I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter
6, Ephesians 6. I'd like to look at verses 14
to 17, but before we do, let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Heavenly Father, we indeed
thank You for this blessed time to be together. And Lord, we
ask your blessing upon the Word. I pray that as the preaching
of your Word goes forth, Lord bless it to the salvation of
your people. Lord, comfort us, help us. We are in desperate need. I pray for the Groovers, pray
Lord that you'd have mercy upon their family, Wynna and Walter
and Betty and the kids. I pray for the congregation,
churches down in Mexico. Lord guide and direct according
to your good purpose. Help us this evening. Thank you
for raising up the gospel here and keeping us. Forgive us where
we fail you, for Christ's sake. Amen. Believers, every believer is
in a very real battle. It's a constant battle. For a believer, there is no day
that a believer doesn't struggle. I mean, good times, bad times. There's a war that is raging
within and without. You know that. But it's not a
battle. The Scripture sets forth the
flesh and blood That's what verse 12 says, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. But this battle is a battle against
a spiritual foe, an invisible foe, but a very real foe. It's
real. It's going on. And the Scripture
reveals in verse 12, that our foe is principalities against powers,
against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. We war against the evil. The evil. This battle is fought Not with
conventional weapons. It's fought in the mind, in the
heart, in the soul. There's a real struggle that's
going on. Now this battle that we fight,
and the reason we know this is because the Scriptures tells
us so. We wouldn't know this. We wouldn't,
I mean, you know, it'd be, you know, we'd chalk it up to, you
know, mental imbalance and, you know, and, I don't know, insecurity
or just, you know, mental fatigue or something. There's a battle
that's going on. I want you to take your Bible,
save your place right there, and I want you to turn over to
Matthew 4, And I want to read a passage of Scripture, verses
1 to 11, and I want to read this passage of Scripture, and I want
us to look at this battle that we really fight. And the Lord
fought a battle just like this. And I want you to look at how
it affected Him. Matthew 4, verses 1-11, then
was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,
he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle
of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels
charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee
up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Jesus
said unto him, it is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, the
glory of them, and saith unto him, All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith
Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Now, until then, until this point,
We don't know what is really going on inside the soul of the
Lord. But listen to this next verse.
Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered
unto him. Angels came and ministered unto
the Lord. Now it had been prophesied that
Satan would bruise the heel of the Lord. And I don't know if
that was talking about this temptation here, the struggles in the Garden
of Gethsemane, or even the battles that are fought against God's
people who are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I know
this, that Satan would bruise the heel of the Lord. But I can tell you this, Satan's
head was going to be crushed, I know that. And I can tell you
that at Calvary, our Lord was victorious over death and held
in the grave. And Scripture says in Colossians
2, 14, 15, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross, having spoiled principalities and powers, He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." So I know this,
that He fought and won. I know that. He's the conqueror.
I know that. But look what the Scripture says
concerning the need that He had. The Lord's confrontation with
Satan in the wilderness was real. It was a real experience, and
that was His personal battle, and He fought it. How? Did you notice how He fought
it? With the Word of God. It's written. It's written. It's
written. Satan was tempting Him, questioning
His deity. questioning his right, questioning
his sovereignty. Make these stones into bread. You're hungry. Forty days, forty
nights. And here he was experiencing
what we experience, but with him in an unbelievable, inexpressible
way. Here was the Lord who now, having
experienced what we experience. The Scripture says he's a present
help in time of trouble. Listen to Hebrews 2, 2.18. Let
me read this to you, 2.18. The Scripture says, for in that
he himself has suffered being tempted, he's able to succor
them that are tempted. has experienced. He learned obedience. You ever read that scripture,
he learned obedience and that he suffered? He learned obedience. He experienced it. Here the Lord
was tempted of the devil, tempted to disobey God, tempted to disbelieve
God, tempted in all these points as we are. And the scripture
says that after the devil left him, angels came and ministered
to him. I know he was hungry. Forty days,
forty nights he hadn't eaten. Gave him some food. He was a
man. The man, Christ Jesus, had ministered
to him, consoled him. These angels that ministered
unto the Lord, gave him what he needed. That's what it meant. The word minister, as a deacon,
is what it meant. Whatever was the need, that's
what they did. And now here we are, as his body. And the Scripture says that we're
in a battle, just like he was in a battle. And it was not a
battle that he didn't really go through. And here we are,
going through these battles, and the Lord has sent ministering
spirits to us. We who are the heirs of salvation. That's what Hebrews 1, 3 and
4. We don't realize. We don't realize
what is totally going on. But listen to this, Hebrews 1,
13, 14. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy putschdoos? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? I don't know. I don't know what
our need is. There's a spiritual battle going
on and we are truly Fatigue. The Lord, the Lord was in need
of being ministered to. I read that and I thought, it's
amazing. Listen to this. Look at Luke
22. Luke 22. Luke 22 verse 39. Scripture says He came out and
went as He was wont. The Mount of Olives and His disciples
also followed Him. And when He was at the place,
He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And He was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father,
if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me." And I'm absolutely
convinced that the cup that he was talking about was not, don't
remove your wrath from me, don't let me die. He was to be made
sin. And here is the only man that
ever truly knew the fullness of sin. You and I don't know
anything about it. Well, sin is a transgression
of the law. Okay, what does that mean? Tell
me the depth of that. We are so prone to sin. We're so accustomed to it. We're
so familiar with it. Not him. He knew no sin. There was nothing in him that
the devil could accuse him of. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. And he was to drink the cup of
our sin. I don't know what that means. I
don't understand the depth. I hear what I'm saying and I
understand the words just like you do. But here was something
that the Lord Jesus Christ prayed to His Father if there is any
other way. I can't even enter in, kneel
to Him asking the question. He came into this world. to die
as the substitute of His people. I read these holy words and my
heart bows in this thought. Lord, as You say, it is, it is. Because I don't understand the
depth of it, it doesn't change anything. Father, if Thou be
willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done." And the Scripture says, after he asked that question
and made that statement of faith, and there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven strengthening him. And the word strengthening
there means to invigorate. And I wanted to make sure I understood
what invigorate means. I think I do. To give energy
to. To give energy to the Lord of
glory. To give energy to the God-man
mediator. spoke everything into existence. The Scripture says that an angel
came after this battle is being fought in Gethsemane. And Scripture
says in verse 44, and being in agony, He prayed more earnestly, and
his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to
the ground. And when he rose up in prayer
and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said unto them, Why sleep
ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. I'm going to tell you something.
There's a battle. There's a battle that's being fought. And we don't
even realize the depth of this battle. He did. He knew. He knew the fight. Here he was
in that garden with the weight of Satan's temptations, the weight
of the knowledge of drinking the cup of the sin all the sin
of all of His people, all the completeness of the rebellion
and the transgressions and the doubts and every transgression,
every thought, every word, every deed, everything that had ever
been done. Like I said, whether they said
it or did it, thought it, What intent? What they failed to do? He took every one of those transgressions. He was made sin and drank it
and made it his own. He said, Psalm 40, mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me. They are more than the hairs
of my head. We don't know. We don't know
what really went on. But I can tell you this based
on the little bit that I can read and somewhat perceive. I know this. He knew. And I'm
looking at how it affected him and how the weight of that battle weighed upon him. and these ministering
spirits that came to minister to Him and invigorate Him, energize
Him. We wrestle not, back in Ephesians,
we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, I know that. But listen to this, I saw
this, I've never seen this before. The weapons that we fight with,
what we're going to look at in just a minute. But these weapons were established, these weapons
were established by His obedience. Now I'm going to show you something.
Isaiah 59, this is an amazing passage of scripture. Isaiah
59, verse 16-17. Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59, 16. And he saw there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his arm
brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness, it sustained
him. Now you know who that's talking
about. Let's talk about the Lord Jesus. His arm brought salvation. His
righteousness sustained Him. Listen to what He did. For He
put on righteousness as a breastplate and an helmet of salvation upon
His head. And He put on the garments of
vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself Who but the Lord ever saw the poverty and ruin
of our nature, of His people, and purposed to save them? Who but the Lord could be the
Savior and intercessor of His people? O mighty, mighty Lord Jesus Christ,
Your arm brought salvation. And in the days of your flesh,
you did bear the sin of all your people upon the tree, and all
the weapons of your warfare speak of you alone. These weapons He
established, for they are He Himself." If I said that correctly,
these weapons are Him, our weapons, are the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want us to look for just
a few minutes at these weapons that we fight with. Look in verse,
I'll read 13. We looked at it last week. I'll
read 13, 14. 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." Now, verse 14 tells us to stand. Stand. Maintain your ground. Now this is something that we
do, but not in the power of our flesh. We don't maintain ground
by our works of self-righteousness, but by the grace and power of
Almighty God. We stand. We stand. We're still
here. That's what I'm saying. We're
here. How long have you been here?
Well, I've been here a long time. Why are you still here? There
have been some that are not here anymore. Why are you here? Why have you been able To stay,
well I just love the gospel, I just, and I've been, all these
many years I've been faithful, you know, like that son, you
know, wasn't like the prodigal. I never, you know, I never left.
Stuff like this. Let me tell you what a believer
says right here. We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. That's the only reason we're
here. That's the only reason that you remain. If it wasn't
for that, let me tell you something, you'd be gone and I would too.
I wouldn't stay here a second. Why? If I had no interest to
be here, I wouldn't be here. But I want to be here. I was
glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord.
Like Brother Henry, I'm glad that I want to go. I'm glad I
want to hear. I'm glad I want to learn. Stand. Stand. Therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth. Stand fast in the Lord. Having your loins girt about. Have it close to you. What? The
truth. Have the truth close by faith. Gird up the loins of your mind
with Him who is the truth. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. We come here, why? To hear concerning Him. There's nothing else that a believer
wants to hear about. I don't want to hear about, don't
tell me about, you know, saving the children, world poverty,
you know, I don't want to. Tell me of Him. Tell me again,
as I've said before, tell me how the Lord has been pleased
to save a wretch like me and keep me. Have your mind girt
about with truth, braced up and strengthened through the hearing
of the glorious gospel of Christ. That's how your mind is girded
up with truth. Hear the gospel. Faith cometh
by hearing. And have on the breastplate of
righteousness. A breastplate. You know, I've
got some vital organs right here. And they need protection. I need protection. What protection
do I have against the wiles of the devil, these fiery darts
of Satan? Well, the Scripture reveals,
and here's a weapon that's not carnal, but it's mighty, pulling
down the strongholds, what keeps the believers' heart I'll tell
you what it is. Righteousness. A breastplate of righteousness.
But not mine or yours. All that is is filthy rags. It's
just a spider web. It's just nothing. It's just
a piece of nothing. Filthy rags. But His righteousness,
His obedience, that is imputed to everyone that believeth. What
He has done, He's charged me. What will keep me before God? Righteousness. His. Can you imagine? Would you have
ever thought that that would have been possible? That God
Almighty would charge you with His righteousness. Do you believe
Him? Do you believe salvation is of
the Lord? All of the Lord? Nothing of you? I'll tell you this. If salvation
is by your works in your mind, you're lost. You're lost. If you think that salvation is
by your will, you're lost. You're lost. You're not saved.
Because the Scripture said it's not by the will of man. It's of God. This is the righteousness
that He has wrought out. This is the righteousness that
God Almighty accepts. This is the righteousness that
God gives. That prodigal son came back and
told his dad that story. Dad, I said, bring the best robe
and you put it on him. They didn't even give it to the
boy to put on. The Lord robes His people. Robed in His righteousness. Verse 15, And your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We're in this world for a very
short period of time. A very short period of time.
3 score and 10, about 70 years
old, is the average. Some make it to 80. Scripture
says if it's 4 score, it's just pain and suffering. I'm 67 years old. It's hard for
me to believe, 67 years old. I'm thinking, 67 years old, that
means, well, 3 scoring 10, 70. And if my math serves me right,
I'm thinking, well, I don't know. Cody was 57. How do you know? Had a lady tell
me today, had a friend of hers, 38. Died. Just died. Had a heart
attack. Died. This life is but a vapor. The scripture says that we've
been placed on this earth for just a moment. A moment. And we're born in this world
sinners and rebels against God. Now that's every one of us. Ephesians
5a, for ye were sometimes darkness. But for God's sheep, we've been
regenerated by the grace of God. But now are you the light in
the Lord. But now are you light in the
Lord. Paul the Apostle says, act like it. Walk as children
of light. Let your feet be shod with the
preparation, the readiness of the gospel of peace. Walk like
a believer. Walk like a believer. Listen
to Philippians 1.27. Only let your conversation, your
walk in this world be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. I heard
Brother Henry say this one time. Adorn the gospel that you believe
with a walk of consistency. Walk like a believer. Act like a believer. You say,
well, do you mean I don't sin? No, every believer sins. But
I tell you what, they don't find any pleasure in it. They don't
find any joy in it. Satan is ever ready to trip us
up, but as we walk, walk in the truth of the gospel, stand fast,
having a breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace, loins girt about, the loins of your
heart girt about the truth. Colossians 2, 6 and 7, As you
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, You've
been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving. Verse 16 says,
above all, taking the shield of faith. That is, looking to
and trusting the object of our faith. Above all, taking the shield
of faith. wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Whenever we're tempted by Satan
with these horrid thoughts of God, and I'm telling you, I would
crawl under the under this building as low as you go, if you knew
some of the thoughts that I've had concerning the Lord. Most
embarrassing. And I think to myself, where
did that thought come from? How could I have thought? You say, well, I don't think
a believer can think like that. These burning lusts for the things
of this world And these despairing thoughts, when we consider salvation
to be anything other than salvation is of the Lord, I mean, they're
there. These thoughts that you think,
these fiery darts. Above all, take the shield of
faith. and declaring that Christ's blood
atoned for my sins. His blood cleanses me from all
sin and there's no condemnation to me if I'm in Christ Jesus.
Christ is my shield. Now listen to this. I want to
try to see if I can make this as simple as I can understand
it. Taking the shield of faith. I want you to hold your place
and look at Genesis 15-1, taking the shield of faith. And I'm
not talking about our faith. It's not our faith. I'm telling
you, would you like to be protected on the strength of your own faith?
Now think about this. Think seriously for a second
with me. Our faith, Carl, I don't even,
I mean, the faithless, every little nitpicking
thing that comes along that ruffles my feather, Frank, I'm ready
to throw in the towel. Now you say, well, I don't do
that. Well, I do. I do. I mean, I struggle and
struggle What shield do I need? Taking the shield of faith. Look
at Genesis 15, verse 1. After these sayings, the word
of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not,
Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. This is the shield I need. This
is the shield I need right here. What shield? do I need wherewith
the fiery darts of the wicked are quenched? Who protects me
except the shield himself? Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Taking by faith in Him who is
my shield, believing upon Him Remember, it's not our faith
that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked that are able to
put out those fiery missiles of Satan's temptation, but Christ
who is our shield, He protects us. There's a shield we can rest
behind, rest under. And I'm closing right here, Galatians
2.16, as I wrap this up. Look at Galatians 2.16. Knowing that a man is not justified,
he's not pronounced to be innocent before the law, knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, by the faith of. There's two things
spoken of here, the faith of Christ and our faith in Christ. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. If your Bible doesn't say the
faith of Jesus Christ, it should. It should. but by the faith of
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. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. We are justified not by our faith,
not by our faith. We are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ who is our shield. Back in Ephesians, above all,
taking the shield of faith, take the object of our faith, trusting
in the object of our faith who is our shield. And then the Scripture
says in verse 17, and take the helmet of salvation, this will
be our last verse, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Take the Helmet of Salvation. Now, the Helmet of Salvation,
whereby this mind is protected, the Helmet of Salvation speaks
of the assuredness that we have life eternal. I'll tell you what,
let me tell you that again. The Helmet of Salvation, I'm
going to read a scripture to you to prove this. The Helmet
of Salvation speaks of the assuredness that we have salvation, life
eternal. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
5.8, But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope, that
is the expectation, the anticipation, the confidence of salvation,
and for a helmet the hope, the assuredness. The Lord is my salvation. That's what Simeon said. Lord,
I've seen your salvation. Take me now. The Lord is our
salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who
died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with Him. Everybody hopes they're going
to go to heaven, you know. If they have an option, yeah,
I hope so. Where are you going when you
die? Well, I hope to go to heaven.
I hope, you know. Glenda was telling me the other
day that there's a friend that she's known for a long, long
time. I know her. I know the lady. And she made
this statement. She said, I hope when I stand
before God, I hope when I die, God will take all the good things
and all the bad things, and I hope the good things outweigh. That is no hope. That's no hope. Because I'm going to tell you
something right now. If there is one sin that you're going to have
to answer for, you have no hope. No hope. The helmet of salvation
is the expectation, the confidence that we have in Him. that we're
His and He's ours. People hope, but that's an empty
desire. Our hope is the assuredness. Here's the helmet of our salvation.
Here's the helmet of our salvation that we have based upon God's
Word, God's purpose, Christ's redemption and the Holy Spirit's
revelation of that truth. a hope, a confidence, an assuredness
of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. How can you have that
hope? I've told you this before. Listen
to me. We believe God. We believe God. We believe the
Lord. He that believeth, trusts on
the Son, hath life. apart from anything that we've
done. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Oh,
the preciousness of that blessed weapon. Offensive and defensive. It's called the sword of the
Spirit, God's Word. And here's what it is. Here's
the sword of the Spirit. We preach the Gospel. The sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God. I believe that the preaching
of the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I believe
that. Why do you believe that? Because
God said it is. I believe that the preaching
of the gospel is that which God uses. That's the means of calling
God's people out. And I use this Word to defend
what I just said. This is what said it, and this
is what I believe it by. I believe it because God Almighty,
His Word, and He is magnified above all of His name. Hold fast. Stand. Stand upon God's Word. Thy Word, my head and my heart.
I might not sin against you. Here's the weapons of our warfare.
Got that helmet of salvation. Our loins, the loins of our heart,
the loins of our mind is girt about with truth. What do you
rest in? I rest in God's Word, His truth. And that which protects me, protects
my heart, my vital, my being itself, it's righteousness. He is imputed to me. And that
shield of faith, that shield is the Lord Himself. He is my
shield. His faith, His obedience. And
I trust Him. I believe Him. If I'm going to
walk in this world, I'm going to walk having my feet shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. Thank you, Lord, that you would
reveal to us that there is a battle and that you would be the weapons
of our warfare. You're the weapons of our warfare.
Bless these words to our heart. Amen.