As we return to our study in Ephesians chapter 6, walking in the whole armor of God, I'd like to begin by reading a portion from the Old Testament and back a familiar portion of scripture, the one that foretold of our Lord Jesus Christ and how he would walk when he was here on this earth, certainly in the whole armor of God. That portion is Isaiah 53. Chapter 53, and I can begin reading with verse 3, as it speaks about the Lord Jesus. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. And he was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. when you make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide with him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. As we think about the Lord Jesus and what he endured for us in his battles with Satan and sin while here on this earth, it reminds us then and he was an example for us when it comes to our study and the book of Ephesians. Turn back with me to that portion. Paul is coming now in the latter part of Ephesians, as he does also in the epistle to the Romans, having set before them in the first part doctrinal foundation and truth. He then draws a conclusion that if this is our doctrinal statement, as it were, if this is the foundation of our faith, then it should have a direct impact upon how we live. And people should be able to see that the doctrine is not just teaching we have in our mind, but it is a living word of God that's lived throughout our lives. And so when he comes to the latter part of Ephesians, beginning in chapter four, he begins to apply that doctrine to practical things. And one of the things he mentions to us as he closes out the epistle to the Ephesians, he exhorts them to walk in the whole armor of God. We find that beginning in verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. We have seen that in our study that Paul puts forth and the call, first of all, to put on the whole armor of God, and then he begins in verse 12 to describe to us and to identify who the enemy is, the spiritual enemy of God's people. Not of flesh and blood, but of a spiritual nature, and he begins to describe Satan and his characteristics before us. Then in chapter 6 and verse 13, we saw he come to the second call to arms. And he says, therefore, take up the whole armor of God. And our last time together, we broke down this particular verse, verse 13, and said that we can see in it two major parts. There's an exhortation. That exhortation is the second call to arms. He says, therefore, Therefore, in light of the description of the enemy I just gave you in verse 12, therefore, because of the seriousness of the matter before us, because of the enemy described, put on the whole armor of God. He repeats it a second time to urge us to do that. That's the exhortation, not just a part of it, but put on the whole armor of God. Then he follows that exhortation with arguments. Oftentimes, we'll see this in Scripture. God gives us a command. He gives us a directive. And then it's followed with encouragements. It's followed with reasons why we ought to heed that command that was just given. And we find that same structure in this verse of Scripture. He says, a command, take up again, as William Grinnell has implied and inferred, take up again the whole armor of God. Make sure it's in good shape. Make sure you have it on. If it's dented and damaged, make sure it's repaired. If it's been sitting off to the side, gathering rust, make sure you get it down, clean it up, and make it battle-ready. Take on the whole armor of God. That's the exhortation. Why should we do that? And He gives us a reason. And that's the focus of our attention tonight. That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. That you may be able to stand, withstand in the evil day. As we continue, as we focus our attention upon that particular phrase, I want to look at three things in our time together. First of all, I want to begin by asking the question, what is the evil day? Now, you notice he didn't say that you may be able to stand in evil days. He said the evil day. What does this evil day refer to? Is it referring to one particular 24 hour day? Is it referring to one particular type of assault that Satan comes and when that's done in our lifetime, we have nothing else to worry about? Or is it using the figure of speech to talk about something bigger and broader than both of those things we talked about? What is Well, to answer that question, first of all, generally, let's go back to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 47, I believe it's verse 9. In Genesis chapter 47 and verse 9, Jacob has come to Egypt. Joseph has discovered himself and made known himself to his brothers. made known that the provision that God had worked so that when the time of famine come, a whole house of Jacob in Israel could come to Egypt and be sustained and supplied and not starve in their own homeland. And as he comes and as he's presented before Pharaoh in chapter 47, in verse 9, Pharaoh asks him in verse 8, How old are you? Speaking to Jacob. Jacob said to Pharaoh, verse 9, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years. Now notice how he describes them. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Few in comparison to those that have gone on before that lived much longer. Some living like Methuselah 969 years. He lived only 130. We think of 130, 130 sounds pretty long to me at this particular point. But he said, few and evil are the days of my life. That's how he used the word to describe the entirety of his earthly life. So Jacob was saying that it's not just a one single 24 hour evil day. But he would indicate that it is all the days of the believer's life while he's here on earth. That would cover all the trials and all the temptations. Particularly, particularly when we ask what is the evil day, we can say that going from the general to the particular, it is those times of Satan's greatest rage against us, against the believer. And when we think of those times of rage that he comes, there is intensity in those times. Remember what the Lord Jesus said to Peter in Luke chapter 22. He says, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. What do you mean by that? Now, we don't live in a farming community. Most of us go to the grocery store, we pick up our food. So this illustration was very common during the times of the Lord Jesus, and that's why he used it. But he illustrates something. He's talking about the wheat. After its harvest, the kernels of wheat have a very thin shell around them, as it were, a skin, sort of like the skin you find on red peanuts, very light. And they can be jarred easily. And the idea was, when they came down to the harvesting, once they got them in, they would put them in these long, pretty good-sized baskets, flat baskets, laid out the grain, and they would toss it, the grains, up. The idea was, by shaking it, they'd loosen those little skins around the kernel of wheat, and then by throwing it up, the wind would take and separate that shaft from the actual kernel, so the kernel would fall and the shaft would be blown away. That's the picture, he says, Satan had desire to take you, Peter, and to so violently shake you. That you and your faith would be like that skin on the kernel of wheat. That you would be blown away from the true faith, never connected to it again. That's what we're talking about when you talk about the evil day. And the evil day did come upon Peter, did it not? That time when he had boasted so loudly, though all men will forsake you, I never will. And then he did. And it broke his heart. Broke his heart so much, the Bible indicates that when it came to the resurrection appearances of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus appeared particularly and personally unto Peter. We know nothing about that appearance. We know nothing about what took place during that appearance. The only thing we do know for sure is that it did occur. And as a result of it occurring, Peter was now gathered with the disciples after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But that's the picture we have of Satan. He wants to desire, as it were, to sift us as wheat. So he's talking about particular times, as it were, and the times when he expresses his greatest rage against us. And we see that in Scripture. The Bible says that we saw again, and remind you, in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, that our adversary, the devil, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. That's his posture. Not just for a moment, not just for a season, but perpetually and continually all the days of his existence. There is no night and day with him. And that's his pursuit. So when we talk about the evil day, it can be something wide and general to cover all the days of the believer's life, because as soon as they are born again, they enter into this spiritual warfare, whether they're aware of it or not. And then also, particularly, it could refer to those times where Satan comes with his greatest rage against us individually, like we mentioned in the time of Peter. But also, some have thought that that evil day could refer to death itself. Certainly, that's one of the greatest and certainly the last great battle we have here upon the face of this earth, and that is death and dying in a way that brings glory unto God. People don't talk too much about death. It's an unpleasant subject. But as a result of it, many people don't prepare for that time. And so the enemy comes, he causes them to put it off in their thinking, not to talk about it, thinking that at a later time, I'll take care of this matter. And sometimes in God's mercy and God's blessing, we do see situations where people are laid up, they're older in age, they have the blessing of hearing the gospel again while they're in their sick bed. God gives them a period of unusual alertness, as we have seen in Dave Lightfoot's particular situation, which I marveled at, where they could hear the gospel, understand it, respond to it and have a conversation. But that's not always the way it is. Pick up your newspaper tomorrow morning. Some person was living today that won't be alive tomorrow. And they weren't old. Maybe they were involved in an automobile accident. Maybe they were an innocent bystander in a drive-by shooting. Maybe it was some other event that came about. But the point is this. Death came and there wasn't any time for them to start to prepare. And so he talks about the evil day. It's so important that people understand that you begin preparing for that day long before you start thinking about having funeral plans and not being a burden to your family. The Bible tells us that we are to look upon these things. And I want you to see something else about this evil day. We've defined it generally. We defined it particularly. We've alluded to the fact it can be referring to death. But there's one characteristic I want you to see also about this. This evil day is unavoidable. It is unavoidable. Turn with me to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. Beginning in chapter 14, the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to his disciples, the 11 faithful disciples. And so the conversation he has with them is recorded in chapters 14, 15 and 16. Death is imminent and he knows it. He knows every single detail that's going to happen. The disciples are unaware of what's going to happen. And he is concerned for them. As you read the portion of Scripture, you're taken by two things. Number one, the unselfishness of Jesus Christ to want everybody to have pity for him. And the other thing you are struck with is his concern for the spiritual well-being of his disciples. One of the things he says to them, One of the last thing he says to them is found in chapter 16 and verse 33. He says, These things have I spoken unto you that in me you may have peace. Notice what he says. In the world, you may have tribulation. Is that what your Bible reads? Your Bible reads like mine does. In the world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. It's not a may and a might. It's a fact that it will. It's a fact that it will. What would you think of a man to whom a prince gave one of his castles? And he told this man, I want you to maintain the castle. The man goes, he occupies the castle. And as he's there, after a period of time, he hears word that a enemy is gathering an army and coming toward that castle to take it. What would you think about the man if he knew that the enemy was coming for sure, if he did nothing to prepare for that day of engagement that was coming? You'd think he'd be a fool. You might even accuse him of treason. to his prince. My dear friends, God has given us. His Holy Spirit, our bodies. Are God's castles and they are to be occupied and prepared. God tells us as believers in Jesus Christ, as he told his disciples as they were walking from the upper rib, the garden of Gethsemane, he said, Tribulation will. Come. And the implication was, be prepared for it. Be prepared for it. Put on the whole armor of God. So we look at that evil day. Notice also in that same vein of saying that the day is unavoidable. Turn with me to a portion of Scripture that's familiar. Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. And I want to look at verse 23. Luke chapter 9, verse 23. There we read, And he, Jesus, said to them, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross for a little while and follow me. The Bible doesn't say that, does it? Take up his cross daily and follow me. There is particular wording and instruction about taking up the cross Daily. There is not a portion of scripture to my knowledge. That says that while we're in this life or to ever lay that cross down. That's the call to arms. We're talking about a daily walk with the Lord. This conflict. This evil day. Is a certainty. It is unavoidable. In the armies of men in the physical realm, we might have an individual who comes and they are able to go to the authority and they can plead with that authority. Don't allow me. Don't make me go out to war. And they'll be granted opportunity to not go. Or another person might come and say, look, I'm the son. I'm the daughter of a very important official. I shouldn't have to go. And because of privilege, they don't go and they're excused. A person may come and say, well, you know, I'm sick. I certainly can't go. That's more understandable. Or they may come and say, look, I don't want to go. I'm fearful of going, but I'm willing to pay someone to go in my place or I'll pay you to just leave my name off the list of those that are required to go. My dear friend, when it comes to this army and this war, there are no exceptions. There's no getting out. Even when you're sick, even when you're at your weakest, this enemy will continue to attack. And there's no walls to keep them away. So you see, as you look upon this, it's unavoidable. He says, this is the evil day. He said, now you need to take up the whole armor of God. Why? Because that's how you're going to be able to withstand any evil day. Talking about the ability to stand. Now, if you look upon that phrase, we see there's an ability that God gives and imparts to us, the whole imagery of putting on the armor of God. He's the author of it. He's the one that's made it. He's the one that's designed it. He's the one that knows what it needs to be used for and how effective it can be. But, beloved, we have an allegiance to this God. We have a duty and our duty is when our commander in chief tells us to go forward and to be prepared and to face the enemy, where to go? What would you think if an army and they were going out for a critical war? And the word went out to the troops, prepare yourself, get yourself ready. We're going to march out in 15 minutes and in 15 minutes, everybody's there. What would you think of those soldiers? What about their allegiance to their country? What about their allegiance to their leader? God calls upon us to go out. And he tells us the evil day is coming and he gives us the armor and he says, prepare, put it on. And it's our duty to do so. It's our obligation to prepare. It's our obligation to know and to be prepared for that evil day. And it's our blessing as believers to be given the spiritual arm that's necessary for that particular day. So the Apostle Paul, as he comes in this epistle, once again, in light of the enemy that we face, In light of the necessity that we have, he urges us again, the second call to arms, put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to withstand in the evil day, especially during the evil days. Well, that's the teaching of the word of God. Sometimes I like to back up in the scripture and say, OK, I think I've got the concepts. OK, what does that look like? What does it look like? This evil day. And what does it look like? For a person to withstand against it. With that in mind, several illustrations came to mind. I have on your outline given three. I'll enumerate them and then we'll see how much time we have and to mention some of them. The first one I mentioned speaks of a man when he was older and well-established in this life. And the evil day came upon him. There's no doubt about it as you look upon Scripture. That man's name was Job. I thought of another man who faced throughout his youth and his young adulthood evil day. And that young man's name is Joseph. And then I thought, about the one who, throughout his entire earthly life, had the evil day before him. And that was the Lord Jesus Christ. When I ask the question, what does the evil day look like? I think I might answer it this way. It looks like what Job faced when he was an older and established man. Turn with me back to Job chapter one. And let's look at a few things that are mentioned there. Job chapter one. Our first picture of Job is one that describes him in verse one, there was a man in the land of Oz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil. That was his reputation. And that is a great reputation. But it wasn't just the thinking of men. Pretty soon as we read down the narrative, we find out that God himself says that same thing about Job. So in the midst of his prosperity, though, and in the midst of his prominence, I want you to see that Job was not completely and totally at peace. There were things upon his heart and upon his mind that were continual burdens that he was concerned about. And we get a glimpse of it. In chapter one, it says in verse five, talking about his seven sons and three daughters. So it was when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them and he would raise rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus, Job did regularly. Now turn back with me to chapter 3. Chapter 3. Job now has had the evil day come upon him. We'll look at that in just a moment. But when that evil day comes upon him, he tells us something. Beginning in verse 25. It says there, Job says, For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me. You see, while he was still in his time prosperity and prominence, there was one thing that he dreaded and feared more than anything else. It wasn't his relationship with God. He had a burden for his children. That they might turn away from God. And not repent and enter into a relationship that he had. Well, what happened on this evil day, my thought about that phrase, the evil day, Boy, I tell you, you can't be hard pressed to find too many evil days in people's lives in Scripture that would come close to this one in Job's life. In chapter one, I want you to just look at the verses of Scripture that are said. We're told about Job and his wealth. And then as we look upon that and as we consider it, the Scripture begins to unfold for us what happens in Job's life. First of all, if you again there in verse 16, it says, And when the, verse 15, and when the Sabians raided them and took them away, indeed they killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. Now, all the wealth that he mentions that he has in verse 3, by the time we get to these next four verses, it's going to be gone. Every single thing. I want you to notice the phrase as it occurs in verses 16, 17, and 18. Each one of these verses begins the same way. While he was yet speaking. We have a succession of messengers coming. They're coming to give a report. They're the only survival of what happened. And they give these reports. And as one Messenger finishes and comes to the last word in his report. Another messenger has arrived and begun his message. Behold, the day of evil that came upon Job, beginning with verse 16. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them. And I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away. Yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword. And I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell and the young people on the young people and they are dead. And I alone have escaped to tell you. It's only taken me Maybe three minutes to read those verses. That's how quickly it came upon him. That's a day of evil. He went from having all these things. To having none of these things. Withstand in the evil day that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. Did Job stand? He certainly did. Look at what the scripture says. Verse 20, Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said, Naked, I came out of my mother's womb and naked, I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not sin. Nor charge God foolishly. And, you know, and I know from the narrative of this chapter that all these things that happened unto Job came at the hands of his enemy, who was trying to sift him as wheat. Job had on the whole armor of God, did he not? He withstood in that evil day. Chapter 2 goes on to tell us that besides a loss of possessions, and loved ones. He then lost his health. And then his wife also, I think, overcome by the happenings of what's happened and the conditions she sees her husband in. She comes and she adds also to that out of her despair. And she says in verse nine, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. Notice the response to Job. He hadn't heard of the apostle Paul. I assure you, he had never read Ephesians, chapter six. But I want you to notice. He doesn't wrestle with flesh and blood. He knows who his enemy is. Notice how he says what he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks, shall shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity and all this? Job did not sin with his lips. That's what it looked like to face an evil day and be armed with the whole armor of God. That's what it looked like to be able to stand and withstand in an evil day. And when these comforters came to Job, as they began to give him counsel, it was like knocking the scab off a sore. They weren't very helpful. But Job makes a response that strikes and has always been on my memory in chapter 13 and verse 15. He says about God, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. This man had some serious armor on. And in the evil day. Job was able to withstand by the grace of God. That's what it looks like. this evil day and is staying against it. I thought of another man, Joseph. Joseph is one of my favorite characters in scripture. But if you go back and look at the word of God, you'll find that we know that Joseph was not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination. Nevertheless, we don't find anything in scripture that I know of that speak spoken negatively about him. At 17 years old, we find that he was hated by his brothers. They hated him because he was his father's favorite son. Not just by implication, not just by word, but by obvious coat that he wore, the coat of many colors. It was deliberately made, it was deliberately given to Joseph to distinguish him from all the other brothers. They hated him for it. And then God favored him with some dreams. And when he shared these dreams with them, They hate him all the more. And one other thing I want you to see is this. The evil day was coming upon Joseph and he was only 17 years old. As you look upon Joseph, some have said, well, he was just a goody two shoes. He was a tattletale. I'm saying, OK, you can draw that conclusion, but show me your scriptures that's going to say that. If his father asked him a question, he gave him an honest answer. If his father told him to do something, he did that something. He was reliable. He was trustworthy. He was one that he could put his confidence in. I think Joseph knew the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior in his youth. And Satan uses the tools of his weaponry against him, his own brothers, they sold him into slavery. 17 years old. Cut off from his family. Cut off from their influence of godliness. Sold into a pagan land that didn't even speak his language. And then left and abandoned. And what did Joseph do? As you read the Scriptures, Genesis chapter 37, and then come to chapter 39, You'll find that Joseph. Look at his situation. And he began to apply himself where he was to do what he could. For the glory of God. And the Bible says this about Joseph, the Lord was with him. The Lord was with him. He knew that. And he relied upon that. That's the armor. That's the armor. What an example he is of someone who's plucked out of his homeland, putting in a foreign land, and he stands all alone. How can he do that? How can he withstand the evil day that's come upon him? And the answer is by putting on the whole armor of God. And then, as we read in the narrative, he prospered. His prosperity brought him to the attention of Polifar's wife, and she tried to seduce him one day. And he was appalled at the fact that she would even try that. And when she was determined, he left the coat that she had grabbed a hold of in her hand and ran out. That's not the story she told her husband when he came home that night. She told a story of one who had cruelly attacked her. And abused her. And the husband took up the case without even asking or seeking for proof, and threw Joseph in prison. Now he had gone from slavery, worked his way up through a number of years to being the household keeper. Now he's back in prison. And what's he do there? The same thing he did when he found himself in Egypt the first time. He looked at what God had put in his hands. He looked at where God had placed him in his providence, and he gave himself to do whatever he could to do things that would glorify God. And pretty soon, in the prison, he became recognized. And the chief jailer left everything in his hands. And then one day, he had the opportunity of being of help to a chief butler and a chief baker. And the chief butler was restored to his position, and he told the butler, look, when you come before Pharaoh, remember me. And speak of me, because I have been wrongly brought to this place. And the Bible said that when the man was restored to position, guess what he did? He forgot him. For two full years, he forgot anything and everything about Joseph. From age 17 to age 30, 13 years, that's one long evil day. That's one long evil day. But we see Joseph, by the grace of God, being to withstand the devil in that evil day because of the spiritual armor and confidence he had in God. Did he have it spelled out the way we do in Ephesians chapter six? No. But he had it nonetheless. And so that's an encouragement to us, I believe, like Job. But when you come to examples of withstanding an evil day, there's no one to toss the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I was jotting down some notes about this and I realized, you know, that there was so much that could be said about the Lord Jesus. But we'll start at his ministry. The Lord Jesus began in his ministry, his public ministry. We see that he went to John the Baptist and was baptized at him. The Bible says while he was baptized and while he was coming up out of the water, a voice from heaven came and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And the scripture says that very soon after that, I think one of the gospel writers says immediately after that, the spirit of the Lord drove him into the wilderness where he fasted 40 days and 40 nights. And guess who met him there? Satan did. After 40 days and 40 nights without food, your body is going to be weakened. And so you waited until that fasting and got to that point. And then Satan appeared and there was face to face conflict between the son of God and Satan. And Jesus withstood that evil day. There were temptations presented to him that had far reaching implications. And that Jesus had given in to any one of them. What a different world. Sadly it would be. But again and again you'll see that he says it is written. He used the word of God. He used the very armor that you and I have to repel Satan and send him on his way. He was tempted in the wilderness throughout his life and throughout his ministry. Bible indicates that he was continually and constantly finding opposition of his own people, his own religious leaders against him. They would find him and they were jealous that the fact that the people admired him so much and they would follow him. And so they began initially to try to underline this, to find the weak spots that were that they could exploit to get the affection of the people off of him and back to them. But they couldn't find it. And when they couldn't find it, they began to despise him. And from despising him, they went to plotting against him until finally one time they were determined that whenever the first opportunity came, they wouldn't hesitate to kill Christ. But it had to be the right opportunity. That's an evil day. A minister, when he stands before a group of people, understands the responsibilities he has of preaching to them and teaching them the truth of God's word. He knows how important it is that as much as is humanly possible that what he says, he says correctly, because when the congregation disperses, he may not have the opportunity to ever correct it or the next week they can come back and he make a correction. But not everyone that was here the week before. Will be there necessarily next week. And so it's important. And so you watch your words. Sometimes you can become so careful about your words because you know that there's people out there listening. They're not listening for the edification. They're not listening because they're interested in what you're saying. They're listening so they can just pick you apart. That's their sole goal of being there. That makes preaching very difficult. Throughout the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus. The Pharisees or the Sadducees or the Herodians or the scribes, they were there and that's what they were doing. It was an evil day. He was falsely accused of being the devil himself. Remember, they called him Beelzebub. That's how he's doing these miracles. And then also. I guess when he comes at a cross, you can't help but see these things and the evil day. Jesus applied to the hour. My hour has not yet come. But then when he came to his crucifixion, he says, My hour has come. And what an hour it was. One hour it was. And you consider those things we mentioned up here. He was tempted. He had continual and constant opposition. He was rejected by his own people. He came into his own. And the Bible says they received him not. He was forsaken by his own disciples when arrested in the garden. He was scourged. He was abused. He was tortured. He was tormented. He was mocked. He was reviled against. He was forsaken by God. Like Job, there was one thing that Jesus Christ dreaded. Above all the rest. And that was it. That was it. For the only time. in history, in eternity past, in eternity future, in this little thing we call time, the only time where God the Father had forsaken His Son, Jesus. That was misery. And yet, to a much greater extent, like Job before him, like Joseph before him, the Lord Jesus withstood the evil day. He never lost sight of the fact of why he was here. He never lost sight of the fact of the scriptures that had to be fulfilled. Even on the cross, some small detail such as, he cried out to give him drink. I thirst, he said. And if you look in Gospel of John, you'll see that the purpose for which he said that was to make sure that that scripture was fulfilled. He was dotting every I. He was crossing every T. So that when he would come to the end, when he finally cried out, it is finished. He had accomplished the redemption he came to accomplish. He withstood in the evil day. The Bible tells us in Hebrews, we have not a high priest who cannot be touched and sympathized with our weaknesses. But he was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. He had these evil days. He was stood in the evil day and he conquered That day. The Bible says in Hebrews 4 verse 16, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help. In our time of need. Love it, I want you to understand that the armor that God has given to us. Is not a new invention, it's tried and true. It has been put on by one greater than you and I. And he has shown us how he is able to repel and to defeat the enemy. So much so that as Jesus was victorious in accomplishing perfectly what he set out to do, the Bible tells us that in him and because of our relationship of being in him, we also will be victorious. We will be victorious, having done all We will stand. And so the admonition is in the picture is that we are called to go out into battle. We are called to put on the whole armor of God. There is no retreat. We go into the battlefield to face the enemy, if need so, to face him face to face. And we don't leave the field. Until he's conquered. That's the call. And Jesus is the example and the encouragement. And so, as we come to the conclusion of the introduction to the individual pieces of the armor, we have that verse of scripture that the Apostle Paul gives. Verse 12, he describes the enemy. And it certainly is a mighty and a formidable enemy. He takes up the second call, the arms. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand any evil day. And having done all. To stand. My dear friend, while we're here on this earthly life, we're in battle mode. We're in battle condition. We're in battle alert. And until we draw our last breath here on this earth. That is our stand. as a believer in Jesus Christ. That's what Paul's calling us to. You say it doesn't sound like a very glorious life. It is a glorious life. Any type of relationship and response and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ is a glorious life. It's a fulfilling life. It's a life full of love and confidence and growing in the Lord. It's a purposeful life. Being able to show others the power of our king and invite him to Christ, hoping that God would be pleased to open their hearts and our minds, that they too might see the cruelty of their master and cry out to Christ to free them from their bondage of sin and accept them into his family and into his army. Our application this evening is this. Put on the whole Armor of God. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we praise you and thank you again today for the opportunity to look into your word. Lord, how we praise you, Lord, as we look upon the word, we see the harmony of what said. Throughout the entire word of God. We see, Lord, doctrine. Revealed clearly in the New Testament. that was portrayed, Lord, maybe in shadows in the old. We see Christians believing in Jesus Christ, the Messiah that was to come. And we see them, Lord, maybe not having the privilege we have of being able to read the Gospels and the epistles that were written, the New Testament. And yet, Lord, it's as if they've had that written on the tables of their hearts. They knew without being told they were in a battle. They knew that they had an enemy. And they knew that they had a God who had given them all that's sufficient for them to need and to use to having done all to stand. Lord, how we praise and we thank you for the word of God and the instructions. How we praise you and thank you, Lord, for the examples that you've given to us. How are you praising and thanking the Lord that we have a Savior who has led the way and is a shepherd of the sheep? O Lord, help us as sheep to have the ability and the wisdom to follow Him and to do what He commands. For we ask these things in Christ's name and for Your glory. Amen.