Would you turn in your Bibles
to Ephesians chapter 6? We've been really focusing lately
on, in the opening of our messages, Bible studies, Friday night studies,
Sunday morning services, the depth of our sin. There's a reason
why We look at the word, the letter T, in speaking about the
points of Calvinism, the five points of Calvinism, total depravity. That's the right order. And the reason for that is because
how are you going to see the depth? How are you going to get
a picture in your mind of how great God loves you. If you don't understand first
how deep you are in depravity, how deep you are in sin, what
is, how deep is that original sin? It's deeper than any of
us can see with our eyes. The Lord tells us in his word,
he says, the heart is desperately wicked. If you don't know that
your heart is desperately wicked, you don't know the love of God
for you. Because that's the first thing
He does, is He shows you your need of Him. Is that not true? And we've spent much time considering
those things, and I was asked here recently, John, why is it
you've always got a point so strong about our sin? And I said,
because that's the start of salvation. And we never finish with that.
We never spend all of our time on that because what that does
is it points us to the one who saved us. Is that not correct?
Isn't that what our troubles and our trials are for? To remind
us the weakness that we have in this flesh? So, this morning
I want to bring a short message from Ephesians 6 that gives us
encouragement to look to our Lord. You know, he says, come
unto me, all ye that are heavy laden. That means lay down your
weapons and look to the one who has fought the battle for you.
But you've got to look at the weapons that he uses, the weapons
that he gives us. Fight the good fight, Paul tells
Timothy. Fight the good fight. That's
such a strange way to look at it, isn't it? Fight the good
fight. That means we've got to keep
doing something, well what is it we gotta keep doing? Resting.
The most unnatural thing for us is to sit down and do nothing. To sit down and trust in Him. To sit down and rest in what
He's done for us. And everything that we're going
to look at today points to that very thing, that God has accomplished
in His Son, the Lord Jesus, what we need to fight the good fight. Here in Paul's letter to the
saints at Ephesus, chapter 6, the Spirit of God inspired Paul
to give an answer to our question of what can I do? What must I
do, Lord? If there's nothing I can do,
if there's nothing for me to do, if all I can do is rest,
well, how do I do that? How do I rest in the Lord? Paul
answers that question here in Ephesians chapter 6. Look with
me, if you would, in Ephesians 6 verse 10. Finally, my brethren,
be strong. Be strong in the Lord. and in the power of His might. Did you catch that? If we're
going to rest in the Lord, then we've got to put all of our strength
in Him. We've got to sit down. We need
to relax and let the Lord take care of it. Bring it to the feet
of Jesus, as the Gadarene was found doing, in His right mind.
Bring it to the feet of Jesus. Put it at His feet. His power,
His might. This begins the conclusion of
Paul's exhortation on the duties of believers to others. He addresses
them all and he says, Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord.
The things which are commanded are impossible to perform without
God's strength and God's grace. I can't do anything. You know,
that's my biggest problem is I can't do anything. There's
absolutely nothing I can do. You know, the Lord takes us and
He drains us of all of our personal strength. That's what our trials
do. They show us. They show us that
there's nothing we can do. We must rest in Him. Everything
our Lord has commanded, did you know He has provided in His Son,
the Lord Jesus? Everything. All that He commands
you and I to do, Christ has done it for us. We need His strength
and His power to overcome our enemies, our flesh, Satan. We need His strength to adorn
and dress ourselves with the doctrine of Christ, with holiness
and integrity. Yet though we are weak and can
do nothing of ourselves, His grace is sufficient for us. Isn't
that what He tells us? He is our sufficiency. I mentioned
that just recently. I was struggling a great deal
with my position as a man, as a preacher. And it's because
I was looking at the flash. It took my eyes off of my strength. It took my eyes off of my sufficiency. It's not me. It's Him. And He
has just amazed me. Amazed me that when I would walk
out that door after services thinking, oh Lord, what did I
do? Why am I up in this pulpit saying
anything? And people would walk by and
say, praise the Lord, he blessed me with it. You know that was
God and God alone who did it. And that's what he had to show
me. He is our sufficiency. Not just the preacher's, but
yours as well. Do you not battle with the sin
that is in your flesh? Do you not battle with the thoughts
that go through your mind? If you don't, God help you to
do so. Because we all have those battles.
We all have those temptations. The believer lives in a world
of evil. We're surrounded by evil powers
and evil people. This world is not the friend
of grace, nor the friend of God. Not only is sin around us, but
sin is within us. Let me ask you your prayers.
Are yours like mine? Lord, help me. Oh, how I wish
I prayed more for those around me. Oh, how I wish I didn't have
to pray for myself over and over again. But folks, our Lord tells
us in His Word, coming to the author and the finisher of our
faith. That means coming all the time.
That doesn't mean we just come once and it's done with. We come
all the time, over and over and over again. Our biggest, our
biggest enemy is the sin that is within it. The life of a Christian
is a race to be ran, as we read in Hebrews 12.1. It's a battle
to be fought, as we read in 1 Timothy 6.12. There's a conflict between
the flesh and the spirit as we read in Paul. Paul describing what he would
do, he does not. What he wouldn't do, he does.
The battle. The battle between our flesh
and our spirit. We need help. We need strength to stand up
against all of the deceit, all of the strategies of Satan, who's
a great enemy of Christ and his people. Look at verse 11 with
me, if you would. Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. God has provided you and I armor. Armor for this battle. Armor
is something that we can put on our Lord and Savior. We can
put on for His people. He gives us the weapons to be
used against Satan, against sin, and against error. Look at verse
12. 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. That's our battle. I don't have
a battle with the guy in that big building downtown Sacramento.
I don't have a battle with the White House in Washington. I
don't have a battle with the officer who's driving his car
around outside right now. I don't have a battle with any
of those folks. My battle is the evil, the wickedness that
we live in, this valley in the shadow of death that we walk
through daily. That's our battle, the wickedness
within. We're not contending against
physical opponents. Frail mortal men are not our
real enemies. Our battle is against the wicked
spirits who inhabit the supernatural sphere and who deal in lies. The wickedness that deals in
pride, self-pride, idolatry, covetousness, lust of the flesh, deceit. Or even worse, self-righteousness. Look at verse 13. Wherefore take
unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Take upon yourselves
the complete armor of God, that God has provided for you, that
you may be able to resist those evils that are within and without.
Stand firmly in the Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. The battle
is not against flesh. Therefore, the armor and the
weapons which God provides are not carnal. But spiritual turn
over mark your spot there in Ephesians and turn to the left
go to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 10 if you would 2nd Corinthians
10 We're talking about the difference
between spiritual and carnal verse 3 and 2nd Corinthians chapter
10 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the
flesh. Did you catch that? Verse 4,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God. And pulling down of the strongholds,
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ, bringing into captivity. Folks, turning away from evil
and seeking after the Lord Jesus, looking to Him, coming to Him,
the author and the finisher of our faith, that's a work. It
doesn't save us, but if you're saved, God will bring you to
that point. Looking to Him, And then we see these next five
verses give us the parts of this armor. Go back to your text if
you would in Ephesians chapter 6 and follow along. The first
thing the Lord brings out to us there in verse 14 is gird
your loins, your loins gird about the truth, the first piece of
our armor. Stand therefore having your loins
girded. That means girded, it means wrapped
around tightly around the organs of your body, your liver
and all of the parts right here in your stomach that your body
is so necessarily needing. The girdle covers that. And occasionally
a tree falls on the building. Sounds like it rolled off though,
so that means it didn't stick. So you want to cover yourself,
wrap yourself in the girdle. Stand therefore having your loins
girded about with truth. Here's our first piece of armor,
truth. Rapid about you is a strong girdle
the gospel of God's redemptive glory in and through Christ Jesus
Can be wrapped about it says the gospel look over hold your
place there turn over to first Peter chapter 1 and look at verse
13 first Peter chapter 1 right there between James and John's
three epistles in John's check and first Peter chapter 1 not
second the first right and Yeah. Look at verse 13 with me. Wherefore gird up the loins of
your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Did you see that? for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation, at the revealing of Jesus Christ,
at the revealing of who He is, at the revealing of what He's
done for us. This is the first part of our
armor mentioned, for it is the most important, and it's the
foundation of all the rest. The truth about God, it's the
truth about who He is. It's the truth about what He's
done. It's the truth about where He
is right this moment. It's about God and my race to
Christ and His redemptive work. It keeps me close to God and
it defends me against all the evil suggestions of Satan which
lead to a false hope. All of those suggestions that
God loves everybody. Well, look at this Christian
church over here. They may preach that you have
to do something like that, but they can't be wrong, could they?
Folks, that's the words of the devil. That's the words of the devil.
They could be wrong. In fact, they are wrong if they're preaching
works of men and not the grace of God. I've been hammered lately
because I spend a little time doing that, pointing out. pointing out that this church
over here is wrong. I don't actually say the church
across the street is wrong, although it is. You're not saved by worshiping
a God on Saturday. You're saved by Jesus Christ
and Jesus Christ alone. He is our Sabbath. You worship
Saturday as a Sabbath of rest, then you worship the wrong thing.
You worship the wrong Jesus. And there is another Jesus as
scripture tells us. We must stand on the truth. And every bit of what God has
given us right here in this book is the truth. I can tell you this. Less than three sentences in
this entire book that I could probably say I know thoroughly.
Less than three sentences, but I believe the whole thing. I
may not understand this. I may be confused about much
of what we read in this book, but I believe it. I believe it
is God's Word. If you don't, then we have nothing
to discuss, do we? The truth. Secondly, we see the
breastplate of righteousness. It says there again in verse
14, and having on, on the breastplate of righteousness, this breastplate
of integrity, right standing before God and holiness, it cannot
be the works of righteousness of mortal men. It cannot be produced
by me, for Satan could easily find a defect in it and break
it in half, tear it off of me. He could destroy me with whatever
he would find me. So this righteousness he's talking
about must be something else. It is. It's talking about the
righteousness of Christ. He who knew no sin was made sin,
that you and I would be made the righteousness of God in Him. Not in us, not in what we do,
but in what our Savior has done. His perfect righteousness is
imputed to His people, and we receive it by faith. Satan can bring no charge against
it, as we read over in Romans 8, verses 33 through 34. Let me read that for you quickly
here. Some of you know it by heart. I have found recently
that even my own memory can't hold things without looking to
the Lord's Word to quote it properly. Who shall lay anything, it says
in verse 33, to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. You see how this breastplate
is working? It's not in us. It is God that
justifies. Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Folks, the perfect blood
of Christ was shed, and God accepted it. It's satisfied fully. That's how he can save us to
the uttermost. That word uttermost, that's wiped
clean. That's wiped so clean that we're as white as snow in
the eyes of God. Why? Because Christ's blood paid
the price. Washed us clean. I was looking
the other day at some scriptures talking about being baptized
in the Jordan. One of the commentators brought
out, you know the Jordan River is one of the dirtiest rivers
in the Mideast. It is nothing but mud. I looked
it up on the internet and you can find a small section where
they go to get baptized way up in the hills. outside of Jerusalem,
way up in the hills where the Jordan starts at. And it's only
for about 200 yards, and after that 200 yards, it's muddy from
there all the way to the sea. It is the dirtiest river in the
entire Mideast. And our Lord said to, I forgot
who he said it to, he said, go wash in the Jordan. The prophet
said, go wash in the Jordan, in the dirtiest river there is.
Our sins are washed clean by the blood of Christ that was
made dirty with our sins. Thirdly, it says, your feet shod
with preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, several things
can be taught of here. A firm foot in stability on the
foundation of the gospel of peace. A godly walk that is agreeable
to the gospel of peace. A readiness to go forth into
the highways and the hedges, declaring the good news of peace
through Christ. And then next we see, take the
shield of faith. Scriptures tell us that Satan
hurls darts of doubt and fear and depression and weariness
and all manner of questions regarding our spiritual state. We can only
be shielded against these fiery darts by the faith that we have
in God's Word. Look over at Romans chapter 4,
verses 20 and 21, we read this, speaking of Abraham, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. and being fully persuaded that
what He, what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Our shield of faith is the faith
that we have that God is able. He says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Is that not something we can
have trust in? Is that not something we can
believe with our hearts? He says, I shall never leave
you nor forsake you. He says, my sheep hear my voice. What words of promise God has
given to His people that we can stand on, that we can stand on
as a solid rock, because they are promises made in His Son,
the Lord Jesus. Next, back in our text again,
we see it says, take the helmet of salvation. The helmet is a
piece of armor for our head, and it protects our head against
false doctrine. I've had plenty of folks come
to me, and I don't recommend you go to a false church just
to hear what they're saying. I'm not recommending that you
go down here to the Catholic Church and hear what they're
saying. But if you find yourself doing so, I'm not concerned that
you're going to be led away if you're one of God's people. God's
not going to let Satan take you away from Him. What does Paul
say over there in Romans? Let's go and look at that. Romans
chapter 8. What does Paul say there towards
the end of that chapter? He says this. He says, for I
am persuaded. That means convinced. He's convinced
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He's
convinced how? By the revelation of God. Who
his son is, what he's done. The power of God through His
Son, the Lord Jesus. He's convinced. He's persuaded
that nothing, including false doctrine, can pull you away from
Him. Now, can you be lured? Oh, I have no doubt that if you
start listening to those things, you may have much error in your
life. I know those who have been walked
with God right here in this own building for many years and now
are lured away by a man who Well, let's just say it's not what
he says, it's what he doesn't say. I can trust this, this one
that I speak of. If they belong to God, they will
not be lost to that man. How do you know, John? Because
God's Word says so, that's how. The helmet of salvation. Next
we see in our text the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. It's compared to a sword that
has two edges. The law, Listen to the words
of Hebrews 4 verse 12, For the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing
asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and morrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The
Word is all edge. There are no blunt sides to it.
One cannot come near the Word of God without it having some
effect on you. It either convicts of sin and
cut away the righteousness of men, or it kills pride, envy,
lust, and all sin. It reaches the hidden and secret
parts of all men. It is the weapon that God uses
to defeat all of His enemies. Look over at Luke chapter 4.
No better example could we than Himself, the Lord Jesus, where
He is tempted in the wilderness here in Luke chapter 4, beginning
at verse 3. And the devil said unto Him,
If Thou be the Son of God, command these stones that it be made
bread. Now listen to what the answer
of Christ is. And the Lord Jesus said unto
him, saying, It is written. Jesus loves everybody. Isn't
that what the world would like you to believe? That's not what
it says in here. In here it says, Jacob have I
loved, Esau have I hated. read on verse 5 and the devil
taking him up into the high mountains showed him the kingdoms of the
world in a moment of time and the devil said unto him all this
power will I give thee and the glory of them for it is delivered
unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it if therefore thou wilt
worship me all shall be thine and Jesus answered and said get
thee behind me Satan for it is written Look one more time if
you went down below that going on from verse 9. And he brought
him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle in the temple and
said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down
from hence, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee
up. At any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, It is said. That's the same thing.
It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. So we see here the sword of the
Spirit is the word of God as we read back in our text in Ephesians
chapter 6. And I'll bring this to a close.
Our last one that it talks about there is praying. Our last weapon
is prayer and it includes all sorts of prayers, mental prayer,
vocal prayer, private and public. We should live in an attitude
and a state of prayer continually. Our prayers must be and will
be in the spirit by the resistance of the spirit of God with a sincere
heart from all believers. We will persevere in prayer regardless
of the suggestions that Satan makes to our hearts, to our minds.
It's talking about praying for your ministers, for your pastors. Pray that God will not only open
the effectual doors for us, but give us the option to preach. That'll give us boldness and
wisdom to preach the gospel of Christ. I've had some folks who
I love dearly leave this church Because I don't preach enough.
I don't preach any more than Christ and Him crucified every
time I stand here. That's all I know, folks. That's
what I know that God has done for me, what He's done in His
Son, and where He is right now. Pray for our loved ones, our
brothers and sisters in Christ. I pray that your health needs
are met, but even more important than that, that your spiritual
needs are met. Our health is but of this flesh, which will
eventually return to the dust anyway. Your spirit means more
to me than that. I hope the Lord blessed you with
that lesson this morning.