to be strong in the Lord, Ephesians 6, 10 through 18. If you casually peruse the sermons on this passage on sermon audio, it's interesting to note that nearly all of them illustrate the truths found here with a story from the Old Testament, since obviously in the Old Testament there were lots of battles. I noticed a lot of them used St. Chronicles or Job, Luke and Job, and battles that we face with the evil one. Also saw that Nehemiah 3 and 4 were also especially popular to use as illustrations. My mind, though, went to David facing the giant, David and Goliath, since we have to face Satan, and he's a big, powerful opponent. We have to face principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. Another thing you'll usually find is that this message is broken up into several. There's a message on the belt and a message on the helmet. I'm going to do it all in one. So we're going to do the whole thing. But then again, when I thought about David, I was considering meditating on that, considering if I would use him as the illustration. And so as I meditated, kind of the meditation process here, I thought, I was thinking, you know, I remember David didn't wear any armor. He actually rejected the armor, the helmet, the coat, and the sword when he took on the giant. But if you think about it a little bit more, it actually makes a very good illustration Because our weapons, our defense, our defenses are not carnal. It was the power of faith that won the battle against Goliath. This is actually the point of the story. God won the battle for David without using the weapons of this world. David was strong in the Lord, strong in faith, Ephesians 6, we'll read verses 10 through 12 first. I think the point here is that our battle is not primarily a physical battle, but a spiritual one. In 2 Corinthians, a similar point is made. In 2 Corinthians 10, 3 and 4, it says, 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. It's mighty through God. Though we walk in the flesh and must deal with the physical things of this life, like sickness, poverty, persecution, and many other things, our battles are not ultimately, ultimately physical. Yes, we have physical battles, but they're not ultimately physical, but spiritual. And the main battle is against spiritual wickedness because the body is not forever, but the spirit is. So the main weapons are not carnal or physical. The power and the main weapons we have are spiritual. God still used physical stones to take down Goliath, and David had to use his skill, but it is the power of faith that made it hit where it needed to hit. So that I'm not taking things out of context, I want to point out that there are two somewhat different spiritual battles that we see. I use 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians 6 here. I want you to see there are two somewhat different spiritual battles that we see in Ephesians and Corinthians. The Corinthian passage is primarily about the internal battle we have with our own flesh, but the Ephesian passage is primarily about the external battles we face from spiritual wickedness. It doesn't seem to me that the point being made in the Ephesian passage is that there is nothing we can do physically as part of the battle, but rather that the power is found in the spirit. We don't rely on merely fleshly weapons. David was not relying on his skills or the sling, but God did use those things. He empowered those things. We are physical beings and walk in the flesh. The physical world is not irrelevant. There are lots of things we can do physically as part of the spiritual battle, but the reason we want to fight is because of a spiritually changed heart. So what are some things we can do physically as part of our fight since we do walk in the flesh? Though we walk in the flesh, we don't war after the flesh. That isn't where the strength is found. OK, so here are some things. We can be careful what we allow our eyes to see. These are physical eyes. We can be careful what we allow those physical eyes to see, right? What those physical ears are listening to, they must be guarded. The physical ears are guarded by internal ears to hear. You know, another thing we can physically do is to take our physical body to a physical church building and sit down in a physical pew. So we can make our physical brain study, meditate, and pray. We can make sure we don't join our physical bodies with anyone except a spouse. And there are lots of physical things we can do to protect ourselves from sin, but the battle is won through the spirit. It was physical fruit in the garden. But the battle would have been won through obedience. Now we are told what to do before we go into battle. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Having done all, the whole armor. The first admonition is to take to make sure we have all of our armor. You know, a soldier can go into battle with everything except a helmet and die quickly from a head wound. What good is a shield to a man without a head? And if a soldier goes into battle without a sword, he can only run for so long. Eventually he'll have to defend himself. So if just one piece is missing, we'll lose the battle. We need the whole armor. Now what is the evil day in verse 13? I might spend a little too much time on this, but I thought it was interesting. What is the evil day in verse 13? That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand. It's any day when we are thrown into battle. You know, not every day of our lives will have the same difficulty. Our days are different. There will be certain days that God has appointed for testing. You know, a good example of this is a day in the life of Jesus and the disciples. Although it was called the hour of testing, it was a day when God gave some level of freedom to the forces of darkness to battle God's people. like when Job was attacked by Satan. Peter is going to have an hour of testing, and Jesus tells the chief priests and other evil men and the power of darkness that they will be given time and freedom to attack. In Luke 22, starting in verse 52, it says, Luke 22, 52, We read, then Jesus said to the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him, be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves. When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house, and Peter followed afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Now I don't think Ephesians is exclusively meaning a specific day that is mentioned in the apocalypse, although the verse there shows that it is one of those days. Everyone has certain days, or certain hours, when it is a time of testing. Revelation 3, 7-11 says, And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee, because thou hast kept the word of my patience. I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. And you know, it's interesting that the context here is the whole church having an hour or time of temptation. There are specific days that God ordains to be test day, whether an individual or church. God uses the forces of evil as opportunities for us to win a battle, using the spiritual tools and armor that he has given to us. God doesn't leave us in the world and allow evil to exist so that we will fall. That isn't the purpose. He leaves evil here and us with the evil so that we can have some victories. You can't have victories without battles. And it's true that if we never have battles, we'll never lose. But if we never have battles, we won't win either. God ordains evil days. He ordained that Satan would attack Job, and he ordained that Satan would tempt Eve. He ordained that David would face Goliath, and the greatest example is that he ordained an evil day in the life of Christ. It would not be a battle ordained for the purpose of defeat. It would be a battle ordained for the purpose of victory. And yes, evil would be allowed a measure of freedom. This was truly an evil day that the principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of the world and spiritual wickedness in high places would attack. It was an evil day ordained by God. We see it in Acts chapter 4, where we read this in Acts 4, 20, 60, 28. The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. So what are we to do to stand in our day of evil, whatever day that is? stand therefore having your loins girded about with the truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness." More than one person has pointed out here that the order here is the order that a soldier would get dressed. Put on the belt, then the breastplate, then your shoes, then your shield, then your helmet, then your sword. Now the Apostle Paul is inspired But God also uses Paul's memory, and Paul has read the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 11 five says, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And then in chapter 59, verse 17 says, for he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head, and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. These are messianic passages. We are to have the same armor as Jesus. We are to be conformed to his image. And also remember that Jesus didn't raise up an army with swords to conquer the Romans and Jews. His weapons were not carnal. The power we have been given is spiritual power, truth, the belt of truth, all aspects. Knowing the truths of God's word and being a person who tells the truth. The very first attack by Satan was at the truth. Yea, hath God said. Eve embraced a lie. She thought it was to her advantage to embrace a lie. We will never win the battle against Satan with lies, even if it seems like it is to our advantage. Lying is the weapon of the world. The reason we are not deceived is because the truth dwells within us and wrapped around us. Notice that the reason some believe a lie and some don't is because God sanctifies some through the Spirit. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 8 through 14 it says, and then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks all week to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are protected by the truth aren't protected because they're more intelligent, it's because they're more blessed. If you are born again, submit to the truth through sanctification of the spirit. You know, it kills me when people think they can outsmart the devil. In other words, that's their weapon of choice. And avoid being deceived by him, especially when they think they can recognize him without the discernment of the spirit. You know, Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. Satan won't deceive conservatives by mass conversions to liberalism. He will deceive them by becoming one of them. Satan doesn't care if you're a conservative as long as you reject the truth of the gospel. There are two billion conservative Muslims in the world. A conservative country can oppose the truth of the gospel just as much as a liberal one can. Truth without the truth of the gospel is not strong. Truth that sets us free is the truth of the gospel. You can look at John 8 later. You want to be strong in the Lord? Start with the first item Paul mentions, the truth, and not truth without the gospel. Truth without the gospel is a lie. Stand therefore having your loins girded about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. The next thing we need to stand strong in the Lord is the breastplate of righteousness. In the Messianic passage we read in Isaiah it says, for he put on righteousness as a breastplate. The way we put on righteousness is by adorning our lives with righteousness. In fact, he manifested that righteousness. Manifested it, displayed it. The life of Christ was adorned or displayed with the righteous deeds, words, and expressions. It wasn't merely the outward righteousness of the Pharisees, but it was a righteousness that exceeded the righteousness of the Pharisees. It was a righteousness of the heart. That's how it exceeded it, starting with the most glaring difference between the Pharisees and Jesus, humility. The Pharisees were concerned with outward appearance. Jesus took on the form of a servant. Humility is strength in the Lord. The Bible clearly says that pride goes before destruction. Love is strength in the Lord. People don't think of love as righteousness, but you can't be righteous without it. It is the commandment that all others fall under. You know, some have mentioned before that we need some younger deacons, and I am asking for that as well, but I want to admonish you to not make the same mistake that so many churches make. They usually never ask themselves if he excels in true holiness. Humility and love many times are not even part of the consideration. Therefore, they don't get a guy with a servant's heart. And that is exactly what the word deacon means. Well, he's only missing one part of the armor, righteousness. Five out of six ain't bad. And you know what? The same goes for elders, too. I'll allude to some things, every one of y'all know what I'm talking about, but I think I can even remember coming from my lips. There's a little bit of arrogance there, but you know. No. Verse 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You know, feet travel, feet are made for walking. Beautiful feet take the gospel forth. Loving the advancement of the gospel, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. You're prepared to share the gospel of peace. Prepared means you desire it to go forth. You want the gospel to go forth. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The gospel is powerful. It's powerful. Verse 16 says, and above all, taking the shield of faith with you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. So then in the day of evil, when you are tested, when God allows the wicked to cast fiery darts, make sure you can shield yourself with faith. The wicked here is taken to mean the wicked one or the wicked effects of sin that he introduced. The fiery darts or arrows are usually taken to mean doubts, fears, and temptations. These are the weapons that the wicked one uses. He first caused Eve to doubt God, then tempted her. He also can sow into our minds fear that God will not keep his promises to protect and provide for us. Faith is truly the victory over these things. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, we please the wicked one because we don't use the defense that God gave to us. We choose to worry instead of trusting. We choose to doubt instead of believing. And this is when we have set aside our shield of faith. Verse 17 says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The helmet of salvation. We had a message about salvation last week. Which aspect of salvation does this verse mean? The sanctification that God does when he saves us from our sin and conforms us to the image of Christ. We have a salvation which is God working in our hearts. that defense mechanism to protect us from the attacks of the devil. But we see both defense and offense in this verse, because there's a sword as well. We attack the doubts, fears, and temptations with the word of God. Jesus did this very thing. He quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and 8. Defense is to receive the word of God ourselves into our own hearts. And the offense is to use the word of God against the attacks of the devil. God has said, you're not to tempt the Lord, my God. Use it to have offense and defense. And then the final way, which does not have an armor metaphor, prayer. Verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Now I did preach on this verse last week, second service. I won't go over the whole message, but basically we can be strengthened in the Lord when others pray for us. There's part of our defense. when others pray for us. Paul asks that people pray for him that he will be bold. Again, I'm not gonna re-preach that whole message. And he also prays that God will give him the right words. And he asks people to pray for him. Well, you know, the person who said, and of course, I'm preaching the choir here, but the person who says, well, me and God, we got our own little thing going on, and it's kind of a private thing between us, and it's just him and me, and I don't really need church or gathering together with anyone else, and I don't need any other people, and I'll just worship down on the creek side. Because me and God, it's just him and me. Well, God has said that one of those things that is your defense, your help is other people praying for you. You're leaving aside one of your defenses. All of this tells us We have a lot to do. And must be diligent about it. Watching thereto with all perseverance and supplication for all things, with all perseverance, watching, praying always, being diligent. How important is diligence? Diligence is so important that God repeated it twice, word for word, in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 6, 10, and 11, it says, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and thy want as an armed man. In Proverbs 24, 33, and 34, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and thy want as an armed man. We must be diligent. because the devil is diligently walking around like a lion seeking whom he can destroy. Imagine that a gardener has been given a whole shed full of tools, a new tractor, and maybe even a field to tend. That'd be a great gift. We've been given some great tools by our Lord, a new heart, faith, relationship with him, and brethren to pray for us. But you know what, if the gardener that's given all those things never leaves the recliner, all the tools he has been given won't help. 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. A soldier can be given lots of armor, but unless he puts it on, it's of no help. To be strong of the Lord, we must use the armor that he has given to us, he has provided for us, he's blessed us with. Imagine if you had no armor, If you didn't have any of these sayings, you'd be just like the unbelievers. And as 2 Timothy 2 says, they are taken captive by the devil and his will. They are defenseless. We are not defenseless unless we refuse to take up the armor God has given, or even if we refuse to take up just one piece. So the question is, are you a defenseless Unbeliever? Are you a defenseless believer? But really, are you a defenseless unbeliever? You can't be strong in the Lord unless you're in the Lord. These are things the Lord gives to us that know him. Are you defenseless? You know, we think mostly, yeah, the devil's out there seeking to take down Christians. But you know, he also takes down the lost, too, and destroys them, takes them captive at his will. You're defenseless without the hope of the gospel, without being in Christ. Turn from the sin. The sin will destroy you. Flee to Christ. Trust in the gospel. You may not understand everything about the gospel, but the Holy Spirit can draw you. And you may just cry out, Lord, I don't understand everything, but I believe and I want to follow Christ. I believe that he died for my sins. I trust in him. I need his defense. Flee to Christ.