Paul says, fight the good fight of faith. Now, if I have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the gift of God's grace, if I'm enabled to look
to him, I have a fight on my hands, don't I? You've experienced that, a battle. Fight the good fight of faith. Now this word fight is also translated
conflict and contention and race. The verb form of the word is
translated strive. Remember when the Lord said you
strive to enter in at the straight gate. It's translated labor fervently
and fight. Now the life of a believer is
a warfare. And let me show you that in the
scripture. Turn back to 1 Timothy 1. This charge I commit unto thee,
verse 18, 1 Timothy 1.18, this charge I commit unto thee, son
Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that
thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Look in 2 Timothy 2. Verse 3. Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for
masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. Turn
back to Ephesians chapter six. I could go on with so many examples
of this in the scripture, but in Ephesians chapter six, Paul
says in 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, the deceptions
of the devil for We wrestle not against flesh and blood in this
contest we're in, this fight. 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 you may be able to withstand in the evil
day and having done all to stand." Now I could go on with countless
more examples from the scripture, but we're called upon to be good
soldiers of Jesus Christ. Now look in 2 Timothy chapter
4 for a moment. I want to look at Paul's last
words, and I so much want to be able to say these myself when
I'm facing death. Paul says in verse six, for I
am now ready to be offered. I'm ready to be poured out like
a drink offering. And the time of my departure
is at hand. Don't you love the way he calls
death a departure? That's a good thing. The time of my departure
is at hand. You know, your departure. Now
look what he says next in verse seven. I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. I didn't
quit. I have kept the faith. Now, if we're in warfare, there's
somebody we're fighting, isn't there? If you're in a fight, you've
got an adversary. There's somebody you're fighting.
Well, who is it that we are fighting? We have an enemy. Well, the first
one I would mention is what Peter said in first Peter five, eight,
your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. Now listen to me real carefully.
There is a being called the devil, Lucifer, Satan, the evil one. the accuser of the brethren,
the prince of this world, the God of this world, the tempter. He's even called an angel of
light. There is a being called the devil. Now we don't know
much about him. I realize that we know what the
scripture says, but I know that he hates Christ. And he hates
all that is associated with the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're
warned in the scripture of him and his devices and his wiles. He's deceitful. He's got a lot
of experience of this. And he knows how to turn people
like me and you inside out. And he has many demons under
him called his ministers. They're actually called his ministers.
And don't forget the words of Paul, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. And he is the tempter. And you
look how he worked in Peter's life. Now this is Satan. This is the devil. You remember
how the Lord said, Satan has desired thee. that he may sift
you as wheat. Satan himself, he's desired you,
he's asked permission to have you that he may sift you as wheat. And do you remember right after,
in Matthew chapter 16, after Peter gives that noble confession,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, and the Lord
said, blessed art thou, Peter, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood
hadn't revealed this to thee, but my Father, which is in heaven.
Just a few verses down, he said to Peter, get thee behind me,
Satan. For you savor not the things
that be of God, but you savor the things that be of men. Now,
the Lord said that to Peter, so that shows what a mighty adversary
he is. We have an adversary called the
devil. He's very real. I don't even
like thinking about him, but I'm glad he's God's devil, aren't
you? I'm glad he's under God's thumb, and I'm glad he can't
make a move without the permission of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
we have an adversary, your adversary, the devil. And we have another
adversary called the world, the world, the world, which our
Lord refused to pray for. Now think of his language here.
He says in John 17, nine, I pray for them talking about his elect.
I pray for them. I pray not for the world. Lord said, I don't pray for the
world, but for them, what you've given me for, they are gone.
Turn with me for a moment to first John chapter two. First John chapter 2. John says, love not the world. Verse 15. First John chapter
2, verse 15. Love not the world. This world that hates God, don't
love the world, its ways, its maxims, its religion. Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him.
Do you remember how James said, whosoever will be a friend of
the world is the enemy of God? That's what he said. Love not
the world. Verse 16, for all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of fallen human nature. The lust of the eyes being concerned
about what other people see. And the pride of life is not
of the Father, but it's of the world. Now, love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. The world passes away
in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth
forever. Now, this world is our enemy. Now, men of the world, unbelievers,
I want to be a witness to an unbeliever. I want to be an example
to an unbeliever. I want to preach the gospel to
an unbeliever. I want to be everything I can to make the gospel attractive
to an unbeliever by my conduct. I really want to. But I do not
want to make a friend, my personal friend, of someone who doesn't
know the Lord because that person actually hates Jesus Christ. Now they might not hate the Christ
of their imagination, but the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible.
That individual hates, and I'm not going to make that person
my friend, and we're wrong in doing that. Love not the world. Now, does that mean we don't
desire the salvation of everybody in the world? We do. We do. We
want people to know the Lord, and we want to be salt in the
earth. We want to be a witness. We want
to be an encouragement, but our enemy is the world, the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. But you know who our biggest
enemy is? Our biggest enemy is the man
that lives in here called self. That's my biggest enemy. If I'm
a believer, this is so mysterious, but it's just so. If I'm a believer,
I have two separate natures. I've got two completely separate
natures. I've got a holy nature given
to me in the new birth. That which is born of God, the
seed of God that cannot sin. And I've got an evil nature. He's my enemy. He's my deadly
enemy. He's my greatest enemy. He causes
me a whole lot more problems than the first two do. The flesh, the scripture says,
lusts against the spirit and the spirit lusts against the
flesh. And these two are contrary one to another so that you cannot
do the things that you would. You would be without sin. You can't. And you would be an absolute
monster in iniquity. And you can't. You know, the only way you can
understand this is if you have two natures. That's the only
way. It won't make any sense to you if you only have one nature.
But if you have two natures, you know that you're greatest
enemy. Look in Romans 7. Look what Paul
says about this. Just a few scriptures in this
very familiar chapter, Romans chapter 7, beginning in verse
21. I find then a law, a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me, for I delight
in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in
my members. What's that next word? Warring,
warring. against the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my
members. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now, The Lord never gave us any idea
that it's going to be anything but a fight. He said, think not
that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send
peace. I came to send a sword of division.
Paul said, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution. He said, in the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The Lord has promised us. this
fight. Paul put it this way. He said
in 1 Corinthians 9, I keep my body under, literally, I give
myself a black eye. That's what that means. I give
myself a black eye. I keep my body under, lest preaching
to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now, how do I fight
a good fight? We see we have a fight, don't
we? How do I go about fighting a good fight? I want to fight
a good fight, don't you? Well, turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 12. Paul says in verse 1, wherefore,
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. And that sin, the sin,
which doth so easily beset us, which I have no doubt is a reference
to unbelief. And let us run with patience
the race. Now that word race is the same
word translated fight. Let us run with patience the
race, the fight that set before us. Now the only way I can have
patience is if I already know the outcome. If I don't know
the outcome, I can't have patience. I know myself, but if I already
know the outcome, I can have patience and I know the outcome.
Jesus Christ is one, and I'm more than a conqueror through
Him that loved me. Let us run with patience the race that is
set before us, and here's the no more important words than
these, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our
faith. Looking unto Jesus, His life,
as our life before God. Looking unto Jesus in His death
as my actual sin payment. Looking unto Jesus in His resurrection
as my justification before God when He was raised from the dead,
I was justified. Looking unto Jesus as God's right
hand as my great intercessor representing me even now before
the Father. Looking unto Jesus as the author
and the finisher of my faith. Looking unto Jesus and no other.
Looking unto Jesus and not ourselves. Matt, just pray, teach us not
to look to ourselves, to look to Him. Looking to Jesus and
not our brethren. Looking to Jesus and not ourselves,
certainly. Looking unto Jesus and not our
obstacles. Looking unto Jesus and not our
blessings. temporal, spiritual, looking
to Jesus, looking to Him only. Looking to Jesus and not what
we do for Him. Looking to Jesus and not what
we think is success. Looking unto Jesus and not what
we consider failure. Looking unto Jesus and not our
sins. Looking unto Jesus and not our sorrows. Looking unto
Jesus. Looking unto Jesus and not our
joy. Looking unto Jesus and not our love. Looking unto Jesus
and not our faith. Looking unto Jesus. Now that's the way to fight a
good fight. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher, the author and the perfecter of our faith. Now, turn back to 1 Timothy 1. Boy, I read verse 18, but let me read
it again. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according
to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith," here's a good
warfare, holding faith, looking unto Jesus, and a good conscience. Now what is a good conscience?
Well, I know the answer to that question. A good conscience. is not an accusing conscience. That's not a good conscience.
Somebody says, well, he's got a real tender conscience. Well,
maybe there's just so much sin that he's got that he's always
guilty, okay? That's not necessarily a good
conscience. Somebody says, well, I keep my
conscience clear. Oh, do you? You've got a sheer
conscience. That's what you've got. You've
got a conscience that just doesn't work good. You're just hardened.
I keep a clear conscience. Well, you know, nobody believes
you. Nobody believes you. A good conscience is a conscience
that has nothing to feel guilty about. Now here's how to fight the good
fight of faith. Keep a good conscience realizing
through the Lord Jesus Christ you have nothing to feel guilty
about. Really believe justification.
really believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. Now this is the good fight. The
only way you're going to have this good conscience is faith
in Christ. really believing that he is your
righteousness before God. You really believe that. Fit
loose and fancy free if that's the truth. I got nothing to worry
about. I got a good conscience because I have nothing to feel
guilty about. I'm perfect in God's sight. I'm
as righteous as God is because I have the very righteousness
of God. Now that's a good conscience. Holding faith and a good conscience. Look back in 2 Timothy chapter
2. How do I war a good warfare? Verse 4, no man that warreth
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please
him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Now, to fight a good
fight, I am not to be entangled. with the affairs of this life.
And this life has affairs, doesn't it? I mean, we got, we live in
a world, we got all the troubles associated with making a living,
raising a family, dealing with unbelievers. There's all kinds
of affairs of this life that we have to deal with. There's
sickness, there's trials, there's just, there's strain, strength. There's affairs of this life.
And they're real. But what does the Lord say in
Matthew chapter 6 verse 33? Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. Now that's what it is to not
become entangled with the affairs of this life. Seek ye first primarily
the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things shall
be added to you. Now, we have a good fight to
fight and the enemy has been identified, the devil, the world
and the flesh. But the Bible gives us some armor
to wear. Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter six? Verse 10. Finally, my brethren. Be strong. in the Lord. Now we know what Paul meant by
in the Lord. If you read Ephesians chapter
one, according as he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ, according as he had chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before him. in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
I'm perspiring so much I can't keep my glasses on. Forgive me.
Is the air conditioning not working? Is anybody else hot? Yeah, I know. And he's always hot, I already
know that. People like to watch her hair
blowing backwards while she's painting. Where was I? Oh, be strong in
the Lord. Oh, in Christ, united to him,
be strong in the Lord. Now, there's a place I can find
some strength in the Lord. Paul said, oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in him. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of his might. You remember when the Lord said,
without me, you can do what? Nothing. Don't you know that
so? He didn't say, without me, you
don't do very well, or without me, you can do hardly anything.
He said, without me, you can do nothing. but oh, to be strong
in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord and the
power of his might. Verse 11, put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles, the deception
of the devil. Now, I think the order of this
is interesting. First, he talks about being strong
in the Lord. and the power of his might, and then he speaks
of putting on this whole armor of God. Put on the whole armor
of God. Four, we wrestle not. I thought that could be the motto
of most people. We wrestle not. Everything's fine. We're in good
shape. I'm okay, you're okay. But that's not what Paul says.
He says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. If men were
our only enemies, we wouldn't be in much danger. 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 that evil day. And having done all to stand,
stand therefore, and here's the first thing he mentions, having
your loins girt about with truth. I'm so thankful for the truth.
I need the truth. I need the truth of the gospel.
I need the truth of the true character of God. I need the
truth, don't you? I want to know who He really
is. I need the truth regarding myself. I don't want to lie to myself.
I want to know the truth with regard to myself, because that's
what is going to make me cry out for mercy. Now, I don't want
to know all the truth about myself. The Lord's the only one that
knows that, and I'm glad. I don't want to know. all about myself,
but I want to know enough about myself to make me believe the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to trust him as my righteousness
before God. I mean, we need the truth. Have your loins girt about
with truth. The truth is your underwear.
Now you think, I was thinking, what if you think something about
somebody that's really not true? How it affects the way you view
them, and it's not true. It's not true. And it changes
everything. You've seen that in your own
experience, how we need the truth, the truth concerning Christ,
who is the truth. You shall know the truth, the
Lord said, and the truth, the truth is a person. It's not just
having correct doctrine. The truth is a person. You shall
know the truth. And it's not your knowledge of
the truth that makes you free. It's the truth himself who makes
you free. I need the truth. Oh, my. And this is the first thing he
mentions. Your loins gird about. You know, that's what prepares
you for action. When they talked about your loins being gird about,
they gird up whatever kind of garment they had. That's what
they were prepared for action. And the only way you and I are
prepared for any kind of action and fighting this fight, we got
a big in right here, the truth. If you don't have the truth,
you're not in the fight. Have your loins gird about with
the truth of the gospel, the truth of the character of God.
And what's he say next? He says for breastplate righteousness. and having on the breastplate
of righteousness. Now, what's the breastplate for?
Well, protects your organs, protects your heart, protects your liver,
protects your lungs. It's what protects your organs.
It's what you have to have to not get killed. Now, you can
get an arm lopped off and still live. You can get an miss a finger
and still live. But if you have one of your vital
organs punctured or hurt, you're in trouble. And there's only
one breastplate that will really protect the heart. And what is
that? Righteousness. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ is my personal righteousness
before God. I hope every time that I preach,
I'm going to glory in this. Christ Jesus is my righteousness. What a breastplate! Now this
is a seamless breastplate right here. His righteousness being
my righteousness before God. Oh, have on the breastplate of
righteousness. Let me assure you that's not
talking about your righteous acts. That's talking about the
righteousness and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness
of the saints is the righteousness of Christ. Now, what a breastplate
for protection is. I need that armor, don't you?
And then he says in verse 15, have your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, this is actually
a reference to the sandals of a Roman soldier. It's talking
about having these sandals with the straps and everything. Have
your feet shod with the preparation or the readiness of the gospel
of peace. Now, the only way you can move
around, this has to do with my walk. The only way I can walk
with Christ is through the gospel of peace. I love that name for
the gospel. The gospel of peace. I need peace,
don't you? Peace is a feeling. And it's
a great feeling. It's a wonderful feeling. Wish I could bottle it. But I
know the only ground of peace is found right here. Paul said
in Romans 14, 17, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink.
It's not dos and don'ts. It's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 2.14 says, He is our
peace. He himself is our peace. The gospel of peace is the only
way that I can walk stably through this life. The shoes has to do
with your walk, your feet. And what a shoe that is, the
gospel of peace. And then he said in verse 16,
Above all, here's the most important thing, taking the shield of faith. This is the most important piece
of armor, the shield of faith. Believing what God said. Relying
on what God said. Now here's a great shield. Here's
a mighty shield. This is an almighty shield, really.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. Now what a shield that is. I
know whom I believe. He's able. He's able to save
me. He's able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that great day, the salvation
of my soul. Above all things, take the shield
of faith wherewith, and this is the only thing, this is the
only way you should be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked. Now you think of all the fiery
darts that are hurled at your mind and heart. Can you just
fight them off? Put them down? No, the only answer
is faith in Christ. That's the only thing that can
quench these fiery darts of unbelief. And then he says in verse 17,
and take the helmet of salvation. Now what's the helmet for? It protects the head, protects
the mind. What's going to protect my mind?
the helmet of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. You're
not gonna stray if you stay right there. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord, the
Father in election. Salvation's of the Lord, the
Son in his redeeming work on the cross. Salvation's of the
Lord, the Spirit in regeneration where he gives life. You won't
stray with the helmet of salvation. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit. Here's the only thing used for
the offense is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God. The written Word of God is the only thing we use for
offense. We fend off attacks and we stab
our enemies with the written Word of God. And this is all
that God uses. He doesn't use anything else
but His own Word. You know, I'm convinced of this.
Any blessing, that we have, any divine light we have. It's not
really the preacher's comments on the word. It's the word. It's
the word. It's God's word. The sword of
the spirit, which is the word of God. What armor? And now the last thing he mentions
is praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit.
and watching there into with all perseverance and supplication
for all saints, praying for one another. 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'm an ambassador in
bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."
Prayer in the spirit. Now the only kind of prayer there
is, is prayer in the spirit. The only time I pray is as God the
Holy Spirit enables me to pray. and he prays through me. Prayer
in the spirit. Now, prayer is not a last result. Well, we've tried everything
else. Let's try prayer. It's not a last resort. It's
all we can do with regard to ourselves or others. Pray. Pray for me. Pray for me that
I might preach the gospel boldly. Pray for me that I might be a
man after God's own heart. Pray for me that I would walk
lowly. Pray for me that the Lord's hand
would be upon me. I pray for you. I can say certainly,
I pray for you. Every one of you, I pray for
you. And prayer, like I said, this is not a last resort. It's
the first thing. You see, only, you know, only
the Lord can move in my heart. And that's why I got to ask him
to do it for me. Only the Lord can move in your heart. That's
why I asked him to do it for you. Pray. But what a, what a
glorious piece of armor that is that the Lord enables us to
pray. He hears and he answers prayer. You know, there's someone who
had, who had, uh, hadn't seen for a while and, uh, Cut to come,
it quit coming for a while, and I felt so impressed to pray for
that person. Just praying. And there they
were, churches. And I was surprised. I thought,
why was I surprised? I asked the Lord to do it. And
he did it. And that's what I'd expect. I
love the story that those people that got together to pray for
rain when there hadn't been any rain. And this one little boy
said, where's everybody's umbrella? Prayer. What a blessed thing. Now we have a difficult fight,
but it's a good fight. One last scripture, turn to second
Corinthians 10. Verse one, now I, Paul, myself
beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in
presence and base among you, but being absent and bold toward
you. But I beseech you that I may not be bold, but I'm present
with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some
which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. You know,
it's, it's so sad. Paul was always having to defend
himself. To the Corinthians, to the Galatians, people were
accusing him of walking after the flesh. He says in verse three,
for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations. and every high thing that exalts
itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now here's the weapon
of our warfare, the obedience of Christ. That doesn't say every
thought is brought to obey Christ, although that's what we want,
but that's not what it says. Every thought is brought to this. The obedience of Christ is everything
in my salvation. Is the obedience of Christ everything
in your salvation? That's a great weapon, isn't
it? May the Lord enable you and I to put on the whole armor of
God. Let's pray together.