and grace to make it through every issue we are walking through. Too often, we worry about if we will have faith for tomorrow or enough grace to face the difficulties of life. Here’s a fact though. You don’t have to worry about having faith for tomorrow because you are guaranteed that you will faith tomorrow. Why is this? It is because our faith is in the one who does not fail. We will always have enough faith as long as our focus is on Christ the shield and provider of our faith.

Listen to the writer of Hebrews. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

In the midst of Satan’s rain of fire, we can take up the shield of faith. Instead of fretting or becoming anxious, we can look to Jesus who is not only the originator of faith but also the one who perfects our faith. The key is to focus on God who is our shield and our protector. To do so does not mean that we will not ever face problems or difficulties in our life. That is inevitable but we can face them courageously when we take the shield of faith to ward off the flaming darts of the enemy. We must also choose to walk in faith. We can choose to fight in faith and trust God or we can choose to fight in fear and reject the teachings and power of God. So let’s get dressed and fight the good fight.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

Peninsula Community Church

Ephesians – Breastplate of Righteousness – Getting To the Heart of the Matter

May 24, 2015

Ephesians 6:14-15 – Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Last week we looked at the belt of truth and the need to be have the truth of God in our lives so as to establish the security that comes from having the belt of truth firmly secured. This week we will look at the breastplate of righteousness. In this study, in regard to the breastplate, there are three elements that must be considered. First, we must consider the breastplate itself and how it is used. Secondly, we must consider the idea of righteousness and what that means to us. And, thirdly, we must consider the idea of the heart and its relationship to this discussion.

In regards to the breastplate itself, the breastplate was a defensive weapon that guarded and protected the vital organs of the warrior. The heart, the lungs, the diaphragm, and the major arteries were all protected by the breastplate. In particular, the breastplate covered and protected the heart. In essence, you might say that the breastplate protected the very life of the warrior because if a sword or spear were to penetrate this area of the body, or an arrow was to find its way around the armor, it would mean certain death or at least it would mean a serious wound that could disable the warrior. Without the breastplate being properly secured, the warrior would be vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. The fact is no self-respecting soldier in his right mind would ever go into battle without his breastplate being securely fastened.

For the warrior, the breastplate was usually a suit of mail, metal, or heavy cloth that was layered to provide the necessary protection he needed in battle. In our modern day, we would think of a bullet proof vest or an umpire’s vest as a comparable piece of protective gear. It is also noteworthy that while some have suggested that the breastplate only covered the front area, the reality is that the breastplate most often covered the front and the back of the body.

For the believer, Paul states that their breastplate is the breastplate of righteousness. This would mean that righteousness is a necessary element that is required for our spiritual protection. But what is righteousness? Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, suggested that in regard to understanding righteousness mixed messages are often presented. One such message which is presented by today’s media is that righteousness is a negative attribute. It is something to be avoided. It is perceived to rigid, unbending, and out of touch. But the Biblical definition of the word means something so different. In fact, two words are used for righteousness in the Hebrew which is carried over into the Greek. The first Hebrew word means to be straight. This word carries the idea of meeting the specifications of another person. In other words, it is to measure up or to meet a standard. The second Hebrew word means to be right with someone. It means to be presentable. It carries the idea of passing inspection by someone who is significant in our lives. It is to be pleasing and to attempt to please that person so as not to be ashamed. Specifically the word righteousness means to meet the specifications that God calls us to which pleases the one who calls us.

With that in mind let us look what righteousness means for us today. First of all, to understand righteousness, we must understand the righteousness of Christ. On the cross, two things were accomplished on behalf of the believer through Christ’s death. First of all, the believer received forgiveness of sin. On the cross, Christ took the penalty of sin for us and placed it upon his shoulders. He died that we might live. Through the cross we are forgiven. We all know this aspect of the cross, but, sometimes we miss the second aspect of the cross. Not only do we have forgiveness of sin but He also gives us righteousness positionally. In other words we are accepted as righteous even though we are not perfect because of the work of Christ and our faith in that work.

Paul in Philippians 3:8-9 speaks to this reality. Hear Paul’s words. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. You see it is not our righteousness that matters, it is Christ’s work on the cross that fulfills the righteousness requirement in me. While I may not be perfected yet, Christ sees me as righteous. I trust that you can grasp these two powerful truths. I am forgiven by Christ and I am seen as being righteous because of what He has done.

Secondly, we must understand the Christian’s righteousness. Though we are positionally seen as righteous, we must also work out Christ’s righteousness in our lives. This work is known as sanctification. David Jeremiah stated that someone has defined the work of sanctification as becoming in practice what we already are in position. In other words, it is not enough to be positionally righteous but we must also live righteously. We must understand that the act of living righteously is not some automatic pilot that we turn on and off. While we can be in a state of righteousness positionally but fail to live righteousness out practically. It is like being a pastor positionally but not live or act like one. For this reason, we can be a believer and still struggle with addictions. We can be a believer in Christ and struggle with anger and truthfulness in our lives. But, this is not the reality that God seeks or desires of us. The goal of pursuing righteousness is to align our positional righteousness with our practical righteousness.

John understood this when he penned these words. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. The determining factor of our pursuit of righteousness is evidenced in how we practice our righteousness. Paul states in 1 Timothy 6:11 that we are to pursue righteousness. We pursue righteousness so that there is a balance between what He has done on our behalf and what we are to do. We live as righteous people because we are not longer sinners but saints. Because we are not perfect we continue to pursue righteousness.

The third aspect of righteousness is that it is a consistent righteousness. The wording of this verse proposes the idea that we are to continually put on the breastplate of righteousness. If we are to effectively battle against the forces of the enemy we must not forget to put on the breastplate of righteousness. To fail to do so is a formula for certain failure and spiritual injury.

The fourth idea is that we must make it a habit to be righteous. What we practice we become. What we strive for we will accomplish. We begin to change the course of our lives by practicing the art of righteousness. Our nation can begin to change if we begin to practice righteousness and right living. We can see our families change if we begin to understand our righteousness not only positionally, but also practical righteousness.

There is one more element to the breastplate to be considered. It is just as important to know what the breastplate is as it is to understand why it is worn and what it protects. The breastplate as noted is specifically worn over the heart. The warrior knows that if the enemy can reach the heart with his weapon that he can snuff out the enemy’s life. Biblically and physically the heart is the seat of our emotions and the seat of our affections. Jeremiah knew this when he proclaimed that the heart is wicked and deceitful (Jeremiah 19:7). What Jeremiah was saying is that the heart cannot be trusted. That is why we need the breastplate of righteousness. It is protect our emotions and affections. The writer of Proverbs understood this when he wrote Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). The heart must be protected because it is the life spring of everything we do.

To walk in righteousness we must fall in love with Christ all over again. Our affection must be squarely focused on Him. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). How is your love for God? The sad indictment of the Church at Ephesus was that they lost their first love. They abandoned the very principles that caused them to be  great church. As we walk in true righteousness, we understand that our affection must be on Him. If we do not set our affections on Him we will perform and act to look righteous, but our hearts will be far from where they need to be. It is here the idea of legalism is best evidenced and if we are not careful legalism will trump righteousness.

How important is it to protect our emotions? It must be a priority in in our life. Why is this? The Bible tells us that where our treasure is there our heart will be also. The treasure of our hearts determines our priorities. What we treasure will motivate us to action. For those that golf, you may be tired and weary but your love for golf will motivate you to play the game no matter what. It will motivate you to spend money on nice clubs and the right attire. We need the breastplate of righteousness to protect and guide our hearts toward the right actions in our lives. We are in a battle for our souls and wearing the breastplate of righteousness is one of the steps we must take to secure our history.

On this Memorial Day let me close with a quote from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Let us resolve that Christ did not die in vain. Let us resolve that we will have a new birth of freedom that transforms us and positions us for great things in God because we are dressed for success.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

Peninsula Community Church

Ephesians – Be Strong, Get in The Game

May 3, 2015

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Tony Evans in his book, “Victory in Spiritual Battle” tells the story of a painting that hangs in the Louvre in Europe that is entitled “Checkmate.” If you looked at the painting, you would see two characters playing chess. On one side of the chessboard is one player who resembles the devil. He is seen sitting in confidence that he has won the game. On the other side of the board is a frightened, scared young man. Sweat covers his brow and on his cheek is one solitary tear. The game is obviously drawing to a close and the winner appears to have already been decided.

But one day, there was a chess champion who visited the art gallery. As he paused to look at the painting, he was captured by the two figures in the painting. He also began to study the game which was being played. The champion stood before the painting for some time before he asked the curator if he had a chess board. After the champion insisted on finding one, the curator finally emerged with one. The champion immediately began to duplicate the game on the board as it was in the painting. He then began to finish the game by making a move and then countering that move with the move the devil would have made in order to avoid checkmate. He then made another move and then another. Each move put the devil on the defensive. Eventually, the champion cried out with relief and joy… “I did it, I did it!” The champion in that moment turned to the painting and proclaimed, “Young man, your enemy miscalculated a very important move. I uncovered it, and as a result, you don’t have to lose! You win!”

Let me tell you something this morning, Paul has looked at the chess game called life. He has looked at all of the moves possible and he is proclaiming through the final words of Ephesians that we win and that we do not have to live a defeated life any more. There have been some calculated moves that have taken place to put the enemy on the defensive and to neutralize his power over us and with that we are victorious.

As we look at this Scripture, we must first understand that we have an enemy that is out to destroy us. He not only wishes to destroy us and but to also neutralize our effectiveness in the culture in which we live. The enemy will use our past experiences, the false teaching we have received, the personal wounds and hurts we have received to accomplish this. But, it does not have to be that way. The great news is that we have power over any and all of our enemies.

Paul understood this principle. It is for that reason Paul calls us to “be strong in the Lord and to be strong in the strength of his might.” The word used for strong is “endunamousthe” which means “to endue with power, to become able, or to have strength.” The literal interpretation of the passage is “Be empowered with God’s strength.” The root of endunamousthe is “dunamis,” from which we get the word dynamite. The idea presents by this word is that the power of the dynamite is inherent to the dynamite itself. This means the power is not revealed until the fuse is lit or it is exploded in some way. It has to be used for its power to be recognized.

By using this word, endunamousthe, Paul is saying that we have already been given an inherent power that resides in us and is ready to be used. That power must be exercised in order to be effective. We must use this power to overcome the darkness and the evil that is all around us. How is this possible? It goes back to the passages at the very beginning of the book of Ephesians where Paul details the benefits we have received as believers in Christ. He, Christ, has given us everything we need to overcome the obstacles of life and the forces exerted by the enemy against us. Through Christ we have been given spiritual blessings and have been equipped with spiritual weapons for battle. We have an enemy, but we also have great weapons in our arsenal to bring victory.

Secondly, we must understand this battle is a spiritual battle. This war is waged in the invisible, spiritual realm. Paul, for that reason, assures us that this battle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers in the heavens. While the battle is spiritual, the results of the battle are revealed in the physical realm. You cannot see the warfare, but you certainly experience it, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. Therefore, the battle you face is not against your neighbor, your spouse, coworker, child, or even the weakness of your flesh. The battle is against the spiritual forces that fight against us. Be assured of this, the enemy will use people, emotions, experiences, circumstances, and thoughts to pick a fight.

Thirdly, we must be aware of the schemes the enemy uses. The battles that go on inside of us are must often motivated by the schemes of the enemy who desires to destroy us or at least neutralize us. Someone has correctly said, “if you are having a spiritual battle, then you are in a good place. That means God wants to use you and that the enemy is attempting to thwart the work you have been called to.”

If you know anything about sports, especially football, you will know that coaches and players spend hours pouring over films of the teams that they are about to play. They want to know their opponent and they want to know the plays their opponent will use against them. Paul gives us the assurance that we can be prepared for the enemy’s schemes. But we must recognize them.

The first scheme used by our opponent is lies. Remember, there is no truth in the devil. He is the father of a lie and his greatest asset is the untruths and half truths we begin to own. He knows if we own it, we will accept it as truth. What are some of the lies presented? He uses one single failure in our life to make us believe that we are a total failure. He gets us to believe that God’s silence is a sign that God does not love us any more. The enemy will convince us that we have sinned the great sin and there is no hope for us. He gets us to believe that forgiveness is for the other person and not us. He convinces us that the negative experiences we have are normal and there is no hope for change.

A second scheme used by the enemy is accusation. Accusation is just another step in the scheme of lying. You know how this works. We feel we are not not good enough! We feel are not pretty enough! No one likes me! Everyone hates me! I can’t change! I can’t control my anger! You are a loser! You are a bad father or mother! You are not worthy of God’s blessings. The accusations go on and on and are the echoes of a thousand perceived failures but it does have to be that way.

A third scheme used by the enemy is false hope or as I like to call it a counterfeit vision of the future. The enemy uses this one in subtle ways but it is very powerful. He might communicate to you that its ok if you sin because no one will ever know. If you ever make a decision with this thought in mind then I can tell you that it is a wrong decision that will negatively effect your future. He will lie to you that one affair will not hurt you. He will lie and give you false hope that Christianity is a farce and that you are missing out on the fun in your life. He will say its ok to live however you want to during the week but act holy and righteous on Sunday.

Remember when Jesus was on the mountain top after He spent 40 days in the wilderness. Satan came to Him to offer him the world if he would bow to satan. Jesus was being tempted to accept a counterfeit vision of the future (Matthew 4). But there are a couple of problems here. One, Jesus already owned the whole world. He created it. So satan was offering something he could not give. Secondly, if Jesus had succumbed to this temptation, He would have lost much more than what He would have gained by rejecting satan’s offer. Know this! Whatever the enemy is offering, he will not be able to pay up. Whatever you may gain in following the vision the enemy gives you, in the long run you will lose much more than you gain.

Let me bring this closer to home. This week we have seen the unbelievable pictures and video coming out of Baltimore. The distorted vision of the future for some agitators and rioters was misdirected. Homes were destroyed. Businesses that were the life blood of the community were looted and burned. A senior center that had been needed in the community was burned to the ground. A CVS that originally did not want to be in the community, but agreed to come after the community worked with the corporation, has now been burned and destroyed with the potential of the corporation pulling the store out of the community for good. The very thing many were fighting for was destroyed in a matter of minutes. So how is that vision working out? But there was another vision we saw as well. On Tuesday morning after the bulk of the riots were over, we saw members of the community with brooms and garbage pails in hand cleaning the streets, removing debris, and starting to rebuild hope. There’s is a hope for the future. But that is how the enemy works in our hearts. We fight the wrong battles and invest in the wrong future vision.

As we have noted, the the problem of giving into the enemy’s schemes is that we give up what we already possess and we lose much more than we gain. But there is a battle plan. Over the next few weeks we will review the game tapes and see how we should be ready for battle. Are you ready? Let’s go! The game has already been won. All we have to do is dress up and get in the game. We can yell checkmate for he is a defeated foe. Amen! PTL!

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

Peninsula Community Church

The Risen Christ – His Peace, Power, and Purpose

April 5, 2015

John 20:19-23 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

I am sure that most of you have know the Easter story but let me give you a bit of an overview. You will remember that just a week before the resurrection Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem with people proclaiming His kingship (John 12:13). You will also remember that what .? ..had begun as a joyful, celebrated moment in time quickly turned to a riotous, chaotic and deadly event (John 19). From that triumphal entry on Sunday until Thursday of that week, Jesus met with his disciples and gave them final instructions. He encouraged them to not be troubled by what was about to happen. He wanted them to know that He would live again (John 13-17).

By Thursday of that week, the Jewish leaders had been able to trump up charges and were able to rouse the crowd to cry for Christ’s crucifixion. For the Jewish leaders, they were jealous of the notoriety that Jesus was receiving and they were afraid that He was going to unseat them from their positions of power. Their response was to trump up charges against Jesus and to excite the crowd to press the Roman officials to have Jesus arrested. It is interesting to note that the Roman officials had a better sense of what was going on than the religious leaders of the day. Pilate, the chief magistrate of Jerusalem for the Roman empire, had to confess that he found no fault in Jesus (John 19:11). And yet he succumbed to the pressure of the crowd to arrest Jesus and then have him ultimately crucified.

While the crowds turned against Christ, the disciples promised their loyalty and that they would be with Him until the end. The loudest of all was Peter who defiantly stated that there was no way that he would ever deny Christ (John 13:36-38) and yet within hours of that defiant statement he had denied Christ not once but three times (John 18). He had turned his back on Christ. After his death, Jesus was buried but the disciples were not found by Jesus’ side or at His tomb, they were found hiding behind locked doors. They were trying to put space between them and the people who had killed the one they loved and they had promised to follow.

In the story before us today, we see Jesus showing up where the disciples least expected it. He showed up right where they were. In this story, we find three things that Jesus did for this band of rejected and fearful followers. The risen Lord showed up to give them peace. He showed up to give them power. And He showed up to give them a purpose and a reason to live.

Lets look at the first of these. Jesus came to give them peace.  As noted before rather than being out front in support of Jesus, the disciples were behind a locked door because they were afraid. Fear for them was a very real emotion. As we know, fear can be expressed in many different ways. Fear grabs us and in so doing it strangles our hopes and dreams and it can rob us of peace.

What did they fear? For one they feared retaliation by the Jewish leaders which would result in their death. They were afraid that they would be identified as one of the followers of Jesus. Now before you judge the disciples too harshly remember that we can all fall into this trap. For us personally, we can be afraid that people will know us for who we are. We hide our true self from others and we hope no one finds out who we really are. For some of us, we live in turmoil because we are afraid that people will discover the real us because we know people will not like who we are. So we hide behind a wall and we put on masks to hide our real identity.

Secondly, they were afraid of what the future held for them. Without Jesus, could they continue in the quest they had been called to? Could they continue to hold onto the truth that He preached? How could they be effective in their mission at this point? Their leader was dead and so was their vision for the future. Before we judge the disciples too harshly, may I remind you that we too can be afraid of what the future holds. This is especially true when we believe our security has been snatched from us. Because of fear, we can make wrong choices about the future. Because of fear, we will either play it safe and lock ourselves away or we will take unwise risks that ultimately sidetrack us from accomplishing what we are suppose to do.

But notice what Jesus did. While they were sequestered behind locked doors, Jesus showed up and stood among them. He proclaimed these words not once but twice. “Peace be with you.” Think about this for a moment, Jesus was crucified, laid in a borrowed tomb, and then rose on the third day. Instead of going to the Jewish leaders or the Roman governors, he went to His disciples. Their spiritual and emotional health was more important to Him than His proving who He was in that moment. Jesus was not about exacting revenge or about proving a point, He was about extending love and grace and He was about giving life to those whose life had been sucked from them by the week’s events.

We should note that Jesus suddenly appeared. He just showed up. He suddenly showed up to make a difference in them. In that action, Jesus communicated so much, not in words as much as by His actions. He was coming to them at the point of their fear. He was communicating that I am not going to wait for you to get your act together. He was communicating that He was not going to wait for them to have enough faith to overcome their fear. He came to help them and to restore their faith and to assist them in overcoming their fear.

And here is the truth in this. The risen, living Jesus is still doing this, today. He comes when we cry out to him in our fear. He helps us. For me I have called to him a thousand of times: “Jesus please help me.” And he has come near with the promise: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). He will do this for you too, if you receive him into your life for who He really is.

Secondly, Jesus came to give them power. In this passage, Jesus makes a profound statement. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. By way of receiving the Holy Spirit, we have the power to release others from the wrongs they have perpetrated against us. Here is what Jesus is communicating to us, if you have someone in your life that has wronged you and you continue to hold that over them, the effect on you will be one that is negative and it’s effects are strong.

You see, we are not responsible for how others respond to forgiveness but we must be in a place where we release others who have wronged us. I believe that in essence Jesus was calling on them to release those who had perpetrated the acts of the last few days. The disciples needed to do this for themselves. Forgiveness is the most powerful action that we can take. By not forgiving others, we become obsessed with revenge and getting even. It impairs our ability to look forward to what is ahead because we are locked into the past with all of its hurts and the pain that comes from other’s sin and actions against us. Jesus was saying the locked door of the room was nothing to be compared to the locked door of their heart. The key to unlock the door was forgiveness. This was the power that Jesus want them to have. It was the power of a freed heart that could honestly seek love and not anger.

Thirdly, Jesus came to give them purpose. Jesus’ word to them was that He was sending them out with a purpose. At this stage, the point is that He did not give them a specific plan or destination, but that would come later. Why was this important? Too often when people fail us or their actions are less than admirable we tend to write them off. Jesus did not do that. He came to them. He loved them in spite of their actions or their deeds. He let them know they were still valuable to Him and to the Kingdom of God. You see one of the lies that has been communicated to us way too often is that we have committed too great a sin. We have acted so badly that we will never be forgiven or that we can be used of God. Or, we may feel we have rejected Christ and turned our back on Him too often. Let me clear that up  for you. Are you ready? Listen to me. There is nothing that you can do that will turn Jesus off or cause Him to reject you. There is no sin too great that He cannot forgive. There is no act too great that He will not restore you. He has a plan for you. He has a purpose for you. Jeremiah said it best. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

So what does this mean to us this morning? It means that Jesus will come to us to set us free from our personal fears. Today, He is whispering those words if we will only listening. Today, He is holding out His hands to you as the crucified, risen Lord. Those hands want to hold you and let you know it will be ok. Secondly, He wants to empower you through the power of forgiveness that releases you from those that deserve our outrage and our revenges

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom