I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter six, Ephesians
six. The spirit of God moved upon
the apostle Paul in his letter to Ephesus to say, starting in
verse 10, finally, my brethren, Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, Take
unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith you may, no, wherewith you shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints. When David was to confront Goliath,
you turn with me to 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel 17. When he was going
to go before this giant, Goliath, Saul, King Saul thought that
David would be better served concerning his armor. to put on the armor of Saul,
the king. And to most people, that would
have seemed to have been quite an honor, you know, to have the
king's armor. But the scripture says in 1 Samuel
17 and verse 38, and Saul armed David with his
armor and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also, he
armed him with a coat of mail. But something became apparent
to David immediately. Look at verse 39. David girded
his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had
not proved it. David said and saw, I cannot
go with these. where I've not proved them and
David put them off him. Now the scripture said he assayed
to go. That is to say he voluntarily
undertook to go. He put it on and was gonna go
at first, but he labored vainly. putting that armor on, he showed
at first a willingness to undertake the battle girded with the armor
of Saul, but he realized very quickly he had not proven that
armor. What does that mean? He wasn't
accustomed to that type of armor. He took it off. He put it on,
but he took it off. And verse 40 says, and he took
his staff in his hand, chose him five smooth stones out of
the brook, put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script. And his sling was in his hand
and he drew near to the Philistine. David refused Saul's armor and
he chose rather, according to the scripture, to undertake the
battle. with the provision of God's making. Just picked up five smooth stones. He was a shepherd, had a shepherd's
bag, took his sling. That was the weapons that David
used, was accustomed to. Now, seeing from that scripture
right there, that the Lord provides for his own, concerning the battle. We're in a battle. There's a
war, a spiritual war going on according to these scriptures.
Turn back with me to Ephesians chapter six, and let's look for
just a minute at these verses that we just looked at. The Spirit of God moved upon
Paul to say in verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of His might. Henceforth, finally, you
who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, you who, like faith,
have been chosen of the Father and redeemed by the blood of
Christ and called by God's Spirit, be strong. Finally, my brethren,
be strong. Endure with strength in the Lord
and in the power of His might. Now, brethren, listen, we realize
something. We are weak creatures. We're creatures of dust, and
we know it. We admit it. We daily see that
truth brought out in ourselves, and we realize that we can do
nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing.
We're prone to doubt, we're prone to question, we're prone to fear,
but thanks be unto God, the scripture says His grace is sufficient. So therefore, be strong in the
Lord. Well, I wanna know something
about that, okay? Be strong in the Lord. I mean,
it sounds wonderful, but Lord, tell me something, that's what
He's gonna do right here. What is it to be strong in the
Lord? Scripture says in verse 11, put on the whole armor of
God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now, we're in a world that's
evil. You know, it just becomes more
and more apparent every day. This place is horrible. It's horrible. I shudder, I think about that
scripture that says whenever Lot was in Sodom, he was vexed,
kneeled every day. I mean, I look on, I don't even
wanna watch the news anymore because of the disrespect that
I behold. But you know what I realize?
Things have never changed since the beginning of time. God looked, Genesis 6, he looked,
and he saw that every imagination of the thoughts of men was only
evil continually. Hadn't changed a bit. I think
the older we get, the more we see it, the more we realize it.
And there's a teaching from the Spirit of God teaching
us and directing us and waning us from this world. Wouldn't
you hate to know you'd stay in this world forever like this? Put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. How are we, how do we fight? We're in a battle. I know that
the life of a believer There's an internal and an external battle
that's going on, but how do we fight? Hold your place there
and just turn over a few pages to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 6.12.
1 Timothy 6.12. Fight the good fight of faith. Fight the good fight of faith,
lay hold on eternal life, where and who thou art also called
and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. Fight
the good fight of faith. We're in a conflict, we know
that, and it's not gonna end until we leave this world. It's
gonna become more and more apparent of the battle that we're in,
and we need the armor of God. whole armor of God, that which
is provided, proven. David put on Saul's armor and
he is saved to do it. He put it on, okay. As soon as he put it on, he said,
this ain't it. He took it off. I ain't proven
this. This is not proven. I'm gonna tell you, here's some
proven armor right here. Here's the proven armor. The
scripture says, it tells us who we're fighting. Who's the enemy? Verse 12 said, we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. We're traveling through
a world that's inhabited by creatures that you cannot perceive with
the natural eye. You can't see them. Are they
here? I'm sure they are. I know the
ministering spirits of God are here, I know that. I know the
Lord's here, but I can't see them. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood. We don't wrestle against that
which we perceive with the natural senses. Well, what are we fighting? What are we wrestling against?
Well, the scripture says against principalities. I'm just looking
up the definitions here. These demons, these evil spirits
divided into ranks. This is the definition. Divided
into ranks and holding dominions entrusted to them concerning
the order of things. Well, this is an organized thing
that we're warring against. It's not ham, scam and just,
you know, according to the words, it's principalities, organizations. hierarchies and unders and divisions. Against the scripture says, not
only principalities, against powers. It is that which is created
beings that are superior. Superior to man in their abilities,
their powers, but for the grace of God. We need some protection. We need some protection, these
powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. What does that mean? That means
we're not contending with physical opponents, but wickedness, wicked
spirits who inhabit this sphere And they deal in these fiery
darts of lust and self-righteous lies and pride and idolatry and
deceit. You think Satan is going to come
after God's people? How is he going to come after
them? You've read, just hold your place right here and turn
with me to Revelation 12. What is the greatest wile of
the devil? What is the most dangerous wiles
of the devil? You know what it is? False religion. False religion. Giving men false
hope. Deceit. Deceit. Lying, lying wonders. Revelation 12, before, let's
read it again. Revelation 12, 13, when the dragon
saw that he was cast onto the earth, he persecuted the woman
which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place, where she is nourished for a time and time
and half a time from the face of the serpent. cast out of his
mouth water, flood after the woman that he might cause her
to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman
and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which
the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was raw with the
woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which
keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ. What does she got? What does
the woman, what does the bride got? She's got the gospel. God's taught her something. She
knows where her hope is. She knows that Christ is her
hope, her righteousness, her sanctification, her redemption.
She knows it. What does Satan do? He's going
after the bride. How is he going after her? False
religion. That's why there's so many, they're
all different. I've said this before, I'll say
it again. The gospel is always the same. I was just in Hendersonville,
North Carolina. And you know what they believe
down there? Exactly what we believe right here. And it's preached
at Todd's Road and in Danville. The gospel is the same. It's
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But all of the deception
and the wiles of the devil and the fiery darts of Satan. There's always something different.
But it always works. It's always worked. It's always
that which is deception. So here, brethren, we're in a
war. We're in a religious war. Let me say it like that. False
religion. And let's remember, These enemies
are here and they are working against God's people. But here's
the good news. They will not succeed. The gates
of hell are not gonna prevail against God's people. He has
promised us life everlasting. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Will they ever be deceived? No,
why? Because they're kept through
faith. Kept by the power of God. Kept
unto the day of salvation. Yes, these conflicts that we
endure are grievous for the moment, and we war, and we feel it inside,
and we feel it outside, and we see it outside, but we are being
taught, don't trust in yourself. Don't trust in yourself. Isaiah
41, 10 says, fear thou not. For I am with thee, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my power. Back in Ephesians 6 verse 13.
Wherefore, taken to you the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. The apostle Paul was familiar.
with these spiritual battles, spiritual battles. You know why
they hated Paul? Why did they hate Paul? Because
he believed God. Because he believed God. And
Almighty God received all the honor and glory and praise. And
Paul preached the truth. The Lord said they hated him,
they hated the Lord before they hated men, his people. The whole
battle was a spiritual battle with Paul. He was hated of the
religious crowd. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, the complete armor, that armor that is provided
for all of God's people. It's not within man's power to
provide it, but rather it's the armor of God given totally in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is His people's
armor. Without Him, we can do nothing. Romans 13, 14 says, put ye on,
put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, by faith, by faith. How is she gonna put on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Lord, I believe you. By faith,
I believe you. In Him alone, we're kept. according
to God's will and God's love and God's righteousness. Wherefore,
take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to
stand, to resist in the evil day, in that day that trials
come, and they come without warning. And having done all, stand. Verse 14, stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of
righteousness. Now here we're commanded to stand,
having put on Christ, the whole armor of God, resting, resting
in the Lord, having your loins girt about with truth. Christ,
who is the truth. Here is our armor. Here's our
armor. God is truth. Christ is the truth. And man's a liar. Now, here's
the armor. Here's the evidence of being
girt about with truth. I believe God. I believe Him. I believe the Lord, and I don't
believe what man has to say. Having your loins girt about
with truth, wrapped with Him, who is the glorious object of
our message. Who are we talking about today?
The Lord Jesus. The truth of God's redemptive
glory in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We stand right
there. We read something in this scripture and God's people say,
I believe that. Do you truly believe that he
laid down his life just for the sheep? Do you believe that? Heard
about with truth. You believe when he came into
this world, he came into this world to save his people only
from their sins. I believe that, girt about with
truth. When he went to the cross, was he truly made sin? Really
now, really, was he truly made sin? Yes. Girt about with truth. There's
no foundation, there's no revelation apart from him. Having on, the
scripture says in verse 14, the breastplate of righteousness.
What does that mean? You have on the breastplate of
righteousness. That means that there is no righteousness
accepted of God, but His righteousness. That's the breastplate of righteousness. By His righteousness, we're shielded. Shielded from all of the enemy.
Second Corinthians 5.21 declares that we are made the righteousness
of God in him. Whose righteousness must we have? The Lord's himself. Verse 15,
and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We're
taught something here about our walk. Our walk in this world
according to the truth of who God is. Who is man? Man is a fallen creature, dead
in trespasses and sins. And how is God gonna be just
to justify a sinner? Christ is gonna have to bear
my guilt, and he's gonna have to answer for me, which he did
before God's law. And there's life only in him.
Brethren, remember, we are in a world of darkness. And before
the spirit called us out of that spiritual darkness, we walked
according to these scriptures. Now here you're gonna find out
whether or not a man believes God. Before God called us out,
we truly believed that we were our own righteousness. We believed
that we could satisfy God. We believed that we could reconcile
ourselves back to God. We could make peace with God.
How? By something that we're gonna
do. We believe that. Scripture says in Ephesians 5,
8, for ye were sometimes darkness. I look at that and I think we
were darkness. But after God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, it shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now, we have a different walk. We walk believing that Christ
is our life. God Almighty has called us out
of the darkness and has shown us himself. Colossians 2.6, as
you've received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Verse 16, above all, taking the
shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked." We've got to be very careful here to
remember our true defense. I cannot maintain myself. To lose sight of this fact is
to have no defense at all. If we do not have faith from
above to believe this, we don't have any faith. From God, above all, taking the shield
of faith, I believe Him. Now listen to this. Galatians
2, 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law. We cannot do anything to justify
ourselves but by the faith of God. Jesus Christ. Even we have
believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the
faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Above all, taking
the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation,
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, that helmet,
that protection of the soul, which consists in the hope of
salvation in Christ Jesus, the Lord. And the sword of the spirit,
I told you that last week, I believe it was, I was looking at something
the other day and I saw that you know, confession of 16 something. I can't even remember the last
two numbers now. And I thought to myself, what a, what a blessed
peace to know this is our confession of faith. What do you believe?
I believe this word right here. I believe it. Take the sword
of the spirit, which is the word of God. It's written word, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word. The Word made flesh, that
Word that never returns unto God void, but accomplishes the
purpose for which it was sent. His Word that never fails. His
Word that says a fire, a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.
Take the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. And then verse 18, we'll stop right here.
Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints. What joy peace is found in our
communion with him. That communion which cannot be
quenched by the wiles and fiery darts of the wicked. Praying
for one another in the spirit, watching, that is being awake
We know, we know that we have a battle. We know that there's
a war going on. We see it within. I said, you
see it within, you see it without. But Almighty God has provided
the armor of His people. It's the armor of God taken to
you, the armor of God. Believe in Him, rest in Him.
Lord, teach us of Yourself, for Christ's sake.