Walk Worthy of Your Calling in the World Part 4

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. There is real struggle that comes with following Christ. We have an adversary bent on undermining our faith, but God doesn't leave us to struggle in our own strength. He gives us tools to thrive in the struggle, and He gives us Himself. God equips us to advance productively and meaningfully in God's good purpose, not just in the times that matter today, but in the times that matter for eternity. Let's listen in as Pastor Rich unpacks Ephesians 6, 17-20. When we consider that we are in Christ, when we consider the riches of His grace that He has poured out upon us, we recognize that the strength to follow His commands could never come from us.

It's all from Him. We live by the grace of God, and that is why we are called to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called, walk worthy of the calling in the world. We live in a dark and a dying and a desperate and a thirsty world, and we are called to walk worthy of that calling. That calling is that in Christ, the riches of His grace.

We are one new people as a radical new community. And so in the grace, the riches, the strength, the equipping that Christ has given us because we are in Christ, we walk according to that. We walk worthy of that in the world. We recognize as we continue in this passage of Ephesians 6, verses 10-20, today we'll be looking specifically at verses 17-20, 17b-20, as we were informed last time in the first part of this paragraph that there is a very real struggle. Life is a struggle.

Every one of us wants to be able to say life is good, but here's the reality. Life is hard. And one of the struggles for us, particularly in our culture, in our environment, is that we are day in and day out, we are inundated with stuff, things, ideas, that insulate us and cushion us from the harsh realities of life, temporal and eternal. Therein is a real struggle for us. There are forces that are battling for your affection and allegiance.

Do you understand that struggle? What you love is being fought for. An adversary is one that you have who is bent on keeping you either from faith or he is bent on undermining your faith. God's armor, as we discovered last time, defends us against his subversive attacks.

And we are to put on that armor by knowing his truth and grace to the point that it informs our attitudes and our desires. You see, knowledge is not power. Knowledge is but information. Knowledge applied, knowledge practiced.

Knowledge where it sets in to the point of changing our attitudes and our desires. Therein is power. But as God has given us his defense, as we studied the armor of the believer last time, God's defense of us is not just so that we can survive.

We're not just sitting here taking the attack. It's not just a matter of survival. God's defense for us is also so that we can thrive. We progress, we move forward, we persevere, and we don't just make it through, but we advance productively, meaningfully in God's purpose, God's good purpose. Can that describe your life today? Do you just survive?

Do you just make it through the day or the week? Or can you say that, yes, I can advance productively and meaningfully, indeed joyfully, in God's good purpose? This is what God has given for us. Understand this, and this is a truth, this is a reality of the fallen created order in which we live. Somebody said it, I'm not sure who it was, I mentioned this Wednesday night, but progress is made only in resistant material.

Progress is made only in resistant material. Here's one way of looking at that. There's no such thing as productive drift. And when you think of driftwood, right, what do you think of?

Well, you think of rot or tumbleweed just rolling around aimlessly at any gust of wind. It's not the Christian life. It's not the life of grace in Christ with the riches of his grace. You see, God's grace has equipped us and we are called to walk worthy in the equipping that he has granted us.

Again, Ephesians 1 through 3, know it. Know God's defense of you against the tactics of your enemy. And know the resources he's also granted you to advance in the things that matter today and a hundred years from now. Because that starts giving us criteria for the things that are truly important, the things that truly matter. The true priorities of life, not just maintaining a comfortable life today. You see, know the tools and what they can do lest you miss great blessing and are relegated to mere survival.

And a Christian who is merely surviving is not a testimony to the grace of God. Do you know the tools that you have at your disposal? A week ago, Saturday, I was traveling down from New York, upstate New York on my own. I was driving Ben and Megan's van back. I had been driving for over five hours straight. I was getting hungry.

The gas tank was getting low. Now, many of you know, I'm a fan of Panera. I like their food.

It's quick, but it's good. I was holding out for Panera. I was in the middle of Pennsylvania, holding out for Panera.

I'm looking around like, I'm not sure this is Panera country, you know. So, I just made a judgment. I says, oh, man, the gas tank's getting low. I'm just going to pull over.

And I settled for a sub. Filled up the gas tank. Yeah, got going down the road. No joke.

No joke. Two miles down the road, there's a Panera. See, that's exactly what I was thinking. Rich, I was almost banging my head on the steering wheel. Rich, you have this device.

All you'd have to say is, find me the nearest Panera. And, poof, there it is. And I could have had it. And I missed out on that blessing because I wasn't using the tools that I had at my disposal. Christians, could that be you?

Could that be you? How many blessings are you missing out on? Because you are not using the tools with which you are equipped. Blessings far, far greater than Panera. What tools has God given us to advance in the struggle? Yes, it is a struggle. There's no denying it's a struggle. But God has given us His defense in that struggle.

But that defense is not just for our survival. He's also given us tools for our advance to thrive in His good purpose. These tools keep us guarded against doubt, against distraction, against disdain, against despair, against discouragement. All those are the tactics of the adversary of the soul. But what does He give us?

What is the nature of the struggle? Look, consider Philippians chapter 2 verse 15. This is who we are, children of God. This is who He intends us to be. This is what He calls us to be. And He equips us to be children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Among whom you shine as lights in the world. Does that sound like mere survival?

No, it's not. We are called to shine as lights in a world where things around us are crooked and twisted because God's truth has been distorted. God's good things are being abused. And if we are not using the tools that God gives us, we're going to find ourselves participating in that crookedness and twistedness.

So He has given us tools to advance. Tool number 1, Ephesians 6 17. The Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Now He's continuing in the armor theme. He's spoken of the breastplate, the shield, the belt, the feet, the helmet of salvation, all of these. And then He says the sword of the Spirit. A sword is for defense and offense.

The others were all defensive tools, right? But a sword is for defense as well as offense. The Word of God is a defensive tool. We defend against the attacks with a sword as Jesus did when He was tempted and His response was, it is written, we should learn from that. We should do the same thing.

But as we are facing resistant material, the sword also allows us to progress. Consider Acts 4 29 when the apostles had been abused for their witness. And now, Lord, this is their prayer. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your Word with all boldness. Church, let's do this. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.