Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

“And for me, 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 speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” As we look at thesetwo verses, Paul is now asking for prayer for himself. What's striking is whathe does not ask for. He does not ask for release from prison. He does not askfor comfort, healing, or even safety. Instead, he asks the church at Ephesus topray that God would grant him boldness to speak the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wemust remember that Ephesians is one of the four Prison Epistles. The others arePhilippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Paul is in prison in Rome when he writesthese letters. To be a prisoner in Rome was no small matter. It was not apleasant place. No doubt he was suffering greatly—experiencing hardship, pain,and difficulties we can scarcely imagine. Yet Paul does not say, “Oh, pray thatI get out.” He says, “Pray that I have boldness. Pray that I have the grace ofGod to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ.” Inanother Prison Epistle, Philippians 1:12–14, Paul writes: “But I want you to know,brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for thefurtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palaceguard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of thebrethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more boldto speak the word without fear.”  Paul issaying that his testimony in chains has encouraged others. The guards know heis imprisoned for Christ. Fellow believers have grown more confident. They arespeaking the Word without fear because they see his faithfulness. Afew years ago, Iread the book, “The Insanity of God” by Nik Ripken. In it, he recountsinterviews with persecuted believers in places like China and Russia. Thosesuffering saints did not ask him to pray for relief from persecution, torture,or hardship. They asked him, “Pray that we will be faithful.” On oneoccasion, they even said, “Persecution is good for us. It purifies the church.”We are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ wherever we are. Today,I am asking for special prayer for a dear friend of mine. Just this week, hewas forcibly taken from his refugee work in a war-torn country and placed onthe front lines of conflict. He is 55 years old—a precious friend, someone withwhom I have shared mission trips and many meaningful times of ministry. Thiswas not something he was prepared to face. Yet he is not asking for prayer forrelease. We have not heard from his family that he is saying, “Pray that I getout.” Instead, they are asking us to pray for grace and for wisdom. He wouldwant us to, like Paul, to pray for boldness—to be a faithful witness whereverhe finds himself right now. Please,I'm asking you to pray for him. I cannot share his name or more details at thistime, but please pray for my friend. He is in a special place of need, and heis asking for boldness to be a witness where he is. Of course, we can also praythat he will be brought home safely to his family who are here in America.Please do pray for him. Aswe reflect on these passages of Scripture, we are reminded that prayer producesboldness. I thank God for the prayers that have been offered for me as apastor, as a believer, and during mission trips. I can sense those prayers.They make a tremendous difference. Prayer overcomes distance. Prayer dispelsfear. Prayer strengthens boldness. Myfriend, we must also remember that our spiritual leaders are special targets ofSatan. That is why we must pray for our missionaries, pray for our pastors, andpray for spiritual leaders across America. May God grant them grace to befaithful to the Lord for all they must face. Maythe Lord bless you as you think on these things. And as Paul says—"prayfor me”. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

We want to talkabout this very last phrase: “Supplication for all the saints”. So we are to bepraying always with watchfulness, with perseverance, and be praying orsupplicating for all the saints. I cannot say it enough times—we are to bepraying for others. AsPaul tells us to pray here, two Greek words are actually used for the words prayersand supplications. The word supplication is used twice in thisverse of Scripture. The word prayer is a Greek word that means generalprayer. So we have general prayers that we pray like the Lord's prayer inMatthew 6 that begins with: “Our Father”. Even as we pray OurFather, I notice that Jesus did not say to pray “My Father,” because ourFather speaks of corporate prayer. We pray together with the church, fellowbelievers. Together we are praying with others—Our Father. Also, we are prayingwith Jesus, “our Father”. The Father of Jesus is our Father. Our Father. Oh,that is the way we start our prayers—Our Father—and we go before Him thinkingof others and not just of ourselves. Pauldid not say, “Pray for me first.” Now, he does say that later, and here he doesnot say, “Pray for yourself.” He says pray for others and for all the saints.Remember what Samuel said in his parting words to Israel in 1 Samuel 12:23, “Farbe it from me that I should sin against the Lord and cease to pray for you.” Weare members of one body. If one member is weak, then  we need others in the church to strengthenthat one person with our prayers, to grow the body of Jesus Christ. Thegreatest and most important thing you can do for another believer is to prayfor them. My friend, many of us believers get self-centered in our prayers, andwe become weak because we are not praying for others as we should. Whodo you pray for? You pray for your spouse. You pray for your children. You prayfor your church. You pray for missionaries. You pray for your pastor. You prayfor persecuted believers who are suffering even now around the world. One ofthe aids I have found that really helps me in my daily prayers—and I have along list of people to pray for—is a little book called Pray for Me, byTony Souder. I have been using this as a prayer guide now for over ten years.It is Pray for Me, and it has 13 weeks of seven prayers in each week—topray specifically for people. Originally,this was used to encourage older adults to pray for the young people in ourchurch. But I found it is good to pray this for all my grown children, mygrandchildren, and now my great-grandchild—to pray for my wife as well. As I ampraying these prayers, I often read them out loud and pray them for thesespecific people by name daily. I find that I also pray for myself and say, “OhLord, I need this prayer. I trust somebody is praying this prayer for metoday.” Thiskeeps me from just saying the same old, same old prayer: “Father, bless mybrother, bless my sister, bless this person, bless that one, help this person.”We have specific needs and supplications. The word supplications is actually theGreek word for specific prayer. So he says, “supplications for all thesaints”. We pray specific prayers for all the saints that the Lord has broughtinto our lives. God help us to be doing that. You can be doing that. Youmight be saying, “I do not know what to pray.” Take time to look up and prayprayers like Colossians 1:9–12. Also prayers like Ephesians 1:16–22 and Ephesians3:14–21. Paul said that is what he was praying for the saints at these churches.You can pray those prayers, too. Read these prayers right out of the Bible for fellowbelievers, for your pastor and missionaries, for your family members, and whoeverthe Lord might bring to your mind while you are praying. Maythe Lord help us as we pray for others and fulfill this verse—"supplicationfor all the saints”.

What does it mean to be watchful in prayer? It means to stay awake and bealert. Remember the passage in 1 Peter 5:6–8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because youradversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he maydevour.” Tobe watchful is what Jesus was speaking about in the Garden of Gethsemane withHis disciples in Matthew 26:41. As He went a little farther to pray by Himself,He told Peter, James, and John, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not intotemptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Stayawake. Pray. Be alert as you pray. Jesus said it another way in Matthew 6:6,when He was teaching on prayer: “But you, when you pray, enter into yourcloset, and when you have shut the door, pray to thy Father which is in secret;and your Father which sees in secret shall reward you openly.” Whenwe pray, if we are not careful, there will be all kinds ofdistractions—thoughts racing through our minds, interruptions, and everythingelse in the world clamoring for attention. Someone once said that the deviltrembles when the weakest Christian gets on his knees. This is especially trueif the believer goes into the closet, the room to pray, and shuts the door.When you shut the door, you shut out distractions. You quiet those wanderingthoughts. You concentrate. You see yourself humbly bowing before a holy God,knowing you are needy and dependent upon His help. So,“Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed iswilling, but the flesh is weak.” Oh, my friend, you hear the messagepreached on Sunday. You read the Bible. Your spirit is willing to do what Godwants you to do. When you hear the message on Sunday and you are exhorted tolay aside the weights and the sins. You say, “By the grace of God, I am goingto be the best Christian I can be this week.” But then Monday morning comes.Your spirit is willing—to get up and get on your knees and pray, to standagainst the wiles of the devil, to resist the temptations that will surely comeyour way. But the flesh is weak, you roll over and wake up too late to spendtime with the Lord in prayer! That is why you watch and pray. That is why youstay alert to the attacks of Satan and the distractions he throws at you. Ihave said it many times—even here on this chat—that today we do not live in theday of weapons of mass destruction as much as we live in the day of weapons ofmass distractions. We can so easily be distracted by social media, our phones,our iPads, our computers, the news, and everything happening in thisinternet-connected world. That is why we must watch and pray. ThenPaul says, “with all perseverance.” This is just as important. In Luke11:5–13, when Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, He gave them theillustration of a man who had a friend come to him at midnight needing bread.Having none, he went to his neighbor and knocked on the door, saying, “Friend,lend me three loaves.” The neighbor replied, “Do not trouble me. The door isnow shut, and my children are with me in bed.” But he kept knocking. He keptknocking until his friend got up and gave him some bread for his guest.  Thatis why Jesus went on to say in Luke 11:9-10, "So I say to you, ask, andit will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be openedto you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him whoknocks it will be opened.” You believe your Father will answer, and youkeep on knocking. That is perseverance. Prayer is not twisting God's arm. It isgetting God's will done on earth. If God gives you a sleepless night, turn itinto a prayer meeting. Peter was released from prison because the church prayedwithout ceasing (Acts 12:5).  Askyour heavenly Father to take care of the needs of those around you—your family,your friends, the people in your life. Most of us quit justbefore the answer comes. Today, let us make sure we are watching and prayingwith all perseverance. 

Jesus promised Hisdisciples in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power, after that the HolyGhost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me….” My friend,when the Holy Spirit is upon us—when He is guiding and leading us—then we willbe praying in the Spirit with the power and authority of heaven behind our prayers. RememberRomans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are inChrist Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. In Romans 8:9-14, we read: “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die:but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live….”,“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Inother words, Ephesians 5:18 tells us, “Be filled with the Spirit.” Onceyou have been born again, the Holy Spirit indwells you. As you yield yourselfto His control, He fills you and directs your life—your thoughts, yourattitudes, your desires. He imparts to you the very divine nature of God (2 Peter1:4). Whenyou are filled with the Spirit you will bear the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.Against such there is no law”.  Myfriend, when you are praying in the Spirit, you have a heart of love, a heartof grace, a heart of mercy, gentleness, kindness, and patience. You cannot prayin the Spirit if you are impatient with God and impatient with others. Youcannot pray in the Spirit if your heart is filled with hatred, bitterness, orunforgiveness. In that condition, the Holy Spirit will not lead you in yourprayers. Thenwe come to Romans 8:26–27: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in ourweaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but theSpirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot beuttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God”. Wehave the Holy Spirit to teach us to pray. Praying in the Spirit means prayingin dependence upon Him and in alignment with God's will. It means praying inharmony with Christ's name and His nature. It is the fruit of the Spiritflowing from our lives because we have yielded to Him. Prayingin the Spirit does not mean ecstatic speech or a loss of control, for 1Corinthians 14:32 says, “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to theprophets.” You can pray fervently in the flesh and accomplish nothing. Butyou can pray quietly in the Spirit, and heaven and earth are moved. That iswhat it means to pray in the Spirit. As we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit,He directs our prayers. He gives guidance. He places in our hearts and mindsthe very things we should bring before the Lord in intercession. He fills uswith love for those around us. Youmay drive past an accident on the highway, and the Holy Spirit prompts you:Pray for those people that are injured. Pray for the first responders. Youdrive through a school zone and slow down and the Holy Spirit prompts you to prayfor the teachers and students. You are always ready to pray wherever you are,for whatever you might encounter as the Spirit prompts you! That is praying inthe Spirit. Itis so important to understand that any prayer that will have effect in heavenand move heaven and earth must be prayer offered in the Spirit. And remember,there is no condemnation. We pray with great confidence according to the mindand will of God when we are praying in the Spirit. The power of prayer isavailable to every believer who yields to the Holy Spirit. May God help us aswe all learn to pray in the Spirit. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Wehave already spoken about the soldier on his knees, breathing out prayers. Thespiritual breath of the believer is prayer. In contrast, the breath of thewicked person in Proverbs is lies. This does not mean that we are alwaystalking in prayer. Jesus even warned about vain repetitions in prayers in Matthew6:7. No, He is speaking of constantly having communion with the Lord—living inthe awareness of His presence. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.I believe the fear of the Lord is a constant, continual awareness of the Lord'spresence. It means you never have to say, “Lord, we come into Your presence,”because you are already in His presence. Topray always means that we take His hand in the light as we read His Word in themorning. We open our hearts in prayer, asking Him for grace, help, mercy, andstrength for the day. As we do that, we keep hold of His hand. I have told youbefore about a dear older lady in our church. She did not have the mostbeautiful voice, but she was a godly woman who could share the good news ofChrist in a powerful way through her songs. I will never forget what she saidone time: “If you take the hand of the Lord in the light, when it gets dark youdon't have to look for it.” That is continuing instant in prayer. That ispraying always. Topray always means that when you are tempted, you ask for help. I wouldencourage you to study James 1 very carefully, especially if you are dealingwith temptations and trials. If you do not know which way to go, if you needwisdom, then pray for wisdom. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask ofGod, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall begiven him” (James 1:5). God gives generously and does not hold back. Whenyou are blessed, you give thanks. You open your heart and acknowledge that “everygood gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Fatherof lights” (James 1:17). When you see evil, you pray for righteousness. Youflee from evil and pray that you will continue to walk in the righteousness ofJesus Christ. When you meet someone who is lost, you pray for their salvationand for wisdom to be a witness to them.Ithink about the disciples. They observed the Lord praying. They saw Himwithdraw to solitary places to pray. On one occasion they said, “Lord, teachus to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” That request is recorded inLuke 11. The Lord then began to teach them how to pray. My friend, I never readwhere the disciples said, “Lord, teach us how to preach. Teach us how towitness. Teach us how to heal. Teach us how to perform miracles. Teach us howto speak in tongues.” They never asked for those things. But they did say, “Lord,teach us to pray.” In essence, they were asking, “Teach us how to have thekind of constant awareness and communion with the Father that You have.” Thatshould be our prayer today: Lord, teach us to pray. Prayeris continual God-consciousness. In Acts 2:42, we read that the early church “continuedsteadfastly… in prayers.” David said in Psalm 55:17, “Evening, andmorning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Myfriend, we are always subject to attack. Therefore, we must always be inprayer.Jesustold His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray.” Butthey slept. Jesus prayed. When the temptation came, Peter failed. But Jesusstood strong in the midst of the greatest temptation ever faced—on the cross. Myfriend, we too can stand strong when we continue instant in prayer. Jesussaid in Luke 18:1 that men “ought always to pray, and not to faint.”Either we are praying, or we are quitting. We are praying or we are fainting. Oh, my friend, prayer is the breath of the Christian—that constant awareness of the breath of God. So what is the frequency of prayer? Itis this: praying always—in every situation, every day, at all times—keepingyour mind set on Him and continually asking for His grace and

In1 Timothy 2:1 we read: “I exhort therefore, first of all, thatsupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for allmen, for kings, and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet andpeaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptablein the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come tothe knowledge of the truth.” Then in verse 8 Paul goes on to write: “Idesire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, withoutwrath and doubting.” Today we want to talk about the variety ofprayer.  BeforeI do that, let me ask you to pray specifically for my family—Jonathan andHeidi—and my grandchildren. They are in Jordan. They contacted us early, rightafter this conflict began, and even showed us video of missiles going overheadand interceptors striking those missiles that were headed toward Israel. Theyare scheduled to come home tomorrow morning, Sunday morning, but that is nowuncertain. So please pray for Jonathan and his family, for their safety, andfor the safety of all Americans who are in that part of the Middle East. I wasable to Facetime with Jonathan and the grandchildren as they were on the roofof their apartment there in Amman Jordan for a few minutes early this morningour time. They said they would definitely appreciate all your prayers for theirfamily and all their associates and friends there in the Middle East! Weknow that as we pray, God answers prayer. Nothing is impossible with God. Hehas a divine purpose in everything that takes place. Our responsibility is topray. We stand in prayer. We stand in the gap. As you look at this passage ofScripture, notice the variety of prayer: “praying always with allprayer and supplication.” Also in Philippians 4:6 we read: “Be anxiousfor nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,let your requests be made known to the Lord.” Prayerhas many forms. In these passages it is called prayer, supplication, andthanksgiving. Then in 1 Timothy 2:1, which we just read, it speaks ofsupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. We know thatprayer includes confession, petitions, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. Sometimesbelievers only ask for things when they pray. But prayer is much more thanasking. When I was a brand-new Christian, I picked up a book by Dr. John R.Rice about prayer. The title was Prayer: Asking and Receiving.Certainly, prayer includes asking and receiving—but it is also thanksgiving. Itis also praise. It is also interceding for others. Jobprayed for his friends in Job 42:10. With friends like Job had, he did not needenemies—just read the book of Job. Yet when he prayed for his friends, theScripture says his captivity was turned. He was released. God was then able tobless him again in a wonderful and powerful way. Prayer may be public orprivate. It may be loud or silent. Often, as thoughts come to our minds, we canimmediately take them to the Lord. He knows our thoughts from afar, and we canturn those thoughts into prayer. Prayercan be planned or spontaneous. It might be while we are kneeling. It could bewhile we are standing, sitting, or walking. I practice prayer walking in myneighborhood regularly. It is a wonderful time to pray for my neighbors byname—those I have met—and to ask for God's grace, mercy, help, and salvation torest upon them if they need Christ. Myfriend, prayer comes in many varieties and many forms. But the main thing isthat we pray always with all prayer and supplications. May the Lord help us todo just that. And again, I ask you to pray for our family—Jonathan, Heidi, andthe children—in the Middle East, along with all of our friends who are in thatregion. God bless you today. Jesus is coming soon. Keep looking up and continuein prayer. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we're moving on to Ephesians 6:18–20. The Apostle Paulhas been talking about putting on the whole armor of God, that we might be ableto stand against the wiles of the devil—and having done all, to stand. But notonly does he want us to stand; he also wants us to bow our knees. In theseverses, Paul speaks about the Christian soldier on his knees.  AsPaul concludes the armor of God here in Ephesians 6, he does something verystriking. He does not add another piece of armor. Instead, he brings us toprayer. Someone once wrote, “Put on the Gospel armor—each piece put on withprayer.” That captures Paul's meaning perfectly. Prayer is not simply anotherweapon. Prayer is the very air that the Christian soldier breathes. It is theatmosphere in which we wear the armor and wield the sword. We cannot fight thisbattle in our own strength. No matter how gifted, trained, or experienced wemay be, we are no match for the enemy apart from God. Rememberin the Old Testament, in Exodus 17:8–16, when the people of Israel had aconflict with Amalek. When Amalek attacked Israel, Moses went up on themountain to pray while Joshua fought in the valley below. It took both. It tookthe intercession on the mountain and the sword in the valley to defeat theenemy. Prayer is the power for victory. Prayer is the exercise of faith. Prayeris putting the Word of God and the armor we have been given, into effect as wefight the battle and stand against the wiles of the evil one. Paulhas just told us in the previous verses to put on the belt of truth, thebreastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield offaith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Now he says,“Praying always.” Ephesiansbegins by lifting us up into the heavenlies in Ephesians 1:3. It catalogs thebreathtaking blessings we have in Christ. We are chosen (1:4-5). We areredeemed and forgiven (1:7). We are sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13-14). Weare made alive (2:5-6). We are given bold access to God (3:12). We are mademembers of Christ's body (2:19-22). We are equipped with spiritual gifts (4:7-12).We are given the fullness of the Spirit (5:18). We are armed for spiritualwarfare in the verses we have just been studying (6:10-17). After listing allthese riches, there is a danger for all of us—that of self-sufficiency. Paulbegins this letter with prayer in Ephesians 1:16-23, where he shares the prayerhe has made for them. Then in chapter 3:14, Paul records another prayer. Hesays, “For this reason I bow my knees,” and he shares what he prays forthe saints (vs. 15-21). He concludes that prayer with these words: “Now untoHim who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”(Ephesians 3:20). Now Paul closes this letter by putting us on our knees! In1 Corinthians 10:12, Paul reminds us, “that we must take heed lest, when wethink we stand, we fall”. The way we keep standing—this amazing picture—isby being on our knees. Standing on our knees is a powerful thought. That is howwe stand against the wiles of the evil one. We continue praying always with allprayer and supplication. Wemust understand that God's armor is not mechanical, and it is not magical. Myfriend, the gifts of the Spirit and the armor of God are not effective at allwithout prayer.  Prayerkeeps us dependent upon God. When we bow our knees, it is a posture ofsubmission and surrender. It is a picture of humility before a holy God. Thatis what prayer does. Oh, my friend, let us learn to pray always as we fight thebattle against the evil one. Remember, prayer is the breath of the Christian soldier!Just, as you can't live physically without breathing, you can't standspiritually without bowing in prayer!  Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

In 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul toldhis son in the faith, Timothy, to “be strong in the grace that is in ChristJesus.” So I encourage you—be strong in grace. This grace comes throughhumility, through confession of sin, through recognizing every moment your needfor the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood to cleanse you, to help you, and togive you everything you need to be all that you should be for the glory of God.That is the grace of God—the unmerited favor of God. You do not deserve it, butyou come humbly, asking for it. And my friend, when you resist the devil, andhe will flee from you. ThenPaul goes on to say in verses 2-3, “The things that you have heard from meamong many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teachothers also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of JesusChrist.” Today, I want to encourage you to be a soldier who knows howto use the sword of the Spirit skillfully. You cannot use something skillfullyunless you practice with it. You must take time to read the Word, to study theWord, to memorize the Word, to apply the Word to your life, and to share itwith others. We also find that the Word of God helps us grow in the grace andknowledge of Jesus Christ. That growth happens as we remain in the Word of God. Anotherthing to remember is that the Word of God is what fuels reformation and revivalin our churches. Think of Martin Luther in the 1500s. It was the Word of God—“Thejust shall live by faith”—from the book of Romans that stirred his heart totake a stand against the heresies being taught by the church in his day. Ifthere is going to be reformation in the church, it will always come through theWord of God. The church has always been reformed and revived by God's Word—notby entertainment, not by cleverness, not by the trends of the day, but by Hisholy Word. It is always the Word of God, which brings transformation,reformation, and revival to our personal lives, our churches, our homes, andour nation! Sohow do we take up the sword? We take the helmet of salvation, and we take thesword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You must pick it up. You mustchoose to use it. You must carry it. You do that by reading God's Worddaily—every day (Matthew 4:4). You study the Word carefully. As you read, youask questions: What does this mean? What is the context? What is God saying?How does this apply to my life today? Youmemorize the Word, as we have discussed. You speak the Word out loud in faith.We read in Mark 11:23-24, that whatever you say in faith, believing, you willreceive. That happens when you are praying the Word and the promises of Godback to Him. Oh, how important that is. Then you obey the Word. You are notlike a man building his life on sand; you are building on the foundation of theWord of God. Why? Because Jesus said the wise man is the one who hears Hiswords and does them (Matthew 7:24-27). Myfriend, let me give you a final of encouragement today from this passage inEphesians 6:10-17: You do not have to live a defeated life. You do not have tobe confused. You do not have to be tossed about by your feelings. God has givenus everything we need to stand—the whole armor of God. And as we conclude withthe offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, we are reminded again of itspower. Take it up. Open your Bible. Believe what God says. Use the Word tofight temptation. Use the Word to resist lies. Use the Word to encourage others.Use the Word to witness and tell others who Jesus is. Most of all, use the Wordof God in prayer. Spend time in prayer. We will see in the next verses theimportance of prayer connected to the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word ofGod. Myfriend, Satan cannot defeat you when you are standing armed in God's Word. Howwonderful that is—because he is dealing with a soldier who is equipped. So,take up the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit and by the grace that is givenyou in Christ Jesus.

Now we are not only holding up the shield of faith, but we arealso taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We have alreadysaid many things about this but today is especially important as we talk aboutthe Word of God and prayer—the Word of God and prayer. Youcannot separate the Word of God from prayer. If you are praying as you should,you will be reading the Word of God as you should. You will be in the Word, andthe Word will be living in you. If you are not in the Word, you will not bepraying as you should. There is another very important truth: you must pray infaith. So we have faith, the Word, and prayer. These three are interdependentupon each other. You will not continue to do what you ought to do in any one ofthem without the others. Ilove what Mark 11:22–24 says: “So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Havefaith in God. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Beremoved and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, butbelieves that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that youreceive them, and you will have them.'” They go together. If you want powerin prayer, pray the Word. If you want boldness in prayer, pray the promises ofGod. Iwant to encourage you—if you have never read it before—you can find it onAmazon: Faith's Checkbook by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. It is available as adaily one-minute devotional book. I encourage you to get it. I used it foryears, and I continue to use it. It contains 365 promises that you “cash in.”It is like a checkbook—you take that promise, make it yours, and pray it backto God. When you pray the promises of God, it gives you boldness. God has mademany promises. Pray those promises. Ifyou want clarity in prayer, pray the Scriptures. One of the best books I stilluse every day—and I have given it to hundreds of people—is The Power of Prayer,a little one-minute devotional by E. M. Bounds. It is like a catalyst. It islike priming the pump. You read it, and you are motivated and encouraged topray. Justyesterday's February 24th reading was based on Romans 12:12: “Rejoicing inhope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.” Prayer andGod's promises are interdependent. The promises inspire and energize prayer,but prayer isolates and locates the promise, giving it realization andapplication. I love this illustration: The promise is like blessed rain fallingin full showers, but prayer is like the pipes that direct the rain—focusingthese promises until they become direct and personal, until they bless,refresh, and fertilize.Prayertakes hold of the promise and guides it to its marvelous end. It removes theobstacles and makes a highway for the promise to reach its gloriousfulfillment. Thereis always a little prayer at the end: “Dear Lord God, thank You for Yourpromises. Thank You that our earnest prayers can put Your promises to bless andrefresh in action. I praise Your name. Amen.” SoI want to encourage you today and understand that when you pray God's Word backto Him, you are praying according to His will. Because 1 John 5:14 says: “Andthis is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything accordingto His will, He hears us.” Oh, the precious promises, the Word of God, andprayer—this is the sword of the Spirit. My friend, it energizes. It carriesprayers to the place where they are needed in the lives of people. Menlike Andrew Murray wrote books such as, “With Christ in the School of Prayer”.Get hold of those books. Read them—but more importantly, pray as you read them.Listen to what God is saying to you. Be encouraged today to take up the shieldof faith, to hold up the sword of the Spirit, and to pray always. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today, we are focusing on how the sword of theSpirit—the Word of God—is our greatest defense against the false teaching ofthe cults and heresies that are so prevalent in the world today. This is veryimportant. At the same time it is our best weapon against the false teachingthat Paul warned would take place in the last days (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy3:1-9). Thebest answer to secular humanism is the Word of God. If there was ever a daywhen secular humanism has infiltrated even Christianity, it is today. Sadly, weare witnessing what A.W. Tozer called a humanistic Christianity. How true thatis. It becomes all about me—what I feel, what I can have, what is in it forme—instead of asking, What do we learn about God? How can we be holy like God? TheApostle Paul warned even the young church at Ephesus. You must understand thatfalse teaching has been present since the very beginning of the early church.It was already creeping in. Peter dealt with it. The Apostle John dealt withit. We find Paul addressing it as well when he spoke to the elders of thechurch at Ephesus In Acts 20:29-32. He said: “For I know this, that after mydeparture savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also,from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw awaythe disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for threeyears I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. So now,brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able tobuild you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” God's Word, Paul said, is what will build you up, set you apart, and give you courage and wisdom to deal with the false teachers. Today,people are not asking, “What does God say?” Instead, they are asking, “What doI feel?” We hear phrases like, “Follow your heart.” “What does your heart tellyou?” “What do you think the Bible is saying to you?” But that is not the mostimportant thing. The most important question is: “What is God saying”? Period.Godhas spoken. Whether you believe it or not, His Word is settled. Yet todaypeople ask, “What do I prefer? What do I think is true?” Paul warned that inthe last days people would have itching ears—they want their ears scratched andtickled (2 Timothy 4:3-5). They want to hear things that are not true but makethem feel good. Peterwrote in 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and alwaysbe ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope thatis in you with meekness and fear.” John also warned in 2 John 7–8: “Formany deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ ascoming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”  Theirreligion is a do-good religion. Do the best you can and you'll get to heaven.Try to keep the Ten Commandments. Then there's good God, good devil, goodeverybody. All you have to do is do what you feel like is the best thing foryou to do. In the end, God will have mercy on you and we're all going to get toheaven one day. I've actually heard these pastors quote Romans 8:35-39 atfunerals telling the people that “nothing can separate us from the love of Godthat's in Christ Jesus our Lord. Everybody's going to end up in heaven one daybecause nothing can separate us from His love”. Myfriend, these are lies of the devil. That's why Jude also warned in Jude verse3, "... I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contendearnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Forcertain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for thiscondemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and denythe only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."  Myfriend, we must know the Word of God! It is our best weapon against the falseteachers and their heresy. Jesus said, "Sanctify them through thytruth. Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

We'vebeen talking about the Word of God. Yesterday, we discussed hiding the Word ofGod in our hearts—meditating on it, memorizing it, and placing it deep withinour souls. We let it become our guide, our protection, and our shield. It isalso the sword of the Spirit, which enables us to stand against the enemy. Butnot only that—it can also deal with our own hearts. That is what we want totalk about today. Justas a physical sword can wound to harm and cause pain, the same sword in asurgeon's hand, can be used to heal. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, woundsin order to heal and to give life. That is very important, my friend. WhenGod's Word convicts you, it may feel painful—but it is a holy pain. Ithink of Psalm 51. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba anddeceitfully arranged for her husband to be killed in battle, he was broken whenNathan the prophet confronted him about his sin. In his prayer of repentance,David cried out in verse 7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” We have already talked about howit is the Word of God that cleanses and washes us.Thenin verse 8 he prays, “Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones whichThou hast broken may rejoice.”  Davidhad been a shepherd. If a lamb wandered away, he would bring it back. If itwandered again and again, after repeated discipline, there were times when ashepherd might break the front leg bones of that lamb—not to destroy it, but tosave it. He would then carry it on his shoulders until the bones healed. Davidunderstood this imagery. He knew he had been broken over his sin. His “bones”had been broken. And he prayed, “Make me hear joy and gladness, that thebones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.”Heunderstood that the hurt also brought the healing. And that healing comes onlythrough God's truth and God's Word. Ialso think of Hosea chapter 6—one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament.After the people of God had sinned and were warned by the prophets like Isaiahand Jeremiah that they would go into captivity, Hosea is called to also tobring them a message of hope. He said to them: “Come, and let us return untothe Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He willbind us up. After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise usup, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to knowthe Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto usas the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (vs. 1-3).  Oh,my friend, how wonderful it is to understand this truth. God might use His Wordto tear us up, but He will also use it to heal us. God might use His Word tosmite us, but He will also use it to bind us up and revive and raise us up to live!The Word of Godis living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It may bring paininto our lives as it convicts us of sin, but it also has the power to heal us. Psalm107:20 says, “He sent His Word, and healed them.” And Isaiah 53:5reminds us, “By His stripes we are healed.” The Word of God may firstbring conviction and pain, but then it brings healing. That is such a wonderfultruth for you and me to remember. Beforehealing comes, there must be pain. Before resurrection, there must be thecross. Before glory, there must be suffering. But then, my friend, the Word hasthe power to restore us and revive us. It brings us back into sweet andwonderful fellowship with the Lord. Are you seeking that today? If you are, youhave come to the right place when you come to the Word of God. There is powerin that Word. Trust it today. Get into that Word today. Let it soak deeply intoyour soul and you will find healing for your soul and for your life. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

The psalmist said in Psalm 119:11, “ThyWord have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.”  When you're seekingto win someone with the Word of God—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—it may need tobe more like a concealed weapon. It's hidden down in your heart, but you'reable to draw it out at just the right moment and use it effectively to bringthat person into contact with God Himself. If you come blasting away at them witha shotgun of God's Word, they may run before they ever truly hear. So, myfriend, how important it is to have the Word hidden in your heart. And the onlyway to hide it in your heart is to memorize it. Someof us or probably thinking, “I can't memorize.” I used to think that. But I'llnever forget what happened right after I became a believer on February 21, 1971,which was 55 years ago yesterday. My life totallychanged. God began to work in my heart, and I fell in love with the Word ofGod.Iwent up to Dayton, Ohio, to Dayton Baptist Temple, where my dad was preachingthat Sunday. I listened to him bring a message on memorizing Scripture—hidingGod's Word in your heart. He had just produced a little book called TreasurePath to Soulwinning. It contained 180 verses that you could memorize at apace of five verses a week. When my dad finished his message I was highlymotivated to begin memorizing the Scripture and so I made a commitment tomemorize those five verses each week. Atthat time, I was working construction in Cincinnati, Ohio. I went back home andbegan memorizing those 180 verses. I was so excited because my dad had given usa simple method: Say each verse five times in the morning and five times atnight—ten times a day. Say it out loud. Just read it. Don't try to forceyourself to memorize it. Simply read it out loud five times in the morning andfive times at night, every day for a week.Doyou know what happens at the end of that week? It's amazing. The verse justsettles into your heart and mind. You're able to recall it. I'll never forgetthat book. I memorized those 180 verses in just a matter of weeks instead ofnine months, simply by repeating them over and over. ThenI thought, “If I can memorize 180 verses like that, I wonder if it would workon an entire chapter?” So as a brand-new Christian, I took James chapter 1. Iread the entire chapter, 27 verses, five times every morning and five timesevery night. I was working construction, and during the day I might think aboutit, pull out my Bible, and glance at it again. It was amazing! At the end ofthe week, I could quote James chapter 1 from memory! Ibegan memorizing other chapters. When I went to Lynchburg Baptist College thatfall of 1971, I heard Jerry Falwell said that one of his favorite chapters wasPsalm 37. I thought, “If Psalm 37 is his favorite, I need to memorize it.” So Idid. Then I fell in love with Romans chapters 1 through 3 and memorized them.After that, I memorized Romans 6, 7, and 8. Then I memorized Matthew 5, 6, and7—the Sermon on the Mount. Later as a young pastor I finished memorizing thewhole Book of James. I simply fell in love with the Word of God and hid it inmy heart. Myfriend, when you hide God's Word in your heart, you are preparing yourself forbattle. Satan does not wait for you to look up a verse before he tempts you. Heattacks suddenly. That's why Scripture memory is not just for children inSunday school. Hiding God's Word in your heart—having that weapon ready—is forsoldiers. And we are soldiers. It's not just for students in a classroom; it'sfor those who are engaged in spiritual warfare. Today,I trust you'll say, “By the grace of God, I will begin memorizing at least oneverse a week.” That's 52 verses a year. In 10 years, that's more than 500verses.  Ipray we've encouraged you today to hide the Word in your heart. To beprepared to face the trials, tribulations, temptations—whatever may come. Andwhen they come, you will be ready with the Word of God.

When Satan casts a fiery dart atus, the sword can be used defensively to deflect that dart with God's HolyWord. But it is also offensive—it can strike the enemy. Think about this: whenyou use the Word of God, you can defend yourself against temptation. But youcan also attack Satan's kingdom by preaching the Gospel, witnessing to thelost, and teaching the truth. My friend, every time a person is saved through theWord of God, the sword of the Spirit has cut through into the kingdom ofdarkness. I'llnever forget hearing a story years ago about an atheist who was being witnessedto by a believer. The believer kept trying to talk with him about the Lord.Finally, the atheist said, “Get out of here. Leave me alone. I don't want tohear any more Scripture. I don't want to hear any more of the Word. Just leaveme alone. Get out.” The Christian replied, “I just want to leave you with onethought: Luke 13:3 says, ‘Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.'” Theatheist said, “I told you I don't want to hear it. I don't believe in God orthe Bible! Get out of here!” The Christian said, “Just one more time—Luke 13:3:‘Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.'” As the Christian waswalking away, the atheist shouted again, “Get away from me!” And the believerresponded one last time, “Unless you repent, you will perish.” The nextday, as the story goes, the atheist called that believer and said, “Would youplease come talk to me about getting saved? All night long all I kept hearingwas, ‘Unless you repent, you will perish.' I don't want to perish.” Andhe gave his heart to Christ. People may brush aside your testimony, but the Word of God is “alive andpowerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).  Weneed to always remember that the Word of God is the best weapon—the greatestweapon—for every need we have! I love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3. Hereminds us, “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to theflesh.” And in verse 4 he continues, “For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting downarguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”  TheWord of God helps us in every season of life. Do you feel downhearted? Have you beendiscouraged or even depressed? I'll never forget a lady calling just before Iwas about to preach on a Sunday night—back in the old days when all we had werelandlines in the church. There were no cell phones. She said, “I'm verydiscouraged. I need to talk to the pastor.” I picked up the phone briefly andsaid hello. She said, “I'm discouraged. I think I'm suicidal. I need help.” Isaid, “Ma'am, I want you to do something. Start reading the book of Psalmsright now. Just read the Psalms. As soon as this service is over, I'll call youback.” I'll never forget it. After the service, I called her back. She said,“I've been reading the Psalms, and guess what? I already feel so different.Thank you so much for helping me.” I didn't do anything. It was the Word of Godthat encouraged her. AWord for the downhearted and discouraged: Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your Wordswere found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of myheart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.” Psalm 119:105says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm119:9 asks, “How can a young man cleanse his way?” And it answers, “Bytaking heed according to Your Word.” Do you feel empty? Do you feel weak? Matthew4:4 reminds us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word thatproceeds from the mouth of God.” Whenyou have that intake of God's Word, you will discover it is not merelyinformation. It is nourishment. It is light. It is strength. It is direction. Itwill help you face every problem, every difficulty, every challenge of everyday—no matter how it comes. 

Understandthis clearly: Satan did not quote God's Word completely. And he did not quoteit correctly or in its proper context. My friend, Satan is not afraid when youquote Scripture—especially if you do not understand it. He is not intimidatedwhen you use verses out of context, perhaps just to make yourself feel betterabout what you are doing. Overthe years, as a pastor, I have seen many people do exactly that when they wereconfronted with some sin in their life. They would say, “It must be okay,because the Bible says….” I'll never forget in my early days as a pastor I wasasked to meet with a family late one night and talk to the wife who wascommitting adultery. When we lovingly confronted her, she actually said, “Godsaid in the Bible that you're supposed to love everybody. I love my husband,and I love this other person too.” Wow! You almost can't imagine how cansomeone quote Scripture out of context like that and come up with such aconclusion? But it literally happened. That is why we must learn to use theWord of God carefully, rightly, and accurately. Thatis also why Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourselfapproved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” That is veryimportant. Again, Paul says in Ephesians 6:17, “the sword of the Spirit, whichis the Word of God.” Make sure you rightly know it and correctly apply it! Thereis something else very powerful in this verse. When Paul speaks of “the swordof the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” he is referring to a specific wordfor a specific battle. This is an important point to understand.InEphesians 6:17, Paul does not use the Greek word logos, which oftenrefers to the Word of God in general. Instead, he uses the word rhema,which refers to a specific saying, a particular word spoken for a particularsituation. Why is that important? Because when Satan attacks you, you do notjust need general Bible knowledge. You need specific truth for specific lies. Forexample, when Satan says, “God doesn't love you,” you can answer with Romans5:8: “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yetsinners, Christ died for us.” Or you might answer with 1 John 4:9–10: “Inthis the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His onlybegotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love,not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be thepropitiation for our sins.” Quote that Scripture back when the devil saysGod does not love you. WhenSatan says, “You've gone too far,” answer with 1 John 1:9: “If we confessour sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness.” When Satan says, “You're not really saved,” answerwith John 10:28, where Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life, and theyshall never perish.”Yoursalvation is not based on what you do. It is based on what Jesus has alreadydone for you. Onepassage that I memorized as a brand-new Christian, when Satan attacked me withthat very lie, was Romans 8:35–39. The Apostle Paul wrote: “Who shallseparate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, orpersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for theslaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him wholoved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels norprincipalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor heightnor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from thelove of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Myfriend, make sure you use a specific Word to answer a specific attack ofSatan. When you do, you are taking up the sword of the Spirit exactly as Godintended—and He will protect you in that moment.

TheChristian life, as we said, is a battlefield. Satan is warring against us. Hewants to defeat us. He has come to steal, to kill, and destroy. But God, ourGod has given us an armor. The armor of God. Did you hear that? The armor ofGod. Not the armor of some man, some person in the past, or the armor that wehave made up for ourselves. No, it's the armor of God Almighty Himself that'sbeen made available to us. Remember how Saul gave David his armor to put on tofight Goliath. But after David put it on, he realized that he couldn't wearsome other person's armor, and he didn't need it when he by faith knew he hadthe armor of God on already! So the last thing we are told to dois to take and put on is the helmet of salvation. We've talked about that inthe past number of chats. Right now, we're talking about the sword of theSpirit. We're talking about what that is. It's the word of God. It's the Spiritof the living God through the word of God. Then we find out why we should usethis sword because it's our offensive weapon against the enemy, the devil. Wealso learn how to use this sword. We look at an example of even Jesus ChristHimself.Jesusused the sword of the Spirit against Satan. The clearest example in the Bibleis when Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan came and tempted Him. What didJesus do when Satan tempted Him three times? Each time Jesus answered, "Itis written." He was quoting Scripture from the Old Testament. Myfriend, Jesus did not argue with Satan. He did not negotiate with Satan. He didnot reason with Satan like Eve did when she was tempted and failed. No, Heanswered the temptations with Scripture. Every time Satan came with a lie,Jesus came back with the truth. Now, that tells us something. And that is, ifthe Son of God, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, chose to resist the devilwith scriptures, then you and I better learn to do the same.Inthe Scriptures, the Christian life is picture or describe as a battle, but theChristian life is also pictured as a walk. We are to walk in purity, walk inthe light, and walk in love. We've talked about that here in the book ofEphesians. The Christian life is also described as a run in Hebrews 12:1. Itsays, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud ofwitnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  How do we do it? We do this by “looking untoJesus” (v. 2).TheChristian life is also a fight. But it's not a fight with Satan, my friend.It's a fight to stand strong in the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul said, "Ihave fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”The fight is to keep the faith, to be armored with a faith in the Scripture, inthe Word of God, which is a life of obedience. Then it is also “taking a stand”.We've read that here in Ephesians 6. “And having done all, to stand”.  We stand but Paul also said we “wrestle”. I'llnever forget when I went out for wrestling in high school. I found out it's anexercise of resistance and endurance. You're resisting the strength of the personthat you're wrestling with. That's what we are told to do with the devil. James4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil." Howdo you do it? You do it with the Word of God! Then we are promised that, “hewill flee from you”. Todaywe should be encouraged with the last verses in Isaiah 40:28-31, “Have younot known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator ofthe ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding isunsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might Heincreases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young menshall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint.”  

One of theclearest verses in the Bible that speaks about the Word of God being the swordof God in found in Hebrews 4:12. “For the Word of God is quick and powerfuland sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul andspirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts andintents of the heart.” First,this verse says the Bible is “quick”, which literally means it's aliving book. It's alive. It's not a dead book. It tells us the Word of God ispowerful! When this Bible is used as the sword of the Spirit, my friend, it cando wonderful and awesome things for the glory of God. And it is sharper than aphysical material sword so that it is “a discerner of the thoughts andintents of the heart”. You see, a physical sword can pierce the body, butthe Word of God pierces the heart. It doesn't pierce to destroy. It pierces toreveal. It pierces to convict. It pierces to heal. That'swhy on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached, he preached the Bible from theOld Testament Scriptures. Acts 2:37 tells us what happened at the end of hismessage with the response of those who heard it, "Now when they heardthis, they heard his message based on the word of God, they were pricked intheir hearts." Later, speaking of the religious leaders in Acts 5:33,as Peter again spoke the Word of God, it says, "And when they heardthis, they were cut to the heart." That's the sword of the Spirit atwork. It cuts through pride. It cuts through excuses. It cuts through religiousperformance. It cuts through deception. It gets right down to the truth. Rememberin 2 Corinthians 4:4 where Paul was writing about the people that are withoutChrist. He said that they are blinded by Satan: “Whom the god of this worldhas blinded the minds of those that believe not”. Now how do you deal withthat? How do you overcome that deception of Satan? You do it with the Word ofGod, with the Word and Testimony of Jesus Christ in the Holy Scriptures! Itopens their eyes to see who Jesus really is and what life is really all about. Weneed to always remember how the Word of God is alive and it's sharper than anytwo-edged sword.  Whatis also interesting about it, when you use the Word, it gets sharper with use,not duller. A physical sword gets duller the more you use it. But the Word ofGod's not like that. The more you use the Word, the sharper it becomes in yourlife. The more you handle the Scriptures, the more Scripture begins to handleyou. The more you yield it in battle, the more confident and skilled that youcan become with it. My friend, you don't become strong in the word by admiringthe Bible on your shelf. You become strong in the Word by opening it daily,reading it, believing it, and memorizing it, and applying it to your life. Weneed to remember that Satan is no match for the Word of God. In Matthew 16:18,Jesus said, “Upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell willnot prevail or can stand against it”. When youtake up the sword of the spirit and you can advance against the gates of hellitself. They cannot stand against you with the sword of Spirit in your heartand hand. Why? You're using God's mighty weapon, the Word of the sword of the Spirit.You're not dealing with anything that you can see in a sense. You're dealingwith the forces and principalities of the air. No powers, no rulers ofdarkness, no wicked spirits, not even Satan himself has a defense against the Wordof God when it's rightly used. Myfriend, that's why the devil, Satan works so hard to keep Christians distractedfrom the Bible, bored with the Bible, confused about the Bible, shallow intheir knowledge of scripture, and dependent on feelings instead of truth. Todayif the devil can keep the sword of the Spirit out of your hand, you will not beable to stand and move forward in the Christian experience as you should.  

Yesterdaywe looked at “the sword”. Today, we want to think about “the sword ofthe Spirit”. Paul calls this sword, “the sword of the Spirit”.Someone has said that the best understanding of this is that the sword is fromthe Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture. We must alwaysremember that the Word of God that we have, the 66 books of the Bible fromGenesis to Revelation, are inspired by God's Holy Spirit, were breathed throughGod's Holy Spirit. 2Peter 1:20-21 tells us, "Knowing this that no prophecy of the Scriptureis of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in the old time bythe will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the HolySpirit." We're reminded in 2 Timothy 3:16, “all Scripture”,from Genesis 1:1 to the last verse in Revelation, “is given by inspirationof God”. The word inspiration means that it is God breathed. So, we mustremember that the Word of God, which is “the sword of the Spirit”,is not merely a human writing. It is divine truth. That means that every wordthat those 40 plus men put into the 66 books of the Bible, they were inspiredby God's Holy Spirit to put those words down. TheBible is a living book. It's the divine truth. And because the Spirit wrote it,the Holy Spirit can use it. We find these great truths in John 14, where Jesus beganby saying, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it beafraid." He then gives several reasons why Christians and believers,as we face the challenges of the world, we should not have troubled hearts. Weshould not fear. We should not be afraid. InJohn 14:16-18, Jesus told the disciples, "I'll pray the Father, and Hewill give you another helper that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit oftruth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knowsHim, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be with you. I will notleave you orphans. I will come to you." Jesus Christ comes to us inthe person of the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say in verse 26, "But thehelper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teachyou all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I've said toyou." RememberJohn the Baptist had prophesied, when He was preaching as the forerunner ofChrist, in John 1:33, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”. In Luke3:16, Luke recorded that John actually said it this way, “He will baptizeyou with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. Then we read that Jesus told Hisdisciples in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit hascome upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judeaand Samaria, and to the end of the earth." For the next 10 days thedisciples prayed in the upper room. And on the Day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:1-4,the Holy Spirit came down upon them like tongues of fire. TheHoly Spirit, who inspired the Word of God, is the sword, is the sword of Godthat pierces the hearts of sinners and brings conviction. That's what Jesuspromised in John 16:8-11, “When He has come, He will convict the world ofsin, of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they do not believe onMe. Of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Ofjudgment because the ruler of this world is judged.”  Jesus went on to say in John 16:13-14, “However,when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; forHe will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak;and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take ofwhat is Mine and declare it to you”. Myfriend, when we take the sword of the Spirit, after we have put on the helmetof salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, we have apowerful weapon in our hands. We'll talk more about this powerful weapon thenext couple days.  MayGod help us to realize today that we have access to this sword of theSpirit to do mighty works for God.

Ephesians 6:17“And take the helmet ofsalvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Todaywe're continuing in one of the most important passages in the New Testament forvictorious daily Christian living. That's Ephesians chapter 6:10-17. Thepassage that's on the whole armor of God. Today we come to a piece of theequipment that is absolutely essential if we're going to stand in victoryagainst the devil. Ephesians6:17 says, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of thespirit, which is the word of God." Now, up to this point, my friend,Paul has been describing the armor that's mainly defensive, the belt of truth,the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shieldof faith, and the helmet of salvation. All of those protect us. But now inverse 17, Paul gives us one piece of the equipment that's not just defensive.This one is offensive. It is the sword of the spirit. Paul tells us plainlywhat it is. It is the Word of God. Iwant you to notice something. Paul does not say that the sword is youremotions. He does not say the sword is your personality. He does not say thatthe sword is your experiences from the past. He does not say that the sword isyour opinion. He says the sword is the Word of God. If you and I are going tostand up against Satan and all his strategies, then we must learn to take upthe sword and know how to use it. I'vegot to remind you that the Christian life is a real battle. In Ephesians 6:10,remember Paul had said, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lordand in the power of His might." Then in verse 11, he says, "Puton the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the wiles ofthe devil." The Christian life is not a playground. It is abattlefield. We're not fighting people. Remember in verse 12, Paul said, "Forwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of the darkness in this world, against spiritualwickedness in high places." We're dealing with a real enemy, aspiritual enemy, an intelligent enemy, a deceptive enemy. Then again in verse13, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you might be ableto withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Paul says thegoal is not merely to survive, but the goal is to stand. Thenwhen we come to verse 17 where we're looking at today, Paul says, "Andtake the sword of the spirit." Now the sword was a very powerfulwonderful piece of equipment for the Roman soldier's close combat weapon. Severalcommentators, with an understanding the original Greek language, point out thatthe sword that Paul is describing is the Roman “machaira”. It's a short sword,sometimes about six to eighteen inches long. It wasn't one of those long swords,that most of us have imagined as we have read this passage of scripture, forswinging wildly. No, it was a sword used in hand-to-hand combat, up close,personal, precise. Thisis very important to know and understand because Satan does not usually attackus from afar. He attacks us up close in your thoughts, in your fears, in yourtemptations, in your doubts, in your discouragements, in your private moments.That's why we don't need a vague knowledge of the scripture and the Bible. Weneed specific scriptures ready, sharp, and available. And we also need tonotice that it is “the sword of the Spirit”.  If are going to us this weapon effectively andefficiently, we must understand the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit thathas given us this piece of equipment. We will be looking at that tomorrow. Today,make sure you are putting on the “whole armor of God” and be ready to face allthe challenges of life that come at you! Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Put on thehelmet of salvation. It's very important that we understand that withoutsalvation, man cannot reach correct conclusions about spiritual truth.  Matterof fact, we can put it very plainly this way. The Christian who does not feedhis mind on scripture is a Christian who will be vulnerable to deception. But aChristian who is grounded in the Word of God will not easily be led astray.Also remember putting on the helmet of salvation is not something that'spassive. It's active. Be aware of that “let go and let God” thinkingmindset. In other words, the idea that spiritual victory comes throughpassivity. It does not. Paul never said, "Sit back and watch Godfight." No, Paul says in these scriptures, "Be strong, put on,stand, take up, resist, take the helmet." These are action words.Action words. The Christian life is not a couch. It's a battlefield. Wearingthe helmet means I actively remind myself of what God has promised. I activelyreject the lies of the devil. I actively preach truth to my own soul. Iactively renew my mind day by day through the Word of God. I couldn't wait toget to this point today as I've been thinking about it all day yesterday afterthat devotional. That is, “how do you put on the helmet of salvation”?How do you actually put it on day by day to be able to make sure your mind isfilled with the thoughts of God? In other words, you first remind yourself whatsalvation has done for you. You're justified. You're being sanctified. You willbe glorified. Secondly,you put it on by resisting discouragement. When Satan says, "Look at yourfailures," you answer, "Yes, but Christ paid for my sin." Third,you put it on by rejecting doubt. When Satan says, "God won't keepyou," you answer. Jesus said, "No one can snatch you out of Myhand." Then fourth, you put it on by renewing your mind day by day. Youdon't renew your mind by scrolling endlessly on social media. You renew yourmind by scripture, by prayer, and by worship. Hereis one of the practical ways that I have found to put on the helmet ofsalvation every day. I did it this morning. I always, before I get out of bed,either while I'm lying there or my feet are about to touch the floor, I gothrough this little chorus I learned as a child. “Thank you, Lord, forsaving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, forgiving me thy salvation so rich and free”. Oh, that's one way I do it. ThenI also always quote the Lord's prayer. I won't go through it all, but everymorning without fail, as I'm waking and getting up, I pray: “Oh Lord, howawesome is Your name. This day, give me my daily bread that I need to live foryou. Keep me from temptation….” I go through the entire Lord's prayer. Iencourage you to do the same. Thenlastly, we realize putting on the helmet of salvation keeps us always lookingforward. It gives us that future hope, “the hope of our salvation”.Because if you lose hope of what's ahead, you lose strength for what's in thepresent. So I would encourage you to look in Romans 8:1-10, where we find thatthe carnal mind is enmity against God. But the spiritual mind can stand withGod's truth against those fiery darts. We put on that helmet by putting on amind that stayed on God. Isaiah 26:3 says: “You will keep him in perfectpeace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” Today,what has the devil been using to discourage you? Has it been discouragement?Has it been through doubt? Has it been through a constant voice ofcondemnation? Then please remember: “That there is therefore now nocondemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life, has made me free fromthe law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). That's the helmet of salvation.Put it on every day.  

The helmet also reminds us that we are in a spiritual warwith Satan, and that one of his main strategies is to attack our minds. We mustbe ready to deal with the wiles and fiery darts of the evil one.  Now,my friend, yesterday we talked about the assurance of salvation. The devil willdo everything he can to take away that assurance. When he does, it robs you ofyour security—your sense of Christ being with you.Jesustold His disciples, “Go into the world, preach the gospel to every creature,and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Thedevil wants you to doubt that. He wants you to doubt your salvation. I'mconvinced that one reason we sometimes lack assurance is this: First, we mayhave never truly been saved. We need to examine ourselves and make sure we havebeen born again—there has been a new life, a change, and we know the HolySpirit of God lives within us. Second, we may be dealing with unconfessed sin.When we get away from fellowship with the Lord, we lose the assurance ofsalvation and the joy of that salvation. In other words, if we are truly saved,we can keep sinning and enjoy it. We are miserable! Then we are not able to bewhat God wants us to be, and we are not standing against the wiles of the evilone like we should. Nowtoday, we're talking about how Satan attacks a discouraged mind. One of thegreat stories in the Old Testament is found in 1 Kings chapters 18 and 19.Elijah experienced a great victory against the prophets of Baal. You rememberhow he stood against 450 prophets of Baal. Fire came down from heaven, and allof Israel proclaimed, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Elijah stoodboldly against demonic forces and false religion. But then, in 1 Kings chapter19, one woman said, “I'm going to get him,” and Elijah fled. He went up intothe mountains, crawled into a cave, and said, “I want to die. I don't have anyreason to be serving God anymore.” He was greatly discouraged. Andmy friend, Satan often attacks us when we become discouraged. Discouragementcan even come after a great victory—after one of those moments when God uses usin a powerful way. Now, I want to remind you of something I heard years ago. Wehave three “tanks” that give us energy to keep us going. First, we have a spiritualtank—keeping it filled with Jesus, filled with the Word of God, and walking inthe fullness of the Spirit. Second, we have a physical tank—our physicalenergy. And third, we have an emotional tank that can be filled with energy orbecome empty.  My friend, thosespiritual, physical, and emotional tanks are very important. You need to lookat the gauges and see how full they are. Because if any one of those tanks getslow, it affects the other two. And when that happens, discouragement can set in. Satanuses discouragement to keep us from serving the Lord like we should. And it'simportant to remember that after a great victory, we must be careful—becausesometimes pride can creep in. Remember, “pride comes before a fall”. We beginto think, “Wow, I won that one,” and the next thing you know, we fall into atemptation of the devil. TheBible says in James 4:7, “Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will fleefrom you.” But I remind you, he doesn't go very far, as he waits foranother opportunity to come back. Remember even when Jesus was tempted in theGospel of Luke—Luke 4:13—that after Jesus faced the temptation and won thevictory, it says Satan “left Him for a season”. Why? Because he looks for amore opportune time to come back. Jesus faced the same temptations we face, yetwithout sin. Hebrews 4 tells us that. So,my friend, be careful—because discouragement can come after a great victory.That's often when the devil will attack with a temptation designed to take youdown. That is why we must keep on that helmet of salvation and trust in theLord at all times. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Taking up the helmet of salvation and putting it on means thatwe are having confidence that we are God's children. We are in His family. Yousee the helmet protects us from the biggest lie of the devil that we are notsafe in Jesus Christ. Listen carefully. One of Satan's most crippling attacksis to make believers feel insecure. Their insecurity produces paralysis. If aChristian thinks, "I might not be saved," then they stop movingforward. Whatwe're talking about is the assurance of our salvation. If we don't have theassurance of our salvation, we stop serving the Lord. We stop praying boldly.We stop living with joy in our lives. We become fearful, anxious and unstablein our walk with God. This is so important. This thing of assurance ofsalvation. Why do we lose our assurance of our salvation? Because the assuranceof our salvation is the joy we are experiencing when we know that we are savedand safe! In1 John chapter 1, John is talking about the eternal life that was manifest tohim. He wrote: “We have seen, we bear witness, we declare to you thateternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us”. Why? Johnsaw Jesus personally for three and a half years and walked and talked with Him.He goes on to write: "That which we have seen and heard, we declare toyou that you also may have fellowship with us. Truly, our fellowship is withthe Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write to you thatyour joy may be full."  Myfriend, what John is writing about in the book of First John is how we can haveassurance of our salvation. Here's the fact. Either we have been saved or we'venot been saved. That's why assurance of salvation deals with these two issues. Inthis epistle John gives three series of tests. The test of obedience, the testof love, and the test of truth. I really encourage you to read the Epistle ofFirst John if you're dealing with doubt and saying to yourself: "I'm notsure I'm saved. I wonder did I ever get saved? I prayed a prayer when I was achild, but now, I don't know that I've ever truly been born again. Yes, I gotbaptized, but I don't know that Jesus is my savior. I don't have that assuranceof salvation." Johngives three series of tests, as I said, and the tests have to do first with sonship.Are you really a son of the Father? You really in the family? Secondly, thereis the test of fellowship. You can be saved and lose fellowship with God. Thefollowing verses in 1 John 1:5-10 have to do with that. They basically say thatif we have fellowship with Him, we walk in the light as He is in the light. Ifwe sin, we can lose that fellowship. But if we confess our sin, He is faithfuland just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then welove Him. We walk in His truth and we keep His commandments. We're obedient.  Thedevil doesn't want you to have the assurance of your salvation even when you'resaved. So that's why John writes in 1 John 5:11-13 “And this is thetestimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Hewho has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not havelife. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son ofGod, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue tobelieve in the name of the Son of God.” My friend, your eternal life is notin who you are and what you do and what you can do for God. Your eternal lifeis in Jesus Christ.  Jesustells us in John 10:28-29: “And I give them eternal life and they shallnever perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand”. Romans8:38-39 also assures us: “For I'm persuaded that neither death nor life norany other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of Godthat's in Christ Jesus our Lord”. My friend, this is the helmet, this isthe settled truth. I belong to Christ. I'm kept by Christ and I'll be broughthome by Christ today.

Today, we want to talkabout the past, the present, and the future power and protection that thehelmet of our salvation gives us.  Oursalvation isn't something that just gives us the confidence that I'm saved. I'mgoing to heaven. Putting on the helmet of our salvation each day has the powerto protect us from the fiery darts of the evil one. We see this in three greatdimensions.  First,is our justificationwhich has to do with our past. We remember Romans chapter 5:1: “Therefore,being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.Our past has to do with the justification that we have before the court of aholy God. We're made at peace with God because we're justified. We arejustified in the fact that we have a right standing before a holy God. All ourpast sins are under the blood of Jesus Christ. That's why Romans 8:1 says, "Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."  Myfriend, the moment you got saved, you were placed in Christ Jesus. You werebaptized into Him by the Holy Spirit of God into His body. Now God sees you inChrist and He sees you without sin. That includes all the sins of the past. Thedevil loves to drag up those terrible, terrible sins that you committed in thepast, throw them into your mind to make you think God can't use you today todiscourage you and to drag you down. That is why you must remember God's Wordand you put on the helmet of salvation. You know there's no condemnation. Second,is our sanctificationwhich has to do with the present. God has not only saved us from our past sins,He's presently continuing to sanctify us. This speaks about our presentstanding before a holy God. Romans chapter 6 teaches this so vividly. In Romans6:6 we read: “Knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him that thebody of sin might be done away with and that we should no longer be slaves ofsin for he that has died has been freed from sin”. Verse 14 continues: “Forsin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but you'reunder grace”. How wonderful that is. The fact is that even right now, Jesusis saving us. Christ is saving us day by day from sin's power. We no longerhave to sin. Sin is no longer our master. Romans 6:22 assures us with thesewords: “But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God,you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life”. It's a presentprotection against the devil. Third,is our glorificationwhich has to do with our future. One day, we will stand before a holy God andwe will be saved eternally from sin's presence. We will stand in glory. We willbe made just like Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:2-3 tells us about this: “Beloved,now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,but we know that when He is revealed. We shall be like Him for we shall see Himas He is”. Then verse 3 goes on to tell us: “Everyone who has this hopein Him purifies himself just as He is pure”. This future aspect, the hopeof what's coming is what strengthens the helmet. We are motivated to dailycleanse ourselves from sin and live a pure life so the devil has nothing to accuseor condemn us with! Myfriend, the battle is not forever. This darkness is not permanent. The strugglewith sin, “with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the prideof life”, is not in the future chapter. We will eternally be saved evenfrom the presence of sin and that is our glorification in Christ we will haveat His coming in the future. What a glorious standing we have when we daily puton the whole armor of God. And especially, the helmet of salvation that haspower to protect us from our past sins and failures, to protect us in ourpresent battle with sin, and even to protect us in our future. God bless you, andmay you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Ephesians 6:17“And take the helmet ofsalvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Todaywe are continuing in Ephesians 6:17. We are talking about the whole armor weare supposed to put on to stand against the wiles of the devil. Yesterday westarted talking about a very important piece of that armor—the helmet of oursalvation in verse 17. What is this helmet? Yesterday we mentioned it is notgetting saved again. We do not need to get saved again every day. We arealready saved. The helmet of our salvation is our assurance and our hope.It is the confidence that we belong to Jesus Christ. Rememberyesterday we said Satan shoots two darts at our heads that are very powerful:the dart of discouragement and the dart of doubt. This is so true because Satanoften whispers in our ears to our minds.  (That is his dart—he throws his thoughts intoour minds.) The helmet is the armor that protects our mind against the lies ofthe devil. He loves to whisper, “God is tired of you. You have failed too manytimes. If you were really saved, you would not struggle like this. God cannotuse you anymore.  Icannot tell you how many times one of the greatest servants of God I have everknown, would get discouraged after a great ministry of service overseas, andwould come home saying, “God is through with me. God does not want to use meanymore.” That is a devil's lie. The devil says you will never change. You willnever finish well. God has abandoned you. Please do not let the devil's liescome into your mind. Whenyou are discouraged and doubt settles in, those things do not just affect youremotions. They affect your obedience. They affect your worship. They affectyour ability to serve. Before long, a Christian who should be standing is onewho is retreating. That is why the helmet of salvation is tied to hope. In 1Thessalonians 5:8 Paul calls it “the hope of salvation”. In other words,our helmet of salvation is the settled confidence that God has saved us, issaving us, and will finish what He started. Mylife's verse has always been Philippians 1:6, from the first few months after Igot saved: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a goodwork in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That is thehelmet of our salvation. We are confident that He who began that work willcomplete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Peter knew about discouragement. Heknew about failure. He knew about Satan lying to him. On one occasion Jesuseven told him, “Get behind Me, Satan,” because Satan was trying to use thoughtsin Peter's mind to keep Jesus from going to the cross (Matthew 16:23). SoPeter writes in 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our LordJesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to aliving hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to aninheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reservedin heaven for you.” Then verse 5: “who are kept by the power of Godthrough faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”  Petergoes on to write about in verses 6-7, that even when you are getting knockeddown, being tried, and going through fire, he encourages us in verses 8-9 andsays, “Whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him, yetbelieving, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving theend of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” You are saved. You haveconfidence in that salvation.  Itis the hope of your salvation is the helmet that you need to put ondaily to keep your protection strong against the attacks of the evil one, whothrows lies into your mind to discourage you and cause you to doubt thegoodness, love, grace, and mercy of God.  Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Todaywe're continuing in Ephesians chapter 6, where the Apostle Paul is teachingbelievers how to stand strong in spiritual warfare. And our verse today isEphesians 6:17: “And take the helmet of salvation…” Now Paul says morein this verse—he also mentions the sword of the Spirit—but today I want tofocus only on this one piece of armor: The helmet of salvation. Because ifthere is one place Satan loves to attack, it is the believer's mind. And ifthere is one thing God wants to protect, strengthen, and stabilize in theChristian life, it is the mind. First,the Helmet Protects the Most Vulnerable Place: The MindLetme begin with something very simple. A soldier can take a wound in the arm andstill fight. He can take a wound in the leg and still move. But a blow to thehead can be fatal. That's why Roman soldiers would never enter battle without ahelmet. We have read that these helmets were sometimes made of thick leather,and other times heavy metal, and they often had pieces that protected thecheeks and face. In other words, this was not decorative. It was essential for theirprotection in the battle. Weneed to remember that the head is the center of our intellectual life, the seatof thought, reason, and understanding. So Paul is telling us that if Satan canget control of your thinking, he can influence your living. That is why thebattle for the Christian is usually a battle for the mind. I will never forgetthat in my early years as pastor I had an entire message called “The Battle forthe Mind.” Right after that a book came out—I believe by Tim LaHaye—called “TheBattle for the Mind”. Kiddingly, I would say, I think he got it from me. Thereal battle is right there in your thinking.  Second,Satan Attacks the Mind Because That's Where He Has Always WorkedYoumight remember going back to Genesis chapter 3. That is where Satan attackedEve—through her mind. That is what God is speaking to us about. He did notbegin by telling her to commit a gross sin. He began by planting a thought.What was that thought? “Has God indeed said?” The moment Eve beganquestioning the Word of God, her mind became the battlefield. Paul even warnsChristians that Satan still works the same way in 2 Corinthians 11:3: “But Ifear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your mindsmay be corrupted.” That is his strategy. Satan's first move is almostalways to distort the truth, to question God's goodness, to twist theScripture, and to weaken confidence in what God has said. When that happens,the believer becomes spiritually vulnerable. Third,The Helmet of Salvation Is Not About Getting Saved Again. Nowwe need to be very clear about something. Paul is writing to believers. He'snot giving an evangelistic invitation. He's telling Christians how to standfirm. So when Paul says, “take the helmet of salvation,” he is not saying, “getsaved again.” You don't put on the helmet by repeating a prayer. You don't puton the helmet by re-doing your conversion. Only saved people can wear God'sarmor. The armor is not for people outside Christ. The armor is for believerswho are already in the fight. So what does Paul mean? Fourth,The Helmet of Salvation Is Assurance and Hope—The Confidence That You Belong toChristMyfriend, Satan's blows are aimed at our security. The two sharp edges of Satan'ssword are discouragement and doubt. You can be assured he is going to use them.I'll never forget what Dr. Falwell said many times during my years at LynchburgBaptist College (today Liberty University): He said, “Satan favorite tool tokeep the Christian down is the tool of discouragement. God cannot use adiscouraged Christian.” We will be looking more about the “helmet of salvation”over the next few days.  Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Faith is not in ourselves. It is in the God of the Bible—the Godwho has made great and exceeding promises to us. We must choose to believethose promises. InPsalm 9:10 it says, “Those who know Your name will put their trust in You.For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who trust in You, who seek You.” Wecan only experience and know God by faith! His many names in the Bible revealHis attributes, His character, and the way He works with us. My friend, faithis not powerful because we are strong. Faith is powerful because God isfaithful. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 30:5 that: “Every word of God ispure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.” Tohold up the shield of faith is to put ourselves under God's protection. Thatmeans we are under God's authority and any other authorities He has placed overour lives: Romans 13 reminds us, “Let every soul be subject to the governingauthorities, for there is no authority except from God. The authorities thatexist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists theordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” Inthis chapter Paul goes on to tell us in verse 13, “Let us walk properly asin the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not instrife and envy.” Notice especially verse 14: “But put on the Lord JesusChrist, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” Thatis so powerful. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have talked about putting offthe old man and putting on the new man. Now we are talking about putting onChrist. Remember Jesus said in John 10:9, “I am the door.” When He saysHe is the door, that is a beautiful picture of a door-shield that is so bigthat it protects us. It keeps the enemy away from us. It shuts the devil out.But Jesus is also the door that we can go into and through, to live a life thatis full of the fullness of God Himself in us and through us—facing the trials,the temptations, and the problems of life. Faithtakes God at His Word. We believe God's promises such as: “If God is for us,who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). James 1:17: “Every good gift andevery perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.” Philippians 4:19:“God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in ChristJesus.” And then in Ephesians 1:3, we have already been “blessed withall spiritual blessings in Christ”. So when Satan whispers, “God is holdingout on you,” faith says, “No, God is always good.” When Satan says God doesn'tcare, faith says, “He loved me and gave Himself for me.” When Satan saysyou will fall, faith says, “God is able to keep me from falling.” Myfriend, faith always wins over fear and worry. Faith always puts that shield ofprotection about us. Alsowe need to always remember what Jesus said in John 10:27–28 that His sheep willnever perish, and no one will pluck them out of His hand. That is security. Faithtakes hold of Christ. Faith puts on Christ. Then we make no provision for thelust of the flesh. My friend, we can find forgiveness. We find cleansing. Wefind the washing of the blood taking away every sin that the devil holdsagainst us, accuses us of, and tries to tell us we are not good enough. Becausein God's sight, we have been justified through Christ and Christ alone—not byour goodness. 1John 5:4 sums it up: “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even ourfaith.” We are not fighting for victory. We are fighting from victory.Jesus Christ has already conquered the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our jobis to stand in that victory by faith. So today, by God's grace, take up theshield of faith. Trust God's Word, trust God's character, trust God's plan,trust God's promises. And when those fiery darts come—and they will—remember,they will be quenched by God Himself. And you will be ready to walk that lifethat glorifies Him every day. 

Yesterday we talked about the darts of the devil.Today I want to talk about his strategy. Thestrategy of the devil is to cause us to doubt God—to doubt God and His truthand His Word. You see, at the heart of every temptation is the same battle:Will I trust God and His truth in His Word, or will I trust the devil and hislies? I have to make a choice based on who I want to believe. This goes all theway back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1–5. Satan's first temptation wasnot merely about fruit. If you remember, it was about faith. “Did God reallysay? Did God really mean what He said?” In other words, he attacked thegoodness of God. He attacked the government of God—the authority of God, and heattacked the goals of God, the purpose of God for Adam and Eve's lives. Myfriend, tragically, Eve let go of the Word of God. She stopped trusting God,and the fiery dart struck its target. This connects to what we read in 1 John2:15–16: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Ifany man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And then hegoes on to say in verse 16:“Forall that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and thepride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.” That's exactly whatSatan uses in his temptations.  Noticein Genesis 3:6, “When Eve saw that the fruit was good for food, she saw itwas pleasant to the eyes, and then it was desirable to make one wise.” Satanhad told her, “If you eat that fruit, you'll be like God, and you can makeyour own decisions.” What was the attack?·        Thelust of the flesh: good for food—for the body. Yes, it'll make you feel good.·        Thelust of the eyes: she saw it was pleasant to the eyes. It looked good.·        Andthen, of course, it was the pride of life: “You'll be like God. You can makeyour own decisions” Interesting—Satanused the same strategy against Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4:3–9. If youput it all together, you see again it was an attack against God's program forJesus' life. He wanted to tempt Christ to doubt the Father's provision: “turnthese stones into bread”. To doubt the Father's protection: “jump off this highwall”.  And to doubt the Father's plan: “I'llgive you all the kingdoms of the world if you fall down and worship me”. In allthree temptations, again we see that they all had to do with the lust of theflesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Butremember: every time Jesus responded with Scripture. Satan also used Scripture,just like he did in Genesis 3:1–5: “Did not God say?” He used Scripture withJesus. But every time, Jesus responded with Scripture, and He stood firm behindthe shield of faith. He trusted the Father completely, and that's how weovercome as well. My friend, be aware of the strategy of Satan. He is going todo everything he can to cause you to doubt the Word of God. Again,we've said it so often already: you first must know the Word of God. You haveto have it hidden in your heart. You have to have it in your mind. You have tobathe in that Word each day. Every morning I pray the Lord's Prayer: “Giveus this day our daily bread.” I need that Word today. I take time everymorning. Many of the people over the years that I have been associated with asa pastor, I've encouraged them: “Get in the Word of God every day. Take a fewminutes.” YesterdayI heard a powerful testimony from a wonderful businessman named Andy at ourprayer breakfast, telling us how God is working in his life this year. He said,“I found out that I have to get up and spend time in the Word of God before Istart my day.” My friend, that's how you arm yourself with the shield offaith—above all. May God help us to take heed to these words today. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Todaywe're continuing to look at Ephesians 6:16. This verse is so important that weneed to spend a little more time on it. We're talking about: “Above all,above all, take up the shield of faith with which we will be able to quench allthe fiery darts of the wicked one.” We need to remember, as we've saidalready, that the shield of faith is that connection you and I have with theWord of God. I'llnever forget back in 1985 or '86, I took the time to memorize Psalm 119. It's along psalm—about 176 verses. I remember verses like, “Thy word have I hid inmine heart that I might not sin against You” (v. 11). “Thy word is a lamp to myfeet and a light to my path” (v. 105). His Word is our shield of protection.Todaywe're talking about those fiery darts of the wicked one. Paul says that thisshield enables us to quench those darts—all of them, every one of them. InPaul's day, the soldiers would dip arrows in pitch, set them on fire, and shootthem into the enemy. These arrows did not just pierce; they burned. They couldignite clothing, spread fire, and create chaos. Satan still uses his fierydarts today. He shoots darts into our minds and into our hearts. I'm convincedthat the fiery darts of the evil one are thoughts that he is able to shoot intoour minds—into our thought life. ·        Thesefiery darts are lies—lies from the evil one. Remember, he is a liar. He is thefather of lies. He wants you to believe his lies. He has come to kill, tosteal, and to destroy. He does it with deceitful lies.·        Theyare doubts. He causes us to doubt the truth and goodness of God. ·        Hegives us blasphemous thoughts. He wants us to think terrible things. They justfly into your mind. They come out of nowhere. You wonder, “Where did that comefrom?”·        Fearand despair are a major fiery dart of the evil one. He throws fear into yourheart. He makes you look at things in fear instead of looking at them withfaith. Then he causes you to doubt.·        Hesends hatred and bitterness, and thoughts like, “I'm going to get even. Thatshouldn't have happened to me. That's not fair.” Thoughts of hatred come intoyour mind: “I hate that person. They have hurt me. They've given me greatpain.”·        Oneof the great fiery darts of the evil one is pride and envy. It makes us thinkwe deserve more: “I'm better than everyone else. I want what everyone else has.I'm entitled.” Boy, how we have that problem today.·        Thenthere are the burning temptations of sin: “If you'll do this, this will makeyou feel so good. If you have that money, I know you'll have to cheat a littlebit. You'll have to lie on your income tax return, but you can get a little bitmore.” He wants you to be tempted to sin—to have more, to have pleasure. Thosetemptations are the thoughts he puts in your mind. Someone said,  “You can't help when a bird flies over yourhead, but you can do something about it when it begins to build a nest in yourhair.” You can't help these temptations. They are the darts of the evil one. Ifthese darts are not quenched, they'll light a fire within us until we begin tojustify sin, believe a lie, or doubt the goodness of God. That's why Paul sayswe must take up the shield of faith. Today I'm simply taking time to remind usthat the shield of faith will quench all the fiery darts. Those fiery dartscome in a whole lot of ways—from the evil one himself and from the temptationsin the world around us. They are thoughts that, if we do not deal with them andquench them, will leave us burning with sin, and we will be sorry later. MayGod help us to pay attention, making sure that we are connected to God's holyWord. Take time to memorize a lot of verses. Put one on your schedule each daythat you will put in your mind instead of the lies and doubts and fears ofSatan he shoots at you with his fiery darts.

Today we are continuing to look at Ephesians 6:16. Thispowerful verse tells us to take up the shield of faith. Something that hasjumped out at me as we were talking yesterday and preparing for today is thevery first two words of this verse: “Above all.” This chapter is aboutputting on the armor of God. It is about being able to stand against the wilesof the devil and to quench the fiery darts that He throws at us daily, minuteby minute, hour by hour.  Howdo we quench those darts? How do we stand in faith? I want to remind youexactly what faith is. Faith is obedience in the Bible. Faith is seeing theinvisible. Faith is seeing God rather than the problems and difficulties thatare all around us. In 2 Corinthians 5:7 it says, “We walk by faith, not bysight.” This means we walk by faith not by our feelings. That is sopowerful.  Rememberthe verse we mentioned yesterday in Habakkuk 2:4: “The just shall live byhis faith.” It is repeated three times in the New Testament. The HolySpirit repeats this phrase four times because it is so important. Why? Because “aboveall”, if your faith is not what it should be, you are in trouble when itcomes to facing the temptations of the world and the fiery darts of the wickedone! Whatis faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us: “Faith is the substance of things hopedfor, the evidence of things not seen.” The best way I have found to explainfaith, understand faith, and actually practice walking by faith, is to realizethat faith is substantiating. Faith substantiates. Faith is the substance ofthings hoped for. It is the confidence that the things we cannot see are justas real—actually more real—than the things we can see.  Infact, I believe we can say that faith is a spiritual sense. We have fivephysical senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. Those senses allow usto move safely through this world, enjoy God's creation, to drive a vehicle an towalk without running into things. And live the physical life God has given us. Faithis the spiritual sense God has given to every human being. But it must beexercised. It must be used. Just as my hand has the ability to touch and makereal whatever it touches, faith makes real what I cannot feel. When I touch abook I say, “That is a book.” When I look at this phone recording this message,my eyes send the message to my brain: “That is real.” Faith makes real what Icannot see physically. Justas the senses substantiate the physical world, faith substantiates thespiritual world. That is why 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “While we look not atthe things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the thingswhich are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”That is also why Hebrews chapter 11 explains that faith is “the substance ofthings hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Later the Hebrews11:27, it says of Moses: “By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrathof the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.” He saw God.  Thatis why Hebrews 12 begins, “Looking unto Jesus.” The book of Hebrews is the bookof faith. Because of unbelief, that generation of Israelites that came out of Egyptcould not enter the promised land. But by faith Moses continued to lead thepeople, and finally by faith they entered with Joshua.  Weare to live by faith, not by sight. My friend, that is the shield of faith—"aboveall”. Taking up the shield of faith above all. If you do not, Satan willovercome you. You will not be able to stand. You need the faith that comes fromGod and God alone, through His Word. Today, read the Word. Memorize the Word.Hide the Word in your heart. Remember, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearingby the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). No doubt that is why Paul says, “Aboveall”, the other pieces of armor, without this “shield of faith” we have noprotection against the “wiles” and “fiery darts” of the wicked one! 

Todaywe're continuing in Ephesians chapter 6, moving on to verse 16. We're talkingabout our enemy, the devil, and our protection and defense against him. As Paulhas said, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you might be able to standagainst the wiles of the devil.” Paul is now describing the equipment thatGod has provided for every believer so that we can stand and withstand theattacks of the evil one. As we come to verse 16, we're looking at one of themost important pieces of the armor. Verse 16 says, “Above all, taking theshield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts ofthe wicked.”  My friend, this is soimportant as we stand against all the wiles of the devil. AsPaul was describing this armor, the believers in Ephesus would no doubt havebeen very familiar with the Roman soldiers of their day. The shield hedescribes here is not just a small, round shield used in hand-to-hand combat.This is a large shield, sometimes described as being like a door—about fourfeet tall and two feet wide. A soldier could stand behind it and be almostcompletely covered. It was often made of wood and covered with thick leather,sometimes even soaked in water, so that when fiery arrows hit it, the firewould be extinguished. Paul says this is what faith does for the believer. Thereis another powerful picture here when we think about this shield. Romansoldiers would often lock their shields together, forming a wall that advancedas one. That reminds us that we are not fighting this battle alone. God has putus in the body of Christ. We stand together. We pray together. We encourage oneanother. The Lord strengthens His people as they move forward in unity. Nownotice this shield. Our protection is called the shield of faith. Faith is soimportant. As we look at the faith Paul is speaking about here, we realize thisis not just saving faith that Ephesians 2 tells us about. We are not saved byour works because we are saved by faith. That is saving faith. Paul is talkinghere about a faith that is living faith—a faith that daily helps us trust inGod, daily depend upon His promises, and daily remain confident in Hischaracter. TheBible tells us in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible toplease Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is arewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Now this is so important. Wheredoes faith come from? Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing,and hearing by the word of God.” Our faith in God—knowing God, believingwho God is, trusting Him, living an obedient life in the will of God—is basedon our understanding of who God Himself is. “The fear of the Lord is thebeginning of wisdom”. Wisdom is knowing God. The only way to know God isthrough His Word.  Theway we know God is to know His Word and understand His Word. We read it. Wememorize it. Remember Psalm 119:11: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, thatI might not sin against Thee.” Why? Because as you hide His Word in yourheart and meditate on it, you grow stronger. That is why Psalm 1:2-3 is soimportant: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law dothhe meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers ofwater, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall notwither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” My friend, that is being inGod's Word. Ifwe want to have a shield of faith, it is connected to the Word of God. Thisfaith is living faith because it is not trusting in something. It is trustingin Someone you know through the Word of God. You love and know God. You believeGod. You trust God and you live in obedience to His Word always doing His will! Habakkuk2:4 declares, “The just shall live by his faith.” Paul repeats thistruth in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews echoes it again in Hebrews10:38. We understand that faith is not an occasional act. It is a way of life.

Paul is drawing from thepicture of a Roman soldier. The Roman soldier wore strong sandals—oftenreinforced and fitted with hobnails. Those nails gave him traction andstability in battle. A soldier could not stand, advance, or fight effectivelyif his feet were slipping or injured. And spiritually speaking, if our feet arenot protected, we will not stand very long. The Gospel gives us firmfooting and a key word in this verse is “preparation.” And that is exactly what weneed in spiritual warfare: stability, firmness, and confidence. So manybelievers fall—not because they do not love the Lord—but because their footingbecomes unstable. They are shaken by fear, doubt, temptation, ordiscouragement. And often because of unconfessed sin in their lives their feethave gotten dirty with the world. Remember Jesus washed the feet of thedisciples in John 13 signify the need of forgiveness.  Paul also calls it the “gospelof peace” because the Gospel brings peace in every direction. First, it brings peacebetween God and man. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith,we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” One of Satan'sfavorite weapons is accusation. He wants believers to doubt their standing withGod. He wants to disturb their conscience and rob them of assurance. But theGospel settles the greatest issue of all: our relationship with God. ThroughJesus Christ, we have peace with God. That means we do not have to fear thedevil, and we do not have to fear men. We belong to Christ. Second, the Gospelbrings peace within our hearts. Even when life is difficult, the believer canstand with confidence because we are resting in Christ. Third, the Gospelbrings peace with one another. This is important because Satan loves division.If he can destroy peace among believers, he can weaken the church. These shoes also remind usthat our feet must be protected everywhere we go. There are places Christiansshould not go. There are doors we should not walk through unless God is sendingus there and we are walking in the protection of His armor. The temptations aretoo great otherwise. But wherever we do go, we must go as soldiers of the Kingand ambassadors for Christ. This verse also speaks ofreadiness. We are not only called to stand—we are called to go. Jesus gave ourmarching orders in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go ye therefore, and teach allnations… and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Myfriend, the world is full of people who have never heard the Gospel clearly.Lost men and women are held in the grip of Satan. Surely there is someone towhom we can go with the Gospel of peace. And that brings us back to that word “preparation.”Many believers shrink back from Christian service because they do not feelprepared. But preparation matters. Jesus spent years training His disciples.Paul often traveled with young men and trained them for ministry. And in thesame way, each of us must learn Scripture, grow in our faith, and learn how toshare the Gospel. A Christian does not become effective overnight—we growthrough obedience, service, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. These shoes as protectionagainst traps laid in the path—sharp sticks and hidden snares meant to stop anarmy. That is exactly what Satan does. He lays traps to hinder our walk, tostop our progress, and to wound our feet so we cannot stand. But when our feetare shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, we can walk steadily—evenwhen the path is difficult. When we join God in the publicationof the Gospel we have this wonderful promise in Isaiah 52:7: “How beautifulupon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publishespeace…” Paul quotes this again in Romans 10:15, reminding us that Goddelights in the believer who carries the Gospel.Satan declares war, but youand I are ambassadors of peace. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 tells us we have beengiven the ministry of reconciliation.

Overthe past few days, we have been learning about our enemy, the devil. Today, weturn our attention to the equipment God has provided for us, and we begin tolearn how to stand against him by putting on the whole armor of God that hasbeen made available to every believer. The fact that the Apostle Paul uses theword “wrestle” reminds us that this is a hand-to-hand battle. We are notmere spectators watching a game from the sidelines. We are engaged in realspiritual conflict. Satan seeks to use our external enemy—the world—and ourinternal enemy—the flesh—to defeat us.  Ephesians6:13-17 describes the equipment that God has made available to us. Because ourenemies operate in the spiritual realm, we need spiritual equipment, both fordefense and for offense. God has provided the whole armor, and we dare not omitany part of it. Satan is always looking for an unguarded area in our liveswhere he can gain a foothold, or as Paul warns, “giving place to the devil”(Ephesians 4:27). This gives Satan a “beachhead” or a “stronghold” (2Corinthians 10:4), for him to operate from in our lives. Paulcommands believers to put on the armor, take up the weapons, and stand firmagainst Satan. All of this is done by faith. Knowing that Christ has alreadyconquered Satan, and knowing that the armor and weapons are available to us, weaccept by faith what God has given and then go out to meet the enemy. The dayis evil, and the enemy is evil, but we take comfort in the truth of Romans 8:31:“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Thefirst piece of armor that Paul mentions is the “Girdle of Truth” (Ephesians6:14a). Satan is a liar (John 8:44), but the believer whose life is controlledby truth can defeat him. The girdle, or belt, held the other pieces of armortogether, and in the same way, truth is the integrating force in the life of avictorious Christian. A person of integrity, with a clear conscience, can facethe enemy without fear. The girdle also held the sword. If we do not practicethe truth, we cannot properly use the Word of truth. Once a lie enters the lifeof a believer, everything begins to fall apart. Wesee a sobering example of this in the life of King David. For over a year,David concealed his sin with Bathsheba, and nothing in his life went right. Psalm32 and Psalm 51 describe the heavy price he paid until he returned to truth andconfession. Nextis the “Breastplate of Righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14b). Thebreastplate, made of metal plates or chains, covered the body from the neck tothe waist, both front and back. It symbolizes the believer's righteousness inChrist. Remember in 2 Corinthians 5:21 we are told that “we are made therighteousness of God in Christ”. It also symbolizes the believer's righteouslife we are to live in Christ. This happens when we “Put on the new manwhich was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness”.  (Ephesians 4:24). Satanis the accuser, but he cannot successfully accuse a believer who is living agodly life in the power of the Holy Spirit. The life we live either strengthensus against Satan's attacks or makes it easier for him to defeat us Read Paul'stestimony as a minister of the Gospel in 2 Corinthians 6:1–10, and especialverse 7: “By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor ofrighteousness on the right hand and on the left.” Notice all thetribulations and trials that Paul faced were overcome in with armor of truthand righteousness! WhenSatan accuses the Christian, it is the righteousness of Christ that assures usof our salvation. However, positional righteousness in Christ without practicalrighteousness in daily living gives Satan an opportunity to attack.  Maythe Lord help us today to make sure each day we are putting on the “whole armorof God”. Godbless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Youcan't fight the devil in your own power. “Be strong in the Lord andin the power of His might”. Oh my friend, we stand in His power and in Hismight that is mightier than the power of Satan. As powerful as Satan is, he'snot mightier than God. Then secondly, notice what Paulsays in verse 11, “Put on the whole armor of God that you might be able tostand against the wiles of the devil”. The wiles of the devil is a wordthat means those crafty strategies and clever schemes that he comes up with todeceive you. We think back to Genesis 2 when the devil showed up for the firsttemptation in humanity and that he tempted Eve with.  Satanmade her question God's word and then began to change it. That is an attempt ofSatan, his deceitful device to cause us to question the authority of God overour lives. What should be the finally authority over our lives? Of course it isthe Word of God! Now, if you go back to this passage of scripture in Ephesians5, we are told to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord.Secondly, Paul then talks about wives submitting to husbands. The he talksabout husbands loving the wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself forit. How did Christ love and give Himself for the Church?  Welook back to Philippians 2:5-11, where we read how Christ was obedient untodeath even the death of the cross. Why? Because He humbled Himself. Hesubmitted to the authority of the Father. He did the Father's will. We read whereJesus said several times in the Gospel of John, “I came to do my Father'swill”. And we find that He even cried out there in the garden before Hewent to the cross, “Not my will but thy will be done”. Jesus submittedto the authority of the Father and He became obedient to death, even the deathof the cross. This is where we can begin to understand this principle ofauthority.  Wemust remember that there's no authority on planet earth that's not there, butthat God placed it there (Romans 13:1-2). This includes government authorities,parental authorities, school authorities, work authorities, whatever authorityis over our life. God has placed the authority of the church over our life. In2 Corinthians 2:11 we are told that we should not be ignorant of Satan'sdevices, his schemes. What is his scheme? To cause you to question God's Wordand God's authority that's been placed over your life.  Rememberthis passage in 2 Corinthians is about a man Paul is asking the church atCorinth to forgive. Why? In first Corinthians, this man was in a sinfulcondition. He was having incest with his stepmother and Paul said you put himout of the church. You put him and turn him over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).When you put him over to Satan, outside the church, he goes outside theumbrella of God's protection over his life. Then Satan is there to deal withhim in such a way that he runs back to the church. He asks for forgiveness andhe's restored back to fellowship. Paul says “Forgive him”!  Forgivenessis a major thing. That's why the passage in Ephesians 4 ends with, “Forgiveone another as Christ has forgiven you”. When we understand this principleof authority of coming under God's authority, we're dealing with what God isteaching us about submission. As we submit to the authorities God has over ourlives, we have a special protection from God, over Satan and from Satanattacking us and deceiving us and leading us astray. Oh, it's so important tounderstand this.  Whenwe begin to understand this, it makes a major difference. That's why he says,remember, we do not wrestle with flesh and blood. Our battle is not withpeople. Often that is what we start doing, but we are fighting the wrong battle.We get bitter because we won't forgive. We come out from under authority becausewe won't forgive. We won't submit to what God is doing in our life. He's usingsometimes people to bring to our attention some weaknesses, some things in ourlife that shouldn't be there.  

Please remember what I said yesterday aboutsit, walk and stand. It's so important to know and be practicing before we canstand against the evil one who will attack us, especially if we're doingsomething for the Lord. By the way, if the devil's not bothering you, it meansyou're not doing anything for the Lord. The devil tempted Jesus. The devil wentafter Peter. And I'll guarantee you, anyone that's on God's agenda,accomplishing God's purposes and committed to doing the will of God daily, willbe under the attack of the evil one and his forces.  Weneed to know how to stand. Remember what we said yesterday. We must first knowour position in Christ. We're seated in the heavenly places in Christ. We're inChrist. Christ is in you. He must be our all in all. Secondly, we must walkproperly. That's why Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit you willnot fulfill the lust of the flesh." Now, Paul says, "We will beable to stand”. We don't fight with the devil. You'll lose every time."Even Michael the Archangel didn't fight with the devil when they were disputingover the body of Moses (Jude 1:9). It says, "Michael said, "TheLord rebuke you." We are no match for the devil. My friend, you are inChrist you can stand in this victory in Christ.  Now,as we all know, in any military conflict, intelligence is essential. Officersmust know who the enemy is, where he operates, what he's capable of doing.Without that knowledge, victory is difficult, if not impossible. My friend, Godhas not left us uninformed. Not only in Ephesians chapter 6, but throughout theentire Bible, God Himself teaches us about our enemy so that we will not becaught off guard. Now,who is the leader of our enemy? Of course, it's the devil. He has many names.He's called the devil, which means the accuser because he accuses God's peopleday night before the throne of God (Revelation 12:7-11). He's also calledSatan, meaning “adversary” because he stands in opposition to God. Scripturealso refers to him as the “tempter” (Matthew 4:3). He's called a “murderer and aliar” (John 8:44). He's compared to a “roaring lion” in 1 Peter 5:8. He'spictured as a “serpent” in Genesis 3:1 also Revelation 12:9. He's also picturedas an “angel of light” in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. Paul also calls him the “godof this age” in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Sowhere did this powerful spirit come from? Many students of Scripture believe hewas “Lucifer, son of the morning” (Isaiah 14:12-15). He was cast out of heavenbecause of his pride and a desire to take over God's throne. Now, there aremany mysteries concerning Satan's origin and when all that happened, but myfriend, there's no mystery about what he's doing today where he's headed.  Asa created being, he is not eternal like God. He's limited in knowledge, power,and presence. He is not all knowing, all powerful, or everywhere at once. So,how does he accomplish so much in so many places? The answer's found in hisorganized helpers. That's why Paul explains it here in Ephesians 6 as “principalities,powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in the highplaces”. This language suggests highly organized demonic army assistingSatan in his attacks against believers.  TheApostle John indicates that one-third of the angels fell with Satan in hisrebellion in Revelation 12:4. The prophet Daniel reveals that Satan's angelscontend with God's angels over the affairs of the nations in Daniel 10:13-20.So a spiritual battle is taking place both on earth in the heavenly realms. YouI are a part of that battle. Understanding this makes walking in victoryvitally important not only to us but to God.  Godhelp us to understand today we have an enemy and it is not people. It's thedevil and his organized forces. God give us grace today to be “seated in Christ”,“walking in the Spirit”, and standing against the wiles of the evil one!

Sooneror later, every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground,not a playground. We learn quickly that we face an enemy who is far strongerthan we are—apart from the Lord. It is very fitting that the Apostle Paul usesmilitary imagery to describe the believer's conflict with Satan. At the time hewrote this letter to the Ephesian church, Paul himself was chained to a Romansoldier (Ephesians 6:20). His readers were well acquainted with soldiers andtheir equipment. In fact, military illustrations were favorites of Paul, as wesee throughout his letters (2 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 2:3;4:7). Wemust always remember that as Christians, we face three enemies: the world, theflesh, and the devil.Paulreminds us of this earlier in Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you He made alive, whowere dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to thecourse of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, thespirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all onceconducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of theflesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others”.That passage reminds us where we came from and what Christ has delivered us outof. Thisalso brings us to an important theme that runs throughout the Book ofEphesians. In this letter, we see three positions that every believer mustunderstand if we are going to stand against the wiles of the evil one.First,Paul teaches us that we sit in Christ. In the opening chapters, we learn ourposition in Him—"we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (Ephesians2:6). Secondly, we are called to walk. We walk worthy of the Lord (Ephesians4:1). We are to walk in purity (Ephesians 4:17-23). We are to walk in love(Ephesians 5:2). We are to walk in the light as He is in the light (Ephesians5:8-14). We are to walk wisely (Ephesians 5:15-17). And we walk in harmony withthose around us (Ephesians 5:18-6:9). Now,finally, in this last section, Paul teaches us how to stand in victory.We do not fight the devil in our own strength. We do not fight spiritual forcesin our own power. Rather, we stand in the victory that has already been wonthrough Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. That is why Paul says at least twomore times that we are able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In verse 13,he writes, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be ableto withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” And again,in verse 14, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist withtruth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness”. Wemust never forget that our battle involves the world, the flesh, and the devil.The world refers to the system around us that is opposed to God. 1 John 2:15–17warns us not to love the world or the things in the world, describing it asdriven by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride oflife. The world is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abidesforever.” A simple but accurate definition of the world is: “Societyapart from God.” Theflesh is the old nature we inherited from Adam—a nature that is opposed to Godand incapable of pleasing Him spiritually. That is where much of the internalwarfare takes place. And then there is the devil, our spiritual enemy. Hereis the good news: we can stand in victory. Christ has already overcomethe world (John 16:33; Galatians 6:14). In Christ we can overcome the flesh (Romans6:1–6). And through Christ, we can stand against the devil. In other words, wedo not fight for victory—we fight from victory. The Spirit of Godenables us, by faith, to appropriate Christ's victory in our daily lives. 

Today we will continue here in Ephesians chapter 6 and we're looking at verse 9 as Paulis talking about the workplace. Yesterday, as you know, he talked about theservant or the employee and gives instructions to them as a Christian employeeand what are your responsibilities? Now, he's talking to the employer or themaster. The Christian faith does not bring harmony by erasing social orcultural distinctions. Servants were still servants when they trusted Christ,and masters were still masters. Rather, Christianity brings harmony by changingthe heart. Christ gives us a new motivation, not a new organizationalstructure. Both servant and master are ultimately serving the Lord and seekingto please Him. When that is true, they are able to work together for the gloryof God. So what are the responsibilities of a Christian master—or, in our day,a Christian employer? 1.He Must Seek the Welfare of His Workers. Paul says, “Do the same things untothem.” If an employer expects his workers to do their best for him, then hemust do his best for them. The master must serve the Lord from the heart if heexpects those under his authority to do the same. A Christian employer mustnever exploit his workers. One of the finest biblical examples of thisprinciple is Boaz in the Book of Ruth. Boaz greeted his workers by saying, “TheLord be with you!” and they replied, “The Lord bless thee!” (Ruth2:4). Boaz was sensitive to the needs of his workers and generous toward Ruth,a stranger. His relationship with his employees was marked by mutual respectand a shared desire to glorify the Lord. Sadly, it is sometimes said, “Myboss claims to be a Christian, but you'd never know it.” That ought neverto be the case. 2.He Must Not Threaten. Paul also instructs Christian masters to give upthreatening. Roman masters possessed tremendous authority, even the legal rightto kill a rebellious slave—though few did so, since slaves were expensive.Still, the power to threaten was very real. Paul teaches that the Christianemployer has a far better way to encourage obedience and service. Fear is apoor motivator. It often results in less effort, not more, and it cannot besustained over time. A much better motivation is fairness and justice. Paulreinforces this in Colossians 4:1, reminding masters to provide what is justand equal. When a worker is allowed to share in the results of his labor,he will work better and harder. 3.He Must Be Submitted to the Lord. Paul reminds masters, “Your Master also isin heaven” (Ephesians 6:9). This is the practical outworking of thelordship of Christ. Throughout Ephesians, we see this pattern:Wheneach person submits to the Lord, submission to human authority becomes far lessdifficult.Jesustaught that the pathway to leadership begins with servanthood. The person whois not under authority has no right to exercise authority. This explains why somany of God's leaders were servants before they were rulers—Joseph, Moses,Joshua, David, and Nehemiah, to name a few. Even after becoming leaders, theywere called to lead by serving. God actually often addressed Moses as, “Myservant Moses”. 4.He Must Not Show Partiality. Paul closes by reminding us that there is nopartiality with God (Ephesians 6:9). God judges or rewards both master andservant according to obedience or disobedience (Ephesians 6:8). A Christianemployer must not assume special privilege before God because of position, norshould he play favorites among those under his authority. Paul warned Timothyto observe these principles without preferring one before another (1Timothy 5:21). Few things divide a workplace faster—or destroy leadership morequickly—than favoritism.

Today we continue in Ephesianschapter 6, looking at verses 5 through 8, where the Apostle Paul turns hisattention from the home to the workplace. The word "servants," or inthis translation, “bondservants”, undoubtedly refers to Christian slaves, butwe may certainly apply these words to the Christian employee today. There wereprobably 6 million slaves in the Roman Empire in that day, and slavery was anaccepted institution. While the New Testament does not launch a politicalattack against slavery, the Gospel itself undermines it from the inside. Paul'smission was not to overthrow governments, but to transform lives throughChrist. History shows us that when hearts are changed by the Gospel, societieseventually change as well.The principles Paul gives hereapply directly to us today as Christian employees and workers. The workplaceis one of the most important mission fields God has given us. Paul givesseveral reasons why Christian servants—and Christian workers today—are to beobedient and faithful in their work.  First, we are reallyserving Christ. Paul reminds these servants that although they have“masters according to the flesh,” their true Master is the Lord. When aChristian goes to work, he does not leave his faith at the door. He carriesChrist with him into the office, the factory, the classroom, or the job site. Beinga Christian employee means showing respect, diligence, and integrity. The factthat an employer and employee may both be Christians is never an excuse to doless work. Instead, it is a reason to be even more faithful. The Christianworker should give full attention and energy to the task at hand, working withwhat Paul calls “singleness of heart.” Paul specifically warns against “eyeservice”—workingonly when the boss is watching, or trying to impress people rather than beinggenuinely faithful. The best testimony on the job is not just what we say, buthow we work. A good day's work done with integrity speaks volumes for Christ. Second, doing a good job isthe will of God. Paul says we are to be “doing the will of God from theheart.” Christianity makes no distinction between sacred and secular work.Any honest job can be an act of worship when it is done for the Lord. Some ofthese servants were assigned tasks they disliked or found difficult. Yet Paultells them to do their work wholeheartedly, as long as it did not requiredisobedience to God. The key issue is the heart attitude. When we work “fromthe heart,” we are acknowledging that our labor ultimately belongs to the Lord. A Christian does not workmerely for a paycheck or for human approval. He works to glorify God. WhenChrist is our true Master, even ordinary tasks take on eternal significance. Itis also good to remember that our vocation or job is God's means of supporting theministry God has called us to. Our first ministry is our family and after thatis our church and other believers. It also gives us the opportunity to support ourresponsibility to fulfill the Great Commission of reaching the lost people withthe Gospel of Jesus Christ. To bear fruit that glorifies God (John 15:8 &16) “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit" Third, we will be rewardedby the Lord. In Paul's day, slaves were often treated as property,regardless of their abilities or character. A Christian slave might even sufferunjust treatment because of his faith. Yet Paul assures them—and us—that no actof faithful service goes unnoticed by God. God is no respecter of persons. Earthly status does not determine heavenlyreward. We serve Christ, not men, and our ultimate reward comes from Him. Thistruth is especially comforting when our work is unappreciated, misunderstood,or unfairly criticized. God sees. God remembers. God rewards. In summary, the Christianworkplace ethic is built on three great truths: We work for Christ, wework according to the will of God, and we work with the assurance ofeternal reward.

Today we continue in Ephesians chapter 6, looking at verse 4, where the ApostlePaul speaks directly to fathers about their God-given responsibilities in thehome. In this one verse, God gives us both a warning and a calling.If left to themselves, children will naturally go their own way. Scripture andexperience both confirm this. That is why God places the responsibility oftraining children squarely on the parents—especially the father. The Biblerecords tragic consequences when parents neglect this calling. David pamperedAbsalom, and it ended in rebellion and heartbreak. Eli failed to discipline hissons, and it brought disgrace to his family and defeat to Israel. Favoritism inIsaac's and Jacob's homes produced division and sorrow. God gives us theseaccounts as warnings, not merely history lessons.In this one verse Pauloutlines several responsibilities for fathers. First, a father must notprovoke his children. In Paul's day, fathers held tremendous authority. InRoman culture, a father even had the legal right to accept or reject a newbornchild. Paul confronts that abuse of power directly and says, in effect, “Do notuse your authority to crush your children, but to build them up.” In Colossians3:21, Paul added, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they bediscouraged.” The opposite of provoking is encouraging. Fathersprovoke their children when they say one thing and do another, when theycriticize but rarely praise, when discipline is harsh one day and ignored thenext, when favoritism exists in the home, or when promises are made but notkept. Children can also be provoked when parents dismiss problems that are veryreal and painful to them. Christian parents need the fullness of the HolySpirit to respond with wisdom, patience, and sensitivity to their children'sneeds.Second,a father must nurture his children. Paul says, “Bring them up”—aphrase that means to nourish or cherish. It is the same word used earlier whenhusbands are told to nourish their wives. Fathers are called to nourish theirchildren not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Providing food,clothing, and shelter is important—but it is not enough. Children also needlove, encouragement, affirmation, and spiritual guidance. Jesus gives us the pattern: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” That is balanced growth—mental, physical, spiritual, and social. Nowhere in Scripture does God assign the spiritual training of childrento institutions outside the home. Churches and schools can assist, but theresponsibility belongs to the parents.Third,a father must discipline his children. The word translated “training”carries the idea of discipline and correction. Scripture consistently teachesthat discipline is an expression of love. “Whom the Lord loves, Hedisciplines.” A lack of discipline does not show kindness—it shows neglect.However, discipline must be done in the right way. It must never beadministered in anger. A parent who loses control cannot teach self-control.Discipline must also be fair and consistent. Children need to know where theboundaries are. Loving discipline provides security. Even when childrendisagree, they understand that someone cares enough to guide them. Many adultstoday admit they never knew where the limits were growing up because no onecared enough to discipline them. That uncertainty often leads to insecurity andpoor choices later in life.Fourth,a father must instruct and encourage his children. Paul uses the word “admonition,”which refers to verbal instruction and counsel. Parenting is not only aboutactions—it is also about words. The book of Proverbs is filled with a fatherlovingly instructing his son in the ways of wisdom. Children may not alwaysappreciate instruction at the moment, but that does not remove theresponsibility to teach. Our counsel must always be rooted in the Word of God,which equips us to guide our children wisely.

Welcome to Pastor's Chat.Today we continue in Ephesians 6:1-3, as the Apostle Paul continues histeaching on harmony in the Christian home. In these verses, Paul turnshis attention to the children. Wherever we look in society today, we seedivision and rebellion. Husbands and wives separate. Children resist authority.Employers and employees struggle against one another. We've tried education,legislation, and social reform, yet the problem remains. Paul's solution is fardeeper: regeneration—a new heart through Christ and a new submission toHis lordship. God's great purpose, as Paulsaid earlier in Ephesians, is to gather all things together in Christ. Thatharmony begins in the home, and it begins when believers submit themselves tothe Lord and to one another. Paul now addresses children directly, which tellsus something important. Children were present when this letter was read in thechurch. Christian families worshiped together, and parents taught God's Word athome. Paul gives children four reasons why they should obey theirparents. First, they are Christians.Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” Becoming aChristian does not remove our everyday responsibilities—it deepens them. Faithin Christ should make a child more loving, respectful, and obedient in thehome, not less. This fits the theme of the entire section: “Submittingyourselves one to another in the fear of God.” The wife submits to herhusband as unto Christ. The husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church.And children obey their parents in the Lord. When each family memberlives under Christ's lordship, harmony becomes possible. Second, obedience is right.Paul simply says, “for this is right.” God has built order intocreation. Parents brought children into the world. Parents have greaterexperience, wisdom, and responsibility. Even in nature, young animals aretaught to follow and obey. Modern culture often reverses this order. Theunspoken rule today seems to be, “Parents, obey your children so everyone stayshappy.” But that is not God's design. When God's order is ignored, confusionand conflict follow. Third, obedience iscommanded. Paul quotes the fifth commandment: “Honor your father andmother.” This commandment did not disappear in the New Testament. WhileChristians are no longer under the Law as a system of salvation, therighteousness of God's Law still reveals His holy standards. To honor parentsmeans far more than simple obedience. It means respect, gratitude, care, and adesire to bring honor to them by how we live. Even when parents areimperfect—or even unbelieving—children are still called to honor them.Honoring parents also protectsour Christian testimony. How we treat our parents speaks loudly to the watchingworld. Respect builds bridges; disrespect destroys them. Fourth, obedience bringsblessing. Paul reminds us that this is the first commandment with apromise: “that it may be well with you and that you may live long on theearth.” This is not a guarantee that every obedient child will live a longlife, but it is a principle. Obedience keeps children from much danger,heartache, and destructive sin. But life is measured not only by length—it ismeasured by quality. God enriches the life of the obedient child. Sinalways robs us; obedience always blesses us. Learning obedience earlyprepares a child for a lifetime of submission to God. Disobedience to parentsis ultimately rebellion against God. Scripture tells us that one of the marksof a society that rejects God is disobedient children. The breakdown of thehome always follows the rejection of God's Word. By nature, children areselfish—just like adults. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, childrencan learn obedience, honor their parents, and glorify God. May God help our homes reflectHis design, His order, and His peace—so that obedience becomes a pathway toblessing, not a burden.

Todaywe come to the closing verses of Ephesians 5:29-33. In these verses, theApostle Paul lifts our understanding of marriage to its highest level byshowing us that the Christian home is meant to be a living picture of Christ'srelationship to His church. Paul reminds us that no one ever hates his ownflesh, but nourishes and cherishes it—and then he adds these important words—“justas the Lord does the church.” Christ cares for His people tenderly andfaithfully. He nourishes them, protects them, and provides for them. Paul saysthis is the pattern for marriage. Eachbeliever is a member of Christ's body, and each believer is to help nourish thebody in love (Eph. 4:16). We are one with Christ. The church is His body andHis bride, and the Christian home is a divinely ordained illustration of thisrelationship. This certainly makes marriage a serious matter. Paulreferred to the creation of Eve and the forming of the first home (Gen.2:18-24). Adam had to give part of himself in order to get a bride, but Christgave all of Himself to purchase His bride at the cross. God opened Adam's side,but sinful men pierced Christ's side. So united are a husband and wife thatthey are "one flesh." Their union is even closer than that of parentsand children. The believer's union with Christ is even closer and, unlike humanmarriage, will last for all eternity. Paul closed with a final admonition thatthe husband love his wife and that the wife reverence (respect) her husband,all of which require the power of the Holy Spirit. IfChristian husbands and wives have the power of the Spirit to enable them, andthe example of Christ to encourage them, why do too many Christian marriagesfail? Somebody is out of the will of God. Just because two Christians know eachother and get along together does not mean they are supposed to get married. Infact, not every believer is supposed to marry. It is sometimes God's will for aChristian to remain single (Matt. 19:12; 1 Cor. 7:7-9). It is wrong for abeliever to marry an unbeliever, but it is also wrong for two Christians tomarry out of the will of God. Buteven if two Christians marry in the will of God, they must stay in God's willif their home is to be the creative fellowship God wants it to be. "Thefruit of the Spirit is love" (Gal. 5:22), and unless both husband andwife are walking in the Spirit they cannot share the love of Christ, the lovethat is so beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13. The root of most maritalproblems is sin, and the root of all sin is selfishness. Submission to Christand to one another is the only way to overcome selfishness, for when we submit,the Holy Spirit can fill us and enable us to love one another in a sacrificial,sanctifying, satisfying way—the way Christ loves the church. Toexperience the fullness of the Spirit a person must first possess the Spirit—bea Christian. Then there must be a sincere desire to glorify Christ, since thisis why the Holy Spirit was given (John 16:14). We do not use the Holy Spirit;He uses us. There must be a deep thirst for God's fullness, a confession thatwe cannot do His will apart from His power. Byfaith yield yourself to Christ; by faith ask Him for the fullness of theSpirit. By faith receive. When you find yourself joyful, thankful, andsubmissive, you will know that God has answered. Onemore important factor should be considered. The Spirit of God uses the Word ofGod to work in our lives. Read Colossians 3:16-4:1, and you will note that to be filled with the Word ofGod produces joy, thanksgiving, and submission. In other words, when you arecontrolled by the Word of God, you are filled with the Spirit of God. Not onlyhusbands and wives, but all Christians need to spend time daily letting theWord of Christ dwell in them richly, for then the Spirit of God can work in ourlives to make us joyful, thankful, and submissive. And this means heaven in thehome—or wherever God may put us. 

Paul opens this entire section with a keyprinciple in verse 21: “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear ofGod.” That word submission is foundational. Submission does notcancel authority or reverse roles. Children are not placed over parents, andservants are not placed over masters. Rather, submission governs howauthority is exercised and how it is received. JesusHimself taught this principle repeatedly. He warned His disciples not to seekgreatness by throwing their weight around or promoting themselves. Sadly, theystruggled to learn that lesson—even at the Last Supper, they argued over whowas the greatest. When Jesus washed their feet, He demonstrated that truegreatness uses authority to serve others, not to exalt oneself. Scripturereminds us to esteem others as more important than ourselves. By nature, wewant to promote ourselves, but the Holy Spirit enables us to submit ourselves. Paulthen applies this principle first to marriage, and it is important to rememberthat he is writing to believers. He is not teaching that women areinferior to men, nor that all women must submit to all men in every situation.By using Christ and the church as his illustration, Paul makes it clear that heis describing the Christian home.Hebegins with wives. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as untothe Lord.” Paul gives two reasons: the lordship of Christ and the headshipof the husband in Christ. When a Christian wife is submitted to Christ as Lord,she will not find it difficult to submit to her husband. This submission is notslavery, because the husband himself is also submitted to Christ. When bothhusband and wife live under Christ's lordship, harmony becomes possible. Headshipdoes not mean dictatorship. It means loving leadership. A Christian husband andwife should pray together and spend time in God's Word, seeking His will fortheir lives and for their home. Many marital conflicts arise when one or bothpartners fail to submit to Christ, neglect God's Word, and stop seeking Hiswill daily. Thisis why Scripture warns believers not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Amarriage where only one partner is submitted to Christ begins with built-inconflict. But even Christian couples must be careful to submit to Christ beforemarriage. Couples who pray together, seek God's will, and obey His Word lay astrong foundation.  Paulthen turns his attention to husbands, and he says much more to them. “Husbands,love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.” This is anincredibly high standard. Paul lifts marriage to its highest level by showingit as a living illustration of Christ's relationship with His church. Marriageserves many purposes—emotional companionship, family, and physicalfulfillment—but Paul emphasizes its spiritual purpose.  Ahusband's love is to be sacrificial. Christ gave Himself for the church,and the husband is called to give himself for his wife. True Christian love isnot selfish. It willingly pays a price so that the other may grow and glorifyGod. Thislove is also sanctifying. Christ cleanses His church through the Word,and a husband's love should help his wife grow spiritually. Marriage is meantto be a setting where both husband and wife are becoming more like Christ. Eventhe physical relationship, when governed by God, becomes a means of spiritualenrichment, not selfish use. Love that sanctifies always builds up—it neverdegrades. Finally,a husband's love is to be satisfying. Because husband and wife are oneflesh, loving one's spouse is loving oneself. Love nourishes, strengthens, andfulfills. There should be no starvation for love in a Christian home. When bothhusband and wife are submitted to Christ and to one another, their physical,emotional, and spiritual needs are met, and the temptation to seek fulfillmentelsewhere loses its power. 

Paulbegins this section with a command: “Be filled with the Spirit.” Thiscommand is for every believer, not just a select few. It is written in thepresent tense, meaning “keep on being filled,” reminding us that this is not aone-time experience, but a daily, ongoing relationship with the Spirit. And itis passive—we do not fill ourselves. We yield ourselves so that the Spirit mayfill us. To be filled with the Spirit does not mean receiving more of theSpirit, but allowing the Spirit to have more of us. In Scripture, to be“filled” means to be controlled by. Just as people can be filled with anger orenvy—meaning controlled by those emotions—being filled with the Spirit meansthat He controls our minds, our emotions, and our wills, all which determineour actions. Whena person trusts Christ, he is immediately baptized by the Spirit into the bodyof Christ. That is a once-for-all experience that happens at salvation. But thefilling of the Spirit is different. It is repeated, ongoing, and necessary fordaily living. The baptism of the Spirit means I belong to Christ's body. Thefilling of the Spirit means my body belongs to Christ. We often think of theSpirit's power as something we need only for preaching or witnessing—and thatis true—but Paul shows us that the Spirit's fullness is just as necessary inthe home. If our homes are to reflect heaven, then our lives must be controlledby the Holy Spirit. Inverses 19-21, Paul then gives us three clear evidences of a Spirit-filled life,especially as it relates to relationships. First, a Spirit-filled believer isjoyful. Verse 19 speaks of worship, praise, and melody in the heart. Joy is notdependent on circumstances—it flows from a heart controlled by the Spirit. Second,a Spirit-filled believer is thankful. Verse 20 tells us to give thanks alwaysfor all things to God. Gratitude transforms relationships. Complaining divides,but thanksgiving unites.  Yearsago, I came across something that I believe truly helped me to be thankful person.If I always remember that I am a sinner that deserves hell and the wrath of Godand I don't deserve anyone to kind are nice to me and that I should expect justthe opposite, when someone is nice to me, or gives to me, because I didn't deserveit or expect it, I immediately and genuinely feel very grateful and thankfuland want to express that attitude to both the Lord and whoever is sharing theirgift of generosity or kindness to me. Only as the Holy Spirit is in control ofmy life makes this possible.  Third,and most emphasized in this passage, a Spirit-filled believer is submissive.Verse 21 introduces the idea of submitting to one another in the fear of God,and Paul then applies this submission to marriage. Wives are called to lovinglysubmit to their husbands, and husbands are commanded to love their wivessacrificially, just as Christ loved the church. This is not about dominance orinequality—it is about Spirit-controlled love and mutual responsibility. Whenboth husband and wife are filled with the Spirit, harmony becomes possible. Thesame principle will later be applied to parents and children, and to servantsand masters. In every relationship, the key is the same: Spirit-filled living.Pauldoes not mention miracles, tongues, or dramatic signs as proof of spiritualfullness. Instead, he points us to everyday attitudes—joy, gratitude, andsubmission. When these are present, the home begins to reflect heaven on earth.The unity Paul described earlier in Ephesians must now be lived out at home.When each family member yields to the Spirit, relationships are transformed,and God's design for harmony becomes reality. MayGod help each of us to be continually filled with the Spirit, so that our homesand all of our relationships might reflect His peace, His love, and His glory. Godbless you, and I trust you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Theword circumspectly is an interesting one. It comes from a word that means tolook around carefully. The idea is precision, accuracy, and thoughtful living.Paul is saying, “Pay attention to how you live. Walk carefully. Walk withpurpose.” The opposite would be walking carelessly—drifting through lifewithout direction, guidance, or forethought. The Christian life is notsomething we can leave to chance. It requires wise decisions and a sinceredesire to do the will of God. Theseverses connect closely with what Paul said just before in verse 14, where heurged believers to wake up. The picture is clear: Don't walk through lifespiritually asleep. Open your eyes. Be alert. Make the most of the day God hasgiven you. Sadly, many professing Christians drift through life like spiritualsleepwalkers. They rarely pause to consider how God might want to use them orhow their daily choices matter for eternity. Paul gives us several reasons whywe should walk carefully and wisely. First,it is a mark of wisdom. Paul says, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not asfools but as wise.” A fool simply drifts with the wind and the tide. A wiseperson charts a course, sets a direction, and steers accordingly. Just as abuilder plans before constructing a house, believers should be intentionalabout how they live their lives. We may not know what tomorrow holds, but aplanned life is far better equipped to deal with unexpected events. Walkingwisely means knowing where you're going and why. Second,life is short.Verse 16 tells us to redeem the time, or literally, buy up the opportunity. Theidea is to seize the moments God gives us while we can. Opportunities arefleeting. Once they pass, they may never return. Our English word opportunitycarries the picture of a ship catching the wind and tide to reach the harbor.Life moves quickly, and Scripture repeatedly reminds us of its brevity. Thatreality should motivate us to use our time wisely for the Lord. Third,the days are evil.When Paul wrote these words, persecution was looming on the horizon.Opportunities to serve Christ and reach the lost would not always be available.If the days were evil then, they certainly are today. Sin advances, hearts growharder, and doors can close quickly. That is why we must not waste theopportunities God places before us. At the same time, because the days are evilthere will be more confusion and chaos which will produce more brokenness inour relationships and lives. This means that even more opportunities will bearound us to share the love and truth of Jesus with! Fourth,God has given us a mind. Verse 17 says, “Therefore do not be unwise, butunderstand what the will of the Lord is.” Understanding God's will is not amystical experience that bypasses clear thinking. God expects His children touse their minds. As Romans 12 tells us, God transforms us by the renewing ofour minds. Through His Word, prayer, meditation, and worship, we learn to thinkbiblically and discern wisely. God does not merely want us to know His will—Hewants us to understand it. That involves gathering facts, weighing decisions,and praying for wisdom, as James reminds us. Finally,God has a plan for our lives. Scripture teaches that we are God'sworkmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He preparedbeforehand. God saves us with purpose. He reveals His plan through His Word,through the inner leading of the Holy Spirit, and through circumstances that Heorchestrates for our good. Because God has a plan, we can walk carefully andconfidently. Like a builder following a blueprint, we align our lives with whatthe Master Architect has designed. MayGod help us not to drift, but to walk wisely—redeeming the time, understandingHis will, and living each day with purpose for His glory. Godbless you, and I trust you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

“Foryou were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children oflight” (v.7). Thatstatement is very important. Paul does not say we were merely in darkness—hesays “we were darkness” (v. 8). Before salvation, darkness defined us.It shaped our thinking, our desires, and our behavior. But when we trustedChrist, everything changed. We didn't just step into the light—we became lightin the Lord. Because of that, Paul asks a searching question, echoed elsewherein Scripture: “What communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians6:14) Light and darkness are opposites. They do not blend. They do notcooperate. And it is impossible to live in both at the same time. Paulthen describes what the light produces. In verse 9 he writes, “For the fruitof the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.” Darknessproduces unfruitful works, but light always bears fruit. Goodness is love inaction—it is a heart that reflects the kindness and compassion of Christ. Righteousnessspeaks of right character before God and right conduct before others. Truthmeans our lives are shaped and governed by God's Word and God's will.When we walk in the light, we livehonestly, transparently, and humbly before God, with nothing we are unwillingto bring into His presence. But walking in the light is not only about personalholiness—it is also about public testimony. Jesus said, “You are the lightof the world.” And He added, “Let your light so shine before men, thatthey may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew5:16). Asbelievers, we carry God's light into a dark world by the way we live, speak,and love. The unsaved person is blinded by sin and by Satan, as Scripture tellsus. Only as we share Christ and live out the gospel can the light of God breakthrough that darkness. Just as a healthy person can help the sick, a child ofGod can help lead the lost out of darkness into God's marvelous light. Paulalso reminds us that light exposes what is wrong. Light reveals reality. Nosurgeon would operate in the dark, and no artist could paint truthfully withoutlight. In the same way, God's light reveals the true character of sin. That'sone reason people often avoid the Bible or the church—light exposes whatdarkness would rather keep hidden. AsChristians, Paul tells us not to fellowship with the unfruitful works ofdarkness, but instead to expose them. Sometimes that exposure happens simply byliving godly lives. When Christ walked on this earth, His perfect life exposedthe sin around Him, and that is one reason He was rejected. A believer livingfaithfully for Christ will often do the same, not intentionally, but naturally.However, Paul gives us an important caution in verse 12. He says it is shamefuleven to speak of certain things done in secret. There is a danger in exposingsin in the wrong way—by sensationalizing it or advertising it. We are notcalled to dwell on evil, but to shine the light. As Scripture reminds us, “Iwould have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil” (Romans16:19). We do not need to study darkness in detail to expose it. All we need todo is turn on the light. Paulthen closes this section with a beautiful image in verse 14: “Awake, you whosleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Salvation ispictured as waking up to a brand-new day. When Christ rose from the dead, thedawn of a new day broke for the world. And when we trusted Him, we were raisedfrom spiritual death into the light of life. We are no longer sleeping indarkness—we are alive in Christ. That means the believer has no business livingin the shadows. We are saints, partakers of the inheritance of the saints inlight. We have been delivered from the power of darkness and transferred intothe kingdom of God's dear Son. As Paul reminds us again, we are “light inthe Lord.”

Paulgives us a sober warning in Ephesians 5:6: “Let no one deceive you withempty words.” That tells us two things right away. First, deception isreal—even among believers in the church at Ephesus. And second, deception oftencomes wrapped in words that sound appealing, reasonable, or comforting, but areultimately empty—void of truth, power, and life. The enemy has always workedthis way. From the very beginning, Satan has used empty words to deceive God'speople.Thinkback to Genesis 3. Satan did not come to Eve with obvious lies or threats. Hecame with words that sounded harmless, even enlightened. He said, “You willnot surely die… you will be like God.” Those were empty words. They werelies without substance, promises without truth. Eve believed them, and theresult was sin, separation, and death entering the world. Paul is warning usthat the same tactic is still at work today. Empty words promise freedom butlead to bondage. They promise pleasure but deliver destruction. They promiselife, but they produce death.Thatis why Paul says, “Let no one deceive you.” This is a call fordiscernment. It is a call to measure every message—whether it comes from theworld, culture, false teachers, or even our own hearts—against the truth ofGod's Word. The book of Proverbs gives us many warnings about deceptive words. Proverbs14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end isthe way of death.” That verse perfectly captures the danger of empty words.They seem right. They feel right. They appeal to our desires. But they lead usaway from God.Anotherpowerful warning is found in Proverbs 7, where Solomon describes a manseduced by flattering speech. Proverbs 7:21 says, “With her enticingspeech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him.”Words were the weapon. The result was ruin. King David also fell victim todeception—this time not from Satan directly, but from his own uncheckeddesires. When David saw Bathsheba, he allowed himself to believe empty words inhis heart: “I deserve this.” “I can get away with this.” “This won't costme.” Those lies led to adultery, deceit, and murder. The pleasure wasbrief, but the consequences were long-lasting. Sin always overpromises andunderdelivers.Thatis why the writer of Hebrews tells us about Moses in Hebrews 11:24–26. Mosesfaced the same temptation—the allure of empty promises. Egypt offered pleasure,power, and prestige. But Hebrews says Moses “chose rather to sufferaffliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for aseason.” Why? Because Moses saw through the emptiness. He understood thatsin's pleasures are temporary, but God's reward is eternal.Emptywords always minimize sin and ignore judgment. That's exactly what Paulconnects in Ephesians 5:6: “For because of these things the wrath of Godcomes upon the sons of disobedience.” The world says, “God doesn't care.”“God won't judge.” “Everyone lives this way.” Those are empty words. God's Wordsays otherwise. Jesus warned about this as well. In Matthew 7:15, He said, “Bewareof false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they areravenous wolves.” Their danger is not obvious because their words soundspiritual, compassionate, and inclusive—but they lack truth.Paullater warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3–4 that people would gather teachers whotell them what they want to hear, turning away from the truth. That isdeception fueled by empty words. So how do we guard ourselves? First, we staygrounded in God's Word. Truth exposes emptiness. Jesus said, “You shall knowthe truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Second, we walk in thelight, as Paul has already taught us earlier in Ephesians 5. Light reveals whatdarkness tries to hide. Third, we listen to the Holy Spirit, who guides us intoall truth and convicts us when something is not right.

The Apostle Paul speaks very plainly to the church atEphesus reminding them of something that they should know. This is somethingthat as believers and followers of Jesus Christ that should be obvious to us.What should we know? “That no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man,who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  Now,it's interesting that when you read Paul's letters to the churches in Galatiaand Colossae, you find that he says very similar things on this subject. Infact, here in Ephesians 5, we've already seen that we are called to walk inlove (v. 2). In verse 8, we are told to walk as children of light. Then inverse 15, Paul says we are to walk circumspectly—not as fools, but as wise. Inother words, the believer walks a different walk. He walks a different path. Thepath that we are walking is a narrow path that leads to life, not the broadpath that leads to destruction.  Theworld around us is filled with envy, murder, wickedness, lewdness, idolatry,fornication—sins of the flesh, sins of immorality, and sins of the tongue, “filthiness,nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting”. Paul has already told us in theearlier verses that as believers we are saints, and it is not fitting forsaints to live this way (v. 3-4). These sins are to be put off. We are not tocommit them, or for that matter, have anything to do with them. Nowin verses 5 and 6, Paul repeats some of the same sins and makes this truth veryclear, which indicates that this is extremely important. We find the samewarning in Galatians 5:19-21.Myfriend, when we become born-again followers of Jesus Christ, we aretransformed. We are transferred out of the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom ofSatan and evil, and into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God. Paul wrotein Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness andconveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”.  Jesus Himself said in John chapter 3, “Excepta man be born again, he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God.” When weare born again, we receive a new life, and we now belong to a new kingdom. Inthis kingdom, we should now live to please the King. We honor the King. Wehallow the name of Jesus Christ. We pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will bedone on earth as it is in heaven.” And because of that, we do notparticipate in the deeds that belong to the kingdom of darkness. Now, Paul isnot saying that if a believer commits a sin—such as adultery, fornication, orsome form of sexual immorality—that they automatically lose their salvation.That is not what he is teaching. What he is saying is that if a personpractices these sins—if they continually walk in them and live in them—itproves that they have never truly been brought into the kingdom of light. Jesusspoke of this in Matthew 7:21-23, when He said, “Many will say to Me in thatday, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in Your name?' And thenI will declare to them, ‘Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity; I never knewyou.'” My friend, not everyone who claims to be a Christian truly is one.Some may talk like Christians at times, but their deeds and their works revealthat they do not belong to Christ. The Apostle John addresses this clearly in 1John, when he says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ifthey had been of us, they would have continued with us.” We who are truly bornagain have been transferred, transformed, and brought into the kingdom oflight. We no longer walk in covetousness or idolatry. Ifind it interesting that Paul repeats the same words in verse 5 that he usedearlier in verse 3—fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness. He says thesethings are not even to be named among us. Then he adds that the covetous personis an idolater. This same truth is taught in Colossians 3:5, where we are toldthat covetousness is idolatry.

The first admonitionPaul gives us is to walk in love. We walk in love because love is thefoundational characteristic of the Christian life. If we walk in love, we willnot disobey God or injure others, “for he who loves another has fulfilledthe law,” as we read in Romans 13:8. TheHoly Spirit places that love within our hearts. Romans 5:5, tells us that thelove of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It flows outof us because God is love. We are living with God, walking with God, andtherefore we are walking in love. Now Paul goes on to point out something else.Not only do we walk in love, but we also walk in the light. We see thisin verse 8, where he says, “For you were once darkness, but now you arelight in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” We walk in love, and we walkin light. Why? Because God is light. Remember, we are imitating our Father.When we walk in the light, we have nothing to do with the darkness of sin. Paulthen gives us specific descriptions of sins that we are to avoid. In verse 3,he says, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not evenbe named among you, as is fitting for saints.” Then in verse 4, he adds,“Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are notfitting, but rather giving of thanks.” First,we see sins of the flesh. Why do we avoid these sins? Because we are saints.Notice that phrase, “as is fitting for saints.” Saints are those who have beenset apart—sanctified—for the glory of God. We are different because we are inChrist, not because of anything special in ourselves, but because we belong toHim and have been set apart for His purposes. Myfriend, you don't have to wait for a church or an institution to declare you asaint. The moment you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, you become a saint.Even the believers in the church at Corinth—troubled as that church was—werestill called saints. They had been set apart, even though there were things intheir lives and in their church that did not belong there. That's why Paul saysthese things are not fitting for saints. Whatis fitting for saints is that we do not walk in darkness, but in light. We putaside fornication, sexual sin, uncleanness, and covetousness. Covetousness isreally a weakness of our fallen nature—an expression of uncontrolled appetites.The fornicator and the covetous person both seek to satisfy desires by takingwhat does not belong to them. We see this clearly in 1 John 2:16, which speaksof “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.” Paul tells us thatthere should not even be a hint of these things among us. We stay away fromthem because they are not fitting for the saints of God. ThenPaul addresses our speech in verse 4—“neither filthiness, nor foolishtalking, nor coarse jesting.” These are sins of the tongue, and they arenot fitting either. Instead, we are called to give thanks. When we trulyunderstand how blessed we are in Christ—when our hearts are filled withgratitude and appreciation for God's goodness—we will not speak in ways thatare displeasing to Him. Coarsejesting is a form of speech that takes something clean and twists it intosomething dirty through cleverness or wit. People with filthy hearts and mindsdo that. They take what is pure and corrupt it with their words. My friend,that should never characterize Christian conversation. By the grace of God, weavoid these things. Why? Because we are children of light, and we are to walkas children of light. We were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord.May God help us to understand these truths, to avoid the sins of the flesh andthe sins of the tongue, and to make sure that what we say and what we do bringsglory to God. May we reflect His light to a world that is filled with darkness. 

Ephesians 5:1-21Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, asChrist also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrificeto God for a sweet-smelling aroma.Today we are looking at Ephesians 5:1-2, where the Apostle Paul gives us theclear admonition to walk in love. Also in in these two verses, Paul also givesus several reasons why we should walk in love. First, he tells us in verse 1 to“be imitators of God as dear children.” As the children of God, we areto be reflectors of who He is. God is love, and therefore we should reflectthat love—the love God has for us and for the world around us. Themost quoted verse in the Bible, one we all know so well, tells us: “For Godso loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” God is a lovingGod, and because He is love, He is also a God who gives. As His children, weare called to love and to give of ourselves sacrificially for His glory. Ilove the phrase Paul uses here, “as dear children.” Sometranslations say, “as beloved children.” Remember, at least twicein the Gospel of Matthew, the Father speaks from heaven and declares His lovefor His Son. At the baptism of Jesus in Matthew chapter 3, and again on theMount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17, God says, “This is Mybeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Nowthink about this—we too are His beloved children. 1 John 3:1–3, tells us, “Beholdwhat manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be calledchildren of God.” In Romans chapter 8, we are told that we cry out, “Abba,Father.” We have an intimate, personal relationship with our Father inheaven. Because of that relationship, and as proof of it, we should desire toshow forth His love to the world around us as imitators of God and as Hisbeloved children. Ialso think about what Jesus prayed in John 17:23. He said, “I in them, andYou in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may knowthat You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”Jesus prayed and said, “Father, just as You have loved Me, You love them.”Can you imagine that? Jesus is the beloved Son of God, and He tells us that theFather loves us in the same way He loves Him. How much does God love you? Heloves you with the same love He has for His beloved Son—whom He gave as asacrifice for the sins of the world. So,we see several reasons here for walking in love. We are children of God. Weshare in His nature, and His nature is love. We are beloved children who desireto please our Father in heaven. We cry out, “Abba, Father.” And then we see athird reason in verse 2: “Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us,an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Thisphrase, “a sweet-smelling aroma,” is very meaningful. Our reflection ofChrist's love is pleasing to God—it rises as a sweet fragrance before Him. Inthe book of Leviticus, chapters 1 through 3 describe the three sweet savorofferings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. Theburnt offering pictures Christ's complete devotion to God. The meal offeringreflects His perfect character. The peace offering shows Christ making peacebetween sinful man and a holy God. Thesin offering and the trespass offering, found in Leviticus chapters 4 and 5,are not sweet savor offerings. Why? Because sin is not sweet or beautiful. Sinis what put Christ on the cross. Sin is what condemned us and would send us toa devil's hell apart from Christ.  Oh,my friend, today let us remember who we are. We are dear children ofGod—beloved children—loved with an unimaginable, unconditional, selfless love.Therefore, let us walk in love as “His beloved children” Godbless you and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today we are continuing our study in Ephesians chapter 5. Right at thebeginning of this chapter, we are told to “be imitators of God as dearchildren.” As believers, we are called to put off the old man—to put offbitterness, anger, and wrath—and to stop living the way we lived before webecame followers of Jesus Christ. Then Paul gives us this clear admonition:“Walk in love.”  Myfriend, as I have been thinking about this, I couldn't help but reflect on thetruth that when we walk in love, we are walking with God. Remember in 1John chapter 4, at least twice—in verse 8 and again in verse 15—the ApostleJohn tells us that God is love. One of the great attributes of God is that Heis love. Everything God does flows out of His love and His goodness, becauseGod is love and God is good. Aswe walk in love as imitators of God, as His dear children, we demonstrate tothe world around us that we truly belong to Him. People see that difference—notjust in what we say, but in the purity of our lives and in the love that ismanifested through us. Remember, Scripture tells us to love our enemies and toovercome evil with good. How do we do that? Naturally speaking, when we areoffended or hurt—when someone strikes us—the human response is to strike back,to get even, to retaliate. But my friend, it is just the opposite for someonewho has experienced the love of God. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessedare the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Romans5:8 tells us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while wewere still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still sinners—whilewe were alienated from Him, ignoring Him, blaspheming His name—Christ loved us.He died for us. While we were being mean to Him, rejecting Him, spitting in Hisface, and nailing Him to the cross, He loved us. My friend, that is anunfathomable love, an unlimited love, an unselfish love. That is theunconditional love of God, and that is the love God calls us to walk in. Howdo we do that? First, we must personally experience that love through JesusChrist. As we read at the end of Ephesians chapter 4, “forgiving one another,just as God in Christ forgave you.” Because we have been forgiven, we canforgive others. Years ago, I heard something that helped me greatly. My naturalresponse to offense or hurt has often been to get even—to strike back. I didthat as a teenager and as a young person, and even later in life I have hadthoughts I shouldn't have had when I was hurt. But my friend, our response isnot based on how we feel—it is based on what we have experienced in Christ. Thelove God speaks of here is agape love—God's love. It is not something wemanufacture. God is love, and He has an endless reservoir of love. When I amoffended or hurt, when I am tempted to respond in an unchristlike way, Ipicture reaching into God's reservoir of love. I don't give someone my love,because I don't have it. I give them God's love. I respond with kindness,forgiveness, and goodness. I have had people tell me that I'm being a hypocriteif I'm being nice and kind to someone when I don't feel like it. My response is,“No, I'm not being a hypocrite, I am being a Christian.  AsScripture says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”(Romans 12:21). There is joy in doing that, because we are abiding in His love.Please read 1 John 4:14-19! 1Corinthians 13 tells us that love is not a feeling. It's an action that comesfrom walking with God in His love. Read 1 Corinthians 13 that gives us a description of God's agapelove.  MayGod help us to practice this. As Paul points out here in Ephesians 5:2, we areto walk in love. How do you do that? One step at a time, everyminute of every day, when you are walking with God, you are walking in Hislove. And my friend, His love will be manifest through you to a world around usthat desperately needs to know that love.

Paultells us we must be imitators of God as dear children. That phrase is veryimportant. It is only possible to put off bitterness, malice, anger, andunforgiveness because we are dear children of God. Over the years in mycounseling sessions I have hear many people say, “You don't understand whatso-and-so did to me. You don't understand what happened years ago. There is noway I can forgive or love that person.” And humanly speaking, that may be true.But now that you have been born into God's family, you are called to imitateGod. And God is love. Weespecially read this truth in the book of 1 John, where Scripture reminds usthat God is love. That becomes the foundation for our walk. Remember yesterdaywe mentioned that as believers, Paul gives us three clear instructions in thischapter about how we are to walk. We are to: Walk in love (v. 2), walk aschildren of light (v. 8), and to walk carefully and wisely (v. 15). When we walkin this way, we display to the world around us that there is somethingdifferent about us. That difference is not our personality or our strength—itis the supernatural, divine, godly life of Christ living in us. We live thisway only because Christ is in us and we are children of God. Overthe years, I have seen this truth played out many times at weddings, funerals,and family gatherings. These are moments when families, whether in sorrow or ingreat joy, should be coming together in unity. Yet it is heartbreaking to seethe animosity, hatred, and bitterness that sometimes surface. I have heardpeople say, “If they are going to be there, I'm not going.”  If that person is part of the service, Iwon't be.” “I'm not attending the wedding because so-and-so will be there.” Myfriend, that does not display the heart of God's love. Howdo we overcome that? Peter gives us the answer in 2 Peter 1:2-4: “Grace andpeace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, asHis divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which havebeen given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through theseyou may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption thatis in the world through lust”. He reminds us that we have been called byGod's glory and virtue, and that we have been given exceedingly great andprecious promises, so that through these we may become partakers of the divinenature!  Myfriend, if you are in Christ, you are a partaker of the divine nature. And Godis love. Because of that, we understand that love covers a multitude of sins.In 1 Peter 4:7–10 we read: “But the end of all things is at hand; thereforebe serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent lovefor one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitableto one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister itto one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Read1 John 4:7–11, where we are reminded once again that: “He who does not lovedoes not know God, for God is love. In these verses, we are told that Goddemonstrated His love by sending His only begotten Son into the world, that wemight live through Him. This is love—not that we loved God, but that He lovedus and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. And then comesthe clear application: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to loveone another.” Thinkon those words today. And may the Lord use these thoughts to encourage you towalk in love—to walk in love as Christ has loved us, and to love oneanother in Christ Jesus. Godbless you. And may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Today,we're starting a new chapter in Ephesians 5 which is about Walking Jesus! Remember,when I started this series in Ephesians, I mentioned that years ago I gave eachof the chapters a subject headline. Ephesians 1 was Knowing Christ. Ifwe're going to live for Christ we must know Christ. We must know Him as ourpersonal Savior. We must know Him also as our Lord and the one who fills uswith His Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2 was Living Christ. If we know Christ,then we should live Christ. Ephesians 3 was Loving Christ. What He wantsmore than anything else is that our sacrifice and service for Him is out oflove.  Ephesians4 that we've been looking at was Talking Christ. We are not to talk andwalk and live as the Gentiles live, but we walk in purity. And that means thatwe talk Christ. Our speech should always be seasoned with grace and seasonedwith salt. We are not to speak and let corrupt words come out of our mouths,but we're to speak that which is good and edifying and building up.  Now,Ephesians 5 is Walking Christ. In this chapter, it is interesting tonote that we see at least three walks we are suppose have. In verses 1-2, weread, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, asChrist also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrificeto God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  We walk in love. In verse 8, we read, “Foryou were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children oflight.” We are to walk in the light. It speaks of this also because aswe noticed in verse 1, we are dear children of the Lord, we should walk inlight. Then in verses 15-16, we read, “See then that you walk circumspectly,not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Weare also to walk “circumspectly. Which means that we walk carefully. In otherwords, we are walk with wisdom.  Theseare three walks we see in the first part of this chapter. We'll be talkingabout them the next several days. It's so important that we do have a walk thatmatches our talk. If our talk is such that we are saying we're Christians, andtelling others that we're followers of Jesus Christ, then our daily walk, ourpractical walk ought to be there. The first aspect of that walk that Paulmentions is that we walk in love because we're imitators of God as His dearchildren. In these first two verses, Paul then gives us several reasons why weshould walk in this love. This is a walk because Christ loved us and gaveHimself for us. 1 John 4:8 tells us that “God is love”. Since He is love, andwe are His children, we're to walk in that love. Therefore,as we've already read in the previous chapters, because we're in Christ, we arenot to be as the Gentiles, living lewd and wicked and evil lives. We're to bedifferent in our daily walk and life. We also now should walk in love as Christloved us. This is Walking Jesus! We'll get into more detail aboutthat in the next couple days.  Thankyou for your prayers. Pray for the team on their way to India today for safetravels and God's blessings to be upon them. Continue to pray for us. And Ipray you also have a wonderful, wonderful day. God bless!

Froma biblical perspective, forgiveness is not a small thing. It is not a sideissue. It is at the very heart of the gospel. Without forgiveness, there is nosalvation, no peace with God, and no real freedom in life. The Bible says in Ephesians1:7,“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness ofsins, according to the riches of His grace.” Forgiveness is God's graciousact of removing our guilt, canceling our debt of sin, and restoring ourrelationship with Him—based entirely on what Jesus Christ has done for us onthe cross.Tobe forgiven means that God no longer holds my sin against me. He no longercondemns me. My record has been cleared, and my relationship with Him has beenrestored. Thatis why David could say in Psalm 32:1–2, “Blessed is he whosetransgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom theLORD does not impute iniquity.” That word blessed means deeplyjoyful, relieved, and at rest. There is no freedom like knowing God is nolonger against you. Now, how do we know we are forgiven? What are some of theevidences of forgiveness in our lives—mentally, spiritually, and emotionally?  First,there is mental evidence. When I am forgiven, I no longer live underconstant condemnation. I may remember my past, but I am no longer crushed byit. I believe God's Word over my feelings. Romans 8:1 tells us, “Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Godsays in Isaiah 43:25, “I… am He who blots out your transgressions forMy own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” God is not saying Heforgets in the human sense, but that He no longer counts our sins against us.The debt has been paid.  Second,there is spiritual evidence. Forgiveness brings peace with God. Fear isreplaced with confidence. Prayer becomes open and honest. Worship becomesjoyful instead of heavy. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having beenjustified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Forgivenessrestores fellowship with God. We are no longer hiding. We are no longerrunning. We draw near to Him with full assurance of faith. Third,there is emotional evidence. Forgiveness brings relief instead ofconstant guilt. Gratitude replaces shame. Joy begins to return. David prayed inPsalm 51:12, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”Forgivenessdoes not erase all consequences, but it restores joy, peace, and freedom in theheart. Nowlet's talk about forgiveness from another angle—forgiving others. Biblicalforgiveness does not mean forgetting, excusing the sin, or pretending it didnot hurt. Forgiveness is a decision to release someone from the debt they oweyou and to leave justice in God's hands. The Bible says in Romans 12:19,“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves… for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, Iwill repay,' says the Lord.” When I have truly forgiven someone, I am nolonger seeking revenge. I am no longer rehearsing the offense to fuel anger. Ican pray for them sincerely. I desire their good, not their harm. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Love… keeps no record of wrongs.”That is how God forgives us. He does not shame us. He does not hold ourpast over our heads. He restores us to fellowship. Andabove all, we look to Jesus. As He hung on the cross in Luke 23:34,Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.”Forgivenessflows from grace, not from worthiness. Let me close with this thought. To knowthat my sins are forgiven means my past no longer defines me, my present isfilled with peace, and my future is secure in Christ. And when I trulyunderstand how much I have been forgiven, I find the grace to forgive others. Thatis why Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:32,“Be kind to one another,tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” MayGod help us to live in the freedom of His forgiveness—and to extend that samegrace to others.