I apologize for my voice this
morning. I've had a flare-up in my sinus,
so I hope it doesn't irritate you. Here in Ephesians chapter
6, you and I have been going through this for some time, and
I apologize for leaving it. It's been a month or so ago since
we looked at this text in Ephesians chapter 6, so I promise you the
Lord's willing that I am The next two or three weeks are going
to finish this book. But let's look in Ephesians chapter
6, and I want us just to look at one verse here in verse 17. We've been studying about the
armor that the Apostle Paul exhorts us to put on, and we've come
the last couple of times to the Word of God that's called here
the sword of the Spirit. Look at it in verse 17. and take
the helmet of salvation, and take the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God." Taken to you the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. And let me reiterate what I said
the last time that we looked at this, and we begin a study
here on the sword of the Spirit. And I remember six things that
you and I looked at rather quickly, six proofs that the Bible is
the Word of God. Now, I know that you could come
up with a lot of proofs yourself, a lot of evidence that this Bible
is the Word of God. But let me just quickly refresh
your mind to these six things that I gave you last time. Number one was this. The Bible
claims for itself that it is the Word of God. Now, somebody
might say, well, that's a big claim. And I don't believe it. Well, that's not the only claim.
I know if that was the only claim the Bible made of itself, that
may not be enough. But it does make that claim.
What other book in all the world can make the claim, this is the
word of the living God? In every word, the Bible makes
that claim for itself. When Matthew speaks, When Paul
speaks, when John speaks, when all the prophets speak, they're
speaking by inspiration. They're speaking as the Holy
Ghost moved them. This Word didn't originate with
them. It didn't come out of their own
minds. They spake. Their words were formed as the
Holy Spirit moved them along. When they spake, the Spirit spake
through them. When they put their pens to the
table, tablet, the Spirit of God moved them. The Word of God
says of itself. It makes that claim for itself.
Secondly, the antiquity of the Word, the age of it. It's the
oldest living Word that you and I have. Did you know that? Man
doesn't have any Word. Man has no history. back before
the flood. Only the Word of God takes us
back before the flood to the beginning of time. If you see
man, if you see science writing something about the age of the
world, and they go back before the beginning, it's always, we
suppose, or perhaps, it's always guesswork. Only the Bible takes
us back to the beginning and then goes back beyond that. I
mean, the age of it ought to tell us this is the Word of God.
And thirdly, we consider this, the honesty and the sincerity
and the openness of these men who penned this Bible down. I
mean, you look at the men who wrote the Bible down and look
at the honesty. Look at their openness. Look
how they wrote about themselves. If I'm writing, if I'm writing,
if I'm ever, I'll never do it, if I ever wrote a biography,
is that what they call it when you write about your own life?
I tell you, I'm going to hide some things. I'm not going to
tell some facts. I've done some things that nobody's
going to know but me. My wife don't even know. Can
you imagine when Noah got drunk and he laid in the tent? He was
400-something years old. But he laid in the tent, and
he was naked. And his sons and his grandsons
saw his nakedness, and some of them was mocking him. Can you
imagine turning around and telling that? Writing it down? You know what I'd have said?
Now, family, gather around here. We've got something. Nobody's
going... This is going no further than this tent. Can you imagine
committing incest with your daughters? And then sitting down and writing
about it? What about David committing adultery and killing the woman's
husband? What about Solomon in his old
age having many women that he loved? All of these things, they
wrote about it. They didn't hide it. They were
honest. Don't that tell us that this is God's Word? It's God's
Word. And fourthly, the prophecies
of the Bible and the consistencies of those prophecies. I think
somebody has tried to count the predictions in the Old and New
Testament, and I don't know how many there is. There has to be
at least hundreds or perhaps thousands of predictions, and
most of them have come through now already. And those that haven't
come through yet will come through. And they're all so consistent.
All of these different men predicting things at all these different
ages and times in history, and yet all those predictions come
to pass. They were fulfilled in time.
And then fifthly, consider this to prove that the Scriptures
are the Word of God, the reasonableness of its teaching. How reasonable. This teaching is. Some people
say this is the most confusion book. It's the book that's full
of confusion. I can't understand it. Well,
there's places that you and I can't understand. Surely there is.
But I'll tell you what we do understand about it. Isn't it
so reasonable? And after the Lord opens our
hearts and sees what this teaches us of God and of ourselves and
of the way of redemption, don't we say, this is the only thing
that makes any sense? This is the way it's got to be.
This is reasonable. When He opens our heart to see.
And then lastly, we consider this. It's power. The Word of God is quick and
powerful. and sharper than any two-edged
sword." I think this is the reason that even a great majority of
lost people are afraid to stand up and say, this is not God's
Word. I mean, there is something about
the Bible, isn't there? When people open it up, even
lost people, there is something about the Bible that produces
this reverence. And what is that? It's because
it's given of the Spirit of God. It's holy. It's from God. And I tell you, it's powerful.
How many of us have had times in our life where we were so
discouraged and we were so in the dark and we felt so utterly
weak And this Word has come to us. Just the verse has come to
us. And it changed everything, didn't
it? Because it came to our hearts and it strengthened us. It came
to our heart as light. And it changed our whole situation,
our circumstances. The Word of God is powerful. And that proves to you and I
that it is indeed the Word of God. Now we come to our lesson
today, and one thing that you and I must be convinced of, brothers
and sisters, this is vital to our faith, that the Word of God
originated with God. We must believe this about the
Word of God. If we are to take the sword of
the Spirit, that is the Word of God, then we must be convinced
that this sword is indeed the Word of God, that it originated
with Him. Listen to 2 Timothy 3 and verse
16. This is a very familiar verse.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That word inspiration
means the breath. All Scripture is given by the
breath of God. When you breathe, when you breathe
out air, where does that air come from? Where does that breath
come from? It comes from deep within you, doesn't it? It comes
from deep within your lungs. Where did the Word of God come
from? It came from deep within His heart. It's God-breathed. That's a wonderful thing when
you think of that. This is the breath of God. And that means
when you read it, you're taking in God. You're taking in His
breath, that which He has breathed out of His own heart. That's
why He said every word of God is pure. It's pure because it
comes from deep within His being. It comes from His heart through
His mouth. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And
somebody may say, Bruce, how can it be said to come from the
heart of God and to originate with Him and come from His mouth
when we know that these prophets and apostles spoke it? It was
their word. When they penned it down, it
was their writing. Well, all through the Old and
New Testaments, There are two things that we find out. When
these men spake, it was the Holy Spirit speaking through them. And when they wrote, it was the
Holy Spirit moving that pen. That's why I'm convinced that
sometimes, maybe most of the time, Especially in the Old Testament
when those prophets predicted things that were to come, especially
concerning Christ. It's doubtful that they even
understood everything that they were saying. Because they were
just speaking as the Spirit spoke through them. Now let me show
you that. Look over 2 Samuel chapter 23. Look at this. You can hold Ephesians
chapter 6 and look at 2 Samuel. Chapter 23. You young people
get you a few Bibles, would you? And look on page 400. If you
don't have a few Bibles, somebody hand the young people a few Bibles.
It's on page 400. I'm using a few Bibles so I can
help you young people find them. 2 Samuel, chapter 23, in verses
1 through 3. Look at this. This is a very
good example of even David, the sweet psalmist, this word did
not originate with him. It came from God. And look what
he says in verse 1. 2 Samuel chapter 23, in verse
1, these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse
said, The man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, this is what he said.
Look at this. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me. And his word was in my tongue."
So it wasn't David's word, was it? It was the Spirit of the
Lord speaking by David. So the words didn't originate
with David. The words didn't originate with
man. But the words originated with God. And the Spirit brought
them to man's mouth and to man's pen. And that's where you and
I have them from. That's where we have them from. This sword of the Spirit is the
Word of God. And this is a very amazing thing,
I think. As you and I read the Scriptures,
we're receiving the very breath of God into our hearts. All Scripture is God-breathed. It comes from the very Holy Spirit
himself. The Lord Jesus said, the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. You know, I think it's 2 Thessalonians
2 where he's talking about the man of sin, and it said, the
Lord shall destroy him with the word of his mouth. and consume
him with the brightness of his coming, the word, the breath
of his mouth. That's why this word is powerful.
It's his breath. He's breathing it out. He's breathing
it out. We need to grasp this, brothers
and sisters. This is so important for us to
grasp this, to really get a hold that when we open this book up
that we call the Bible, it originated with God. It comes from his very
heart of hearts. That's the first thing. And the
second thing is this. We need to grasp the reality
of this. This same word is the sword of the Spirit. Now, look back over here in our
text in Ephesians chapter 6. It's the sword of the Spirit. Most of this armor that you and
I are told about here is defensive armor. It's not for doing anything
but to protect us. He talks about the breastplate
of righteousness. What's that for? What's the breastplate?
That's to keep fiery darts from penetrating into your heart.
And he told us about the helmet of salvation. What's a helmet
for? What is to keep something from getting to your brain, injuring
your head and your brain? He talked about the shoes, put
on the shoes, be shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace. So most of this armor is defensive. We're to stand
there and take blows. But this here, this sword, is
an offensive piece of armor. And what is that for? That's
to inflict wounds, isn't it? That's to drive the enemy back. That's to make the enemy fearful.
And we're told here in verse 11 and 12, I want you to look
at this again, I want to remind you of this, that this is spiritual
armor. Look in verse 11 and 12. 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
or wicked spirits in high places." This is a spiritual battle, and
we have to have a spiritual sword It would be much easier, I think,
if the battle were physical. Don't you think it would be?
This isn't an unseen battle. The battleground is our mind.
And the one that we're fighting against is unseen. And he's very
experienced. And the only way to defeat him
is to take the sword of the Spirit. I remember reading an account
one time that this fellow said he got in a fight with the devil.
And he was fighting him physically. Now, I'm talking physically.
I'm not talking about in the mind. But he said he got in a physical
battle with the devil. And he fought him all the way
down his driveway, all the way to the street, before he finally
got the best of the devil. Now, here's the reason I don't
believe things like that. The Bible in the Old Word tells
us of such a warfare. The Lord Jesus took to Himself
a body and wrestled with Jacob, And we know that sometimes the
holy angels take bodies. Hebrews 13 tells us that. But
nowhere do we find out that Satan and his demons are allowed to
take to themselves bodies and wrestle with us. This warfare
is taking place in our mind, isn't it? It's unseen. That's why sometimes you may
be here this morning and you look perfectly healthy. And just
to look at you physically, I can't tell anything's going on. But
boy, in your mind. We may be in a crowd, and we
may seem that things are well, but in our minds, we're in a
battle. And that's where we face Satan.
That's where the battle is raging in the mind, in these high places. Not in the physical realm. And
that's why we're told here in verse 14, this is the first piece
of armor that we're told to put on. Stand therefore having the
loins, the loins of your mind, girthed about with truth. The loins of your mind. Put on
truth. Why is that so important? We
can't fight in this battle. We cannot fight against Satan
and these wicked spirits without the truth. That's the only thing
that we have on our side is the truth. You shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. Somebody said, well, I've
got a lot of willpower. And I'm strong in my mind. You may be. And a man may have
a lot of willpower. But I'm telling you, it's not
willpower. It's not strong mind that will defeat this enemy.
I don't mean to brag on it, but he's older than any of us, and
he's wiser than any of us, and he's going to outlast us. He's
never going to die like the Anaheimites. He's had all these thousands
of years to store up this wisdom of how to deal with us, and there's
only one way that we can defeat him, and that's through the truth. And that's by the truth. And
that's why the apostle begins here with, have your minds girded
up with this truth. Put on truth. I don't know if
any of you have ever heard of Michael Skovac, S-K-O-V-A-C. He's a rabbi. He's a Jewish rabbi. I was listening to him on the
Internet just this past week. And as I sat there and listened
to him, his goal in life, One of his aims in life in his ministry
is to take those people who have converted from Judaism to Christianity
and bring them back. That's his goal in life. He usually
preaches about an hour and a half or an hour and fifty minutes
or so. He's a long-winded fellow, but he's a brilliant man. And he's almost memorized the
New Testament. When he gets up, he brings the
New Testament in the pulpit with him, and he twists it And he
was talking about it, and I sat there and listened to him. I
began to feel pity and sympathy for those Galatians who left
the gospel and were being brought back under the law, because as
I sat and listened to that man, I thought, that's what those
Pharisees did. That's how they deceived those
poor churches. And he began to tell how Jesus Christ was a Jew,
and how Christ kept the law, the ceremony law, all that, and
he did. And then he began to say how
Peter kept the law, and James and John kept the law, and they
were emphasizing circumcision and keeping the holy days and
all of that. And he said Jesus Christ never
intended to save anybody by grace alone. He said it was always by grace
plus keeping the law, keeping the whole law. And he said what
happened was Paul, the apostle, was a renegade and he was the
one that introduced justification by faith without the works of
the law. And then he proceeded to twist
all of Paul's epistles around and says that his message was
completely opposed to the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
boy, he was convincing. I'm telling you, he was convincing.
He twisted things. But as I sat there, I thought,
how are you going to answer this man? And you know the way I got
out of his traps? Truth. Truth. I sat there and I thought, Mr.
Mr. Scovack. I started talking to
him. You know how we do. You start talking to the radio
and the TV. Wait a minute now. Somebody said,
be quiet, be quiet. I said, Mr. Scovack, do you keep
the whole law of Moses? Do you? He had his little cap
on and he had his phylacteries. You don't know what phylacteries
look like. He had them on. He still wears them. He still observes
holy days and ceremonies and all of his rituals. But I said,
Mr. Skovack, do you keep the whole law of Moses? Well, of
course he couldn't hear me, so I answered him myself. And you
know what I said? Where is your daily sacrifice? Where is your blood? Where is
your lamb? Where is your temple? Where is
your priesthood? They're gone. How can you keep
the whole law of Moses if you've lost your temple? Where's your
temple? I'll tell you where it is. The
gnome of the rock. What's sitting on it now? Ishmael
has built a building there. It's gone. Those things waxed
old. They faded away. And Paul said,
here is why. That's what God intended all
along. They were pitchers. They were
tops. They were shadows of the Son
of God. And now that He's come, He's
fulfilled the law. And now Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. And
even Peter himself made this statement. He said to those Pharisees,
he said, why are you trying to bring us back under the law? Why are you trying to bring the
Gentiles back under the law? He said that was a burden that
neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. And he settled
it right here, didn't he? And that's chapter 15 and verse
11. Here's the apostolic creed. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we Jews, shall be saved, even as
they, those Gentiles." Ain't it funny I said that? He didn't
say they must be saved the same way we are. No, he said we must
be saved the same way those dead dog Gentiles are. Well, how's
the Lord saving them? By the grace of Christ. But how
did I overcome, Mr. Scovette? Truth. The sword of
the Spirit. It's truth. And that's the only
way, brothers and sisters, that you and I are going to defeat
Satan and his wicked spirits, is by the sword of the Spirit. The devil speaks through men,
doesn't he? He imitates God. God comes and
speaks through men. So does the devil. And the only
way to combat him and stand against him is the sword of the Spirit. And here in verse 17, that's
exactly what the Apostle calls it. The Word of God is the sword
of the Spirit. Now, he didn't say here the Spirit's
sword. And I'm not getting technical
about this. He didn't say the Spirit's sword.
If it's the Spirit's sword merely, and it is that, but if that's
all it is, then you and I can take it. But he doesn't say that. He didn't say it's the sword
from the Spirit. But notice how he says it. He
said it's the sword of the Spirit. In other words, it's the Spirit's
sword. He uses it Himself. He wills it Himself. It's the Holy Spirit that makes
the Word effectual in us. And by our use of it in battle,
it's Him that makes the Word of God effectual. It's the sword
of the Spirit. And let me give you a good illustration
of this. I think it will help you understand what I'm saying.
How many times, as I was saying a minute ago, have you and I
needed some instructions? I mean, we felt like we were
in trouble. And we couldn't get any help. We were in darkness
somewhere or another, and we needed some help. And we turned
to this verse, and we turned to that verse. But it didn't
help us. We just knew that there was some help there, and we tried
our best to get some help from it. But it wasn't there. And
then, almost out of the blue, somebody quoted a verse of Scripture,
or the preacher read it, or it come to your mind, and boy, there
it was. And it cleared everything up. Have you ever had that happen?
Well, what's the difference? As you search those other verses,
but they didn't help you. What was the difference? Why
did this verse help you? The sword of the Spirit. That's the difference, isn't
it? When He brings it. When He brings it to your mind.
And He's the power yielding the sword. I want you to turn over
here to Matthew. I want you to look at this temptation
of our Lord Jesus. And this perfectly illustrates
what I'm saying this morning. Look in Matthew's Gospel. Chapter
4. That's the first book, young
people, in the New Testament. Chapter 4. And you'll find it
on page 1039. This is a perfect illustration
of what I'm saying about being the sword of the Spirit. And
there's a good reason for us to remember this is the sword
of the Spirit. Look here what he says, this
is the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 1,
Matthew chapter 4. Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Now
Luke gives us just a little bit more detail in his gospel. In
Luke chapter 4 he says this, and Jesus being full of the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Ghost. He was filled with the Holy Ghost
at this time. And then he says he was led of
the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Now, look in verse 2. And when
he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterwards was
hungry, and the tempter, the devil, came to him. Boy, I tell
you what, he's bold, ain't he? You think the devil's not bold?
He's bold enough to confront the Son of God. and tempt him. You think he's going to be afraid
to confront us? He confronted the Son of God,
and look what he says, If thou be the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread. And here's the way the Lord Jesus
answered him. And the Lord answered and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. Now, I went for years on end,
and I did not understand how these two verses related one
to another. I can understand verse 3. The
devil says, Prove that you are the Son of God. If you are the
Son of God, I want you to turn these stones to bread, and that
will prove to me, and it will prove to you that you are the
Son of God. I understand that. But how in the world does the
Lord Jesus' answer relate to that temptation? Why did he quote
here in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 3? Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God. And one day as I was meditating upon that, it just
come to me. It just come to me. The Lord
Jesus had already received ample evidence that He was the Son
of God. Look back in chapter 3 and look
in verse 16. And when Jesus, when He was baptized,
He went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lightening upon Him, and, lo, a voice from heaven
saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This was the breath of God, the
Word of God. Spoke to His Son, Jesus Christ,
and said to Him, You are my Son. Now was that enough evidence? Was that enough proof? It was
for Christ. And Christ said to the devil,
now wait a minute. You want me to do a big miracle? to prove
that I'm the Son of God. I'm content with a Father's testimony. The words from His mouth, that's
how I'm going to have my assurance. That's how I'm going to live.
Words of His mouth. Brothers and sisters, I tell
you what, I would rather have the Word of God to tell me that
I am a child of God than have all the feelings in the world.
If God says it in His Word, then believe it. Is that not the infallible
proof? I remember John Bunyan, bless
his heart. If you want to read a good book, I highly recommend
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Synnery. It's the life of
John Bunyan that he wrote himself. And he fell into some of these
battles with the devil, and he fell into one just like this
one. He was doubting whether or not
he was a child of God. And he was going down the road
one day and he came upon this mud puddle. And he said the strongest
temptation just overwhelmed him. If you're a true child of God,
then command this mud puddle to be dried up. He said it's
all he could do. Not to say mud puddle be dried
up. The devil got in his mind. Here's why the Lord Jesus said,
Satan, The Father has already bore witness to me who I am. That's the words of his mouth.
That's enough. I don't need any signs. I don't
need any more evidence of what I'm doing. If the Father says
it, man shall live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth.
And look here, look at this temptation, look in verse 5. The devil taketh
him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the
temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast
thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge
concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Why? It's temptation now. He's
using Scripture now. But when Satan comes to us, sometimes
it's so obvious that he's wrong. But boy, other times, when he
starts quoting Scripture, he starts to reason with you out
of the Scripture, I'm telling you, he can twist you up. He said, if you'll be the Son
of God, don't you know what's written back there in the book
of Psalms? He's going to give his angels charge over you, so
you can just jump off of this pinnacle. If you're the Son of
God, you could. And He's going to give His angels
charge. So why don't you just jump off? You know these snake handlers.
Don't you wish they would come here and read this passage? Have
you ever seen those fellas down there in Appalachia handling
those snakes? Those big copperheads and rattlesnakes? Sometimes they
get bit and die too. Why would they run headlong into
danger like that? Why would they do that? You know
why they do that? The devil's tempting them to
do it. Oh, if you're a child of God, it won't hurt you to
handle snakes. He said you could tread on serpents,
so just go ahead and handle them. If they bite you, it won't hurt
you. He said it wouldn't. And what do they do? Get themselves
in all kinds of trouble. They fall into a temptation and
snare of the devil. How did the Lord Jesus answer
this? Look, it is written. It is written. What is this? It's the sword of the Spirit,
isn't it? Paul said, take this sword of the Spirit. You're in
a battle with the wickedness of this world. It is written,
thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Look what he says in
verse 8. Here's the last temptation. And
again, the devil takes them up into an exceedingly high mountain
and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of
them. And he said unto him, All these
things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Now, I doubt seriously. Don't just take the devil's word
for something that he has these things and they're his. You know,
he lies quite a bit. And when he says all these things
are mine, I doubt that. Some of them, God may give him
the liberty to give to men. Don't you wish these televangelists
would come here and read this passage? Don't you think he comes
to those men's minds sometimes and says this to them? If you'll
promote my gospel, I'll give you something. I'll give you
honor among men. I'll give you riches. You can
have the lap of luxury. You're going to have a big name.
You're going to be on TV. If you'll just fall down and
promote my gospel." And what do they do? Well, they fall for
it, don't they? They fall for it. How did the
Lord Jesus Christ In our humanity, avoid this temptation. Look what
he said in verse 10. Jesus said unto them, Get thee
hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and worship him according to his word too, and worship
him only, and serve him only. And what happened? Look in verse
11. Then the devil leaveth him. And
the angels came and ministered unto him. Brothers and sisters,
that's the best example I could give you of the sword of the
Spirit. And when this sword is yielded,
and we know it's coming through us. We know that. But who's really
yielding it? It's the sword of the Spirit.
And when he yields it, I'll tell you something about this devil.
He cannot stand before it. Resist the devil, and he'll flee
from you. What makes him flee? His sword. He can't stand before it. You can take an old Christian
that's been on the way a long time, and he knows this. He knows
his only defense in this matter is this sword. And he knows that's
the only thing that'll make the devil put his tail between his
legs and fly from him. Resist the devil and he'll flee.
Resist him with a sword. But you know it's not just for
old Christians. Nobody can overcome the devil.
Nobody's going to win this battle except those who take the sword
of the Spirit. But I tell you, a babe in Christ can defeat the
devil with this sword. Glenn, you read it to us just
a few weeks ago. I've written it to you, young
men. Who is a young man? Him is a young man. I say that
to these young men, Jordan, Jamal, these young ladies. You're a
fine young man. I say that to them sometimes.
You can be very, very young. A young man. I've written to
you, young men, because you are strong. What made them strong? The Word of God abides in you. And then what's the effects of
that? You have overcome the wicked one. You may be a young Christian. The Word of God was in Timothy's
heart from a young child, and he was wise unto salvation. Brothers
and sisters, you and I have got a battle on our hands. You and
I have got a battle on our hands. I cannot stress it enough. You
know it. You know it. If you've been on
the way very long, you know it. There's a battle that you're
facing on a daily basis, and it's going on in your mind. And
the only way that you can win this battle is to take the sword
of the Spirit. In that order, encourage us to
read the Bible. This don't get into our hearts
by the process of osmosis. Somebody thinks, I believe, somebody
thinks that if you take your Bible and lay it up on a shelf
that somehow or another it mysteriously gets off the shelf into your
heart. You can lay the Bible open on your chest and sleep
with it. It won't get in your heart. There's but one way it
gets in your heart. Read it. Read it. Read it. Read it. I don't know. I don't. There's time for us
to do other things. There are things that are lawful
for us to do. But my soul, if we're so busy
every day that we can't take time to open our Bibles and let
God breathe into our souls, we're too busy. I think what Paul told
Timothy, I should tell every one of you this morning, until
I come, give attendance to reading. Reading. Reading. Carry your
little Bible with you if you can pick one up somewhere. And
if you don't have much time on work, if you get a break, find
somewhere if you can and open it up and read some. The Sword
of the Spirit. Paul said, let the words of Christ
dwell in you, didn't he? Let the words of Christ dwell
in you. Richly in all wisdom. Read it for yourself. Read it
to your children. Read it to your grandbabies.
Read it around the house. Daniel Parks, he comes up here
and preaches for you folks sometimes. He's Moose's brother, Moose's
son. And he said when he was a young
man growing up, that his dad read the Bible to him all the
time. He just kept a Bible all the time. He said, my dad's reading
to me. He said, most of the time, I didn't even warn him to read.
But he said, my dad just read to me, and he read to me, and
he read to me. And he said, when the Lord saved me, he said, those
words started coming back to me. Coming to my heart with power
and instructed me and strengthened me. That's the sword of the Spirit. Get it in your hearts, brothers
and sisters. Get it in your heart. And there's where the Spirit
uses it. And there's where the only way that you and I can stand
and withstand the spirit of wickedness. May God bless His Word. Let's
pray.