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of our time seek grace to live in harmony with the practical outcome of being members of
that church of which Christ is the Head, and the church His body.
#78.
The power of His might (Eph. 6: 10).
pp. 81 - 86
"Finally."--At length this wondrous epistle nears its close. In height, depth, length
and breadth it stands without a peer in the whole range of inspired Scripture. Readers of
The Berean Expositor must have sense that our conception of truth makes this epistle to
us something akin to what the epistle to the Galatians was to Luther. It has given us a
liberty beyond the dreams of man. It reveals a Christ raised far above all, Who fills all in
all, Who ascended and descended that He might fill all things, Whose love surpasses
knowledge, Whose riches are unsearchable. It has given us a sacred trust: a "good
deposit" to guard, a unity to keep. It has brought its blessedness into every department of
life. It takes us back before the overthrow of the world, and on to the ages yet to come.
Its grace abounds. What then shall be the "Finally" of the apostle?
He reminds us that we are not actually seated in the heavenlies, but beset by foes who
at present hold to these very spheres. Though fellow-citizens with the saints, we are yet
walking in the wilderness. Though sealed unto the day of redemption, we have to
remember that we actually live in an evil day. Hence the apostle concludes his letter with
an exhortation to be strong, to put on the armour of God, to stand, to watch and to pray.
The language of faith says, as we look at our inheritance in the heavenlies, "Let us go up
at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it" (Num. 13: 30). Caleb, who
said these words, tasted something of the strength that Paul refers to here, and knew
something of the need for the armour and the sword:--
"And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as He said, these forty and five years .
. . . . as yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me . . . . . for war . .
. . ." (Joshua 14: 10, 11).
Before the armour, however, comes the strength, for without the necessary strength
armour would be but a death-trap: "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might"
(Eph. 6: 10). Philosophers have said to men "Be strong". Psychologists tell us to say to
ourselves "Be strong", but the only strength that will avail us in this conflict is the
strength that is ours in the Lord.
The power of His resurrection.
No other writer in the N.T. uses the word which is here translated "be strong" except
Luke, who in Acts 9: 22 uses it of Paul himself. The exception but proves the rule.
The word is peculiar to the teaching of Paul and his own experience of the risen Lord.