We're gonna be in the book of Ephesians again, if you would like to turn there. Ephesians chapter six. More than ever in the history of time, there is more of a misconstrued interpretation of our text than ever before. And the reason is, is because all things pertaining to God are spiritually discerned.

Meaning we can't find them out. The scripture is clear that his ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is a spirit. As he told the woman at the well, God is a spirit and they that worship must worship in spirit and in truth. You and I can't just choose to worship in spirit, he must send his spirit and power and enable us to worship, but here in our text men take these words and they use them as a. way of life, as a rule of life, as a motivational application to life. They say do this and this and you'll have this and this, but that's not what our Lord is talking about here. This is a spiritual application for the Lord's people.

Romans 8, we just read for the call to worship, back in verse five it says, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. That's pretty simple, isn't it? Are you in the flesh? Pinch yourself. You're in the flesh, I'm in the flesh.

Now, when the Lord enables us to be in the spirit, that means we've been born from above. We see things through the eyes of faith, not just the physical. We see the things that are spiritual. We seek after Christ's righteousness, not our own righteousness. We seek after the things which are not seen. For the things which are not seen are eternal, but the things that are seen are temporal. The carnal mind, brethren, is death. cannot see the hidden mysteries of God, cannot interpret the spiritual meaning of scripture. These are spiritually discerned. These are spiritually revealed.

The Lord said to the Pharisees, a good example of this, is search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And don't you think every one of those Pharisees would have spent a lifetime of studies of the Scriptures? They probably had most of them memorized, wouldn't you think? You spend enough time reading something over and over again, you have a tendency of memorizing it.

And he said, they are they which speak of me. You think you have eternal life in the Scriptures, but they are they which speak of me. To see scripture without seeing Christ is to miss Christ entirely. He is, he says in the volume of the book it's written of me. This is all about him. This is his story. And we can know doctrine, we can know theology, we can know catechisms.

As I said the first hour, we can know all the things that men come up with and still miss Christ. We can still miss Christ. It's the Lord that causes us to seek him. The Lord that causes us to seek his face. The Lord is the one that causes us to be born again, born from above. The Lord is the one that's got to make Christ as all unto us. It's not what we know, is it? It's not what you know. religion, false religion. It's all about what I know. I used to know this now. I don't think that's right anymore. I know this now or now I know this. I need to change this and do this and do this and do this. I don't do that anymore.

It's about knowing things and doing things. But in the gospel, it's about whom we know. Paul said, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able. I'm not able. He is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. Someone says, well, you can't know Christ without knowing the doctrines of Christ first. That's not true.

You can know Christ, and he'll reveal the doctrines to you. The blind man said, this one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. I see the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord didn't tell him everything about all the, he didn't go into great details about different things, he simply, revealed that that man was a sinner and that Christ was the Savior. Gave him repentance and faith.

And then in time, we see the truth unfold in the Lord's gospel. And he teaches us his ways, his truths, his precepts. If we miss the simplicity that's found in Christ, we've missed everything. We've missed everything. Let's read our text in Ephesians chapter six. We're gonna read verse 10 through 18. Paul says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And I've titled this message Strong in the Lord. Strong in the Lord. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done, all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with the truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the hamlet 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. What does it mean to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might?

Well, at first glance, we see Paul telling us, take unto you the armor of God. And men will say, well, you have to don this armor. You have to put it on. You have to do this, or you have to do that. Many men will tell you, and I Don't know if I have this written down later on or not, but when I looked up the armor of God, there's seven different ones right here, and you could probably preach seven different messages from it, but for this morning, my hope is that the Lord just allows us to see it as a whole. And it was how to obtain or use the seven pieces of armor.

Brethren, these are spiritual. These are spiritual, these are not physical things that we go and apprehend, or go and attain, or merit, or earn. These are all spiritual things, and everything spiritual, every good gift, the scripture says, come down from the Father of lights. The Lord's gonna have to be the one to give this to his people.

The lie of corruption and false religion says, putting on the armor of God, and I got this as a quote, by the way, somebody that I'm not gonna mention. Putting on the armor of God is a daily, intentional, and spiritual practice of relying on God's strength, not one's own. Standing firm against temptation and spiritual warfare, it involves praying, meditating on scripture, and consciously and consistently applying the truths of salvation, righteousness, peace, and faith to prospect against spiritual attacks.

Those that believe that are lost. They don't know the truth about what's being spoken here. And I hope and I pray this morning the Lord would allow me to be able to deliver to you what it means to be strong in the Lord. Men say to do this in order to guard against spiritual attacks. You know what a spiritual attack is? A spiritual attack is very simple. It's whenever our adversary causes you to examine yourself and doubt your salvation. A spiritual attack is always pointing to yourself, what you're doing, what you're not doing.

It's unbelief. That is the sin that doth so easily beset us. Now, how do you guard against that? You beg God to cause you to look to Christ alone. because you and I can't wake up in the morning and say, okay, today I'm going to look to Jesus Christ all day long. I'm not taking my eyes off of him for one second. Anybody ever done that before? No, you know why? It's impossible.

As soon as you leave here, what's gonna happen is somebody's gonna pull out in front of you and you're not gonna be thinking about the Lord anymore. You're gonna be thinking about how aggravated you are to that person pulled out in front of you. If you're doing anything like me, that's how we are by nature. No, it's not that we say, okay, I'm gonna pray more. I'm going to get, I'm going to get stronger in faith. I'm going to, I'm going to be ready for whatever the devil may throw at me. No, no, that's not what faith is. Faith is not what we can see. Faith looks to Christ. Faith is not what we produce or what we see with these eyes or what our hands do. As we heard the first hour of faith looks to the Lord Jesus Christ.

So What is it then to be strong in the Lord? What is it to put on this armor? What is He talking about then? Because men are constantly saying, well, you need to take the sword of the Spirit. You need to take the shield of faith. You need to don your helmet of salvation on. You need to put on the breastplate of righteousness. You better have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Brethren, those are the things that God has already given to His people by the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't get the helmet of salvation. You can't earn the helmet of salvation. You can't merit the helmet of salvation. It's a gift of God by grace alone. Faith is bestowed by the Lord Jesus Christ because it's his faith freely given by his grace.

Second Timothy chapter one verse nine says, God has saved us and called us. What came first? Well, He saved us first. Then He calls us, and when He calls us, what happens? He gives us repentance and faith. We see God as absolutely sovereign, absolutely holy, absolutely just and righteous, and we see ourself as the chief sinner. That's repentance. And then we see Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of sinners. It says, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We see the Savior, that's faith, that's faith. Faith looks to Christ, it comes from him and he gets all the glory for it.

If I ever think faith is something that I do or do not do, it's not faith. If faith is something I can see or think I need to try to see, it's not faith. Faith looks to things unseen. Faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You can't see faith. You can't see what, we look through a glass darkly, don't we? Look to Christ through the eyes of faith, not these eyes.

No, brethren, the lie says do. The truth says it is finished. Should we strive to read scripture? Absolutely. Should we strive to listen to messages? Absolutely. This is how the Lord gives bread to his people, daily manna that we need. Should we pray one for another? Absolutely.

The Lord commands it. but not as part or evidence of our salvation at any time. If you're doing it as part or evidence of salvation, stop. Don't do that. Everything God required in salvation, Christ Jesus fully accomplished on the cross of Calvary. If I'm looking for evidence in myself of salvation, I'm not looking to Christ, so that's not a faith.

Yeah, but you gotta see some kind of fruit. You have to see that you're getting better. No, no, Paul said, oh wretched man, that I am, not that I was. Paul said, I die daily, I crucify the flesh. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, Christ liveth in me. In the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So it's not me that's living, it's Christ that's living in me. No, this flesh is dead because it died when Christ died, died unto the law.

That's our hope, isn't it? That the Lord would no longer require payment for our sin. because there's nothing we can do to fix that sin. Christ Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness. Christ Jesus took that sin, knelting it to his cross, and put it away by the sacrifice of himself.

How do you know that those who believe that this is all about doing something and doing something and doing something or not doing something are lost? Well, because in false religion, one thing that I just read from this passage, about these seven glorious pieces of armor.

By the way, number seven's perfection. Remember we looked at that a while back? Perfection. Number seven's the number of perfection in scripture. When you look at this from the point of false religion, it's not about what Christ has done, it's about what you need to do. But the gospel says, This is what Christ has given freely by grace. These seven items are a metaphor regarding what Christ has already accomplished. We know what a metaphor is. We don't take a physical helmet, no, no, the Lord crowns us with his righteousness. We don't take the physical breastplate, the Lord puts the breastplate upon his people.

Second Corinthians 12, nine. He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ be rest upon me. Why would the Lord say that his strength is made perfect in weakness whenever you and I are supposed to be going to some kind of a Well, a spiritual gym, if I can put it that way, to exercise our faith.

That's what men act like they do. I'm going to get stronger in faith. Not by what you do, you're not. The way up is down. Not by what I do. My faith isn't going to grow because I do this and don't do that. That's just moral living. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word. And it's not that I hear more of the Word, so my faith increases. The Word is the Word of God. It's Jesus Christ, John chapter one. If my faith's gonna grow, God's gonna have to grow it. The disciples didn't say, okay, we're gonna work on our faith, Lord. No, they said, Lord, increase our faith. It comes from you. I can't get it. I can't grow it. I can't make it better. You're gonna have to give me faith to believe.

Unless you and I see that these are gifts of God by grace, then we have succumbed to the lie. And as Paul told the Galatians, you've fallen from grace. Anytime that we start putting our hand to something, anytime we start touching part of salvation, whether it's part to obtain salvation or evidence after salvation, it's falling from grace. That's the description of it. Are you saying you're lost at that point? I'm saying that The Lord's left it to ourself for a brief moment, but he restores his people. That's what I'm saying.

Falling from grace is simply that we're no longer believing and trusting completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking to something else. No, those that are the Lord's, the Lord won't lose. Don't misunderstand my words. So what does it mean to be strong in the Lord then? It means to look to Christ. It means to look to Christ. It's what he has provided. not my walk, not my talk, not my actions, not my sacrifice, not my obedience, his walk, his talk, his actions, his sacrifice, his obedience.

May the Lord be gracious to cause me to simply search. Somebody said, well, scripture says clearly search. Um, Look inside yourself. Examine yourself is the word. Examine still means search. Examine yourself. See if you be in the faith. And men are like, yep, I'm in the faith. I examined myself. I'm doing a good job.

Nope. That's not what he's talking about. He's saying, look inside of yourself and see if they be anything in you that you're looking to other than Jesus Christ is all of your wisdom, all of your righteousness, all of your sanctification, all of your redemption. Cause if there is, you're not in the faith and I'm not either. Examining oneself doesn't mean that you're looking for fruit. It doesn't mean you're looking for what you're doing or not doing properly. It means are you looking to Christ alone? Because looking to anything else, it's not salvation. Christ alone is salvation. Now notice the simplicity here.

And I love the way that our Lord writes his word. He gives enough rope for a man to hang himself, if I can put it that way, and men do. Left to themselves is exactly what they do. They say, okay, we have to do this and this and this. No, that's not it. But, look at these three words here, verse 14. Verse three words. Stand there for having. Stand, therefore, having. You say, why is that important?

Because having doesn't mean that you're getting, doesn't mean that you're trying to obtain, doesn't mean that you're trying to merit or earn. It means you already have it. Doesn't mean that I'm trying to work something up in order to get something out of it.

That means I've already got it. Stand, therefore, meaning what's the therefore, therefore? It's because it's everything that he said prior, stand therefore, because you already have this. This has already been given to you. Not stand to acquire, not stand to receive, standing because you have, and I have received.

Do we see that? This is the glorious news of God's gospel. Everything he requires, he's already provided. Look at verse, let's read verse 14 through 18 again. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with the truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you 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.

Every time you see the Word of God, He's not just talking about physical pages. Scripture says, and I mentioned this earlier, John chapter one, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And if you skip down a few verses, it says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So the Word of God is Jesus Christ.

Every time you see that, apply that, and take the helmet of salvation, 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. He's not saying stand to acquire or receive. He's saying stand knowing God has bestowed these by grace, by grace alone. How can you stand in Christ?

Knowing that you're a broken, vile, wretched creature of dust. That you're a sinner by nature. Not because of what we do, but because of what we are. We're born in sin. Sin is the action because of what we are. It's not what makes us a sinner. I use this example the first hour, but a dog barks because it's a dog. A cat meows because it's a cat. We're a sinner because of what we are, not because of what we do.

So how is it I'm going to have peace with God? He's gonna have to do it. He's gonna have to do it. We stand knowing, we stand knowing that God hath bestowed these by grace. It's been revealed unto us in his word by his gospel. His elect have received assurance of truth. Stand therefore having your loins girded about with the truth. Has the Lord revealed the truth to you about what you are and who he is?

Has He ever revealed the truth to you about what you are and who He is, that you're a sinner and He's the Savior, that He is absolutely sovereign, that none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou, that He controls the inhabitants of heaven and the earth and under the earth and all things are subject to Him. They're subject to His counsel, His purpose, His will, and nobody can stop Him. Nobody can constrain Him. Nobody can restrain Him.

Has He ever showed you that before? Has he ever showed me that I'm the chief sinner, not just that I sinned one time or twice and I'm better now, I'm getting better, I'm doing better. I'm trying to fix it and clean up my life. Has he shown you that you are utterly sinful from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet? You have no hope of fixing it whatsoever. If he showed you that by his grace, your loins are girt about with the truth. Do we see that?

Already done. Therefore, stand. Stand, therefore, because your loins are girded about the truth. Stand. You say, well, standing is a work. Not if you're resting in Christ. You're standing upon the rock. He told Moses, he said, I'm going to put you on the rock and then I'm going to put you in the cleft of the rock. We're standing upon the promises of God. We're standing upon the truth of his salvation. We're standing upon Jesus Christ and we're here in the cleft of the rock where God says, I will not harm you because I see him, not you. You're safe. You're safe.

Oh, brethren, is your only hope is that you've been given the breastplate of righteousness because Christ took our sin and made us the righteousness of God in him. Are you trying to obtain a breastplate of righteousness or are you hoping in the righteousness of Christ? Now, anytime that we try to work and do something means we're trying to obtain something. And if we are trying to obtain righteousness by what we do, it's called self-righteousness, self-righteousness. but the breastplate of righteousness, the covering, represents our new man. The Lord's given us his righteousness. You can call it a robe if you want to, a robe of righteousness. You can call it whatever you want to call it. It's the same thing. The Lord's already given that to his people freely by his grace.

Stand therefore, you've been made the righteousness of God in Christ. Stand upon his promises. Stand upon his truth. Stand upon his word. That's what he's saying. Stand. And having done all to stand, stand therefore. Don't move a muscle. Stand in his righteousness, stand in his truth.

Rest in Christ alone. We stand believing by faith alone that God's gospel is the only way we can have peace with God. That's what he says in verse 15, and having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The only way that I can have peace with God is by his gospel, that God chose to save sinners, that God chose to redeem those sinners, that the spirit regenerates those sinners and keeps them from themselves until the very end.

That's my only hope. My hope is not in my choice. My choice is bound to my nature, and I'm a dog, remember? I'm a sinner. I'm going to choose that which benefits me. No man will come to Christ. He told the Pharisees, you will not come to me that you may have everlasting life. He said, that's because you're not my sheep.

John chapter 10, he says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. This is the glorious news of God's election. God does the choosing. God does the saving. God does the calling and keeping, not us. God gives us faith to believe, which is what he's saying in the next verse, verse 16, and above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Every time Satan says, he whispers in your ear, look at you. If you were a believer, you wouldn't do that. If you really trusted in Jesus Christ, you wouldn't think that. If you really thought If you really think God loves you and you're acting this way, you're wrong. Do you know what drives that thought out?

Seeing Christ. What does the shield of faith mean? That means the only thing we have to quench the fiery darts that would pierce our heart and reveal our sin is what faith looks to. Faith does not turn, the shield doesn't turn around and look at us. The faith is, shield is pointing outward. It looks to Christ, faith looks to Christ. If you take into you the shield of faith, it's because God's already given you faith.

You believe in Him, you're looking to Christ, you say, Truth, there's nothing in me that I see why God would save me. And yet the Lord says, it's not for your sake, it's for my name's sake. Don't you love the verse that says, even if we deny him, yet he remaineth faithful, he cannot deny himself. Isn't that glorious? He can't do it. He can't do it. Every time our adversary says you're a sinner, God points to the blood by faith. Remember the blood? I've covered you. Don't you love the thought of Satan going before the Lord? He's called the accuser of the brethren.

Whenever Naaman, you remember the book of Esther, Naaman went before the king and the king said, The man that the king favors the most, what should be done to him? Naaman said, well, you should give him your ring and your robe, and you should have your best man parade him around the city. He said, that's perfect, do that to Mordecai. Now I would remind you that he hated Mordecai more than anything, because Mordecai was a Jew, and he had just had the king sign a law into place that was supposed to kill all the Jews, and yet now he has to parade around the one man that he hates the most.

What is that a picture of? That's a picture of every time Satan going before the Lord saying, One of your children just committed a sin again. He says, no, I put away that sin. Put away that sin. I see the blood. I don't see that sin. It's gone. It's gone. It's cast as far as the east is from the west. There is no sin.

All that Satan can do is parade around the robe of righteousness that Jesus Christ has given to his people. All that he can do is parade around a son or a daughter of Jesus Christ and say, I see the blood. I see no sin. There is no sin been committed by my children. Aren't you thankful for the verse that says where sin doth abound, grace did much more abound.

Every time we find ourself loathing in our unbelief, faith enables us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Every time that we feel broken, we are made to stand in Christ complete. Every time that we see ourself as a leper from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet, we're reminded we have a great physician who can heal any infirmity, who took our sin and put them out of the way on the cross of Calvary by his own sacrifice. Every time a fiery dart pierces our heart, grieving us over our sin that we are sinners, we're reminded that we have the next verse, the helmet of salvation.

He is crowned his people with salvation. He saved us. Not by works of righteousness, which you have done, but according to his mercy, hath he saved us. He's crowned us with the helmet of salvation. What is your defense against your adversary? Christ. He's my only hope. His salvation, his righteousness, his truth, his gospel. That's all my hope.

This is what Paul's saying here. He's not saying live your life better, do better, figure this out, merit this, earn this, like people get merit badges and things. No, that's not what this is about. In God's eyes, we're not earning anything. This is freely bestowed by grace alone.

Oh, he gives us this crown of salvation. Nothing can touch us unless it passes through our father's hand. He's our crown of life. Scripture says he is our life and our life is hid with Christ in God. And then we have the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That's Christ himself. The precious promises of God. What precious promises? The Lord Saw the travail of Christ's soul upon the cross of Calvary, he said, I'm well pleased, I'm satisfied.

What was he satisfied to do to redeem his people? Everybody he was dying for. Every drop of blood that he shed was shed on purpose for a specific people. It wasn't just an offer to everyone, he was offering himself to the Father. And the Father was well pleased.

For time ever began, the Father elected a people and they were written in the Lamb's book of life. And He alone was the one that was worthy to loose the seals and open the book thereof, which was the damnation that you and I deserve because of our sin, the hell that we should have endured for all eternity. And yet by His grace alone, Christ Jesus took that on the cross unto Himself, burying our sin in His body on the tree, becoming a curse for us and putting away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

And the promise we have that he was successful is his final words on the cross, it is finished. Father into thy hands I commit my spirit. And he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost. What was finished? Salvation, righteousness, justification, sanctification, glorification. Everything that God purposed to happen on the cross of Calvary came to pass. Now he gives us the glorious promises.

I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'll go with you all the way even to the end. I was forsaken so that you would never be forsaken. This is the wonderful sort of the spirit that we have. We're not some soldier in an army trying to fight our way to heaven. The war's over, brethren. Are we in a warfare still yet? Absolutely. The new man and the old man are fighting every single day. But the truth of the matter is, is the victory is the Lord's. It's already been accomplished. Everything's already finished. We get to rest in the precious promises of our Lord.

He said, I will make you lie down in green pastures. I will lead you beside the still waters. I will restore your soul. He said, I'll lead you in the paths of righteousness for my name's sake. I'll anoint your head with oil. Your cup's gonna run over, and goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you're gonna dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord said it. Told his people in Isaiah, the fire will not burn you when you pass through it. The water will not overtake you. Why? Because I've loved thee with an everlasting love. I have purchased you by my blood. I have redeemed you. I have bought you. And I love these next words. You are mine. Mine. You love that? I love that. I am his and he is mine.

That's what song of Solomon says. Therefore, because of everything we've said, what we have been given in Christ Jesus, verse 18, we pray. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Why do we pray? Does prayer change God's mind? Men say foolishly, prayer changes things. What they mean by that is, is that if we pray hard enough, we'll reach heaven and God will do our bidding.

That's not true. That's a lie. God doesn't change. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. So they're calling God a liar if they believe he's going to change his mind on something. Here's the truth.

Prayer changes you and prayer changes me. Prayer causes us to seek God's face. And when we seek his face, his will is revealed in his time. Now I said his time specifically, because if you go to the book of Daniel and read Daniel prayed for 21 days straight, multiple times a day, he's crying out to God.

His people are in captivity. They're in Babylon. He wants to go home. He wants to worship God. That's only his desires to worship God freely. Lord did not respond to him for 21 days. And then the angel of the Lord comes into him and says, Daniel, I've come for your words. For from the first time you prayed, I heard you. Now I'm here to answer." Sometimes he leaves you in the darkness for a long time whenever you're in prayer. You know why? To change your heart and to change my heart.

Prayer's not for God, prayer's for us. Think about the glorious intercession of our Savior when our prayers go up. He delivers them, washes them in his blood and delivers them into the Father as a perfect prayer of obedience and faithfulness. And the Lord answers according to his grace and according to his will. We have a direct line to the throne room of God. How often do we take that for granted? That's glorious, isn't it? You know what that costs? That costs the Lord his life. It costs his blood alone.

We pray, not my will, but thy will be done. And we watch, and I love the watching. Because that just means we're seeing what the Lord calls us. And you notice if you go in scripture and you go to the Old Testament all the way through the New, it says, and it came to pass and it came to pass and it came to pass. And I could say that a hundred more times and it wouldn't be adequate as many times as the scripture says that it came to pass.

Came to pass. This King did that. And this person did this and that person did that. What does that mean? Whatever God's purpose come to pass. So we're watching for the perseverance. of the saints. God's people will be kept by his power through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. This is his promise. This is what has been given.

We see our brethren, look around and see our brethren, and you all know this is true. You look and you think, well, I wish I could pray more like that person, or I wish I could do better like that person, or I think this or think that. Only the Lord's people actually think that way because the people in false religion pray like the Pharisee. Lord, I thank you that I'm not like that person, and I'm not like that person, and I tithe, and I fast, and I give, and I do this, and I do that.

And yet the publican wouldn't even lift his head up to the sky. He wouldn't look up. He smote himself upon the breast and said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. And our Lord said, one of these men went home justified. And who do you think it was? It was the sinner. Not the one that justified himself, but the one that God justified.

We watch the perseverance of God's elect unfold, it comes to pass. For he is faithful that promise, he will perform that which he has sworn. John says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that come to me, I'll in no wise cast out. If I am to be strong in the Lord, then I am looking to nothing other than the finished work of Jesus Christ, everything that he provided on the cross of Calvary.

I'm not looking to earn something. I'm not looking to merit something. I'm not looking to get stronger and better and better and better. I am looking to Christ alone. What am I striving to do? His will. I'm striving to see his face. Paul said, I press towards the mark of the high calling God. What's the mark? Is that whenever you become a superhuman with amazing faith and if you had faith of the grain of mustard seed, you could move a mountain. Man, if I just had that much faith, I could move that mountain.

That mountain is your sin. It's a metaphor. Mountain is our sin. If you have faith, just a little bit of faith, that means God's given it to you. And that sin was nailed to the cross of Calvary. It's gone. That's what he's talking about there. And that little mustard seed becomes a great tree planted by the rivers of water because God's the doer of it. That's how his people are described.

Do not strive to become some, to have some superhuman strength in order to have this armor. You'll never have it. Press towards Christ. Look to him. You already have it. You've already been girded. You've already been robed, you've already been crowned.

If you're the Lord's people, he's already done all these things for us. We don't have to strive for anything as far as these things that are here. We stand having all of this already. We rest on the Sabbath, the Lord Jesus Christ. We rest looking to him and his finished work. And we press towards the mark, standing. We press with eyes of faith. How do we strive to be found in Him? Well, we rest all of our hope of salvation in Him.

Brethren, the warfare is not in doing or not doing. The warfare is in believing and not believing. It's unbelief that we struggle with. It's not, well, I should have done this and I should have done that. That's true. A lot of times we fall on our face because of things we do. But if we didn't do that, we would sit here and say, I don't do that anymore, and I don't do that anymore, and I'm getting better, and I'm getting better. That's not true. Just because we got a little bit moral don't mean it changed anything on the inside.

The warfare is believing in him completely. For those of you who desire this armor, don't move a muscle. Don't move a muscle, look to Christ. Look to him as all your wisdom, all your righteousness, all your sanctification, all your redemption. If I can, if I can look to Christ, that means I've already been given the armor.

That's what that means. If I can rest in him completely, not look at myself, I might examine myself to see if there'd be anything in me that I'm looking to other than Christ, but I never examine myself to see if I'm actually saved or not based upon what I do or do not do. Because if I'm going to be saved, it's gonna be through and by Him. If I'm gonna be kept, it's gonna be through and by Him. So if I find myself looking to Him alone, if you find yourself looking to Him alone, you are strong in the Lord. You're strong in the Lord.

In weakness. His strength is made perfect. Can you say with the Apostle Paul, in weakness, all of this, this is weakness. Look up weakness in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of me. You'll find a picture of you as the Lord's people. In weakness, his strength is made perfect. Perfect. If you can rest in Christ complete, you're strong in the Lord and you have everything. You have everything. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would take this. Oh, cause us to rest in you. Cause us to stand in your truth, your promises and cleave to you. In Christ's name we pray, amen. We're going to turn in closing to number 42.