Let us read 2 verses as we start. Mathew 16:18,19 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Let us also read from Ephesians 6:10,11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
When we are together as a church, we are like God’s army to fight against the schemes of the devil. Referring to the first verse we read, we need to understand that it is a personal message to everyone who is part of the church. God wants to build us together as a church. And we have been hearing the foundational truths for this in the past few weeks – we are not under law but under grace; our righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. Br. Zac mentions the building of the church as similar to a 3 floor building. The ground floor is our personal life built on the foundational truths of the Christian life. The 1st floor is our Family Life and the top floor is the Church Life. So without a personal relationship with God and without a Christ-centered family life, we can’t build a church that pleases God pleases. If the ground and first floors have been built properly, then when we come together, we can be a mighty army for God. God has promised that the gates of Hades will not overpower the church. We heard few weeks back about being as close as possible to Christ as we can in our personal life. Once this step is clear, we need to focus on our family lives.
Many times we take for granted the family life that God has given. In Genesis 2 we read of how God created Adam and Eve. We read, that when God created Adam (verse 7), God breathed into his nostrils and he became a living being. And when man opened his eyes, the first person he saw was God. In verse 21 we read of the creation of woman. God put man into a deep sleep when he created woman. We see that when the woman woke up too; the first person she saw was God. Why didn’t God create man and woman together at the same time and cause them to wake up at the same time? He wanted them both to see God when they first opened their eyes. There is something we as married couples can learn from this. As we wake up each day, we must see God first. Our fellowship with God must be the first thing that we do and we must give him the first priority. God wants to set us right as individuals and as families and the end result is a blessed church. As God gives us light, we need to set right the things in our personal lives. In our families – in our relationship with our spouse, our children, our parents; God wants us to be a testimony for Him. He wants us to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 5 starts with Paul encouraging us to be imitators of God and to walk in love. In verse 18 Paul encourages us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. After this Paul talks about relationships in the family. He talks to husbands, wives, children and parents, masters and slaves. Individually we have to be imitators of God and wake up from areas where we are asleep and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We see in this chapter also that in our individual lives, the work of the Holy Spirit must be done and have a thankful heart always. Then God can work in our family lives. After this, Paul talks about the armor of Christ.
We are all part of the family of God and we all have our part to do. This can be done only if our individual and family lives have been set right. Imagine a hand that has gone numb, it is of no use to the body. It can’t stand firm against any problem. Let us make sure we are not a numb part of the body. God wants us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might and also to stand against the schemes of the devil. As a church we have to be an army. The army does not mean that only a few are strong and others are lazy. God wants us all to be ready for battle. For this we have to be strong and on the alert in our personal and family lives. Many times we take our families for granted. We may think that we have a happy family life because of the things we do or say. But from Genesis we learn that only if Christ is in the center of the family, the fellowship between one another will be strong. In Ephesians 6:12,13 we read, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” God wants us to stand firm and take up certain things – girding our loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. We are blessed to know this truth. Let us make sure that we set our individual lives straight and make sure we put God first in our family relationships.
In 1 John 1:5-9 we read, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God wants to build us up as His church and He has revealed these truths to us. Wherever there are areas of darkness in our lives, may God help us to bring light. God wants us to have light. The blood of Christ can cleanse us from all sin and help us to set right our individual and family lives and in turn be an army together as the church. We have many short comings, but let us press onto perfection. God will go His work if we are honest before Him. Let us put God as supreme in our lives – He will remove all confusions and troubles. May God help us all!
