I want you to put a bit of a
mind change, like we talked about last week in Ephesians 6, 17. Almost done here. By my calculation, to four more. Counting today. I want you to think about what
we talked about last week and how we often have this odd thought
or picture of spiritual warfare. We think of the armor of God,
as I illustrated last week, like the little toy that I had when
I was a kid, the little soldier with the armor on. And we look
at it that way, we visualize it that way, we consider it as
something, and we don't ever really fully put it into practice
because we've never really fully understood the Word as taught
in this manner. Why do we not understand it?
Well, exposition is a lost reality in the world today. That means
that there are people who call exposition lazy. I won't name
them, but they're very popular, very famous. Because it doesn't
allow for creativity. Because it doesn't allow for
ingenuity. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 pretty
much plays that into a devil's corner. There should be no manipulation
or twisting of God's word, but rather bold proclamation of the
truth. And so what I want you to see today is just as we've
had this idea that sometimes it's a little kid-like, a little
sort of surreal, imaginative, make-believe idea around spiritual
warfare, I want you to see also today that we in some way have
a very, very flat and non-biblical view of God's Word. As you discuss
the armor as a whole, can be seen in a kid's mindset. So is
the sort of the spirit, which is the word of God, can be seen
in a kid's mindset. I want you to see today that
this is probably one of the most passionate pieces of this outfit
for me, because in the darkest day of my life, it was God's
word alone who brought me to life. When there was no more
life in me. It was solely. It wasn't that
encouragement that came. It wasn't the lessons that I've
learned from years past. It wasn't God's Word that I had
hidden in my heart for all those decades. It was just God's Word
alone at that moment, for that time, for that day, at that point. I could not depend on that which
I had been given. Nor could I think about those
things that I had come to realize it is just God's word alone. We we as Baptists historically
have held to sola scriptura, the word of God alone. There
is a tradition not only as exposition. dying and dead in Baptist churches,
so are the pillars of the Reformation dying and dead in Baptist churches.
And I am thankful to say that in the Tattnoevans area, that
God is bringing it to life. And that men of God are heralding
from their pulpits exposition and sola scriptura, sola fide,
sola Christos, sola dea gloria. If we think of the Word of God
in an infantile way, if we look at it just as an academic approach,
we lose the reality of the power of God. We fail to see and receive
God's grace. We block and overemphasize, we
block God's power and we overemphasize our ability in very much the
same way that John commands in 2 John, 1 John chapter 2, where
he says in a very bold way of commandment, do not love the
world. Do not love the world or the
things in the world, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,
the pride of possessions, for these are not from the Father,
but are of the world. And furthermore, he says, anyone
who loves these are not of the Father. The love of the Father
is not in him. So what John does in that argument
is he says, if we love the world, then we push the Father out.
Christian, there are seasons and moments of our days when
there is love for the world in as much as that we think we as
part of this world in our flesh can overcome without God. Without God's Word, in as much
that we believe the sufficiency that the lie of the devil, as
he told Eve. I see there's two schools of thoughts here. One,
they're both right, but only one, which is which is being
argued by Paul. And here they are. The devil uses the word
of God to attack us as Christians. We know that's true. The devil
in the Garden of Eden went to Eve and he says, look, loss of
the eyes. That is good for food, why can't
you eat it? Because God said, if we even touch it, we shall
surely die. And then he uses the very word
of God and he puts a question in Eve's mind. Did God really
say? What is that the devil want?
The devil wants to be like God. He wants to steal away God's
glory, not take it all, just share it. We have this idea in spiritual
warfare that we think the devil is out to destroy God. He is
not stupid. He can't destroy his creator. He knows that. What
he wants is to take the peripheral of God's glory in his worship,
and he wants to get the backdraft of that glory. He wants to just
feel the mists. You know, sort of like me, when
you go to theme parks, I don't like to ride the drops and the
fast rides or the slow rides. or the long line ride. I don't
like to ride anything. I like to ride my shoes when they work
perfectly and I've never fallen out of them. But there is a point
when it's really hot that you enjoy getting wet sometimes at
these parks. Not too wet, just wet enough
to cool yourself off. And so as everybody else likes
to take the ride and plunge into the depths of the lazy river
that is no longer lazy but death-defying, you can stand at the bridge and
get a little wet. So it's sort of like that being the adventure
and the devil just wants to get sprayed. He wants to get the
midst of the glory of God. Now, if he could have his way,
of course, he would do all these things, but he's not a fool in
some sense. He's very clever. He's very cunning. And so what he does is he makes
us think that what God has said is true, but not quite true enough
as we have applied it. And so when we hear about the
Word of God is alone, all we need to be sufficient in all
things, and His divine power is all we need to live godly
lives, and that as Paul teaches Timothy, is that the Word of
God is profitable, and it comes out of the mouth of God. Then
the devil goes, yeah, I know, but... And we hear those words,
and we hear the word but, and it's straight out of the face
of Satan. Some of us today, as we listen
to this sermon, may say, I hear you, Pastor, but. There are no
buts. There's no option, there's no
alternative. For this gospel that we proclaim
to you, if anyone comes, if we come, Paul says to the Galatians,
or if angels from heaven come and proclaim another gospel that
we have already proclaimed to you, let there be forever a curse
cut off and damned because it is not another gospel. There
is no such thing as another gospel. There's one gospel, and there's
one God, and there's one decree, and there's one purpose, and
it is the only true gospel. And we have proclaimed that to
you, and so don't listen to those people who speak the mouth of
Satan and tell you that there are alternative ideals and understandings
about the power and the sufficiency of the gospel of Jesus Christ
from His Word. It does not happen. It is a lie. And it will put you in a pit
of despair. It will put you in a pit of sin. It will put you
in a pit of apathy. It will put you in a pit of self-reliance
that you will find yourself walking easily and comfortably, sufficient
in your own ability and in your own understanding. And you are
walking in destruction, according to Hebrews. For it is impossible to bring
to repentance Those who have tasted the heavenly gifts, who
have shared in the Spirit, who have shared in the power of the
Word, in the age to come, and have fallen away. And I believe
that's the very beginning of falling away. It's like Jesus
talks about in Luke, where there is the parable of the soil. And
you've got these four soils. And these soils are the hearts
of men. And the seed, the Word of God,
is thrown, and it's thrown, and it's thrown. The Word of God
is no distinction. We've preached the gospel to
every living person. God alone does the work of salvation. The Word of God settles. And
friends, it has been a misnomer for decades, maybe centuries,
in the evangelical church, in the Protestant church, that we
believe that those who profess Christ come in and then after
a while they just sort of speed idle, that there's a problem
with what we do as a people. It's not a problem with who the
church is. It's not a problem with the programs. It's not a
problem with what they want and their needs and their felt needs
and their desires. It's a problem in that they have
a heart that has not been born again by the Spirit of God, through
the Word of God. Therefore, they do not have a
desire to eat that which is most satisfying to the soul, who is
Jesus Christ, the living Word. Therefore, the devil comes and
takes the Word from them and they don't care anymore. Or the
problems of life, the pressures of life, the sickness of life,
the stress of life, the finances of life, the marriage problems
of life, the children of life, the dogs of life, the cars of
life, the jobs of life, whatever they may be, choke them out,
and then they give up and they walk away. They weren't of us,
so they left out from us. You see that? That is not a joke. That horrifies my soul when I
see people who covenant with the people of God, and then they
walk as they want to walk, and they live and they grow their
own legacies, and they say, this is what God has called me to
do, and they walk around building their own dreams while ignoring
the obedient things that God has clearly made in His Word
for us to be and do. And that's why we come together,
so that we can be warned through the Word. so that the Word of God can give
us grace to go, wake up and see that the Lord is good and that
you're walking away from the sweetest, fullest, best, most
glorious, and you're walking into dead, rotting, unsatisfying
territory. Please don't go there. And the devil says, surely God
did not say you would die, did he? And Eve thinks and says,
no, I didn't hear him say that. I heard him say that, speaking
then of her husband. And she takes it. The devil doesn't give us that
sin. The devil proposes that we take it. And we take it. We
reach out and take it. It is our fault when we rebel
against God. We take. We eat of it and we give it to
others and we give it to others. And this then is repeated in
the temptation of Jesus Christ. I mean, though he's not a fool
in every sense, he's a fool in many senses in that Jesus being
the creator of all things, because he subjected himself to be like
the creation, the devil thought, hey, I can I can do something
here. So he goes to Jesus and he tempts him. In those same
three ways, you're hungry, you need bread, it's good for your
body, you've got to eat, you will die, Jesus. And that's true.
Jesus couldn't go forever without living, without some supernatural
thing. If he didn't have physical food, he'd die. It's like on
the cross, unless there was supernatural interference, when they stab
you and slice you up and hang you to bleed out and suffocate,
you die. And so the devil says, you can turn this rock into bread.
You need bread, Jesus. You got to eat, Jesus. I'm looking
out for you, buddy. And the enemy uses the word of
God to tell Jesus what he said. Already in eternity past and
what he's decreed. Therefore, then Jesus comes back
with the Word of God. So here's this. Here's this battle
here. But it's not what Paul's talking about here. It's not
with the Word of God comes and then the devil comes against
us sometimes and most of the time with the Word of God as
Christians. And then we come back with the Word of God. That
is a spiritual battle. And it is the sort of the spirit. It
is the Word of God. But that's not the example that
Paul is giving here. What Paul is giving here As he's
wanting us to see the word is indeed that the foundation of
all these things, the full reality of all these things. And then
finally, we see that it is the power for all spiritual battle. And we're going to show that
argument in the time we have remaining. I want you to think
about John Warren. Where we see. John writing, alluding to the
Genesis account. In the beginning, in the beginning was the Word.
Why does he start there? Because what we're going to see
and what you can see in John's gospel is that the Word became
flesh and told among us the Word was in the beginning and the
Word was God and the Word was with God, the Word became flesh.
So we we see that picture there. that Jesus Christ is the living
God, who is the living word, who in the beginning He was already. And He became flesh and dwelt
among us. And then, as we see here, where Grace Truth got its
name, and from its fullness we We've seen God's glory. Glory
is only something the Father full of grace and truth. And
so my hope and vision, as should all pastors be, is for the people
under their shepherd to see the fullness of God in the face of
Christ, 2 Corinthians 4, 6. Let your eyes be opened. Let
you be satisfied. Now, today, what happens in our
world is that the enemy fights against that. If there was no
spiritual enemy of God and there was no way for us to be tempted
in our flesh, James 1, We're tempted because it's what we
want. So even as saints, we're not sanctified fully, though
we are fully justified as sanctified. We're not yet pure completely. We fight the flesh that we reside
in. And so in that, we need to understand
that the devil works and the devil's working to tempt us and
the powers of this present darkness are tempting us. And we then
that which we desire are most tempted by. And so the battle
is at work. If the battle wasn't happening,
I would preach the gospel and we would all worship for several
years and we would never sin and we would never have problems.
And when we were sick, we would call a worship service instead
of a prayer meeting. And when we were poor, we would
give away what we did have left. And we would not be labored over
that which was physical, for it is all passing away and everything
with it. But that's not where we are.
We are in this world, and in this world there is a present
darkness. Church, the Word of God is indeed two things I want
you to see, just as introduction, long introduction. Jesus is the
living Word of God. I can't preach that today, but
it needs to preach to your heart. Quit thinking that the cowhide
and trees is the Word of God. It is, but it's what these words
point to, which is the Word. Who is the Word? And secondly,
God's Word is Amen. And what's that mean? That means that God's Word Jesus
Christ is the living Word, and that the written Word is the
done of God. It is the already done. It is
the yes. So be it. It is so. Amen. Amen. Truly, truly. When you
see the double verities, verily, verily, verity, verity, you see
that. That is Jesus saying, Amen. Amen. It is. It is. It is. And so God's Word is just
as Jesus is. God's Word will be just as Jesus
will come. And so, it's not just a story. It's God manifested to us, as
John says in his first epistle. I love that letter. That which
we have seen. Which we have heard. Which we have touched with our
hands. Concerning what? The Word of Life. We now proclaim
to you that. Your fellowship may be with us,
and indeed ours is with the Father, and we write these things that
our joy may be complete. So God's word, how awesome that
John didn't know that he was writing God's word. I just think
that's amazing. So now let's look. The word then
here is the gospel. The word of God Paul uses That
phrase, only one other place, I think it's. Oh, goodness, Ephesians 5, 26,
where he says these words. Well, husbands, love your wives
as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he, Christ,
might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with
the word. So let's stop there and let's
go ahead and agree because the argument we're going to see now
in Ephesians 6 with the word of God, the word of the Spirit,
which is the word of God, that word there and in Ephesians 5.26
is the gospel. You see that? Well, he's just
not talking about script. No, it doesn't say that you see
the word of God. It is as though Jesus performed
it and performed spiritual warfare in his flesh by using the word
of God. But Paul here is saying that
the word of God is distinctly the gospel. That's what he's
talking about, that the gospel alone is the preparedness and
the purpose and the power to walk in this. So that's what
we're going to see. So we'll come back to that. The
word is the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
salvation. Three things as we're moving
forward. This is going to seem like we're never getting there.
It's salvation. And not only is it salvation,
it's security in that salvation and it's sanctification in that
security. And so you've got salvation,
security and sanctification. This word of God, the word of
the Spirit, which is the word of God, is your salvation. It is the gospel, which is your
security. That means it holds you and protects
you and preserves you. And then it also sanctifies you.
That means it makes you holy, you obey it, you love it, you
desire it, you want to be like the word who is Jesus Christ. So the word, therefore, is the
gospel and the word, this is for you, is the power in the
life of the church. The word of God is power, for
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So it is the
power of God unto salvation. First to the Jew, then the Gentile,
Romans 1 16. So the power of the word, I mean,
the word of God, the gospel is the power of the life of the
church. The word of God, the gospel. is perfect peace, as
we've already seen. And for readiness on your feet,
the gospel of peace. So the Word of God and the gospel
is perfect peace. The Word of God is pleasure. The gospel is pleasure. Friends,
the ultimate end, the ultimate end of the outcome of the gospel
and the life of the church is what? Joy! That's why it's beyond oxymoronic
to say, I just hate myself and my life. I've been there. We've all been there. But it
is a sin of all things, no matter what the problem that's causing
the pressure, or the depression, or the lack of joy. It is a sin. It is a sin when the world, who
is apart from Christ, who is alienated from the promise of
the covenant, it is a sin when they do not worship God. with
joy. It is a sin when the world looks
at the world and goes, yep, I love this stuff, but I don't love
the one who made it. Romans 1. And God, in turn, turns
them over to the reprobate mind. He turns them over to do the
things which are unnatural. I'm not going to say that. I
oftentimes wondered if that related to our pets in any way, because,
boy, do we love our animals. Just food for thought. So the word is power, the gospel,
the gospel is perfect peace, the gospel is pleasure and joy,
and finally, the gospel is the presence of Jesus Christ. So
you put all that together and you ask yourself, what problems
do we have? Problems we have is not exercising
the power of God's word by faith, holding and believing fully in
that which God has decreed and empowered us to be. So then what
happens is we forget what the foundation of the word of God
is. So let me share with you what the foundation of the word,
the life of the believer is. Look at this. Let's put it all
together. Verse 14 of chapter six of Ephesians. Verse 13 therefore
take up the whole armor of God because we're in a war against
the cosmic powers over this present darkness and having fastened
on the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by
the gospel of peace, in all circumstances take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the
evil one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times
in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, And then he
says to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making
supplication for all the saints. So there's some things that you
need to understand, church, about the foundation of the word of
God in our life as the church. One, it is given by the spirit
of God. The word is not ours to take
off the shell. That's not what he's saying. Take up the word of God. Pick
up the sword of the Spirit. Yes, that's good practice. It's
good discipline. But that's not the point of that. The point
of this is that it is the Spirit's word. So who gives what the Spirit
gives? The Spirit gives it. The Spirit
is God. The Son is God. The Father is
God. Now, the Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit.
The Spirit is not the Father. But one God, three persons. God, the Father, God, the Son,
God, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, active, as Jesus says, I go but
I send one, the Comforter. And you will do greater things
than these. And so now, the Spirit of God gives life. The Spirit
of God gives the Word. Do you understand the reality
of that? That God created His Word and
gave it to His people. So it's ours. and it's empowered
by Him. It's God's power, God's glory,
God's sufficiency, God's grace, God's purpose, God's decree,
God's victory, and it's ours, and we yield it, and we take
it up. It's a divinely protected, absolutely
eternal, glorious, miraculous, magnificent, powerful Word. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is all we need in every circumstance for everything in life. Do you see that? The Word of
God, though written over 500 years by many different authors
in several different places in history, it's God speaking through
them. Placing this at our feet, the
fullness of His glory for our hearts and eyes to see, because
we've been given life through the Word and it's God's. Friends, God is mighty to save. So what is the foundation of
the Word then, if it's given by the Spirit? Well, it is the
guardian of the mind, as we talked about last week. Also, the word
of God is self-governed. There's three or four things
we need to understand about the word of God in its context. One,
the word of God is self-governed. Two, the word of God is self-guarded. Three, the word of God is self-guaranteed. And then fourthly, it is, quote,
self-grading. It just came to me. Alliteration
is typically not part of anything I do, but it worked. It's self-governed. Psalms 19.7 said the law of the
Lord is perfect. 2 Timothy 3 said that it's sufficient
for all good things and unto salvation. So, in other words,
the law of God, the word of God, the scriptures are self-governed. They do not need any other historical
elements to point to them. The word of God does not need
archaeologists to prove them. The word of God does not need
apologetics to undergird it. them, the word of God is sufficient
in itself and all times for everything in which it was given and intended
to do. Is it worthy and working in your
life? I don't know exactly what the
quote is, but I noticed last night as I was coming to town
on both sides of the east side sign, it was very fitting for
our service today. One said, I should have said
on our side, look at East side and said, One of them said that
a man who has a Bible who's worn out usually is owned by someone
who's not, or falling apart, that's what it is, usually is
owned by someone who's not. The worn out doesn't work. And
then the other side said that the man who loves the Word of
God desires it above all things, in some sense. Is that you, Church? Ask yourself
the question. When's the last time you actually
had the word effective in your life at all? God help if we ever really establish
some accountability. To walk in Christ likeness. To
be empowered. You know what's a pathetic testimony
of the body of Christ? It's when the church walks powerless.
When one believer walks powerless, Just status quo, let's go. I'm
doing good. Oh, that's great. Everything's
fine. That's awesome. Yep, I enjoy it. It's awesome.
And every now and then, praise the Lord. Or God is good. And somebody goes, all the time,
and then all the time, and then God is good, and it never ends. And
you want to go, stop! Why do you say this stuff? Why
do you do this stuff? Is the Word of God living and breathing
in your life? Well, let me tell you one way
to keep it from being living and breathing in your life. Don't
read it. Or worse yet, take it like you do. I don't know. Take
it like you do. Other things, I know I need it,
but I guess. Do you desire it? Somebody asked
me. Am I supposed to be in church?
Do I need to be in church? I say you do that which makes
you most happy. You only should come to church
if it makes you happy. You should only read your Bible
if it makes you happy. You should only pray if it gives you joy.
Only do that which makes you happy. And friends, if you do
that which makes you happy and you are born again, you will
do all that God has called you to do. If you're waiting for reprieve
so you can do that which makes you happy apart from the fate,
you're not in it. I hate to tell you that. You
are not in it. And so if you find yourself there
today and you're looking for that way out, I would pray that you
would really sincerely cry out to the Lord to give you eyes
of sight heart that can love Him. And it may be, just may
be, you're in a season of rebellion. But oh, would I take no gamble
in that, my friend. Don't think yourself in a season
of rebellion, but a child of God and do nothing of it. So the Bible is self-governed.
It is self-guarded. That means it is without error.
There's no mistake here. Now, there have been some misprints.
I have a Bible that has a misprint in it, and I've seen some Bibles
that have actually had books of the New Testament stuck upside
down in the books of the Old Testament and things of that
nature. But that's not God's fault. It's man's printer's fault. But in the context of the Bible
being the Word of God, it is absolutely self-guarded. That
means it is without error. It does not need help in its
syntax. Thirdly, it is self-guaranteed.
Isaiah 55 says it, doesn't it? Isaiah 55 says that the Word
of God goes forth and does all that it has been purposed to
do. It does not return to me void, but it accomplishes all
that I willed it to do. Do you know what that means?
That means that right now, if the Word of God has no effect
on you, it is the will of God that the purpose that you would
be hardened against it. Do not, do not be hardened to the Word
of God. God's Word will do what it is
supposed to do. And then fourthly, I say that the Word of God is,
quote, self-grading. Not in itself, though it would
be, but I mean yourself and myself. It grades us. It judges us. It
corrects us. It looks into us. It reveals
what is true about us. The Word of God then will tell
others if we are indeed in the body of Christ. If a man takes
and receives the Word of God, Let's put it this way. As a man
receives the Word of God, he shows how the Word of God
has taken the man. So, brother, sister, as you receive
the Word of God, it will prove how the Word of God has taken
you. Has the gospel taken you? Have you been transferred out
of the domain of this present darkness into the light of this
glorious sun? Have you been saved by faith?
Have you been redeemed by the blood of Christ? If so, the Word
of God is going to be active in your life. It's going to be
a God to your soul. And some of the arguments in
the, let me tell you, oh, I'm too busy. No, you're not. You're
too lazy. You're too insistent upon those
things which are most urgent in your life, taking precedence
over that which is absolutely life in your life. Well, I've got a lot going on.
Who doesn't? Join the list. Would you like me to make one
for you? It could be long, and I'm just
quirky enough to add things that have not even happened yet, but
I might be fearful that might. This guy's crazy. You got it. Well, I don't understand it.
Then read it until you do. I don't like it. Then repent,
believe the gospel. It doesn't work for me. You said
it. That's not faith. Self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't like what I just said,
then listen to Jesus in John 8, 44. Jesus says these words,
those who hear the word of God are of God and those who do not
are not. There's your paraphrase. Jesus
Christ himself said those who hear the word of God are of God
and those who do not are not. Do you hear the Word of God today? So what's the full reality of
the sword of the Spirit in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I want to look
at it this way. Listen to the words of Paul.
I'm going to go through some things and then Peter. I'm just
going to read them. Quote them out for you, and I want you to
hear them in context, Romans 10, 17 through 18. So faith comes
through hearing and hearing through the words of Christ. But I ask,
have they not heard? Indeed, they have. For their
voice has gone out to all the earth and their word to the ends
of the world. Romans 10.8 But what does it say? The word is
near you in your mouth and in your hearts. That is the word
of faith that we proclaim. It is the word of God in you
and in your mouth and in your hearts. I don't get it. I pray you will. We need to quit trying to fully
Mindfully pull out that stuff and pave it like a big spring
of peanut butter on a hose and just pave it out. Get all the
lumps out. Quit getting the lumps out and let the Word of God be
some lumpy stuff in you. Let it trip over the Word. Bob
down. Put a big glob of it like this. And let it just stick your gums
together and digest it and savor it. Choke on it. Choke on the
living Word of God. Or do you want to be like the
enemy and just get amiss? Yeah, I'll come to church and
get amiss. I'm so thankful for the Word of God as it's preached. Amen. Glad I don't have to touch
it again for seven days. Peter says this, but the word
of the Lord remains forever, and this word is good news that
was preached to you. The gospel is the word of the
Lord, the gospel for you. How does the church become theologians?
How does every Christian become a theologian? They see the gospel,
they savor the gospel, they live the gospel, they love the gospel,
and they just learn the gospel. I don't care what millennial
stand you take. Well, I do care. But it's not
as vital to me what millennial stand you take about who's coming
when and where and how long and who's going to die and who's
going to be murdered and, you know, what the world currency
is going to look like. Whoop-de-doo! Do you love Jesus
and do you worship Him forever? And if you do, He's the Word
of God. You want to get close to Christ? I can't wait for Jesus
to return. I can't wait for Jesus to return.
I can't wait for Jesus to return. You hear it all the time. I can't
wait to be raptured. I can't wait for the second coming.
By the way, do you believe this? Do you believe that? That's not
hiding the Word of God. That's not putting the Word of
God in your heart. That's debating, did Jesus really
say He was coming back like that? Whose work is that? Yeah, Jesus
is coming back. But do you think He's already
come? Do you think He's come back for a thousand years, nine
hundred eighty years, five hundred twenty years? Do you think the
tribulation is really going to be seven? I don't care. I'm not going to preach the what
if. Supposed. fairy tales of man-centered idealism. I want to preach that there is
a God in heaven who loved me and gave His Son to die for me,
and that now that Son, by grace alone through faith, lives in
me, and I want to live this life for the grace and the glory of
God. And when He comes, I'm with Him.
Are you? That's the better question. It's the gospel good news. Sort of the spirit is the gospel
of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Gives gospel power to the church. See, all that was introduction.
This is actually what Paul saying here. Gospel power. Take up. The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. So, the Gospel, as I've already
said, is given by the Spirit of God. It's not taken by the
will of man. Let's go to what's Paul saying
in Romans 10. Everyone who calls the name of the Lord will be
saved. How are they to call on who they have not believed? Calling
isn't salvific, calling is the fruit of salvation, the fruit
of faith, the fruit of belief. How are they to call? What is
the calling there? When you're in trouble. in your
time of need, in your time of despair? How are you to call
if you have not believed? And how are they to believe on
whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear if no
one goes? Blessed are the feet of those
who preach the gospel, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the words of Christ the gospel. So the gospel is given by the
Spirit of God, and those who call out must first believe And
they must first hear in order to believe, and one must go in
order for them to hear, and those who go must preach the gospel.
And then the gospel then is the power of God. Romans 116, as
I've already mentioned, is the power of God, effective in salvation,
the power of God, perfect in sanctification, and the power
of God, sufficient in preservation. So the power of the gospel is
all we need. As I've mentioned, the power
of the gospel is the joy of the believer. How is that? Here's
some application for you. It is the joy of the believer
in knowing God and His Son fully, salvifically, as Jesus says in
John 17, that this is eternal life, that they know you, the
one true God, and the Son whom you have sent. So if that's eternal
life, how do we know it? The gospel! No one gets saved
looking at the world and going, I know there's a God, let's worship
Him. Nobody. Every cult and world religion
known to man has started with the evidence of a Creator, looking
at the Gospel, going, I mean, looking at the world and going,
there is something that created that. You cannot just vaguely
know that God is. You must vaguely know, I mean,
you must specifically know who He is. The gospel, the door, the believer,
because, you know, God, first John one, and we write these
things that your joy may be complete. That our joy may be complete,
that your. That your joy may be complete
because our association, our affiliation, our affection, our
bonding, what we've seen and heard and touched, we now proclaim
to you. And you are with us and we are
with Christ. And so together, our joy is complete. And I would say that the gospel
is the joy of the believer because it is the desire of the soul.
And I would also say that it is the fuel for Christian living. So then look. Finally, the gospel is the foundation
of all spiritual battles. This is the point. Stand therefore,
what are they? The belt of truth, the breastplate
of righteousness, the readiness of the gospel, the shield of
faith, the helmet of salvation, the word of God, and in prayer
and perseverance. Can't say that. So the word of
God, the gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed What provides the belt
of truth? The gospel of Jesus Christ is
that the Word of God is truth and that the gospel is effectual
revelation to you of that which we have seen and now tell you
about. John 4? I perceive you are a
prophet. Then answer me this. Should we
be worshipping on this mountain or that mountain? Jesus says, I'll tell you the
truth. Amen. Amen. I say to you, it is. That there is a day and it is
today. That's what Jesus says. There's a time to come and it
is today. When no one I'm going to use
it in the negative. He doesn't say it this way. Worship
there. He says there will come a time
when you will neither worship on that mountain or then in that
mountain, but that you will worship in spirit and in truth. Today's
the day for the father, my father, the father, not your father,
not Jacob, not Abraham, but the father is seeking such worshipers. And she says, oh, you're a really
wise prophet. And one day Messiah will come.
She's a little confused by that. One day Messiah will come and
teach us all things. And Jesus says, to whom you are
speaking, I am. That's the gospel. You can't worship God there.
You can't worship God here. You can't worship God there.
And you can't worship God like this. And it doesn't matter.
Because all of it is for nothing. It's just garbage. And you're
trying, and you're thinking, and you're looking, and you're
trying to see, but you're looking and can't see. And you know,
you're waiting for Me, as Jesus says. You're waiting for Me. You're waiting for that fullness
to see God and worship Him in truth and in spirit. And Jesus
says, here I am. That's the gospel. That's the
word of God. That's what we preach. Come to me if you're thirsty,
you'll never you'll be forever satisfied. Come to me if you're
hungry and you'll be forever full and you'll live forever.
Come to me and I will break. I will dip down into a well that
will well you up to eternal life that will overflow and drown
you in the glorious baptism of my father. That's the bell of truth. And
the gospel makes it so. The breastplate of righteousness. Oh, thank you God. He's so good. But look at the breastplate of
righteousness. This woman is living and worshiping, doing.
And Jesus says, I'm the living water. And if you knew who it
was asking for a drink, I'll give you a drink. You'd ask him for
a drink and he'd give you living water, water that wells up to
eternal life. And she says, are you greater than our father Jacob
who gave us this well? She's confused. How are you going
to give me something to drink? Because you don't even have a
thing to dip water with. Jesus' dipper was the Spirit
of God, see? And so, as Jesus says, well,
go tell your husband to come to here, and I'll explain it
to him. She says, I have no husband. He goes,
you said the truth. For you have had five, and the man you now
are with is not your husband. And so all of a sudden, the gospel
then as the fight and the battle against sin and wickedness, the
breastplate of righteousness is not ours to put on. It wasn't
a woman's to walk in sanctification, but it was Jesus to give her.
How perfect, I haven't seen that till now, how perfect that story
fits this illustration of Ephesians six. Oh, man, our Q&A might come
to a quick end on Tuesday soon, but The breastplate of righteousness
is the gospel, which is God's gracious victory over sin and
death and over the just penalty of condemnation for the saint. God's righteous requirements
through Christ given to mankind. This is good news. You who are
wicked are clean. And the shield, or the readiness,
the readiness given by the gospel of peace. We're ready because
we're at peace with God. We're not hiding. We're not cowering,
we're not running, we're not shirking back, we're not trying
to run from God in disobedience, but we stand bold for the throne
of grace because Christ has satisfied the fullness of the law and the
requirements of God for all of us, and we stand holy and blameless
and spotless, justified as if we've never sinned ever. He would say to us, well done,
my good and faithful servant. Are you really a good and faithful
servant? Strive for it, but you never will be good and faithful
in your righteousness, for it is the righteousness of Christ
that is good and faithful, and it's yours by faith. Receive it by faith. And then the shield of faith,
God's gift of grace, God's faith. If Romans, excuse me, Ephesians
2, 8 and 9, about grace have been saved through faith. And
this is not of your own doing. It is a gift of God so that no
one can boast. For you are Christ's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do what? Good deeds, which God has
prepared beforehand for you to walk in. So the shield of faith. ultimately relies on the decree
of God, the gospel of God, the preaching of Jesus Christ in
Ephesians 4, who came and preached the good news of redemption.
To the saints of old, you're saved. Your hope in me is fulfilled. You are indeed my own, and I've
come to save you, and I've found you, and you're mine, and you
are full. And the shield of faith. It's
a decree of His power and His revelation of His power and His
faithfulness. Listen, His faithfulness in pain
and trials and sin and suffering and temptation and the helmet
of the salvation. This is the power of the gospel
over our minds. The power of the good news in
the minds of the church. It's that our fleshly wills no longer
rule us, but the good news of Jesus has full effect in us and
it rules us and He rules us and the love of Christ compels us. And it never condemns us. Friends,
do you see that? The love of Christ, the gospel
of Christ. Romans 8.1, For there is now,
therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
You are not condemned, but you are compelled to come. The Spirit of God giving the
Word of God. What does it mean to get the
Word of God to give the Gospel? The Spirit of God has given us
the Gospel. And I want you to walk away with this, church.
The Spirit of God has given us the Gospel, and that means that
we have an understanding of the Gospel. We have an empowerment
through the Gospel. We have revelation with the Gospel.
We worship from the Gospel. We have good deeds because of
the Gospel. We are obedient. We have faith. We have repentance. We have affection.
We have brotherly love. And the list goes on. It's all from the Spirit of life,
and as we'll see next week as we talk about prayer, is that
we then are called, according to Romans 8, what a wonderful
passage, we are called and equipped to pray through the Spirit, by
the Spirit, for the will of the Spirit knows the will of the
Father, so the Spirit intercedes in our weakness. Because we can't
pray, we don't know how we ought to pray, so the Spirit of God
prays for us, and therefore that which we pray is the will of
God and it is done, because God's will is always done. This is
an amazing, amazing reality. And how is that effective in
our lives? It's not knowing the right words. It's not saying
the right phrases. It's knowing the right Christ,
who is the Gospel, who is the living Word of God, that God,
His Holy Spirit, has given you, by faith, to receive. Do you
hold to it? Do you hold on to it? Are you
receiving the Gospel? Today, are you rejecting the
Gospel? By faith, be saved and be reconciled
to God through Christ Jesus, the Living Word, who is the gospel. And be alert. Because God's power is the power
over all that is evil and over all enemies. The psalmist says
in Psalm 33, 6, By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made.
And by the breath of his mouth, all their hosts. God made the world by his word
and he made the church by the gospel. Colossians. Christ is the visible image of
the invisible God, the exact imprint of his nature. By Him
and for Him and through Him, all things were made. And He
upholds the universe. He upholds the cosmos by the
Word of His power. So by God's Word, He upholds
all that is. The molecular structure of the
eternal, ineffable, immeasurable universe is just a speck on the
speck of the speck of the magnitude of the magnificence of God's
glory. minus eternity. Then by God's very Word, the
Gospel, He created the people who He loves most dearly. Oh
my gosh, church, why do we sit powerless? You know why? Because we see Jesus as some
dude in a storybook. Jesus is the power of God given
to you that you might walk in sufficient perfection, illustrating,
reflecting the glory of God, the Father. Hebrews 4, 12, for the word of
God is living and active. sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and spirit and joints and marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.
Friends, no matter how you receive this sermon today, the Word of
God is doing that which it was intended to do. It, hopefully
and prayerfully, is cutting us. It cuts me. You think I prepare
this preaching, it's going to be, oh yeah, this hits my soul
as effectively, if not more effectively, than it hits you because what
I don't say is still here. And what God hasn't, let me say,
is still here. So there's a journey up to this
point. There's a journey in this point.
There's a journey from beyond. It's exhausting. It's glorious. The Word of God is going to cut
and it's not to maim. It is to sharpen and to cure
and to prune. But those who receive it not,
are cut down to be burned. So the warning still remains.
Church, by faith, receive. Rest in the promises of God as
yours by faith. Do not take lightly the sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, for it is the effect
of absolute power in your life. There is no war without it, and
there is no victory apart from it. Let's pray. God, there is an amazing picture. How often I can pick up my Bible
and consider it the Word, and it is. It's so easy for us to just placate
to the simple, to the fleshly. Oh, where's your bucket, Jesus?
Who gave him something to eat? How am I going to be born again
if I don't climb into my mother's womb? How are you going to rebuild
this temple in three days when it took us nearly 50 years? God, how simplistic, how simple
the devil fights against us. And we think Him such mysteriously
powerful. It's right before our eyes. We're
using the same words that we always use and thinking the same
thoughts that we always think. Everybody else does the same
and we're blind to it. Lord, thank You so much for Your
Word, for the Gospel that gives us full knowledge of the enemy
and his work and victory over it. Let us be discerning. Let us be affectionate to you
and to each other. Empower us to see and believe. Change us, God, from the inside
out through your word, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ
that reigns over us fully and effectively today and forever.
and bring those who have not come to faith to faith so that
they may see the perfectness and the beauty of the peace that
comes to Christ. And it's in His name we pray.
Amen.