Good morning and welcome to our Sunday School Hour. I invite you to stand as we sing hymn number 432, Angels from the Blue. Amen. Please remain standing for prayer this morning. Brother Marsha, would you pray for us? Yeah, thank you. Maybe see unless you celebrate her birthday or anniversary. All right, let's sing happy anniversary. Well, it's good to be in the Lord's house today and be together. From the bulletin, we have still, if you want to give Christmas missions offering, that's great. We have ladies Christmas party tomorrow night at our house at seven o'clock. Encourage you all to come. All the ladies, I know you'll have a great time. And so plan on that. We're still planning the music recital this coming Thursday on the 19th, seven o'clock here at the church. And looking forward to hearing playing and singing and all those things that the kids have practiced. I know it'll be a blessing to you and encourage you to come for that. Patch program on the 22nd. It'll be in the afternoon service. I know It will be an exciting time. That's the best easiest way to put it an exciting time and I'd encourage you to come and be here for patch program and Also, next Sunday will be the Gilson's Christmas offering. Of course, we're already receiving that. And whether that be Walmart gift cards, cash, if you're going to write a check, please make it out to Dan Gilson, and we'll be giving them that next Sunday. Then we'll have a Christmas Eve service at 5 o'clock. And because of that, we'll not have a Christmas Day service. And that's just semantics. I find that we probably have a higher turnout to Christmas Eve service. And so we'll look forward to that at five o'clock. If you've never been to a Christmas Eve service, I'd encourage you to come. I think you'll really enjoy it. Prayer needs, I ask that you'd remember to pray for all these that are listed here. And then, as most of you know, my mother-in-law, Charlotte Fuller, had a stroke. And we were visiting with the doctors last night. And it was a very severe stroke in the center part of her brain. And so they say third day's the worst. And then fourth, fifth, and sixth, they begin to come around. And so I'll... Yesterday at the end of the day was the third and so we're hoping to see some Improvement in her life, and if you would just pray God's will be done. Whatever that is we appreciate your prayers For strength we weren't supposed to be here. I'd scheduled brother Richard to preach. We're supposed to be in Texarkana today and But God has a plan, right? And we're just submitted to that and ask that you would join us in praying God's will would be done there and that he might be glorified through it. We're ready for some more singing in our Sunday school time. Lord bless you for being here. We'll stand once again, we'll sing hymn number 174. My Jesus, I love you. Sing the first of the last verses. Worthy of the Lord, it does give thanks. ♪ In mansions of glory ♪ ♪ That endless delight ♪ ♪ Are ever unfolded ♪ ♪ In heavens so bright ♪ ♪ I'll sing with the Peter ♪ ♪ And on my heart ♪ This time you can be dismissed to your Sunday school classes. My class will finish up lesson number five today. We have new handouts for lesson number six, if you need that. And the POTS has those available in the back. Raise your hand, we'll get that to you. We were looking at the story of Hannah. The fact that she was barren for many years and praying for her son and God blessed her and gave her Samuel. And we see in this life lesson of Hannah that she had courage to pray. There are often difficulties that come up in our life that certainly are out of our control and we certainly don't always know what the outcome will be, but God does. And he's asking us and petitioning us that we might pray to him and ask for wisdom, ask for guidance, ask for peace and comfort and strength during those journeys of life. And we see your Hannah face some very difficult times and, you know, the Those that would mock her because she was bearing the other wife in the picture and just how she was able to find her hope and strength in the Lord and understanding that in our times of trouble our only hope is in the Lord. And we can draw much encouragement from this life that we see in Hannah and the courage she had to pray. So quickly just recapping what we looked at last week, she had courage and discouragement. And boy, it's in those times of discouragement when we find ourselves maybe grappled with fear and we don't understand always what's going on. And it's at those times where we can allow the devil to get a foothold in our life if we're not careful and he can cause discontentment. Obviously this discouragement leads to many things in our lives that could cause us not to be moving forward for Christ, not to be growing in the Lord as we should. So we need to be cognizant of those things and make sure that we are trusting in the Lord and having that courage to pray in a time of discouragement. And this is what we see in the life of Hannah. She was discouraged because she was barren and she was also belittled. But in both of those things that caused discouragement, again, she found her hope in the Lord and she found strength in Him. in the midst of discouragement, she found encouragement in the Lord. He's our source of encouragement because He is the source of hope. And any difficulty that we go through, you know, there are There are things that we go through that we don't understand how we can handle them, how we can come through them, but God knows. We have someone we can turn to. The world doesn't have someone they can turn to. They try to turn to maybe a psychiatrist or self-help books or whatever it might be, but the only source of true hope, true help is in the Lord. So she was turning to the right place and she found encouragement in the Lord. Then she had the courage then to pray. So she prayed, we see, for her son and she was asking God that He might answer her prayer. And in doing so she made this promise. She promised to the Lord if He would give her a son that she would give him back to the Lord for His service. And so she remained faithful to this promise and we saw this in her And her presentation then of Samuel, just again briefly recapping where we've come from already in the previous lesson last week. In 1 Samuel 1 and verse 19 it says, And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about, after Hannah had conceived, that she bear a son, and call his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord." And then it goes on in verse 24 through 28 where it says she remembered her promise. It says, And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord." And he worshipped the Lord there. So, we see the promise has been kept here that they've given Him back to the Lord, that He might be used of the Lord mightily and that the Lord would have His will and way in His life. So, we see the commitment there then to the promise. That brings us to where we left off, the courage to honor God. Now, this is something that we need to have settled in our life, that, you know, we're going to face situations where there are peer pressures put upon us. And we often speak of that. And in teenage years, you know, they're going to have peer pressure. They're going to have to make decisions to do right or to do wrong. And it's very difficult during those times. But also we face pressures of life, don't we? We face those peer pressures where the society around us, maybe even family members or are doing things contrary to the Word of God or they're asking us to do things contrary to the Word of God and we need to just have courage to honor the Lord and do what is right and do what is pleasing unto Him. So as we see here in 1 Samuel 2 we find here a record of a beautiful prayer of praise that Hannah voiced in response to all that the Lord had done in her life. So she's looking back on all that God has done and she's just rejoicing and full of great joy and comfort of what God has done in her life. So she's offering this honor back to Him. Now all too often in our life we passionately ask God to meet our needs. We have something specific we're praying about. God answers that need and then we fail to give Him the thanks that we ought. She took the time here, as we look at Hannah's life, she took the time to praise the Lord and rejoice in His provision. And we see incidentally here that Hannah's prayer is parallel very much to that of Mary in Luke 1 and verse 46-55. So let's notice how Hannah honored God when He answered her prayer. First we see that she honored God by praising Him for deliverance. First Hannah does not start out talking about the fact that she now has a son or even focusing on herself at all, but rather she focuses on the Lord and who He is and how good He is and what He has done. If you'd find your place there in 1 Samuel 2, I'd like to read for you verses 1-3 as she's praying here to the Lord. It says, And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, my horn is exalted in the LORD, my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more, so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of your mouth, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. So you can just see evidence here that she is extremely grateful for what God has done but she's recognizing it was done because of who He is. She's recognizing the great God that we serve and the great God of this universe and she's expressing how grateful she is for the God whom He is. So it's worth noting here that as Hannah praises God for delivering her from the persecution that she had faced from her adversary, she directly mentions or makes reference to God eight times in these verses that we've just read. Clearly Hannah had no doubt as to the source of her salvation. And I hope that can be said of you today that you know the source of your salvation, that Jesus Christ our Lord and we ought to give Him honor and glory and praise do His name for what He has done in providing that great way of salvation to us. So as the psalmist expresses in Psalm 25, verse 20, the believer can always put his trust in God for deliverance. It says there, O keep my soul, and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in Thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me. for I wait on Thee." Boy, these are some truths that we can grab hold of and that we can stand on knowing that the God that we serve is faithful, and He's true, and He's just, and He's holy, and He's always right, and we can trust Him with our soul. He says, oh, keep my soul and deliver me. Let me not be ashamed. Let me boldly proclaim of Your goodness, and let me put my trust in Thee. And then as I do that, then as the world looks upon me, let integrity and uprightness preserve me. Let the word of God penetrate my heart that it has an impact and an effect on me that I live the right way, that I live in a way that is of integrity and uprightness, that I walk holy and unblameable before you and before this world." So our praise often focuses more on what God has done rather than who God is. But what God does for us is really a result of who He is. It's because of who He is that He can do what He does for us. So she's offering praise for deliverance. Also we see here that she's praising Him for strength. And if you've come through any difficulty, aren't you thankful for the Lord's strength and His ability to give that peace, that comfort and that strength that we need when we so desperately need it. So in addition to praising God for His deliverance, Hannah praised Him for providing strength She had found that God was the rock. Now, when life pulls the carpet out from under us, we're looking for that sure footing. I'm thankful that we can find it in the Lord. And that's where she found her rock was in God. She could depend completely on Him. His omniscience vindicated her over her enemies and provided refuge in which she could take shelter. Let's continue reading here in 1 Samuel 2. In verse 2 and 3 it says here, "...for there is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more, so exceeding proudly, let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed." So as God's people we can make this statement that we've always found Him to be the rock in our times where we need to seek refuge. He is our source of strength. Psalm 31 verse 2 says, bow down thine ear to me, deliver me speedily, be thou my strong rock, for in house of defense to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress, therefore for thy namesake lead me and guide me. When we're reaching out in our desperation, we can find that source of strength in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will provide that stability in our life. When everything around us is sinking and falling by the wayside, we can turn to God and find Him our source of strength. Psalm 46, 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. What a blessed promise we have. What a blessed hope that we have and what a truly tremendous Lord that we serve in knowing that He offers us strength and He offers us that refuge in our times of trouble. So Hannah found this strength in Him but also we see that as a result She offered praise to Him by continued service. So it wasn't just a one-time-and-done deal where she was offering this praise to the Lord and her service to the Lord, but it continued. After experiencing God's deliverance, protection, and renewal of strength, Hannah didn't stop serving the Lord. In fact, she remained faithful and going to the tabernacle to worship every year, just as she had done before Samuel was born. And in that context, she made it a point to encourage Samuel in his growth and service and ministry before the Lord by bringing him a new coat every year. In 1 Samuel 2.19, it says, moreover, his mother made him a little coat and brought it to him from year to year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. That's just like a good mother, isn't it? wanting to care for their child and making sure that they're provided for and making sure they have what they need. And we see that in any good loving mother, they're wanting to make sure that their children are taken care of. And here's Hannah's no different. And she's grateful to the Lord and she's grateful for a son. And she wants to be a blessing to him and wants to encourage him that he's walking with the Lord. And boy, a good godly mother is important to the building up of children and helping them to understand the importance of serving the Lord in their life. And that's what she was trying to instill in Samuel and just encouraging him to be faithful to the Lord. And not only expressing these things, but proving these things by the way that she lived herself, being faithful to the Lord in her life. So now, we can consider there how Hannah must have looked forward every year, just as anyone looks forward to seeing their children after they've been away for a while. And she anticipated these times of being able to minister to Samuel and to encourage him. And, you know, she's thinking back during those times, maybe every time she sees Samuel, just how long she was barren and how thankful she was that God provided Samuel as a son. And then she saw the opportunity then to continue serving the Lord and continuing to be faithful to Him and expressing her gratitude by her service and her faithfulness to the Lord. So as we know from reading the remainder of 1 Samuel 1 and 2, the same young lad who served faithfully in the temple as he was growing up would eventually become a prophet and judge for the nation of Israel, becoming one of the most formidable figures in Israel's history. So we understand the impact that he had and the way that God used him mightily. But it all began back with a woman. in grief and sorrow and discouragement, had the courage to pray, had the courage to turn to the Lord and remain faithful to the Lord, both before and after her prayer was answered. So what can we learn from Hannah's testimony? Well, it challenges us then to be courageous in prayer, including in our own seasons of discouragement. So we can have, as Hannah had courage in our discouragement, we can have courage then to pray and then the courage to honor and remain faithful to the Lord. As we, we know life is gonna have its ups and downs, but we need to be, steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, no matter what life brings our way, because our Lord is faithful, our Lord is good, and our Lord is right." So we must learn, as we've seen here from the life of Hannah, it doesn't matter what the world says, what they might do to us, the lot that I have in life, the circumstances that I'm in. Turn to the Lord and remain faithful to Him. So that brings us to the close of lesson number five. Let's now turn our attention here to lesson number six, courage to stand. So up to this point we've laid some foundation here, some building blocks, and really what courage is about is this, the willingness then to stand. to stand for the Lord. And boy, when so many are falling by the wayside and so many are turning away from the Lord, may we be faithful to stand for Him. I'd like to turn your attention then to our text for this lesson to Ephesians 6 and verses 10-20, the courage to stand. Alright, Ephesians 6 and verse 10, you know it very well but it's very important as we consider this topic of courage that God enables us to have courage. God enables us to be able to stand for Him. So here in the text let's find what He has for us. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. I'm thankful that He puts the strength and the power upon Him and it's not depending on us, but it's His strength and it's His power. So now He's given us some commands here. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Now here's what we must do. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Any of you face the wiles of the devil? Well, we all do. If you're honest with yourself, we're facing the wiles of the devil every day. We face temptation, we face his tactics of trying to infiltrate our lives and to cause us to be distracted from serving the Lord. But God wants us to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, so He equips us in such a way. It says, Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. So we have a great challenge here from the Word of God and how we are to be equipped and ready to stand and we're going to dive into those here in just a moment. I want to share with you a story from the terrorist attacks that happened on 9-11 and after those attacks on the United States a special group was put together to investigate what had happened and why and how future attacks must be prevented. The committee was made up of political leaders from both parties and members of the intelligence community. They were given full access to records and personnel and conducted a thorough investigation here into exactly what had happened. So it took them almost three years then to complete this investigation. This National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, better known as the 9-11 Commission, finished their work and released a final report. And one of the main findings regarding the cause of the success of the attacks was this. The most important failure was one of imagination. It was simply a failure to grasp the possibility of the threat and what could happen. So we as a nation were not prepared. We didn't understand the threat, we didn't understand what could possibly happen and therefore we were not prepared. So as we look to our spiritual life we must understand there is a spiritual battle. We've just read about it. The Bible declares that there is a spiritual battle going on and the Bible warns us that it's happening around us every day. And it tells us how to fight and to win that battle. I want to share with you three foundational truths that will help us to be courageous to stand in battle. First, we see that we are in a spiritual battle today, so we must recognize this, we must know that this is true and that it is happening. So in today's passage that we've read we are admonished to put on the armor needed for spiritual battle and we are reminded that Satan has many wiles, many tricks, many tactics to trip us up, to cause us to fail. So this word wiles means it's a method or refers to cunning arts or a deceit, a craft, a trickery. Satan's methods are deceit, trickery, these cunning arts, this craftiness, and he doesn't play fair, does he? He doesn't play fair at all. So like a lion, he seeks to ambush his prey. Also we see that we are fighting Satan and his armies. Verse 12 of our text mentions this and it says, Satan has an organized band of devils, these principalities, with ranks of authority, powers to use all over the world. And He needs them to go all over because Satan himself cannot be everywhere all at once. He's not omnipresent like our Lord. So there are forces working today against our family, against authority within our church, against God. These forces are spiritual and we must fight them with spiritual weapons. 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 says this, For though we walk in the flesh, We do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought through the obedience of Christ." So we understand who the enemy is. We understand who we're fighting against. And then as a result we must put on spiritual armor. To be prepared for a spiritual battle we need to put on the protection that God has provided for us, that equips us and enables us to go into this battle and to come out victorious. So let's look and turn our attention here to the warrior's protection. Paul used the different pieces of the armor worn by the Roman legionaries as a metaphor for our spiritual armor. So let's look at these pieces of the Roman soldier's armor and see the comparison then to our spiritual protection. First we see the belt of truth. The Roman soldier wore a belt around his waist that he tightened before going into duty or into battle. The belt held his clothing out of the way so he could fight. In addition to that practical purpose, the tightened belt could be used to distribute the weight of the armor or to carry tools or weapons. All the time the Roman soldier was on duty, his belt would be tight. It would be there holding those garments in place, also maybe holding some tools and some things that he needed for battle, some weapons. And we understand the purpose of a belt. You think of a tool belt as you go into construction, it holds many things that need to be right at hand as you're doing work. And this was the same way for a soldier. He needed things right at hand so he could do battle and he could be successful. So as you look to this Roman soldier and you saw his belt was tightened, you understood that he was on duty or he was prepared for battle. If that belt was slackened, then he was not ready. He was either off duty or he wasn't ready for battle. So Paul likened this belt of the Roman soldier to truth as he admonished, stand, having your loins girt about with truth. What does that tell us one of our weapons is? It is the truth of the Word of God. And it needs to be readily available. What does the Bible tell us about taking in God's Word? Study to show thyself approved. We must be students of the Word of God for when we face battle, those truths are quickly available to us. That we can share those truths because it's the truth that has the impact. It's the truth that makes the difference. So as Paul's likening this belt of truth in our spiritual battle here, he says, stand having your loins girded about with truth. Truth holds every other piece of our spiritual armor together. It's what makes it all count, doesn't it? Truth is the foundation. Truth is what we stand upon. Truth is what we build our lives upon. Truth is what we then go to battle with as well. Jesus Himself is the truth. This is a spiritual reality and it's essential to the Christian life. John 14 says this, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." So if our job is to be about sharing Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world, and we're facing a spiritual battle that is against that message, then what is the truth that we must present that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? That's the message that must go forth, and this is what we go to battle for, is for this truth that Jesus is the way, that Jesus is the only way of salvation. So as God has given us His Word as the only source of infallible and objective truth, then we must gird ourselves about this belt of truth. John 17, 17 says this, "'Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.'" So the opinions, the ideas, the philosophies of man, they come and go and they're subject to error. The Bible is perfect and tells us with complete accuracy everything that we need to live and to be victorious in our Christian life. So we must be girded about with this belt of truth. Next we see the breastplate of righteousness. The Roman breastplate was made of multiple pieces of armor that tied together to cover the body from the neck and shoulders down to below the ribs, guarding both front and back. The Greek historian Philobius referred to the breastplate as the heart protector. The breastplate was strong enough to block most of the force of a sword or arrow attack. So we've been given this positional righteousness as children of Jesus Christ through God's grace. Romans 5.2 says, by whom also ye have access by faith into His grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 5.21, for ye hath made Him to be sin for us. Aren't you thankful? Who knew no sin? For that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Because He was sinless, because He was the perfect Son of God, He became the perfect sacrifice. And because of His sacrifice, we've been offered then salvation through Him. And through that salvation, we've been given the righteousness of God in Him. So we enjoy practical righteousness and are protected from Satan's attacks when we live in a way that honors the Lord, Numbers 32, 23. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord. And be sure your sin will find you out. So we have an opportunity here to serve the Lord and be faithful to Him and live a life that's honoring and pleasing to Him. And in order to do that we need to make sure that we are confessing our sins, forsaking our sins and being faithful to the Lord. So this breastplate of righteousness is a part of our gear to go into battle. So belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel. So the sandal worn by a Roman soldier was made of heavy leather. Straps allowed it to be adjusted for comfort and a tight fit. The soles usually had hobnails added for stability on the open ground. So the sound of thousands of Roman soldiers striking the ground as they were walking and marching in unison was said to be a terrifying message to those enemies of Rome. So as Christians we have been given the gospel and we have been commissioned to take that gospel to the world. And we need to always be prepared everywhere to go to share it with others. Isaiah 52.7 tells us how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. So not being ready to witness would be like a soldier going into battle barefooted. So we need to make sure that we are prepared, that we are ready to share God's good news, God's gospel message of Jesus Christ to this world. So we need to be prepared and we need to go into battle having the shoes of the gospel. Then we see next the shield of faith. The shield of the Roman soldier was large. It was four-quartered shield, approximately two and a half feet by four and a half feet. The shield was one of the most important pieces to a Roman soldier. Due to its size, it would cover virtually his whole body. If a whole formation of men interlocked their shields together, they could protect themselves both above and in front. In fact, one formation could support the weight of a chariot driving across it." Boy, that's amazing. So we can see the importance of this shield. In the 1930s a team of archaeologists working in Syria uncovered the pieces of a shield carried by a Roman legionnaire. The excavation at the ruins of the Roman fort at Dura Euripus, which was overrun in 256 AD, found a number of soldiers' bodies and many weapons. The shield is the only surviving example of the curved scutum carried into battle by the legions of Rome. Made of strips of wood laminated together, carefully decorated, it guarded most of the body of the soldier while he stood facing the enemy." So what is this shield likened to? It's likened to our faith. You can see that it's covering the whole body. So what is our shield in the spiritual battle? It's our faith. It covers our whole body. Faith is the highest priority for the believer. It is the piece of armor that he is to carry above all. How are we saved? We are saved through faith. Ephesians 2.8 tells us, for by the grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. So we are protected in the Christian life by faith, 1 John 5, verse 4, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. But we must go to battle understanding that we are shielded by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith is important. It's of vital importance as we face these spiritual battles of life. So what does faith do? Faith triumphs over the attacks of the enemy, quenching the flaming arrows of doubt and fear that he shoots at us. So these wiles are coming our way, these temptations, these fears, these doubts. What defends against them? It's our faith. The fiery darts mentioned in verse 16 that we just read in our text refers to missiles, javelins or arrows that were filled with flammable fluid and then ignited. So one of the devil's main tactics then that he uses in our life to get us to distrust God or question His Word or His goodness or His promises is through these fiery darts that he throws at us, these doubts, these fears that he casts upon us. Warren Wiersbe says this of Satan, Satan is the source of unbelief and doubt. We see this as we go all the way back to the Garden of Eden where he casts doubt to Eve. He says, "'Yea, hath God said.'" Casting doubt on the Word of God, on what He has said. "'Yea, hath God said' is his favorite question. Faith is what overcomes every foe. As believers use the shield of faith, the fiery darts of unbelief and doubt are kept away." So that was Satan's attack from the very beginning just as he said to Eve there in the garden. So today he works to plant those thoughts in our life as well of unbelief, of doubt of the Christian life. The devil wants to attack us with doubt, cause confusion. But what overcomes those as we've said before faith will defeat it every time. In 2007, Private First Class Brendan Schweighart was helping retrieve a tank in Iraq when he was hit with a force so hard that he later likened it to the sledgehammer. It was a bullet from an enemy sniper. The bullet struck the Bible in his pocket. When he had promised his mother he would carry into battle, and that Bible acted like a shield, trapping the bullet and saving his life. So faith in our Christian life works as this shield to protect us from the attacks of Satan. So did you wake up today and grab your shield of faith? Well we need to grab all these attributes here that God's given us, these opportunities then to take on, these weapons of our warfare. We need to remember that this battle is taking place every day of our life and sometimes it comes upon us when we least expect it. Often that's the way it happens and we're not on guard, we're not prepared as we should be. But might we be mindful and take these lessons and understand that the devil doesn't rest. He's always going to be seeking for that opportunity to cast that doubt, to cause that fear, to render you useless for the cause of Christ, to keep you from sharing the gospel, to keep you from serving the Lord. We just need to be mindful as we go through this lesson and ask yourself, you know, have I been faithful to put on these things? Am I in God's word as I should be that I'm equipped with the truth of the word of God when those attacks come? Do I have this breastplate of righteousness? Am I truly saved? Hopefully today all of us can say that we are. And if we're saved today, we are clothed in his righteousness and we can go to battle having that righteousness. Are you prepared to share the gospel? Did you wake up and put your feet on the ground, ready to share God's word with someone? And then, as we've just mentioned, the shield of faith. Are you living out your faith before this world? Are you allowing that faith to work in your life as God intends for it to? Growing you, strengthening you, encouraging you to be faithful to the Lord, and then being able to withstand those fiery darts that the devil is casting our way. We'll close there today and we'll continue next week. Heavenly Father, we're thankful for Your goodness to us. And Father, You are truly gracious and mighty God. And Father, we're so thankful for the way that You desire to work in our lives and just as any good father would desire to equip us and to help us, guide us through this life that we live. Father, You provide for us the tools necessary to be successful in this Christian life, to come through victorious and to be faithful and to be honoring and glorifying to Your name. And I pray that every one of us would look deep into our heart and to our soul to make sure that we are equipping ourselves as we should, that we would have then the The ability to withstand these trials, these temptations that come our way, that would seek to distract us from our service to You. Father, that we would be able to withstand those and then be able to share then the good news of Jesus Christ with others. That they would see evidence in our lives that we are living for You and that You've made a difference and that You've made a change within us. Father, I pray that You'd help us to have an impact on a world who so desperately needs to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They're lost and without hope. Father, we know the only source of true hope, that is in Jesus Christ. Now may we be faithful to share that message with others. I pray now for the service to follow. Speak again to our hearts and we'll thank you for it in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for your attention. We'll meet right back in here at 10.30.