All right, now turn back to Ephesians
six. Ephesians six. I was very pleasantly surprised
by the response to last Wednesday night's message. Very, very surprised and pleasantly
so. I heard several comments on that
message. And even though I felt physically
bad and felt somewhat hindered from being able to speak with
any liberty at all, nevertheless, several people told me, commented
on the message about how much they were, how much they profited
by it. And that shouldn't surprise me.
Shouldn't surprise me at all, because we have this treasure
in earthen vessels and it doesn't have the application of the message
or how it blesses people has nothing to do with the way I
present it. Zero. Nothing to do with it. I get upset when I don't have
liberty. I get all down in the mouth. Ask my wife Sunday afternoon
if Sunday morning has been a a failure to me. Sunday afternoon is a
miserable day for me and her both. Sunday night, Wednesday
night. But I need to learn, and I believe
I am learning, that this thing has nothing to do with me. Nothing
to do with me. That's an encouragement to those
who speak, Brother Terry or whoever. This treasure is an earthen vessel
that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. And it shouldn't surprise me
either that the subject of Wednesday night's message would be particularly
needed and of great interest to God's people. Because God's
people are sorely tried and afflicted by many and different kinds of
fiery darts. I told you that message was born
out of a desperate need by me to know something about how to
fend off these fiery darts. When I read that, that interested
me greatly. Put above all, take the shield
of faith. Look at it. Verse 16. This is
our text. Above all, take the shield, taking
the shield of faith. Wherewith you shall be able to
quench all the fiery dark of the wicked. And like I said, it shouldn't
surprise me that you'd be greatly interested in that, because God's
people are greatly afflicted by these fiery darts or temptations. And time would not allow us to
list all of the various darts or temptations of Satan that
we are confronted with, nor do we know them all. We don't know
them all, for one thing. Now, we touched on several of
these fiery darts, what they are, ways that Satan tempts God's
people. And we never got around to what
the shield of faith is and how it quenches the fiery darts. And we need this desperately.
I think we were all greatly convicted and could enter into these fiery
darts. We felt them, and others as well,
more darts that is. But by way of review, for those
of you who were not here, this is for your sake and for everyone
else's. We quickly forget what we've
heard just a very short time ago. By way of review, Paul says,
"...take ye the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Now, that's plainly
speaking of and talking about Satan, who is the wicked one,
who is responsible for all of the wickedness and sin that goes
on in the universe. He's the one that started it. I don't fully understand this,
God's sovereignty, God's will, God's directive and permissive
will, how God is absolutely in control of everything, yet sin
came in and he's not responsible for it. Can you? I can't rightly
explain that. All I know is it's so, that God
Almighty allowed Satan to do this. else he wouldn't have done
it. He couldn't have done it. If God's not God, or that he
is in absolute control of everything, then somebody else is just as
powerful, right? I don't fully understand that.
All I know is I believe it. Scriptures declare it. And here's
for your, and for our comfort, You can know this for a fact,
that God Almighty allowed this to happen, sin, for his glory
and for our good. And everything that happens,
no matter how evil it is, it's going to bring glory to God,
and it's going to be for the best for his people. That's for
our comfort. So the wicked one is Satan. And these fiery darts, these
fiery darts are temptation. temptations that Satan hurdles
at us. I gave you many reasons why they're
called darts. Do you remember any of them?
I'll not call your name, but I'll review this with you. These fiery darts, why are they
called darts? Well, one reason may be that
darts are swift, very quick. The word here really is an arrow.
from a bow, and I use the illustration as if I had a bow and arrow up
here and I aimed it at this congregation and let it fly, you'd never know
it hit you until it hit you. It's
quick. You'd never see it coming, in
other words. And these darts, these temptations from Satan
are very quick, very swift. They're as quick as a blink of
an eye, aren't they? And I don't know what rightly
to attribute to Satan and what to attribute just to my nature,
you know. But that nature comes from him,
so we'll use it together. But it's as
quick as a look. David no sooner looked on that
woman till he lusted after her in his heart and he committed
adultery. It's as quick as a thought. Is
there anything quicker than a thought? Can you control it? Well, it's
there before you know it. A thought. A word. How about
a word spoken? And darts or arrows fly secretly,
too. Not only are they quick, but
they're secret. They're secret. They're secret
messengers of Satan that come from unknown places. If we knew
where they were coming from, we'd be able to fight them, wouldn't
we? They wouldn't be temptations to us if we knew where we could
just avoid them right. Some things are secret they come
upon us unexpectedly behind the back and I talked about things
like gossip you know slander. Word spoken. Subtle innuendos. Little inferences that people
may make and this can come and these things can come from friends
and family and even believers. Little words, if it's not a word
fitly spoken then it could be a hurtful word, couldn't it?
A little temptation. Friends, family, wife or husband. little inferences, little barbs,
you know, that get in there and create a root of bitterness and
spring up in trouble. And then thirdly, they're called
darts, I believe, because they're deadly. They're deadly. And I use the illustration of
The natives in the jungle, how they poison the tip of their
arrows with various poisons and so forth. And Satan poisons his
little darts and temptations with all sorts of different things,
doesn't he? Malice, guile, envy, jealousy. It just takes one little pointed
barb to enter you of jealousy and it'll ruin you, won't it? Or envy or lust or hatred or
sedition or heresy. Satan is a mastermind. He's a
mastermind with his bow of sin. He's been shooting this bow a
long time. A long time. And he's a master
with it. And he hits the mark. And his
arrows of temptation are full of poison. And every man is easy
prey at his hands, easy prey. The best of men have fallen under
these temptations. Adam, Eve, the best man and woman
ever to live on the face of the earth, they were hit, weren't
they? And they fell. They fell. Every
man who's ever been born has succumbed to temptations at the
hands of this wicked one. Every man but one, that is. Every
man but one. And he had to be the God-man
to withstand such a furious assault. And I reminded you how that when
Christ had just returned from being tempted by Satan for those
40 days and 40 nights, he knew something of that devil's wildness
and craftiness and subtlety and all that, didn't he? He had experienced
it firsthand, yet without sin. That's my salvation, Terry Kennedy.
Yet without sin. Yet, you know, it even left him
weak. He was a man. And even the God-man
was left weak and had to be ministered unto by God's Holy Spirit. But
right after he came back, Barbara, you know what he said on his
Sermon on the Mount, one of the first things he said? You better
pray this. Lead us not in temptation. You
better ask the Lord for help. You can't stand up to this one.
I'm the only one that ever has been able to. You can't do it.
Can't do it. And they're called fiery darts,
fiery because they're fiery because they're full of Satan's anger
and his wrath and his revenge against God Almighty. Satan is
absolutely furious against God Almighty. God just laughs at
him. I believe that passage in Job
where the Lord kept asking Satan. I believe the Lord was mocking
the devil then. Satan, what have you been doing? He knew where he'd been. He knew
what he'd been doing. Satan said, oh, I've been running up and
down, to and fro in the earth like a chicken with my head cut
off. And he said, well, hmm, God was
mocking him. Have you considered my servant
Job here? There's none like him. How'd
you like to have that Job? Oh, I'd love to have him, but
you've got him hedged about. I can't get to him. He was mocking
that old boy. And you know, after he came back
from trying Job the first time, and Job didn't sin, you remember?
And Satan and God asked him again, Hey, Satan, where you been, old
boy? And he answered him again, I've
been running around trying to do what I can. I can't. You've
got Job in your hand. Lift your hand and he'll curse
you. Let me at him." God said, okay, but don't touch his being. I tell you, and Satan is angry. There's nobody more full of wrath
and revenge against God Almighty than Satan himself. There's nothing
he wants more than to usurp the throne of God Almighty and destroy
God Almighty. That's what he thought he was
doing with the first man, wasn't it? He thought he was ruining
God's creation. That's what the world's preaching,
isn't it? That Satan sure messed up God's plan. I got news for
you. That was in God's plan. That
was in his purpose. And I gave you the chief reason,
I believe, why Satan is angry, is because Psalm 2 says that
God has set his king on his holy hill of Zion. That God has put
a man in charge of everything. That he's made a man Lord over
all, even Lord over the demons in hell. That includes Satan
himself, and Satan doesn't like that. A man? You've made one
that's a little lower than me to be my ruler and lord? I won't
have that," he said. I'll exalt my throne to the start.
I'll this, I'll that. Remember what he said in Isaiah
14, is it? I will, I will. And God said,
no, you won't. You're going to bow to him. You're
going to be under his feet, old boy. I like that. I like that. And then they're
fiery because of his raid, and they're fiery because these darts
are meant to bring you down into hell, the pit of fire itself. That's the end they have in mind. And thirdly, and this seems to
ring a bell with you all, they're fiery because of the inflaming
quality that they have on us. how that they fill us full. There
are times when we are hit by these darts and we feel like
we're on fire with hell itself, don't we? Temptations fall on
us like fire on kindling, fire on kindling. One little spark
will set us aflame, one little ill word, one little lusty thought,
and we're burning, aren't we? And then I jumped ahead of myself.
To give this chief warning and I'm going to give it again. I
want to give it again. I jumped ahead to give you this
chief warning or what I'm trying what I've tried to do with this
is to expose one of Satan's chief ploys that he uses. And I quoted
this verse from 1 Corinthians 15, verse 33, that says this,
evil communications corrupt good manners. Evil communications corrupt good
manners. Now, I said Satan is the wicked
one, he is the evil one, so all evil comes from him. I looked
up every word in that verse, evil communications corrupt good
manners. And what it says, it is paraphrased
like this, worthless, degenerate, depraved, worldly companionship
will evilly influence good habits and a good lifestyle. Worthless,
depraved, worldly degenerate companionship will evilly influence
good habits and lifestyle. Now some of Satan's, here's some
of Satan's grand designs. Now listen to me. Some of Satan's grand designs
are this. Number one, he wants to keep
you from hearing the gospel. That is his chief design. He
wants to keep you from hearing the gospel, and he'll use anything
and everything and everyone to keep you from it. He's been at
this a long time. He knows every trick in the book. Secondly, one of his chief designs
is to prejudice your mind against the gospel, to try to influence
you against the gospel. And thirdly, one of his designs
is to try to entice you to return to your former way of life. And he principally uses people. He principally uses people to
do this work. Now you stay with me I'm going
to give you some wisdom that comes from above. These are not
my thoughts and. This may get very. I had this
written down last week. And it's worth it's worth going
over didn't get to it. And it may be very convicting
but so be it I'm going to let the chips fall where they may.
It's directed at anybody and everybody. Satan principally
uses people to do this, to keep his people from hearing the gospel.
And the chief people that he uses are friends and family. And I use this appeal, or I use
this note last week. I said, we have nothing with which to
appeal to the world. Nothing. Nothing. The world wants nothing to do.
Your old cronies, your friends, your family, your unregenerate
family, they want nothing to do with your God or your religion. Nothing to do with it. They don't
even want you to bring it up. How are you going to pacify?
How are you going to get along? How are you going to enjoy the
situation? By keeping quiet. We have nothing to appeal to
them, nothing, nothing as far as spiritual matters go. Christ
is supposed to be our life. Yet they have everything to appeal
to us, to our old nature, right? Everything with which to entice
us with. We have nothing with which to
entice them, but they have everything with which to entice us, our
old nature. And after a time, generally,
after a time, we revert back to their ways, not vice versa. We don't convert them. They convert
us. I'm speaking from experience, from experience. Only Christ,
and I talked about this, and you say, well, didn't Christ
ate with publicans and sinners and so forth? He didn't go home
and have intimate communion with them. He didn't make them. His
disciples were his intimate companions and friends. And every time he
got with publicans and sinners, you know why? He had a saving
purpose in mind. There was somebody, it was one
of his sheep in that crowd, or he wouldn't have been there.
You can count on it. He wouldn't have been there. He had a sheep
in mind, and he always had saving purposes in mind. We don't. Our
reasons for fellowship, so-called fellowshipping with, communion
with the world, and what have you, are fleshly purposes. We
want to run with the world, because that's what appeals to our old
nature. We want to run with the world. I'll tell you, I'm speaking
from experience. And I dwelled here last week,
and I'm doing it again. Because this is one of the most
subtle and dangerous of all Satan's ploys. I want you to turn with me to
1 John chapter 4. Now we looked at this this morning. Look at it again. 1 John chapter
4. 1 John chapter 4. Now what I'm talking about is
the world. the world being one of the most
dangerous influences upon us of all, and one of the things
that Satan uses more than anything else. What do I mean by the world? Do I mean the riches of the world?
Well, yeah, but do I mean pleasures and sinful, fleshly pleasures? Yeah, but, you know, the world's
talking about people. The world's talking about people.
That's what Christ talked about, it's what John talked about,
and there he mentioned the world, isn't it? And Christ said, They
are of the world, therefore the world hears them. This is what
John says here in 1 John 4. You're of God, verse 4. You are
of God, little children. You've overcome them. You know
the world speaks of us and them? Or the Bible speaks of us and
them? This is not an invention of mine.
This is what the Word says. Us and them? year of God, little
children, have overcome them." Now, he's principally talking
about false prophets, yes, but also those that are just like
them. Because greater year of God,
little children, have overcome them, because greater is he that
is in you, Christ in you, than he that is in the world, the
devil, in those people. Verse five, "...they are of the
world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears
them." Do you? Do you listen to the world's
talk? Does it influence you? I hope not. God's people, it
doesn't. Not primarily, anyway. A stranger, they'll not hear.
They hear the voice of the shepherd. Look down at chapter 5, verse
4. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world? He that believeth Jesus is the Son of God. Look at verse
seventeen. All unrighteousness is sin. You
know that. There's a sin not unto death.
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. But he that
is begotten of God, look at this, keepeth himself. From what does
he keep himself from? The world. The world. And that
wicked one touches him not. Look at verse 19. We know we're
of God and the whole world lies in wickedness. Talk about people
in it. The world, worldlings, can't
separate. Can't separate it. Well, you
say, I thought we were supposed to love our neighbor. We are. We are. We should care for them. Be kind to them, we should be
compassionate to them, tender, gracious, receptive, helpful,
concerned about them, merciful toward them, gracious to them,
but you can't have fellowship with them. You can't have fellowship with
them. That's what Paul said. He asked that question, can light
have fellowship with dark? Huh? Can a son of God have a
fellowship with a son of Satan? Can you? Fellowship talks about
intimate, constant communion and companionship. I often wonder,
you know, I see, I hear of people spending a great deal of time
with people who don't seem to have a care in the world. Slip
of the tongue, with a care at all for the things of God. I
hear and see and hear about so-called believers, you know, spending
the greatest portion of their time with unbelievers. And I
think, what in the world are they talking about? I'll just be honest with you,
that's what I think. I mean, what in the world are they talking
about? To be honest, just to be frank with you, if I, you
know, I've been around, I'm in the community, I'm friendly toward
people, and I sit down and talk to people and so forth, but after
about an hour goes by, after all those small talks is over
with, I think, I don't have a thing in common with this person. I
don't have a thing in the world to talk about in the world. That's
all you'd want to talk about is the world. Their principles are different
than mine, their goals, their pursuits, their religion, their
God, their desires, their love is different than mine. What
are we going to talk about? What are we going to spend six hours
of our time talking about? Beyond me, I can't do it. How can light have fellowship
with darkness? Beyond me, I've got a brother.
And he may hear this on tape, but that's just the way it is.
I think he knows that's the way it is. I love my brother. He's
my brother. You can't get around flesh and
blood relationship. I don't care how hard you try. He's my brother. But you know,
after I'm around him for about an hour, we both get to feel
real uneasy around one another. It's obvious. It's obvious. He's uneasy and I'm uneasy. Why?
We're different. We're different. You know and I ask this question
I ask I ask you know you know what Christ said woe is unto
you if men speak well of you. And I have to ask this. I have
to ask this that's what where is the hatred in the persecution
that Christ said would come for his name's sake. You know you wouldn't have any
worldly friends if we were walking with Christ like he says we should
be, wouldn't we? They wouldn't have us. Christ
said that don't marvel, brethren, if they hate you. They hated
me. It's enough for the disciple
that he'd be as his Lord. Know what he said? They hated
me, they're going to hate you if you're like me. If you're
like me. And I have to ask, where is the
hatred and persecution Christ said would come from the world?
Where is it? Now, I realize these messages,
both this morning and this evening, are very convicting, but we need
it. We need it. We need the comfort
as well as the rebuke and the correction. Comfort as well as
the correction, don't we? Now, listen to this. It says,
love your brethren. You know, Prince, if you'll read
down through, I challenge you, go back and read through the
book of 1 John and you'll see, Roberta, you'll see how that
what he's talking about, love, he mostly refers to the brethren.
You know why? Because he wants us to nurture
and to cultivate The love among the brethren who are really our
family and who are really our friends and who really we ought
to be spending the time with. You go through there and look
it up. He continually says, love your brother, as you say, your
brother. It doesn't say neighbor stand.
The Lord said that. But he says, brother, we are
to love our neighbor. And I mean by that, be benevolent,
kind, compassionate, tender, lay down your life if you have
to. But do good and do good to all men, but especially And the
fact is, if you love Christ more, chiefly, principally, they won't
love you, they'll hate you. Now, don't be contentious. It's
not my contention that you be contentious. I'm not trying to
tell you that you need to be hateful and overbearing and try
to be hated. Don't do that. I mean, to the
world, to show that you're a believer, be hateful, beat them over the
head with the gospel. And it wasn't the cross that was offensive,
it was us. How often have you done that?
And you come away from there feeling kind of proud, you know,
well, they hate me because of the gospel. No, they hate you
because you're a mighty hateful. Right? And we're not to be overbearing
and try to be hated, but if our, and this is what I'm saying,
if our affection is set on things above, they'll soon see that.
They'll soon see that if your affections are set on things
above, they'll soon see that, hey, this guy, he's a fanatic. That seems to be all he wants
to talk about and do. And they'll avoid you and they'll
disassociate themselves with you. Now let's look over to Luke chapter
14. Now, people, am I going to become
your enemy for telling you the truth? I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not. My conscience also bear me witness
in the Holy Ghost. I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart for every one of you people here. And I
wouldn't dare say anything to hurt you. I really wouldn't. But I'd say
anything to help you. And it may hurt at first. But
the Scripture says faithful are the wounds of a friend. Iron, sharpening iron. You ever
heard that, iron? You ever filed a file? Ooh, man,
it makes some rasping, grating sound, you know, and it's repulsive
to the ear, but so doth hearty counsel from a friend. Can I give you these things from
the Word of God and have you not get upset with me? Our Lord
said this, Luke fourteen, verse twenty-six, He says, If any man
come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,
and brethren, and sisters, yea, his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, or the shame that comes from being his disciple, cannot
be my disciple. People, the line is still being
drawn in the sand. The line is still being drawn
in the sand as it begins in the house of God. You know what the
line says? You know what the line of demarcation
is? Is that a good term? The line
that's drawn in the sand, you know what it says? Who is on
the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And that line will stretch right
down between a husband and a wife. You know, sometimes it does. That line will go right down
between a son and a father, a daughter and a mother. The line is still
being drawn. It's beginning at the house of
God. It must start there. Judgment. Time has come. Judgment
must begin at the house of God. Who is on the Lord's side? And
that line stretches Christ said, I've not come to bring peace
with a sword, didn't he? In Matthew 10. He said, I've
come to set a man at variance. Not to join a man and his father,
but to set him at variance. To separate them. Right? Ephesians
5, he talked about the mystery of marriage. He said, for this
cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto
his wife. But that's a picture of, I speak
of mystery. I speak of Christ in the church.
For this cause, what cause? For your love to Christ, a man
will leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his husband. Christ. At all costs. And Christ said, I've come to
set a man at variance. Now, this is taken, this Luke
14, 26. Our Lord is quoting from, He's taking this from Deuteronomy
13. You want to jot that down sometime, you can go look it
up. Deuteronomy 13, verses 6 through 8. I'll not have you turn. But
I'll give you the general concept there. What that says is, I've
got to hurry. What that says is, That if anybody
come to you, a family member or whatever, come to you and
entice you and say, come on with us and worship our gods and do
this and that. Come on, you don't have to do
that. You don't have to worship your god. You can come with us
to our church or you don't have to go today or whatever, you
know. Come on. And it says in Deuteronomy
13, it says you'd be the first one to pick up a stone and hit
him in the head with it. Look at that, read it for yourself.
You'd be the first one to kill him. Or that is to show him where
your first love is. Now listen to this. Family and
old friends are the chief pawns in Satan's game to try to keep
you, to try to woo you back to him. Keep you from the gospel. Now listen to this scenario.
And this has happened to everybody. Everybody in here. Not one individual
in particular. This has happened many times.
I've seen it happen to more than more than a few. Listen to this
familiar scenario, OK? A family, some family members
or some old friends arrive in town. When do they come? They don't come on Monday. They
don't come on Tuesday. They don't come on Wednesday,
they don't come on Thursday, they generally come on Friday
night, generally on Saturday morning. Why? That's the only
days they're off. Sunday morning rolls around. Sunday morning rolls around,
and what they say is to you, and this is what they say, stay
home with us. We don't come here very often. Stay home with us. You don't
have to go to church. Oh yes you do. Oh yes you do. Yes you do. Now that they are here, that's
the one thing you must do for their sake. I have to go. I have to go. Unless you're going
to stay home all morning and witness to them. But if not, the only way you
can effectively witness to those you love, you say you're concerned
about their soul, the only way you can effectively witness to
those that you love is by showing them who your first love is. And we don't get very many opportunities
to do that, do we? Most of us, our families live
a long distance away. We don't get very many opportunities
to show them. To show forth our profession
of faith. People, I'm not being hard here
at all. I'm giving you some wisdom from God's Word. Let me give
you an illustration, lest you think I'm being hard. John Bunyan. Those of you who have read Pilgrim's
Progress, you know where he wrote that? He wrote that in the Holy
War, too, while he was in prison. He was in prison for twelve years.
And it wasn't one of these country clubs you see today. Do you know
that nearly every day his wife, and he had a little daughter,
a blind daughter, and his wife and his daughter
would come to that jail cell and appeal to him, Daddy, would
you please? John Bunyan didn't have to stay
in prison. You know that? You know that
the authorities in that prison said, John, you can leave here
anytime, just as soon as you renounce the gospel, just as
soon as you agree to quit preaching the gospel. You know what they're
saying? They said, you can walk out of this door anytime you
want to, just as long as you don't preach that gospel. And his wife and baby would come
to him, Daddy, please. That's not too much to ask, is
it? Just be silent. Just be silent. You don't say
anything, Daddy. Come home. And what you do, what we say,
what we're trying to say and do before our loved ones is what
we're trying. We're trying to tell them who
and what is more important to us. It's the greatest denial
of the gospel before them is for them to see that they are
more important than Christ is. That's the reason lot seemed
as one that mocked to his son's. His son's in-laws, Terry, wasn't
it? It wasn't his neighbors. It was his son's in-laws, those
that lived under his very house. After he finally began to warn
them, after the time was, judgment was drawn now, he said, come
on, we got to get out of here. We're in a mess here. And they,
oh, Lot, why haven't you told us that before? If it was, we
never heard this thing out of you before. And here's what we're saying
and I know they're there sometimes people believe this thing I know
it's in God knows you trust your case before God Almighty but
what I'm telling you basically is true and we have very few
opportunities to witness to our family and the greatest way to
possibly witness to them is by showing them when they come showing
them hey Christ is first Christ is all Christ is my life. You
come second. They won't understand that and
don't even think you can make them understand they got to see
it. You got to show it and the greatest way that you can. The
greatest denial of your faith is for you to say. Well, I don't
have to go. I don't have to go worship with
the people of God. I don't have to. Christ is going to be down there
with two or three of you. I don't have to go there. I can stay
just this one time. But that mindset creeps in until
it's a way of life. And you know, I was talking to
my dad about it. And man, he's seen a lot of it come and go.
He's seen a lot of people come and go. And he said he made this
statement to me is most shocking and chilled me to my bone. He
said, you know what a man is, what a woman, what a person is
saying when they when they miss for various and silly reasons. What they're saying, they're
making a statement about not saying anything, but they're
making a statement by saying, as far as I'm concerned, they
didn't even need to open the doors of the church house today.
It could have been closed, as far as I'm concerned. And the sad fact is, blood ties
seem to be stronger than God's family. Christ's mother came
to him one day, didn't she? And he was in the synagogue.
And they said, Your mother and your brother are outside. Now,
he traveled a great deal. He didn't see them very often,
did he? And that could have been one of those few times. Your
mother's out there, your brother, and they want to see you. They
want to see you. And what did he say? What was
his answer? Who is my mother? Huh? Who is
my brother? Huh? Who is my mother? Who is my mother?
Roberta, what if my mother came into town to visit me and I stayed
home Sunday morning? Huh? That's different. You're getting paid for this.
If I'm getting paid, if that's the reason I'm here, you better
find you another pastor real fast. If that's the reason you're
here, you're lost. I'm not in this thing for the
pay. And besides that, are you not getting paid for this? Huh? Y'all reaping any pay out of
this? Who is my mother? You say you
have an advantage, they're believers. Thank God they are believers.
But I'd venture to say that if they weren't and they came into
town, I'm going to be right here. Roberta Soard is as much my mother
as Doris Freese Mahan is. Henry Soard, you're as much loved
by me and as much considered to my family as Henry Mahan is.
I mean that from the bottom of my heart, buddy. You can tell
my dad I said so. I left them to come to you, Henry
Soar. And the woman, his mother, so
to speak, came to him another time and he said, Woman, what
have I to do with you? Remember that? Behold my mother and my brethren
and my family. This is the body of Christ. This
is my life. I just about still haven't gotten
to this shield of faith ever. Those things need to be said.
They need to be said for our good, for the good of our family,
for the cause of the gospel, for the cause of Christ, for
our spiritual edification, for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that a man of God may be truly
furnished unto all good work. Alright. And that's kind of like
John, you know, John the Baptist. He'd been up here this morning.
He'd have let her fly, wouldn't he? And I'm not going to mince words
with you all. I love you too much. I'm not going to mince
words. I'm not saying this to get at anybody or make anybody
feel bad. Not at all. I'm doing it because
we need it. All right now, what is it? How
do you quench these fiery darts, these sins and temptations and
things? And I got to hurry. Would you
give me a few more minutes? I know you need this. I need
it desperately. How do you quench these fiery
darts? Sins, temptations and so forth.
How does faith, back in the text it says faith is this shield
that quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one. How does it
quench? Well, very quickly, faith opens
our eyes. You know, faith is no true faith
without knowledge and understanding. Faith opens your eyes. Faith opens your eyes, your spiritual
eyes. It gives you light and understanding.
It gives you a knowledge of Christ, a love for Christ and his gospel,
and it enables you to see this world and sin and everybody and
relationships and all that for what they are. Are you with me? Forget the rebuke, okay? Let's
get to this. We all need it. It enables us to see the world,
people, relationships, sin, temptations for what they are. An illusion. An illusion. Not reality. An illusion of happiness. An
illusion of relationship. Temporal joy. A bubble. A soap
bubble. In your little child, you know,
you can make a whole world out of a little toy and a soap bubble.
But when you grow up and become a man, you put away childish
things, don't you? You don't play with things that
are going to pop. You want real and lasting things. And that's
what faith does. It opens up your eyes to see
things as they are. And here we go. This thing's
a full circle. It comes full circle. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing how. by the Word of God. This comes
right back to where we started a while ago. Satan's grand ploy
and design is to keep you from hearing the Word of God. And
this faith that enables you to see things for what they are
comes by hearing the Word of God. So if you're not under the
sound of it, you don't see things right. If your ears aren't in
tune, your eyes aren't in tune. And neither is your feet. Everything
goes through here. Everything. Satan's design is to keep you
from the gospel. He knows what the power of God
is, doesn't he? He knows what the power of God
is, it's the gospel. And his grand design is to keep
you from hearing it. And he will use everything within
his power and his disposal. Hear me, I'm crying fire, I'm
crying wolf. I'm telling the truth. Anything
and everybody. Even a family member even a friend. Satan appeals listen to this
this is shocking. This will make you cry. Somebody
told me this illustration. I don't want to tell but I'm going
to somebody told me that some person who claimed to be a believer.
who is quite unfaithful services and all use they said what they
said in passing reference and passing comment to one of the
people. Was well I don't have to go every
service because so and so doesn't he and they name that person
named another so-called believer. I don't have to go with so-and-so.
Stan, how do you like it if somebody's talking about you, that using
you is that insane? If that's the way they were using you,
it's insane. If John over there wasn't very faithful to the service,
and John said, I don't have to go all the time. Stan does it. How'd you like to have that reputation?
How would you like for that to be your, uh, uh, uh, what's your
name for it? The example of your service?
Hmm. Staten will use it. He'll use
anybody and anything. I'm telling you the truth. God Almighty don't let him use
me. Don't let him use me. Faith opens your eyes to see
things as they are. You have discernment. They that
are spiritual discern all things, 1 Corinthians 2 said, one of
the last several verses. You discern all things, you see
things as they are. Faith reveals the world's pleasures
as being temporal. You say, how can I be, how covetous,
I'm prone to covetousness. Faith reveals the world's pleasures
for what they are, temporal, not going to last. You know,
cheap thrills don't last long, cheap like cheap cars. I've always,
all my life, I've been, I've hunted for a bargain on an automobile,
you know, but I didn't want to pay full price. I'd buy a good
used one, buy a wrecked one or whatever, something I need fixing
up. I got me a real lemon, I mean a real jewel out there. Oh, and
I saved money. Got it on sale, didn't we, Steve?
Transmission's going out of it. It's going to cost me more in
the long run, the whole thing. Kitten caboodle's going to cost
me more in the long run. If I'd have gone down and bought
a new one. I'm going to save money. Cheap thrills don't last
too long, neither do cheap toys and pleasure. What you need,
what we need, what I need is something lasting. Right? Something lasting. It's like
eating a candy bar, you know. The candy bars don't suffice.
They just don't Man, I'm sorry, but those cookies just don't
meet my total dietary needs and nutritional needs. They may last
a little while, but I need some meat and potatoes. When it's
all said and done, I need a three course, five course, square hearty
meal. Rib stick and grub, right? And
cheap thrills of this world just do not meet mine. And faith shows
me that the gospel of Christ alone can satisfy me. Faith reveals
how costly these things are. Faith reveals how costly these
things are. Christ said, what will a man
give in exchange for his soul? Would I go to hell for Mama's
sake? Or with Mama? Or Daddy? Would
I? I might, if that's what I intend
to hang on to, rather than Christ. When I go to hell for I knew
this, I knew that, or whatever, faith reveals, or faith sets
our affection on things above, on God and the things of God.
And listen to this, and I had to get to this. Would you give
me a few more minutes? Turn to 2 Corinthians 10. This
is the chief thing I wanted to dwell on, and maybe I ought to
come back and preach a third part, because I wanted to get
to this and I needed to dwell on this. I didn't, did I? But what I've said thus far is
from God's Word and very needful and very helpful. Faith, and
I described faith last Wednesday night, first and foremost. Faith
is this. What faith is, faith is total
trust and dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen
to me. Faith is total trust. and dependence
and committal to faith is belief trust middle love to the Lord
Jesus Christ and love not the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going
to hell. I mean loving really that's what
the whole message this morning was all about. True faith with
good conscience faith and love of a pure heart and a good conscience
and faith and faith is total trust dependence committal to
Christ has no half-time, part-time disciple, halfway committed disciple. To Christ, who is everything
to the believer. You know that Christ has, listen
to this, He has engaged Himself. This is why He came, Barbara.
He has engaged Himself. He has coveted, covenanted for
this purpose. to be the savior to be the Redeemer
to be the surety to be the advocate of centers to be the mediator
to be the intercessor to be the provider the teacher the lead
the guide the friend the savior. He has a subjected himself or
engaged himself to do that on your behalf. That's why he came
to do all those things for you and here's what faith. Here's
how faith overcome at second Corinthians ten verse three.
Now, though we walk in the flesh, we're not warring after the flesh.
That's what we read over there in Ephesians 6, wasn't it? And
the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly or carnal. This is
important. But they're mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds. And here's the key verse, casting
down imaginations, reasonings, thoughts, every high thing. that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ." Every thought to
the obedience of Christ. Now listen, you don't begin in
the Spirit. In other words, there was a time
when you had no interest in the things of God, and all of a sudden
the Holy Spirit moved on you and gave you eyes to see and
ears to hear and desire toward God and so forth. He did it all,
didn't He? Born of the Spirit, born of God,
He did it all. You don't begin that way, and
then He turns you loose. You're made perfect in the flesh.
You don't begin in the Spirit, and you continue in the flesh. See, if you understand what I'm
talking about here, put on your thinking cap. Faith is not holding
up a Bible like a cross before a vampire. You know, Satan comes at you.
Or a cross, you know. You understand what I'm trying
to get at? Faith is not holding up a Bible When Satan comes at
you, this is not some rabbit's foot. This is not some magical
incantation. You can hocus-pocus, dominocus,
get away from me, Satan. I'm reading the Bible. Some of
my most ungodly thoughts have come upon me while I was reading
the Bible. How about you? Faith is not holding up the Bible
like a cross before a vampire. Faith is relying upon a living
Lord. If you didn't hear anything I
said tonight, you hear that. Faith is relying upon a real
and living person, a stronger than he, to bind that strong
man. Saving faith always cries. It cries from the start, Lord,
save me or I perish. And saving faith cries that in
the middle, Lord, save me or I perish. And on your dying bed
you're going to lie there if you have true saving faith, and
what you're going to cry out is, Lord save me or I perish. Saving faith realizes without
him we can do nada, zero, zilch, nothing, nothing, nothing. Listen to this quote. You keep
your body in subjection by calling on the head. Paul said, I keep my body in
subjection. How? How do you keep your body in
subjection? Huh? How do you mortify your members? You keep your body in subjection
by calling on the head. Do my feet, if my feet run without
the head, they're going to run into all kinds of trouble, aren't
they? If we follow our base animal
lust and instincts without following the leadership of our head, you
follow me? Then we're going to run into
a ditch. But if we seek the help of our head, which is, who is? Christ. Christ. You see, it's
not by means of grace that we fight these temptations. Listen
now, this is important. It's not by means of grace that
we fight these temptations, reading the Bible and praying and so
forth. It's by the gracious one. It's not by prayer. But it's
by the one we pray to. It's not by reading, but it's
by the one we read about. Listen to me. Christ is our shield. He is our shield. And faith is
what lays hold on the shield. That's all faith is. It just
lays hold on the shield, lays hold on Christ. And Bible reading
and worship and prayer and fellowship just strengthens our resolve
to lay hold on Christ. You with me? Preaching, reading,
prayer just opens our eyes to the hills from which come with
our help, that hill called Golgotha, that mount called Zion. That's
all prayer and Bible reading. And you know what all this serves
to do? Not to make you more spiritual,
to make you more dependent on Christ. So you're in need of
Christ, right? It just strengthens our hands
to lay hold on Christ. And these are means to an end
to point us to Christ. Are you with me? Oh, it's just
so important. And the reason I've kept you
over is because I wanted to get to that. And here's a closing
note. Christ is always our shield.
Always. But you know, he will remove
himself and enable these darts to penetrate us if we ignore
him. Do you wonder why you have such
trouble with temptations and so forth, why you succumb to
them? Christ will remove himself, who
is our shield. He will remove himself and enable
these darts to penetrate us if we ignore him or grieve him.
That's what the scripture says. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit.
Why have you hid your face from me, O Lord? Thy sins have separated
you between your and your God. You know, the word is now even
in your mouth. The fiery darts can only be extinguished
by the water of God's word. The only way that word have I
hid in my heart, saturated my heart, this heart that's kindling
that can be set on fire with hell so easily that word have
I hid in my heart that I might not want sin against the only
way only way we need to saturate our hearts with the word of God.
and saturate this old kindling. Wet wood will smoke a little
bit, but it won't burn. It won't burn. It won't burn. And this is just a fact. I burn, I'm telling you from
my experience, I burn the easiest. I seem to be set on fire with
temptations and all that when I'm the driest. It's just the
fact you can trace it all back to me going without the water,
without the word. I can trace it every time. Every
time. Trials will come. But temptations
and succumbing to those, I can trace them all back. Succumbing
to those because I was dry. I was out of this. Every time. And what about, and this may
really, really be a dart into someone. What about the times
we do quench the spirit?