I heard Brother Ralph Barnard
tell a story of a young man back in 1940, if I remember correctly. He said the young man received
a letter from the United States government and demanded that he appear,
didn't demand, but said he was to appear on Park Avenue on a
given day, one o'clock in the afternoon. And the young man
was a little excited. He didn't know of anything on
Park Avenue except the famous, luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hotel
where so many bigwigs were and so many great things went on
and he arrived there at the address given him at one o'clock in the
afternoon on the appointed date. But the place where he was demanded
to go was the recruiting office He had forgotten that the United
States had just enacted the Selective Service Act, and he was about
to be drafted as the country prepared for war. That's a pretty
good picture of the surprise that men and women find when
first they come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been
told all our lives that life in Christ It's a life of peace
and tranquility. If you believe on the Son of
God, all your troubles will be over, your cares will be ended,
and you'll have just a rose-colored life from now on. This day, religious
hucksters capitalize on it and tell you that God wants you to
be healthy and wealthy and prosperous and wants everything to go well.
If that's what God wanted, that's what would happen. But that's
not the way things are. When I call you to come to Christ,
when I call upon sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when
I call people to faith in Christ, I'm calling you to enlist under
the banner of the Son of God, and it is a call to war. It is a call to war, to believe
on Jesus Christ. to bow to Christ the King, to
give up your life to Him, to live for His honor and His glory,
trusting His blood and His righteousness, is to enter into a warfare, a
conflict from which there is no release until life on this
earth has ended. The believer's life from beginning
to end is an incessant war, a war with the world flesh and the
devil not a war with Society not a war with the things that
go on in society and I want to stress that at the beginning
of the message I'm not talking about going out and marching
against abortion clinics and marching against stuff in liquor
store open here in Danville or Getting folks to vote against
it, though. I prefer that all those things be closed down I
wish every one of them are closed down. But as you read the New
Testament God's people in that day faced every bit as much moral
indecency and ungodliness as we do today. And you never find
one urging, not one word of exhortation, not one word admonishing God's
people to go and march against this and march against that or
boycott this or boycott that. That's not where the warfare
is waged. It is a warfare that is altogether
spiritual. with the world, the flesh, and
the devil. The old writers used to talk
about the church triumphant, referring to God's saints in
heaven, and the church militant, referring to God's saints on
the earth. The reason they use those terms is this. The church
triumphant referred to all God's saints already at rest with Christ
in heaven's glory, whose warfare is over. Their victory is won,
and they've entered into their rest. The church militant is
the church constantly at war upon the earth. God's church
is not a social club. It's not just a religious society.
But the church of Christ in this world is an army, an army at
war all the time. Everyone who's truly part of
the church has enlisted as a soldier in the ranks of King Jesus. And
so long as we live in this world, We will be involved in this holy
warfare if indeed we follow Christ. There's no truths with Satan,
no peace with sin, no treaty with the ungodly. The saints
in heaven seated at the side of the king of kings, they're
the church triumphant. But we who are yet upon this
earth are the church militant, always at war. My text this evening,
Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 20, is a call to war. A call to war. Let's read it
together. Ephesians six, verse 10. 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, taken
to you, the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with 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 the fiery darts
of the wicked. 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, and for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew
10, 34, I came not to send peace, but a sword. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. That's the way things began with
God's church and that's the way things are now. All the days
of our Savior's life upon this earth, he constantly was engaged
in a warfare with evil. And the evil against which he
waged war was the prince of darkness and the religion of this world
spawned by hell itself. He ended his life on this earth
being put to death by the hands of his enemies who persecuted
and opposed him throughout his days on the earth. So it was
in the lives of the apostles. All of them except one died a
martyr's death, being put to death because of his faith in
Jesus Christ. They loved not their lives unto
death. God's people are all martyrs. That's what the word witnesses
is. If you transliterated the word, ye are my witnesses, it
would be ye are my martyrs. Men and women who give up their
lives to Jesus Christ the Lord. Men and women who willingly,
with devotion, lay down their lives in the cause of the Redeemer. In the early church, throughout
the first centuries, there was relentless persecution. Horrible,
horrible persecution. And nothing has changed. The
persecution of God's church continues. It's true today that, at least
in our part of the world, outward physical persecution is limited. But nonetheless, it is cruel
and relentless in its ever-growing hatred of Christ, his gospel,
and his people. Though this part of the world
we have relative freedom from persecution, we are not free
from our warfare. As the Spartan is born for war,
the believer is born for conflict and born in conflict. That's
the way things are and it won't change. Our destiny is to be
assailed. Just be prepared for it. Our
destiny is to be assailed. I tell preachers, especially
my young brethren, as they consider the work of the ministry, if
you do this work, you're leading in the battle of the cause of
Christ, and the leader must take the brunt of the assault. You've
got to have a backbone of steel as broad as an eight-line freeway
with the height of a rhinoceros. You can expect to be assailed,
and you mustn't let it bother you very much. You just let it
roll off, just let it roll off, and go on your business expecting
to be assailed. And as it is our destiny to be
assailed, it is our duty to attack. It is our duty as believers to
assault the gates of hell with the gospel. I try to remind myself
and ask God to remind me. Every time I read or see one
of the reports of the horrid terrorist in our day, men willing
to blow themselves up, willing to absolutely blow themselves
up for the cause of Islam or some foolish notion. Would to
God I had such commitment to my Redeemer and would to God
you did. We ought to be just that fully
committed to our Redeemer, so as to lay down our lives entirely
in the cause of Christ, to make known the riches of the glory
of God's free grace through the shed blood of his dear Son, calling
sinners out of darkness into light. Every child of God in
this world is to be like David, You remember how David is described?
He ran to Goliath. He ran to do battle with the
giant. He wasn't hesitant, he was running
to do battle. His brother rebuked him and he
said, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? Is there
not something worthy of this? Indeed, the name and honor and
glory of our God is worthy. We have a king to serve. He's
the king of kings. We have a cause to defend. We're
set for the defense of the gospel. We have a captain over us, the
captain of our salvation. Him we must follow. We have a
kingdom to establish. Our business is to establish
a kingdom, the very kingdom of heaven. We have an enemy to overthrow,
the prince of the power of the air. We have a banner to raise,
the banner of the cross. And we're assured of victory,
for the gates of hell cannot prevail against us. The gates
of hell cannot stand before us. Oh God give us grace daily to
assault the very gates of hell with the gospel wherever God
opens the way and gives the opportunity. Rouse then soldiers, rally round
the banner, ready, steady, pass the word along, onward, forward,
shout aloud Hosanna, Christ is captain of a mighty throne. Now
we come here in Ephesians 6 beginning with this 10th verse to Paul's
conclusion of his epistle to the Ephesians and to us in this
portion of scripture. The Apostle in the book of Ephesians
has, he has described for us the great glory of God's grace
in Christ. That eternal grace by which we
were chosen, predestined, adopted, accepted, redeemed, justified,
sanctified in Jesus Christ the Lord before the world began.
The grace of God given us through the power of His Spirit applying
the blood of Christ to us. The grace of God raising us from
the dead. And the glory of the blessed
work of preaching the gospel as is described in chapter 3.
And He's laid down standards. Standards by which we should
live. Standards by which our lives are to be governed. Standards
by which God's church is to be governed. Standards by which
we are to live in this world and labor in this world. The
standards are clear. And now he concludes this epistle
with an urgent note issuing a call to war. Why such an urgent call? The answer is that the church
has enemies. Enemies hell-bent on its destruction. And those enemies must be steadfastly
resisted and positively opposed by all who name the name of Christ.
Let me call your attention to four things in these verses as
we move along. Here's the first. We must give
heed to this sobering admonition. 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. Paul begins this admonition with
the word finally. He urges us to begin in the Lord
and to end in the Lord. He says be strong in the Lord
and in the power of his might. I liked what Robert Hawker had
to say on this. He said, he that begins in the Lord's strength
will be sure to find strength all the way in his warfare. And there never was an instance
of a child of God being finally defeated that did so. The enemies
of heaven overcame by the blood of the Lamb. And the church is
said to be more than conquerors through him that loved them.
Be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. The paramount
necessity for the soldier in Christ's army is that he be stout-hearted
and well-armed. Therefore, Paul urges us to be
courageous in Christ's cause. Believers need strength and courage. Now, Paul is not talking, obviously,
about physical strength. He's not even talking about mental
strength or moral strength. He's talking about spiritual
strength. God-given strength of heart and of soul. Be strong
in the Lord. Every soldier must have strength
of heart, strength of heart to serve in whatever capacity God
puts him. so that wherever God puts you,
whatever it is God puts in your hands to do, do it with all your
might for God's glory. We must have strength to face
our enemies because enemies we have and enemies we must face. We must have strength to suffer
whatever it is the will of God that we suffer for Christ's sake.
This strength only God the Holy Ghost can give. Christ is our
strength. Paul said, I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me. Our sufficiency, Paul says,
is of God. Our sufficiency is of God. Everything I have ever attempted
as a believer on my own, I've made a mess of. And I've never attempted anything
following the direction of God's Spirit, by His Word, by His grace. God didn't give me the ability
to accomplish. Isn't that amazing? Our sufficiency
is of God. Paul's particularly talking about
preachers when he says that. Who's sufficient for these things?
Of all men walking on the earth, none has less sufficiency than
the one preaching to you. Well, why do you go about doing
this? Why do you give your life to this? Because this is what
God's put in my hands. This is what God's called me
to do. And if there's anything done, it's God that does it.
Our sufficiency is of God. We have no strength in ourselves.
Matthew Henry rightly observed, our natural courage is perfect
cowardice. And our natural strength is perfect
weakness. but all our sufficiency is of
God. We have every reason to be courageous
in the cause of Christ because the ground of our courage is
not our strength. The ground of our courage is
the all sufficient power of the omnipotent God. Now you tell
me what I should fear if I walk in his strength. Tell me what
you should fear if you walk in his strength. But courage is
not enough. We must be well-armed. Paul says,
therefore, put on the whole armor of God. This is God's armor. God's armor. It's armor that
God provides, armor that God gives, and yet the apostle speaks
to us as a matter of responsibility. It is ours to put the armor on. It's whole, complete, perfect
armor. There's nothing lacking. It's
the armor that God gives, but armor we must, by faith, put
on. Many years ago, when I first
met Brother Paul Thacker, first time I was sitting in his house,
Paul's with the Lord now, he built the church building in
Pikeville, some of you knew him. He was a dear friend. The first
time I was in his house, he made a statement to me that I'd never
heard put just this way, and it was exactly right. He said,
he said, if I understand it right, faith is not so much believing
something, as it is acting on what you believe. That's pretty
good. That's pretty good. Faith rules
the life. Faith acts upon God's revelation. Read the 11th chapter of Hebrews
and read the acts of faith. This armor of God is that by
which we are called of God to assault the very gates of hell.
Now, there's a good reason for the admonition that you may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our arch enemy
is Satan. Having been cast out of heaven,
he's in a rage. He's full of malice and envy
because the apostle tells us he knows he has but a short time. He seeks with malice to destroy
the name of Christ and his people. He walks about as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. And as we shall see, he has powerful,
well-organized army ruled by him. It is this prince of darkness
we must oppose. He employs the strategy of deception. in his rage against the souls
of men. He mixes error with truth to
make it appear plausible. He often quotes scripture to
defend his temptations. He appears as an angel of light
and transforms his ministers into preachers of righteousness.
He performs supernatural miracles, calling down fire from heaven
to give authority to his messengers. And he persuades people that
he doesn't even exist. He resides in places where he's
never expected to be, not in the bars and in the brothels,
but rather in the church houses, in the temples of the world.
And he promises people that good can come and good can be accomplished
by disobedience to God. We must ever be aware of Satan's
devices, lest he get advantage of us. He does more harm in sheepskin
than as a roaring lion. So let us put on the armor of
God and stand against his strategy and his deceit, even now. I assure you that the God of
peace will brew Satan under your feet shortly. And having done
all, Paul says, stand, stand. Sometime back, I read a biography
of Jim Bowie who was killed at the Alamo. When his mother got
word that Bowie had been killed at the Alamo, her first words
were, I'll bet there were no scars on his back. She said, my boy is no coward. He never turned tail. He faced
the enemy head on. That's what Paul says for you
and I to do. Stand, stand fast in the liberty
where Christ has made you free. Having done all, stand. Martin
Luther, when he stood before the Diet of Worms, under penalty
of execution, Refused to recant he finally said in his final
speech before the died of worms Here I stand I can do no more
Here we stand Stand steadfast in the gospel of God's grace
in the cause of our Redeemer promoting his honor and his glory
now look at verse 12 here Paul speaks to us about our adversaries
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. The combat for which
we are to be prepared is not against ordinary human foes. We're not fighting frail men,
but the prince of darkness. Our warfare is not with Democrats
or Republicans, but with religion. Our warfare is not with brothels,
but with Babylon. Our warfare is not with communists,
but with self-righteousness. Our warfare is not with the states,
but with ourselves. A warfare with our own flesh,
and this warfare is a spiritual conflict between the prince of
life and the prince of darkness. Our warfare is with supernatural
forces of evil under the allegiance of Satan himself. Our enemies
are many, they're powerful, they're wicked, they're malicious. The
combat we're in, though it's spiritual, is real, hand-to-hand,
face-to-face combat all the time. The more you experience of God's
grace, as you seek to walk with Him in this world and just seek
to do what's right. The more you find yourself at
odds with your nature and with everybody around you, the more
convinced you are of God's truth and the more plainly you declare
it, the more you find yourself constantly at odds with everybody
around you. That's just the way it is, and
it won't get any better. It won't get any better. Next,
here's the third thing. Paul tells us about our sufficient
armor. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with 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 the fiery darts of the wicked, and
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of truth. Paul calls for us here to set
ourselves in battle array against the prince of darkness. You see,
it is our responsibility as the Church of God, it is the responsibility
of Grace Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky, to assault the gates
of hell, to enter into the enemy's territory in battle array and
overcome Satan's domain. Our Savior says to you and me,
to you and me, to this band of believers right here tonight.
He says to you and me, go ye therefore into all the world
and preach the gospel. That's our responsibility. We must use every means at our
disposal, every opportunity God gives us, everything we can for
the furtherance of the gospel. And the gates of hell will not
withstand the attack. Sometimes it appears that we
accomplish nothing. You never know what God's doing,
and it's best that we don't. You never know what God's doing,
how he's using things. It's best that we don't. It may
be the thing that, this book here, nobody, as long as I live,
prophets buy it, but maybe if it's laying on your coffee table
when you die, your son might pick it up and read it. Maybe,
just maybe. Who knows what God will do? I
recall the first time Brother Bill Clark went to Russia, went
to Belarus to set up a bookstore there for evangelical press back
a long time ago when the Iron Curtain first came down. and
they were allowed to do so. Folks were still very tense,
as I suppose they still are in Russia, and aware that somebody's
watching them all the time. But they got on, Bill said as
they got on the train, the last train as he was getting ready
to leave Moscow, somebody walked by, must have heard him talking,
and just stuck a piece of paper in his hand and walked on. Didn't
even turn around and look at it. Just stuck a piece of paper in his
hand and said, There are some believers here. God has his people
everywhere. It is our business to proclaim
the gospel to them and God uses it to tear down the very gates
of hell. Let us take the armor of God
and we shall be victorious even in this evil day. God give us
grace to do so. The Lord will preserve me and
keep me. will cause me to be blessed upon
the earth, and he will deliver me. He will not deliver me into
the will of my enemies. We must stand armed, how so? With our loins girt about with
truth. I don't know anything about these
things except what I read, but in ancient times, the soldiers
would wear a belt, around them. I suppose something like what
weightlifters wear now to hold in their loins to give them strength
and also to protect the And the Lord God here tells us that we
must have our loins girt about with truth. That is with the
truth of the gospel. We must have God's truth to hold
us strong, God's truth to direct our feet, God's truth to order
our steps. And we must have our loins girt
about with sincerity. guilelessness. So that we have
the truth of God revealed to us and the truth of God implanted
in us in the new birth. So that the believer is one who
is sincere and genuine. He walks before God in truth
and the man, the woman who walks in truth won't be turned away
from it. The person who walks guilelessly
cannot be turned out of his way. Have your loins girt about with
truth. And then Paul says we must wear the breastplate of
righteousness. Now, most folks are real good
at that. They're real good at it. Wearing
the breastplate of their righteousness. But I got news for you. The breastplate
of your righteousness is the very thing we oppose. None of us are anywhere near
as good as we think we are. And folks who imagine that they
are righteous have no righteousness at all. We wear the breastplate
of perfect righteousness. The perfect righteousness of
Jesus Christ our Lord. That righteousness of God which
is made ours by the gift of God's free grace. We walk through this
world dealing with the powers of darkness, facing the assaults
of Satan, and we do so with the breastplate of Christ's perfect
righteousness upon us. And the righteousness of Christ
gives us strength. Oh, how it repels the accusations
of Satan and secures us from wrath and condemnation. Frank
Hall and I were talking this morning about the matter of assurance
and the believer's ground of assurance. And I said to him,
the whole of it, the whole of it is faith in Christ. That's all. That's all. Paul
never urges us as religious folks do. Examine yourselves to see
how good you are, how holy you are, how much you pray, how dependable
you are, how faithful you are, and now you can know that you're
in the faith. Oh, no. He says examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith. That's all. Do you or do you
not trust the Son of God? Is he alone your righteousness? If he is, nothing can shake you. Here's the third thing. Our feet
must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. When I was just a young man,
folks, I'd hear them talk about these hobnail sandals soldiers
wore. They wore boots, boots to protect
their legs with grips on the soles by which they could stand
fast. And we, if we would walk through
this world, doing warfare with the world, the flesh, and the
devil, doing warfare with all that opposes Christ and his gospel,
we must have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace by which our legs are strengthened to stand and to
do battle. Stand firmly upon the truth of
the gospel, and the deceptive snares of Satan will do you no
harm. I love what Paul says about the
gospel, by which we stand firm. It's gospel peace. Gospel peace. It proclaims peace. It declares
peace made by God. It causes peace to be made between
our souls and God. We being reconciled to God by
the hearing of the gospel and the gift of faith as we were
reconciled to God by the doing and dying of his son. And it
makes us peaceable. Peaceable with one another. Easy
to get along with. easy to get along with, and peaceful. Peaceful in ourselves. So that the peace of God rules our hearts. Peace. Peace in the midst of
trouble. Peace in the midst of adversity.
Peace in the midst of trying circumstances. have your feet
shod with the boots of the gospel and stand in peace before your
adversaries. They can do you no harm. And
then Paul tells us to take the shield of faith. Above all, take
the shield of faith. The shield of faith in Christ
to Absorb and deflect all the fiery
darts of the wicked one. Not just little darts like you
throw when you're throwing darts, but the spears and the arrows
that are thrown your way as Satan raises Moses up and would condemn
you, the shield of faith. That shield of faith maybe speaks
more concerning Christ himself, the object of faith. He who stands and pleads our
cause continually. And then the apostle tells us
that the soldier must never go to war without his head being
protected. So he takes the helmet, the helmet of salvation. It holds
his head erect, not just covering his head but reaching down to
his neck and holds his head erect and protects it so that he has
strength never to bend or bow before an enemy, never to back
up and strength never to be injured by the assault of the enemy.
What is that? It is God's salvation. It is
the blessed hope of salvation in everlasting glory. This world. Why should anyone want to cling
to this? Why should anyone wish to hang
on to this. I honestly do not understand.
I do not understand folks having great struggles with dying. I
do not understand. Not folks who claim to be believers.
I do not understand that. I understand, Merle, if Charlotte's
about to die, you have great trouble letting go. Understand
her having trouble letting you go if you're about to die understand
that but I do not understand believers having some kind of
a oh Just get been out of shape cause you get sick find I got
cancer got Got heart disease or are they gonna die tomorrow
gonna die in a year. I do not understand that What is there
you're clinging to? What is it you're hanging on
to? I don't understand that. We live in the hope of eternal
life. The sure, confident hope of life. And if that doesn't protect you
and cause you to raise your head high, I don't know what will.
I'm talking about high before your adversary, not before God.
Hold your head erect and face any enemy as you walk with God
in confident faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. My dear friend, Brother
Harry Graham, who taught me so much, he said, somebody said
to him one time, he said, well, Brother Harry, we've got to live
in this world. And Harry was kind of quick with it. He said,
I beg your pardon, that's the one thing I ain't got to do.
That's the one thing I ain't got to do. I don't have to live
in this world. And the sooner God ends it, the
better for me. I don't have to live in this
world. And then Paul tells us to take the sword of the Spirit. This word. And by this word,
we do battle. Oh, blessed battle it is. Not
by the ballot box, and not by the sword of the law, and not
by the power of the flesh. No, we make no effort to align
ourselves with any kind of political cause in order to advance the
cause of Christ. Now, leave that to the Protestants,
Papists, and Muslims. Leave it to them. Leave it to
them. We take the sword of the Spirit. The gospel of God's free
grace, it's a two-edged sword. It's a two-edged sword. It's
gonna do one of two things. It'll either slaughter the enemy
or it'll make him bow to the king. One of the two, one of
the two. And God'll do his work. Not for
us to decide how he works, with whom he works, where he works.
We just do the warfare with the word of God, the gospel of God's
free grace. Now look at verse 18, 19 and
20. And Paul tells us what our attitude
must be as we engage in this warfare. Praying always, praying
always. I don't know exactly how to say
what needs to be said about this. Pray. By all means, by all means,
pray. Set time to pray. Make it your
business to pray. I never go to a restaurant and
pray. At our table, Shelby and I always
pray before we eat. Pray together. In my office,
I pray. On my bed, I pray. But this is
not just talking about speaking prayer. As we do our business as God's
soldiers in this world, live in constant dependence upon God,
your Savior, ever looking to Him with all prayer and supplication. In other words, make specific
supplication about specific things and watching thereunto. You have
to watch after it or you won't. With all perseverance and supplication
for whom? for all saints, for all saints. The ones you like and the ones
that you just have trouble being in their company. Somehow your
personality and theirs just doesn't rub just right. We have a real
problem, we have a real problem. Preachers and folks in churches. You see, it's much easier, much
easier to deal with Don Fortner, you being a believer, if you
decide Don Fortner's lost. Then you can say, well, I'll
treat him like hell, it don't matter. But to deal with Don Fortner in his
sinful flesh as your brother in Christ, as God's saint, that's
another story. And that's how we're to deal
with all saints, all of them, all of them. Those who are real
enjoyable to be around and those who have Kind of rough personalities. Those who always say the right
things and those who always say the wrong things. And those who
seem to always act right and those who seem to never act right.
God saves. Pray for them. And I'll tell
you a little something. You'll find it real hard, I promise
you, you'll find it real hard not to get along with me if you
pray for me. And I'll find it real hard not to get along with
you if I pray for you. pray for all saints. If you pray
for them, you won't talk about them except talk good about them.
If you pray for them, you'll do them no injury, lest you be
found hypocrite before God. Pray for all saints and for me,
for those who labor for your soul, to minister to your soul. Pray for me, your pastor, that
utterance may be given unto me. And as I preach, Oh, I pray that
God will speak by me to you and to others who hear my voice,
that I may open my mouth boldly, that I may preach with boldness,
with boldness, to make known the mystery of the gospel. It's difficult. It's difficult
for any man, for any man. to stand before men and preach
to them things he knows will enrage them. It's difficult. The only man who doesn't find
a difficulty with that is the kind of fellow you don't want
to be around. He's just mean. He likes to fight.
But for a man who cares for the souls of men in the glory of
God, not to be tempted to compromise. somehow to soft pedal the truth
of God in order to get along with men. You pray for me, Bill
Raleigh, wherever I go, and every time I speak to you, that God
will give me boldness to declare his word exactly as it is, to
make known the wondrous mystery of the gospel, for which I'm
an ambassador in bonds. An ambassador not just in the
bonds of the government, but in bonds to Jesus Christ the
Lord, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. God give us grace then to take
the whole armor of God and do battle, do battle with ourselves,
our flesh, do battle with the world, the whole of the religious
world around us to do battle with Baal, Balaam and Babylon
all the time. And to do battle with the prince
of darkness himself, who's opposed to the gospel all the time. And
as we do, as we do, I'm telling you what
I've seen. I don't know why we don't expect
it all the time. the gates of hell will fall down
in front of you. Just fall down in front of you.
God promised it. And that's the certainty of it.
Amen.