of Ephesians this morning. I'll
try to be brief. It's been a while since we visited
these words of instructions. And seeing how our lives on this
earth are but waxing worse and worse, full of trials, full of
self-inflicted tribulations, our souls being at war with our
flesh, It would be wise to be reminded just as we need to be
reminded at the table of remembrance of what our Lord has done for
you and I. I've given this example before,
but how often has the Lord allowed me to hit a golf ball down the
middle of the fairway and say, oh, man, that was a great shot,
yeah. And then the very next one, just
to prove that it wasn't me, the same guy swinging the club, the
same club swinging, and it goes off some different direction,
off in that way or off that way, which is usually where it goes
anyway. Reminding me. that that beautiful
shot right down the middle of the fairway was because my Lord
made it to differ. We are to seek things above,
our Lord says, especially for our warfare. To look to our only strength, which is our Lord and Savior,
Christ Jesus. In the first nine verses of this
sixth chapter of the book of Ephesians, Paul is instructing
the saints at Ephesus, but not just to Ephesus, all of God's
loved children, to be loving and gracious in their walk before
the Lord. In verse one of chapter six,
Paul talks about obeying your parents. In verse 2, he gives
us instruction to honor our father and mother. In verse 4, he says,
provoke not your children. In verse 5, he tells us to be
obedient to our masters. Now I want to stop there for
just a moment because John has a big problem being obedient
to the ones who don't know what they're doing down there in that
place that God has placed them. You know, I'm not talking about
you folks. If you've got a problem, that's
between you and God. But John has a problem with it. I need to be more obedient to
my masters. And God has placed these men
as our masters in the positions that they are in, just as he
has placed the police officer who comes in and wants to look
at my registration and my car. Let's go on. In verse 6, our
Lord says, Be as servants of Christ, doing the will of God
with the heart. With my heart. Not because I'm afraid of what's
going to happen to me if I don't. Not because I'm afraid of the
consequences of stepping out of my Lord's will. But because
He loves me, I love Him enough to want to do what He says is
right. I believe Him enough, because of that gift of faith
that He has given me, to know that what He's saying is good
for me, and I need to go that direction. I need to follow what
He's saying is His will. What He is obviously telling
me. Doing the service as to the Lord,
not to men. That's in verse 7. And then in verse 9 he says,
masters do the same. Those of you who have rule over
others. Rule as though you're doing it for the Lord. Compassionate,
gracious, and loving. And then in verse 10 of Ephesians
chapter 6, Paul begins to admonish the saints at Ephesus to find
strength for this walk, this very walk that he just instructed
them on what to do, obeying your parents, honoring your father
and mother, provoking not your children, and so on and so on
and so on. The strength to do that, because see, Paul knows
that we don't have any strength in the flesh to do these things.
It's the law of Moses. We have no strength to do it. Did you know, I think it was
Don Fortner who said this in one of his writings. I think
it was in Friday Night Bible Study as a matter of fact. He
said, you know everything God demands of His people, He supplies, He provides. He said, be ye holy for I am
holy. Can you be holy? I need someone to be holy for
me. I need a substitute. Do you? Paul is admonishing these folks,
these dear brothers and sisters throughout time, that to find their strength they
must look in the place where there is strength. Look not on the flesh. Look not
in the mind of the man. Look not in anything of man himself,
but it says what? Look at verse 10 there. Let's
read verse 10 together. Finally, my brethren, be strong. in the Lord. But he doesn't just stop with
that. He confirms what he just said. In other words, just in
case you want to take that section of verse and make an interpretation
of your own wicked mind with it, just in case, he's going
to confirm what he's talking about here in the second half.
And he says, and in the power of His might, Our Lord and Savior's
might. This is where you want to look
for the strength to walk according to God's will with the heart.
The power of His might. Be strong in the Lord and the
power of His might. Verse 10 is the beginning of
Paul's conclusion to these instructions. He's exhorting us and all of
those who read on how we ought to treat others. And He addresses
us with these words, finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord. Now, there's a couple of things
I want to point out about this. The things which are commanded
are impossible to perform without God's strength and God's grace. We need His strength. Secondly,
we need His strength and power to overcome our enemies. Folks,
there is no stronger enemy in this world than that old man
that still dwells in this flesh. All of the stuff that you folks
could do to me, all the stuff that anybody out there could
do to me, is nothing compared to what John can do to himself
if God leaves him to himself. We need our Lord's strength and
power to overcome our enemies, our flesh, and Satan. Satan's
real. He's not omniscient. He's not
omnipotent. He's not everywhere. Better hope God never lets his
gospel come into your world. We need his strength to adorn
the doctrine of Christ with holiness and integrity. I mentioned this to somebody
just recently, and it bears mentioning again. Folks, we don't know.
I don't let any man tell you that he knows where God's grace
and man's responsibility come together. Only God can tell you
that. But both of those doctrines are
taught in the Word of God. We are responsible, and like
I said a moment ago, what God demands, He provides in His Son. Though we are weak, this is the
third thing, and can do nothing of ourselves, His grace is sufficient
for all things. Paul tells us in Philippians
4.13, he says, I can do all things through Christ, not all things,
not anything, but all things through my Lord and Savior, through
Christ Jesus. That's His strength. That's our
strength. Which strengthens me, is the
last of that. We sing this song. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you
see? There's light for a look at the
Savior, and life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon
Jesus. Look full on His wonderful face. And the things of this world
will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."
Look to Christ, folks. Look to Christ for your strength.
Look to Him for our all. Where else can we go? Do we not echo the words of His
apostles? Where else shall we go? Only
you have the words of life. Look at verse 11 with me, if
you would please. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11, Paul says, Put on
the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. Folks, we live in a world of
evil. We know this because we were
once blind in that world ourselves, and loving the evil and the wickedness
that we walked in. Loving it with all of our being. I make my own way through life.
Famous singer wrote the song and sang it, I do it my way. Not anymore. I don't sing that
anymore. But the light of life that God
has shined in our hearts, we look at the world now and we
say, we have done it His way. We just thought we were doing
it our own way. We live in a world of evil, surrounded
by evil powers, evil people. Is there any surprise to anyone
sitting here today of what's going on? in the Americas and
around the world. Is there any surprise? I recently watched a movie. I don't
even remember what it was now. It was about World War II. You think there's wickedness
going on in the world today? There was a time in our world
when men and women and children and old men and babies were being
burned. by the millions, by one group of people. And by God's grace, he raised
up other countries to come in and stop that people from what
they were doing. If it wasn't for God's grace,
imagine what that man with his wickedness and the people that
backed his wickedness could have done. Wickedness is rampant in the
world around us. This world is not the friend
of grace, nor is it the friend of God. Not only is sin around us, but
sin is within us. 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. Our battle is not against
the physical opponents. Mortal men are not our real enemies. No, our real enemy is against
wicked spirits. who inhabit the supernatural
sphere and who deal in lies. They deal in pride. They deal
in idolatry. The devil himself goes about
dressed in the clothes of righteousness of his own, deceiving those in
the world, making people think that he is the Jesus. A Jesus who needs their help
in doing salvation. I've done all that I can, now
it's up to you. You need to be baptized or you
can't be saved. You need to come to the table
or you can't be saved. You need to come to the front
and pray a prayer or you can't be saved. Scriptures call Him another Jesus.
Yet not a Jesus at all. For there is only One. We battle against lusts and deceit
of our own selves, against our own self-righteousness. We battle
against all manner of sin against God. Our Christian life is a
race to be ran. In Hebrews 12 verses 1 and 2,
we read these words. Wherefore, seeing we are all
so compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God." It's a race. We're not to just sit on our
tail ends and do nothing. We're supposed to fight the good
fight. Listen, our Christian life is a battle to be fought.
As it says in 1 Timothy 6 verse 12, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on the eternal life,
where into thou art also called and has professed a good profession
before many witnesses. And then in 2 Timothy, Paul writes
again, I have fought the good fight, chapter 4 verse 7. I have fought the good fight,
I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Faith is a gift
of God, but it is mine. Just as my sins were made His, He who knew no sin was made sin. He took my sins as his own onto
the cross and laid himself in the grave for my sake. Just as
my sins were made his, my faith is made mine." A Christian life is a conflict
that will never be over until we die. We need help and strength to
stand up against all the deceit and the strategies of Satan and
ourselves. Of Satan, who is the great enemy
of Christ and of His people. And God has provided. What God commands, He provides. Aren't you thankful? God has provided an armor for
you and I, weapons to be used against Satan, to be used against
sin and error. Look at verse 13. 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.
Take upon yourselves the complete armor that God has provided you,
that you may be able to resist these evils, and stand during
every trial, every conflict, every temptation, and to continue
to stand firmly in Christ. The battle is not against the
flesh, therefore the armor and the weapons which God provides
are not carnal, but spiritual. You ever see the armor that the
so-called Christians were back in the day of the Reformation,
or wherever they went out and killed everybody that wouldn't
convert to Christianity. They got their helmets on with
the cross in it and everything, you know. Well, they based all
that stuff on this very verses right here. See, we have the
armor of God on us. Carnal. Hold your place here. We'll come
back to Ephesians in just a moment. Turn over to 2 Corinthians, if
you would. I want to read a couple verses
over there in 2 Corinthians. Just a few pages to the left.
2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Look
at verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of the
strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God. and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now back to our text. We don't battle in the flesh. We battle in the spirit. Our
Lord tells us that we must worship Him in truth, in spirit, and
in truth. Now back in our text, these weapons
of warfare are listed for us. Read with me, if you would, verses
14 through 18 of Ephesians chapter 6. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, and having the breastplate of
righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye 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." Now, let's begin
with the first one listed here. Your loins gird about with truth. That's in verse 14. It's saying,
wrap it about you. They had what's called a loincloth.
But I don't know about you folks, but I have to wear a belt. Kathy says I should start wearing
suspenders. Why? Because your pants keep
falling down. There's nothing worse than going
into a store and seeing somebody's pants down around their ankles.
Well, don't be looking at that. Well, they didn't have the same
problem back then as they have now. You've got to keep your
pants up. Gird it. Put something on tight. Cinch it on there.
Take your belt. Flick it in your brooch. Clip
it into the last one. Ah, there. Now they won't fold
out. Gird about your loins. Wrap it about you as a strong
girdle, it says in the dictionary. I think it's King James Dictionary. As a strong girdle, to fasten
garments with a girdle or a belt, in other words. Wrap the gospel
of God's redemptive glory in and through Jesus Christ around
your waist. You want to go out and fight
the good battle? You want to go out and fight
the good fight? Well, don't go out there with something that
you have of your own. Go out there with Christ. Here's the good news. Jesus came
to save sinners. That's the gospel of Christ.
Why are you smiling after we're singing that song? Because I
know the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me share it with you. Oh, listen to the words of 1
Peter 1, verse 13. Wherefore, gird up your 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. Sovereign grace. That's the good
news, folks. It's not something I have done.
I didn't find Jesus. He came and got me. That's the
good news. That's the grace that we see
upon the revelation of Jesus Christ, of who He truly is, what
He truly did, and where He truly is right now. John 1 verse 14, we read these
words, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory. The glory is the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We're wrapping around
our loins the truth of the Gospel. Bill, I believe, was mentioning
something in the fellowship time before services started. It just
seems like everything that's being told to us now is a lie.
There's only one truth. God's Word. You want truth? Look in here. Not out there. Not in here. Not up here. Look
in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and you'll find truth. Truth is mentioned 109 times
in the New Testament. Give me an opportunity just to
give you a couple more verses. I won't try to list all 109,
maybe just 100 of them. OK, John 117. We already read
John 114, full of grace and truth. John 117, for the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. This is
what we're wrapping around our belts. This is what we're cinching
up in our loins. John 3.21, But he that doth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that
they are wrought in God. And then in John 4.24, and I'll
leave it at this, but the hour cometh now is when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father
seeketh such to worship Him. Gird yourselves with truth. Truth is the first part of the
armor mentioned because it is the most important Without truth,
there's no foundation. It's the very foundation
for all of the rest of the armor that we're about to look at.
Look at the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, the
truth about this race that we are on with Christ and His redemptive
work keeps us close to God and it is our defense against all
evil suggestions. of Satan, which leads us to a
false hope. Secondly, in verse 14, we also
read, put on the breastplate of righteousness. This breastplate
of integrity, right standing before God and holiness, cannot
be the works of righteousness of moral man. Our morality has no righteousness
in it. Oh, my good works, oh, I've been
doing this all my life. I've never done that. Your life has been tainted with
sin from the day you were born. The only righteous in this world
are those who are made righteous and the very one who imputed
His righteousness to His people. It's not ours. It's His. The armor that we can go out
there and be better people in the world is not an armor of,
look how good I am. I'm so much holier than you. Look how undeserving I am. And look at the righteousness
my Father has provided for me. The right standing before God
and holiness cannot be the works of righteousness and moral integrity
done and produced by me for Satan, who is more powerful than I,
could easily, easily find defect in it. He could easily find the weakness
of that brush plate because it's all weak. But this is the righteousness
of Christ. The breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness
of my Lord and Savior, His perfect righteousness that is imputed
to me and received by faith. It repels any accusation or any
charge which Satan can bring against me. Do we not read in
Romans 8 verse 33 and 34, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Can the devil come along and
say, you did this, If Christ has already paid for that on
the cross, it is God that justifieth. 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. Third, we see it says to your feet shod, which means simply
this, to strap on your sandals. As you walk along this path that
God has placed us on, put on your sandals. Don't just wear
flip-flops, though. Have you ever gotten out of the
sand and had the flip-flops pull off your feet? No. Put on some
sandals that'll hold it on there. It's like girding your lawn.
You tighten up the belt. You tighten up the sandals that
you're walking on. Keep them underfoot. With the preparation of the gospel
of peace, it says. That's in verse 15. Several things
could be taught here of firm-footed stability. In other words, when
you're standing on the gospel of Christ, you're standing on
something solid. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. Everything
else is nothing but sinking sand. It could be that, or it could
be that it's a foundation in the gospel of peace, as it says.
The good news of peace. I don't have any peace within
me. You're not going to find any peace with the guys that
we elect to that office downtown. We didn't find any peace in President
Trump. Was it better than what we had?
Yeah, probably. But look at the peace we thought
we had while he was in presidency as soon as they took him out.
There was no peace. We're not going to find any peace
in any man. Our only peace is the gospel
of peace, and that's our Lord and Savior. Walk on that. Stand
on that. With a readiness to go forth
into the highways, into the hedges, declaring the good news of peace
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, I've
got to get through this. Fourthly, take the shield of
faith, which is in verse 16. Satan is going to hurl a bunch
of darts. He's going to throw some darts
at you. darts of fear. How can I be saved? Lord, are you going to help my dying
child? How can I be saved if I thought
that thought of weakness He throws darts of fear, darts
of depression, darts of weariness, and all matters of questioning
regarding our spiritual state. How can you say you are righteous? Look at what you just thought. There's only one way to be shielded
against these fiery darts, and that's by the faith that is in
God's Word. When you think you're at the
lowest that you could be, and I know some of us have been there, we still believe God's Word. I watched my brother go through
the death of his son. I can't imagine anybody being
lower than he was at that moment. And yet he still believed God's
word. You know what? Turn over to Romans
again, if you would, please. I know I'm going to go just a
little bit long, folks. Please bear with me today. This
is important. Each and every one of us are
going to go back into the world around us. Within the hour, we'll leave
this building and go back into the world. This armor is everything
we need, and man, do we need it. Turn over to Romans chapter 4.
Romans chapter 4. We're just going to read three
sections of verses here in Romans. So turn over to Romans chapter
4, beginning there, if you would. Romans chapter 4. Look at verses
20 and 21. Abraham was told, take thy son,
go to the mountain that I tell you of, and sacrifice him. And he was going to do it. He had the fire. He had the knife.
He was ready to do it. And he would have if it hadn't
been for the Lord stopping him. Listen to these words in verse
20 and 21. He staggered not, speaking of
Abraham, at the promise of God through unbelief. He believed
God because God came to him and He said, your son is going to
have through his seed that Christ will come. Well, this is his
firstborn son. Him and Sarah's son. Abraham
believed God. Alright, I'll sacrifice him. Obviously you're going to raise
him from the dead. Abraham believed God. He considered not his own,
and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body,
now dead when it was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb, and he staggered not, verse 20, at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in the faith, giving
glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised,
what God had promised, he was able also to perform. Now, turn
over to our favorite verses in Romans chapter 8. We quote these all the time,
but it is helpful for us to read these for our own. Look at verse 29 and 30. For
whom he did foreknow, speaking of our Lord, for whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Folks, that's a promise that won't be broken. That's a promise
that cannot be stopped. That's a surety. Moreover, verse
30, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom
He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He
also glorified. Did you notice there wasn't one
statement of man's work in that? It was all of God. Now look at verses 34-39. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded 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 can be able to separate us, separate
me. Oh, folks, do you stand on the
promises of God? We take the shield of faith,
the faith that God has a purpose, as we read in verses 29 through
30, right there. Go back to your text in Ephesians
now, if you would, please. Yeah, Ephesians. We stand in
the faith of God's redeeming work. It is by His blood and
His blood alone. And then in verse 17 of our text,
Ephesians chapter 6, we read this, take the helmet of salvation. Here comes that helmet. Put it
on over the head. The helmet is a piece of armor
for the head, and it protects the head against false doctrines.
I was speaking to a brother here the other day. They're enjoying,
and it's quite all right, some communication with a group of
people who may not all be Christians. I told him, I said, well, you
know, you're kind of putting yourself out there, but I'm not worried
about you. I'm not worried about you at all. If you're a child
of God, the Lord will keep you. Eventually, He'll give you the
eyes to see that what you're in is useless. Captain, I've
been to a church before, and we sat down, and the very first
thing we found was that it was useless. It was all about man's
free will and man's works and all about what men do. So we
got up and we walked out. Why? Well, because there's no reason
to stay in. Why do I want to stay in a place
that's not talking the truth? It's the helmet protecting me
from what the world could be trying to deceive me with. Oh,
but John, you're going to feel much better if you do this over
here. You won't feel all that strain and pain that's upon you
as being a sinner. Over here, you're not as much
of a sinner. That's what the devil told Eve,
isn't it? Oh, you won't really die. You'll be like God's. The shield of faith. I mean,
the helmet of salvation. It protects our heads against
false doctrines. This helmet is the hope of salvation
in Christ alone. I can't find any salvation anywhere
else. I'm not even going to look for
it anywhere else, because I know it's in Christ and only in Christ. The salvation of which Christ
is the author and the finisher of. Listen to 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 8 through 9. But let us who are of the day,
let us who are of the day, the light of our Lord Jesus Christ
has been shined in our hearts. We are of the light of day. Let
us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation from
our Lord Jesus Christ. Then in 1 Corinthians 1.30, we
read these words, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom. There's our wisdom. I can't look
to my wisdom for salvation. I need to look to my Lord Jesus
Christ's wisdom. Wisdom in Him. He is my wisdom. And righteousness. And He's my
sanctification. He's my holiness. He's my setting
apart. He's the one who set me apart
in this world. And my redemption. Sixthly, we
see the Word of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, as it says
in verse 17. The Word of God is compared to
a sword. You remember two weeks ago, we saw an example in the
book of John, how some looked to the Lord and said, Lord, where
else are we going to go? When He asked them, are you going
to leave also? Remember, there was a whole bunch of disciples
who got up and left and said, we can't hear these words. This
is too much for us. It's too hard. And they got up
and they walked no more with the Lord. Yet the apostles said,
where else are we going to go? Thou hast the words of life. It's a two-edged sword. One side of the sword cuts to
the law. You've got to do this. Okay, you've come down and received.
You've allowed Jesus to come into your heart. You've done
that decision-making thing. Now you've got to get better. You've got to follow that law. The other side of that sword
cuts to this side over here and it says, You can't. But by the grace of God, some
are saved in His Son. That's the sword of the gospel.
You go into this world and you run that race that God has set
before you, take the sword of the gospel, right here, the Word
of God. Don't let it be turned into something
else. Almost done, folks. Bear with
me just another moment, please. Hebrews 4.12, we read these words.
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow. all the
way down, not just cutting off the arm, not just cutting off
the sin, but all the way down to the marrow of the bone. And as a discerner of the thoughts
and the intents of the heart, one cannot come near the Word
of God without having some kind of effect on him. That's not
for me. I won't have any of that." Or,
oh man, there truly is a God in there. The Word of the Lord does not
go out void. It convicts of sin, cutting away
the righteousness of men. It kills pride. It kills envy. It cuts away the lust of the
man's heart. And it cuts away all the sin,
or it declares it to you, and judgment comes upon you. It reaches
the hidden and secret parts of the heart. It is the weapon God
uses to defeat all of His enemies. Look over, if you would, at Luke
chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter
4. Oops, went too far. Almost there. Look over at Luke chapter 4 and
read along with me verses 3 through 12. These are good words right
here. Luke chapter 4, beginning at
verse 3. And the devil said unto him...
Now remember, we're talking about the Word of God. We're talking
about a part of our armor. We take the Word of God, the
Word of Truth. And we have an example of how
our Lord Jesus does it. And the devil said unto him,
unto the Lord Jesus, if thou be the Son of God, command this
stone to be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying,
It is written. It's written in the Word of God.
Our Lord, when He did battle with the Satan up there, in the days of temptation, when
the angel of death tempted our Lord, He says, it is written
that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
The devil didn't give up though, did he? And the devil, taking
Him up into a high mountain, showed Him unto all the kingdoms
of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him,
All this power I will give Thee, and the glory of them, for that
is delivered unto me, and to whosoever I will give it to,
that I will give it. If Thou therefore will worship
me, all shall be Thine. And Jesus said, Get Thee behind
me, Satan, for it is written. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and Him only shalt thou serve. And He brought him to
Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence,
for it is written, Boy, did you remember a couple
weeks back I said the devil is the best deceiver in all creation? He's so good at deceiving, he
thinks he's deceived himself. He uses God's own Word, thinking
he's going to get a conviction on the Lord. He says, it is written,
where was I there? For it is written, he shall give
his angels charge over thee, verse 10, to keep thee. And in
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash
thy foot against a stone. And Jesus said unto him, It is
said, it is written, it is the word of God. Here it is, it is
said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Now back to our
text. The sword of the Spirit. Could you have anything better
to fight with? Could you have anything stronger
to fight with? Our last piece of our armor is
found in verse 18 of our text, praying. Praying. Our last weapon is prayer, and
it includes all sorts of prayer. We have mental prayer. where
the mouth don't move, that's where I find my best prayer.
My mouth gets in the way of everything. But we do have vocal prayer too. Private and public. We should
live in an attitude of prayer continually. Our Lord says, pray
without ceasing. That's what that means. Continually
going about your lives daily saying, Lord, I can't deal with
this. This is bigger than anything I can deal with. I got all this
armor that you've given me and I still don't even, I don't even
know how to wear it right. Lord, I got up this morning and
I put that helmet on my stupid hand. I got the breastplate in a place
where it shouldn't be. Lord, I need help. I need to know how
to wear this breastplate. I need to know how to take that
sword. I can't even do the sword right. We need to live in an attitude
of continual prayer. Our prayers must and will be
in the Spirit by the assistance of the Spirit of God. We know
not what we ought to pray for most of the time. Thank you,
Lord, that the Spirit does. I can't do anything. I can't
even wear the armor right. I can't even pray to my Lord
on how to wear the armor right. What God demands, He provides
for His people. Every last bit of it. The Spirit of God assists us
with giving us a sincere heart And with that, we will persevere
in prayer, regardless of the suggestions of Satan on our own
weak hearts. Lastly, in Ephesians chapter
6, verse 19 through 20, Paul asks for prayer for himself. I need your prayers. I need you to pray for me. I'm just a man, and probably
the weakest one you're ever going to look upon. There's not a person
in this room who has more sin than me. I've
got more sin in this little pinky than most of you probably have. And I'll bet each and every one
of you could probably say the same thing about yourselves,
huh? So pray for each other. Pray for each other in how we
walk, how we drive down the road, how
we approach customers at the store we work at, how we deal
with people who come into it, who the Lord brings into our
lives. Pray for us. He says in verse
20 there, Pray that the Lord would give
me utterance. Then in verses 23 and 24, Paul
concludes this epistle with the salutation of those brethren
who love Christ sincerely and he wishes for all of God's chosen
then and now, peace, love, faith and grace. Would you close with
me reading today's article, an article in today's bulletin?
I went long, I'm sorry folks. I couldn't break this in half.
We needed to have all that put together in one message. Look
at the article under Todd Nyberg, bottom right hand corner, titled
Perseverance. This is how we're going to go
out into the world. This is how we're going to walk
that walk. Perseverance is not continuing to be religious all
the way to the end. Many do that and wake up in hell
after death. Perseverance is continuing to
look to Christ only as all. Perseverance is continuing to
look to Christ only as all in salvation. It is the one who
endures to the end looking to Christ that shall be saved. Amen.