Well, I am glad to be here. We love your church very much, and I know that you feel the same about us in Ontario. We've appreciated warm fellowship over the years, and we look forward to many, many more years of that kind of fellowship, too. Thank you for your prayers for us for many years, too. As you know, I was a single elder there for a long time. God's been pleased to raise up another man. Jeff Massey's on staff there at the church, my co-elder. And he preaches every Sunday morning, though, down on Escondido. So we still don't have full use, but the plan is for him to preach in Escondido on Sunday mornings, and then he comes up to Ontario to preach on Sunday night. And so that's worked out pretty well, except we would ask your prayers for this on our behalf. Pastor Jeff's been having severe back problems. In fact, it would appear that he'll probably have to have a major back surgery in the next couple of weeks. And that's a problem for school, it's a problem for Escondido, it's a problem for us. And so we would just ask for your prayers for that, please. I also want to send you greetings from our fellow ARBCA church up in Placerville, the Grace Reformed Baptist Church. Many of you know, Jeff Oliver, he's preached up here many times, I know, and he's been installed as pastor up there. And I believe that's going to be a good work and God's going to do great things for Pastor Oliver and the brethren up there. So our hearts joined together as one. Many things going on in the kingdom of God in many different places that extend beyond the walls of our own churches. It's very easy for us. We try to remind ourselves in Ontario. Very easy as we sit in our church to think that we're the only ones. And that's not even close. God has many places and many things going on to his name and to his glory. And I know you know that and are very involved in missions and such like that. Well, we're going to preach the word of God here this morning. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Then we'll look to the word of God. Our father, we thank you for your mercy and grace to us. And we come this morning expectantly, needing and longing to hear from you. For, Father, if you do not speak to us and if you're not pleased to speak through this preacher of the word, then, Lord, the things that should have been done today will go undone. But we know that it's your desire that Jesus Christ, the Lord, be lifted up and worshiped in the midst of his people. We know it's your desire, Father, to glorify him and the Holy Spirit that every Christian heart has within and the Holy Spirit whom we trust will move amongst us this day. It's his desire to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, too, Father. So we would pray that that would be our desire and we pray that his name would be lifted high and that he would be honored. Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for your word. We pray we'd handle that word properly. To the glory of Jesus Christ, the Lord, in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Turn, please, to Ephesians, chapter six. Preached to you for a very familiar passage. And we're going to look at it in a broad way, but I hope we can narrow down on just a small portion of it and do some good for our souls to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the largest mistakes being made in evangelicalism today is found right in this passage and found right in the very text we're going to look at. We're going to preach on the shield of faith. Shield of faith. Now, faith is spoken about a lot and churches name themselves faith. There's even in Ontario, maybe you have them out here, too. There's a shield of faith ministry. And much of what is said about faith for the Christian is a good thing. But I think that's the major mistake that's made about faith and with faith and a simple truth that often is not believed. And when that simple truth is not understood or not believed or when it is even denied, Christianity itself is in great trouble. And what's the simple truth I'm talking about? It's just the simple fact that I trust you know well that faith is the gift of God and faith is given to us by God. It's not something natural. It's not something possessed by all men. It's not something that lost men have innately within them that if we can somehow spark and fan and cause to grow, then we can somehow convince him that the way of God is better than his own way and his own path. It's not something that could be fanned and stirred in the heart of a lost man. We can't convince him to believe. We can't reason him into heaven. We cannot stir up an innate goodness within him because Well, there is no innate goodness in there to stir up to begin with. He's blind. He's deaf. He's dead. But the means that God has given is the word of God, the word of God preached, and he's the one that can take the dead bones and put flesh on them and make them to live. And so that's the method that we use. It's the good old fashioned method. It's been around. Well, it's been around for quite some time now. Been around this New Testament age for 2000 years and will continue to be the method that God uses until he finally comes and ends this present age that we happen to be in faith. We can talk about faith this morning. Faith, it's vital to the Christian life. And as you talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors, talk to to fellows that go to other churches, There's always a simple way to find out what they believe about faith. There's always a simple way to know where they're coming from when it comes to this matter of faith. Just ask them that very simple question, which comes first in regeneration? Is it faith or is it the man's decision? Just ask them that question, ask which comes first, what's the first thing that comes and where does that faith come from? Well, we know that the answer is regeneration. I phrase that wrong. I'm sorry. Which comes first in regeneration, regeneration or faith? I'm phrasing it wrong. Have to forgive me there. But which comes first, regeneration or faith? That's what I'm trying to say. And we know that it's so easily just be said that a man has faith and God regenerates him. Probably the common view in Christianity. Of course, you know, it's a false view. We know that God must give regeneration, a new heart and faith and repentance come like the wings of a bird upon that. Well, let's go to the scriptures this morning, the shielding context. Chapter six, verse ten. Chapter six, verse ten, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and 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 do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up 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 girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and for me, the Apostle Paul, that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may boldly speak as I ought to speak. Now, I know it's a familiar passage to you, it's one that every Christian knows, many Christians have memorized. In our church, we went through the book of Ephesians, took nine messages to go through this particular passage we just read. And that wasn't being exhaustive at all. Many of you have on your shelves that book by William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armor. It's about that big, right? Not that thick there. And that was a broad look at there. That was a very exhaustive look at the passage and other scripture places, too. What we want to do for a moment here is take a broad look at the passage and then zero in on the shield of faith. Now, in verses 10 through 14, there's a key word that keeps appearing over and over again. The word is stand. Stand against the wiles of the devil with stand in the evil day, having done all to stand and stand. Therefore. Now, what does it mean to stand? Well, stand doesn't mean don't move, doesn't mean just stand there. It means to be involved in a battle. Think of Custer's last stand. I think of the stand they took at the Alamo. Now, those may not have been very good illustrations because they neither one of them turned out all that well, but they did take their stand. And that's what we're to do. No retreat. You don't back off. You hold your ground and if you can, you move forward. And the armors explained there in verses 14 through 17. And we just read them and that's all we could do and be too exhaustive, but you see the belt. The truth of God's word, the breastplate, the breastplate of Christ's righteousness that covers the heart of the Christian. Our footwear is the gospel. We receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. But we're here to talk about the shield this morning and that particular piece of armor that God has given to us. And so let's explain the shield a little bit there. Above all, taking the shield of faith. Now, the Ephesians knew what a Roman soldier looked like. That's why the Apostle Paul used this particular illustration. They'd seen many Roman soldiers in their time. They were being basically occupied by Rome. And that's why Paul uses the soldier as an illustration. The shield mentioned here in the Greek is the thurion, and it sounds a little bit like the Greek word for door. And it was called that because it looked kind of like a door. The shield was rectangular in shape and size. It was about four feet by two and a half feet. It was made of wood. It was covered in skins and banded with metal. It was slightly curved. You know, I know you've seen the Gladiator movies and the little round shield. That's not what they're talking about. This is talking about the big Roman shield. And it was really a great source of protection and a great source of fear. You say, well, why would anyone fear a shield? Because of the way the Roman army could use it. The soldier could crouch behind his shield, and when he did that, it would cover his whole body. The enemy would shoot flaming arrows. Maybe they'd be behind a walled city even. But the Roman soldiers had their own portable wall that they could move forward in as they would lock their shields together, crouch behind the shield. The shield would quench those darts that would come at them, and they could move, and they could move, and they could move, and they could move inexorably. almost like a turtle. In fact, sometimes they'd be called the great turtle because they could also take their shields and put them up over their heads like that if they were shooting down at them and they could quench the darts that way. It was a remarkable invention of its day and something that struck hearts or fear in the hearts of the people, as you could imagine. Well, we're going to be alluding to the uses of the shield in just a moment. When we make some spiritual applications, but let's go on a little farther with an exegetical analysis of verse 16, as we read it again, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. I think there's a common misconception here that many hold to, and in fact, it's been preached wrongly, I believe, many times by some by mistake. Above all, is what it says in my particular translation here, and it often is taken to mean the most important thing. And that's really not what it means, it doesn't mean the most important thing, even though our English could look that way. And. Often it's been used wrongly by application that way, because what will happen, and I'm sure you've heard this happen in other places before, where above all, take the shield of faith. More than anything, we need faith. More than truth. We need faith. More than doctrine, we need faith. And that's not right, is it? And while it's important that we need all of these things, some people would argue that truth And doctrine will make you dogmatic. It'll make you cold. And we need faith to be warm. But that is not what the apostle Paul is trying to say at all, and to apply it such as to miss the point badly of what he's saying. Now, it's true that you can't be a Christian without faith. But you can't be a Christian without truth either. What would you have faith in? If you didn't have the truth and having faith is not sufficient, if it's not faith in the proper object, there needs to be a proper object of faith. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ and the revealed word of God is the proper object here. Above all, has this idea instead to cover all the rest. Now, you can translate that way. To cover all the rest. Did you notice all the other pieces of armor that were mentioned? Armor for the head, armor for the body, armor for the feet, even offensive weapons like a sword. But to cover all the rest, we have this massive shield, the shield of protection. And that's what Paul is talking about. In fact, your translation might say, in addition to And that's a very fine translation, if we would say that in addition to would be a good sense of the meaning. And then we see the word there, take up. Take up or taking up the fourth in a series of heiress participles, they're literally having taken up. It's not an expectation to have faith. It's an expectation to use the faith that you already have. This is what the Christian has, it's the Christian in complete armor. And then the word says you will be able. You will be able to quench, you will be able. It's the second person plural in the future tense, and I bring that up because that's going to be important. I want you to really note that it's not an individualistic thing. It's a second person plural in the future tense. It's for all the Church of God, it's for the people of God together. When we go to apply that, we'll try to make good mention of that fact. Well, let's do apply right now the things that we've already seen, the things that we've already heard. And of course, the application could be the longest part of the sermon, so don't think we're here at the end. because we're not. We just want to look at that one little bit. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. The first thing we'd say by way of application here is that faith, like a shield, protects us from attacks. Faith, like a shield, protects us from attacks. And the attacks come in various forms. Attacks to the head, Well, we have a helmet, right? But we also have a shield, so we have double protection there. And how does Satan attack the head? Well, he can attack the head by false doctrine. He can attack the head by false thinking, improper thinking, wrong thinking. I know as you go around this world and as you go around the workplace and you talk to your neighbors and friends, isn't it amazing sometimes the way they think? And the ideas that they have and when you tell them the biblical ideas, sometimes they look at you like you're from outer space. Well, it's true that you're not of this world, but hopefully it's not from outer space, it's living in a different way, it's living according to the principles of the word of God. And faith properly used will protect us from heresy. And who should trust God more? Who should believe God more? Who should have more trust in the living God than those of us who are convinced from scripture that God is in absolute control of all things? So when we come to God in prayer, asking for things, we're not whining or complaining or hoping to show forth a flag of our own righteousness and good works that I've done enough works now, God. So now you ought to listen to me. Now you ought to grant my request. We're coming humbly in Jesus name, according to his will and according to his purpose to ask as he's told us to ask. And then we're content, even if we don't say the words audibly, we're content to say not my will, but thine be done. And that's the hard attitude that we must have as Christians. The head, there's many attacks, there's many attacks we can have as Christians. I certainly don't want you to answer out loud, but just think with me for a moment. As a Christian, have you ever had doubts and wonderment as to whether or not God was real? If he really existed. Or maybe you were just somewhat deceived and brought along into this whole way as as a philosophy and a way of life. Or maybe let me ask this way. Have you ever had doubts that God is good when something really bad happens? It's easy. I've been in situations and you have to understand it sometimes when you've been up at the hospital and somebody is is very, very ill and pass away and the family is out there grieving. And more times than you'd like to account, they ask the why question, why? Did God do this? And sometimes it's said with anger. And sometimes it's said as though God ought not to have done what he did. Faith, like a shield, protects us from attacks like that. Because left undone, those attacks can be very destructive and very harmful. Like I say, they are understandable because of our sinfulness and our human weakness. But we have a shield of faith to protect us, to look to Christ alone. I know you've seen this happen. The tsunamis took place. Well, let's use the hurricane that took place in Louisiana just recently. Because this happened, I was watching television and watching the accounts of all the things that happened, and they talked to a preacher man there in Louisiana, looking at the devastation after it all took place. And he said, God didn't want this to happen. Now, when you think about that for a minute. Here's a preacher on national television who has an opportunity to say something as a man of God for God. In the midst of devastation, in the midst of harm, in the midst of difficulties. And the message that he has is God didn't want this to happen. Oh, my friend. I can hardly think of a worse thing to say at such a time as that. And I worst of God, if things are happening all over the place that are out of the hands of God and he's out of control with. Then then you would actually have no assurance that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again. Because maybe the devil went. He's winning so much. You'll have no assurance that your own soul will be saved because maybe the devil will somehow overcome God. He doesn't want it to happen, but what can he do? We really need to be careful here, and faith like a shield protects us from those kind of attacks and don't despair. Don't be discouraged when those kind of thoughts come, realize that they're there and then go to God in prayer and rebuke them. Rebuke them because they're wrong and admit them to the father and let them be a reminder to you of your own weakness, of your own failing, of your own shortcomings, of your own continuing need for sanctification. But there is a great God on the throne who does sanctify us and does cleanse us and one day will absolutely perfect us and will be in his presence forever without those kind of fears. The Apostle Paul told us that I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day. And, you know, I don't think the Apostle Paul would have written that if he never had fears or doubts. But he writes that as a man who knew what it was like to be afraid, even in Acts 27, the angel come to him, says, Fear not, Paul. Why would he say fear not? Paul wasn't afraid, but he was a man that could be afraid, but then he would take his courage again in God and then go forth boldly. With the shield of faith. Protecting him by the grace of God, there's that's the head that a lot more we can say. There's the arm that the shield protects because the enemy would love to cut at your arm to disable your service for Christ. And you need your arm if you're going to hold your sword, right? You've got to have an arm to wield it with. You need your arm to hold your shield. But when the shield's used properly, well, it protects you from the sword slings and flaming arrows hurled by Satan. The shield protects our feet. We have the gospel of peace that we're shod with, but the enemy will try to trip us up in our daily life. tries to mislead us and the uprightness of our walk. Faith protects our feet and causes us to stand and stand fast as we're exhorted here, even in slippery places. And the knee faith protects our knee. Prayer is vital to the Christian life. Satan loves to do battle against prayerless Christians. Of course, if we are absolutely prayerless, we will find that we're not Christians at all. There's no such thing as a mute child of God that does that never speaks to his father. But Satan loves to battle Christians doing battle and warfare in their own strength and not in the power of God. And every one of us would admit if we were pressed against the wall that we should pray more than we do. And more would be done for his cause if we would look to him more in faith. And Satan has ways to discourage us in prayer. He whispers that God does not hear. He whispers that it makes no difference whether we pray or not. He condemns our conscience even by saying you don't pray often enough, making us ashamed to come to God. Faith is a shield. Use the shield of faith to protect you against such assaults and attacks. Second point. Faith, like a shield, receives the blows intended for the soldier. Faith, like a shield, receives the blows intended for the soldier. Why does the enemy shoot from the wall? It's because he wants to hit the shield. No, he wants to hit the guy behind the shield, right? He's shooting for him. But, used properly, the shield deflects or stops the blow. Now, some Christians think that faith should enable them to escape the enemy's blows. But a shield doesn't keep arrows from being fired. A shield blocks the arrows that are fired. And so, there's another thing we need to understand. about the shield of faith, because there are our friends that will say that if we only had enough faith, we'd have no sickness. I got a little bit of cold coming on here, I can feel it, I can hear it, in fact, in my own voice. I remember one time I actually I've been probably only two charismatic services ever in my life, you know, and one of them I was in. I was sitting there listening. to this guy, and he was terrible as far as his coughing and hacking. It was painful to listen to it. And I'm sitting there wondering what's going to happen next, because I happen to know this church was radical in their views that believe that you should never be sick. And if you were sick, you were in sin and something was wrong with you. And here he is trying to preach the word of God. And you can hardly make out what he's saying. And he's coughing and hacking all over the place. And I guess something had to be said eventually. So he's preaching away, starts coughing, and then he looks up and says, The devil's trying to make me think I'm sick. I don't know about that, but the devil did a good job making me think he was sick. And that's all I can say. But, you know, that's not the point. We're going to get sick. It's not true that if we had enough faith, we'd never be sick. It's not true that we had enough faith, we'd have plenty of money. It's not true that if we had enough faith, we'd have no more problems. In fact, I want you to think about this, my friends. Why would God give us armor if there was never going to be a battle? It would be absolutely useless. Why would God give us armor if there was never going to be a battle? And why would you have a shield if no fiery darts were going to be hurled? The armor is there because of the battle. But faith can be hammered. It can be pounded. It can be battered. Blow after blow after blow can rain down upon it. But it is faith. And it's true faith. And it protects. And God hasn't promised us an easy path to heaven. And he's not promised us a road with no trials. And he's not promised a war with no battles. But he has promised you, Christian friend, and me, something That he will give us a shield to protect us. And faith is given by him. And all the blows that Satan would intend to inflict upon us land upon it. And that ought to encourage our hearts greatly as we serve him. Third thing we can say. Faith, like a shield, is strong. Faith, like a shield, is strong. The disciples cried out, Lord, increase our faith. And that's the heart cry of a Christian. Intellectual belief, positive thinking. Whatever shield men may want to devise are faulty shields and will not stand up in the day of battle. How would you like to go out to battle with a cardboard shield? How would you like that? Let's suppose you had a cardboard shield, but you decorated it and you drew fierce warlike creatures on it to try to strike fear in the heart of the enemy and you go out to battle behind a shield of cardboard. What do you think is going to happen when the first fiery dart gets thrown? You know it, right? Right through the cardboard, right? I don't care how fierce it looks. I don't care how impressive it looks. A lot of televangelists praise faith. They talk a lot about faith. But the faith they're talking about is not really true faith many times. Because true faith doesn't always look all that impressive. True faith might be something as simple as that widow that gave two mites. And the people around her probably disdain such a lowly offering. Such a meager sum, what good could that possibly do for the temple service? Two measly pennies. True faith doesn't always look all that impressive. And it may not be decorated as well as the cardboard one. But which one would you rather have when the arrow comes at you? And by God's grace, fourth thing we can say here. Faith, like a shield, needs to be used. Faith, like a shield, needs to be used. I mean, a belt is worn, a breastplate isn't maneuvered, it's also worn, a helmet stays put, but a shield is active. You maneuver it, you might put it up, you may put it down, you crouch behind it. And that's what God's given us with faith, it's active. What do you do in times of opposition? You believe God. What do you do in times of temptation? You go to God, what do you do in times of need, you believe God. It's easy to believe when everything's going well, but true faith stands when the going's tough. Now, remember, we talked a little bit about the Romans, how they band together. And join their shields to form a wall, the shields wouldn't lock, but they would be they were curved in such a way that they could put them behind each other and you really couldn't get through. And they form a wall, they march, march, march. And we as Christians are meant to do the same. So God would have for us. We do need each other. Why do you have a prayer meeting tonight and why do you Pray for one another. It's one of the most normal things that Christians do. And we join together in a local church and we pray together and we worship together and we confess our faith together. And like the Roman army, they put their shields together to form a wall. And that's what we do when we band together in a local church like this. Now, a Roman soldier might be alone out in the field and he would have some protection, but you could see how How ineffective he is and how in how much in great danger he is, if he's out there alone and by himself. But when they came together. The Roman army. Side by side, locked in moving, as we said, shields in hand. Is a terrifying sight to the enemy, and history tells us that many a city gave up without even a fight. They wanted nothing to do with that. In Christ Jesus, the Lord tells us something else, too, doesn't he? The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. And we should be marching and we should be advancing for his grace and will actually by his grace and for his glory. May the Lord help us to do that, because we have the promise. God has made his will known here in La Mirada. He's established a local church. And God is the one that establishes them. And the world may not find it all that impressive. Now, I know you get many, many visitors, but from around the country and even around the world that come in here to La Mirada. And that's a great blessing. But what are they usually? They're usually Reformed Baptists, right? If they're coming to Southern California for vacation, Reformed Baptists will come here to visit. But folks that are of other stripes, well, they may have a different purpose to be driven for when they go on vacation, right? And there's mega churches around here in Southern California that people flock to and want to go to and want to see. And maybe they're feeling a little positive So there's a crystal cathedral they can go to and rub shoulders with some of the rich and famous. Well, that's impressive to people, impressive to the world. But according to the word of God, what God desires and craves and wishes are the praise of his people. And he's pleased when you gather here and you worship him. And men may discount you, they discount us in Ontario. Men may discount you, but we're not worshipping men and we're not worshipping for men. It's the living God that we care about and it's his pleasure and will we seek. Well, many more things we can say about that, but look at verse 13b. But you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. The evil day is not some future tribulation that's going to come. The evil day is the day of special attack. And it's the attacks that Satan will make upon the church. It manifests itself in many ways within a church. There is not a church that is immune to these things. It's to be expected. It's what a shield is for. There's gossip, which, like a cancer, tears the life out of a young body. Maybe it's criticism and discontent. And I would just exhort you, don't let the devil. Make you to be the one to sow discord among the brethren. Sometimes it's doctrinal errors we've already mentioned, you know, the CRC. Didn't always ordain women as ministers. And just recently, the United Presbyterian Church barely voted down a proposal to ordain homosexuals to the ministry. And if it came that close, I have to think the next time it comes to a vote, it could pass. And church after church and denomination after denomination has fallen into grievous doctrinal error, often bringing upon themselves the judgment of God and writing Ichabod upon their doorsteps. We need to be responsible in the place we are to make sure it doesn't happen to us. We need to stand in the evil day with the armor that God gives. And then the last point I'd like to make this morning. I preached primarily to Christians, almost exclusively to Christians. And I want to turn my attention to those of you that maybe you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior. I obviously don't know everybody here, so I wouldn't know the heart's condition of everyone. But let me just say this, I've talked about the protection that we have as Christians, I've talked about the gifts that God has given to us, talked about the armor he's given us, specifically the shield of faith. But this is the Christian's armor, and the last point of application is this. Without salvation, you have no armor at all. Without salvation, you have no armor at all. Because it's intended to protect us from the attacks of Satan and the world, it's very effective. And if you read Pilgrim's Progress, you know the famous battle with Apollyon. Apollyon was able to attack Christian, but he could not defeat him. But lost friend. Your greatest fear should not be Satan. And your greatest fear shouldn't be the world, because you have an enemy that's much more powerful than that. Because God himself is your enemy. And you're at enmity with him and you're at war with him. And by your refusal to bow to his kingship and bow to his lordship and bow to the only true God of heaven and earth, you live in active rebellion against him. And there is no armor in the universe that can protect you from the wrath of God. God gives armor to his children. But those that are not as children will have no hope or place of protection at the last day. In fact, they'll stand before him. Totally exposed. Naked and vulnerable, and it's no wonder that the book of Revelation says when that day comes, they cry out for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from his face. They're looking for some means of protection from this awesome God. Oh, lost friend, I would ask you. Don't wait to that awful, terrible day. But seek his face today. Bible tells us today is the day of salvation. And what that means is this is the time ordained by God for men and women to come to him. And look to him and the very fact that you'd be under the sound of the word of God gives us hope. And maybe God's going to do a work in your heart. Look to him, bow your knee and bow your heart to Jesus Christ and acknowledge him to be Lord and King. Let's look to him in prayer. Our father, we thank you for your word. And as we look there and we see there are so many things. That have been given to Christians. For life and godliness, everything we have that's good and right comes from your gracious hand. And we fully admit all the things that are sinful, all the things that are wrong, all the things that are undone. Our hours and our own fault. There are some here, possibly, that do not know you as Savior. And they sit under the sound of the word, maybe even unconcerned about their own souls. Lord, would you wake them from their sleep of death? Lord, would you give them the eyes that they need so they can see? Would you take the deadness and the dead body that they are, the shell that they are? and breathe life into your Holy Spirit. And we'll know when that happens, Father, for the fruits that will come forth are faith and repentance. So, Lord, we would pray for that. We pray for that for our young people. We pray for that for those that are older that are here. That Jesus Christ may gain for himself all the glory. Lord, we as Christians thank you for the shield of faith. We thank you for this great armor of protection that you've given to us, this useful, useful tool. We pray that by your grace, we could use it for your glory and we give you thanks in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Bless the Lord for his goodness in his preached word. A couple of notes as we leave from here, please remember, we do not pass an offering plate, but there is an offering box in the back by the foyer where we may give of your ties and your offerings. Also, if any of you are able to host a couple, the Patrick family in the first half of August, please see me, let me know. And lastly, we will meet today for prayer at 430 in the fellowship hall and now the benediction. For whatever is born of God, overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Let's go for today. Blessing God because of it. You are dismissed.