Yeah. Welcome to our Sunday School Hour. I invite you to stand as we... ♪ Hail to thee ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing, choirs of angels ♪ ♪ Sing in exultation ♪ ♪ O sing, all ye nations ♪ ♪ Jesus, to Thee we call glory ♪ ♪ Word of the Father, help me worship Thee ♪ an an an Well, it's good to be in the Lord's house today and to have you with us. A few things from the bulletin. We have Patch the Pirate program at one o'clock that explains our wonderful decor here. I'm excited. I love it when our Kids get to put on programs, they're exciting, they're scripted, but that doesn't mean anything. It'll be good, OK? So 1 o'clock today, I encourage you to come back. We're going to have a great time in the Lord's house. Today's the last day for Gilson Christmas, and so there's a box on the back table, if you can get towards that. If you want to write a check, if you would, make it out to Dan. That way, the church doesn't really touch any of that money. And we'll be presenting that to them after service this morning. So if you want to give towards if you could do that in the morning time, that would be awesome. Christmas Eve service five o'clock on Christmas Eve, of course, and encourage you to be here. There'll be music. There'll be story time, and then there'll be preaching. And so, it's always an exciting day, and I encourage you to be with this Christmas Eve service, five o'clock. And because of that, we'll not have a Wednesday night service, okay? Now, some might be thinking, okay, what about New Year's? Well, New Year's, I'll see you here, seven o'clock, New Year's Day, okay? We'll not have a New Year's thing or anything like that. Church cleaning, there's sign-up sheet in the back, And then Pat will be coming pretty quick there in January. We want to thank you, Cindy and I want to thank you for your prayers for her mother as she's been going through this difficult stroke. And you would continue to pray for her. She's in a comfort care type situation right now. And so we're waiting on God's timing and God's will to be done. So if you would just pray for her and it's, you know, the benefit is we know where she's going, right? No doubt about it. And know that she's really missed her husband since he passed away. And so if you would just pray for her and that God will be gracious to us during this time. Good to be together today. Lord bless you for being here. Going to have Brother Foster come back, lead us in another song, and then we'll get to our Sunday school time. Oh, by the way, Marcus turned 50. So it wasn't just a birthday, all right? All right. If you would stand once again, we'll sing hymn number 18. Take the name of Jesus with you. Sing with us. ♪ The gate to save you ♪ ♪ Shall have some way to go ♪ ♪ In death I have made you ♪ ♪ Taken and buried low ♪ ♪ Rest here for a season ♪ ♪ The world brings joy again ♪ ♪ Holy Christ, we have His feet ♪ ♪ In our midst with the world we meet ♪ ♪ Live our days with faith ♪ ♪ Precious King of the streets ♪ ♪ Lord of life and joy of men ♪ ♪ Precious King of the streets ♪ This time you can be dismissed to your Sunday school class. Alright, in this class we're in Ephesians chapter number 6, if you'd want to be turning there in your Bibles. Studying lesson number six in our series, Living with Courage, and this one is the courage to stand. And we understand in the day and age that we live and really all throughout history it took courage to stand for the Lord. And we need it more than ever today as we seek to serve Him and to live for Him and proclaim His name to a lost and dying world. We certainly need this attitude of courage and we understand that God equips us and allows us to obtain this courage through strength and power of the Holy Spirit of God living within us and understanding God's Word and the confidence that it builds within us and building up our faith in Him and then we're able to do then what the Lord desires of us and living for Him, living a righteous and holy life, living a life that's pleasing unto Him, pleasing in His sight and then having the impact on those around us that He desires for us to have. So let's look once again at our text here in Ephesians 6, beginning in verse 10 as we consider how God equips us to be able to stand. 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 wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 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 and bonds, that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." So we find here in Ephesians 6 that God's giving us the tools to accomplish the ability to stand and to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be willing to stand for what is right, stand up against what is wrong. We see here the tools within our armor that God has given us and we began to dissect those a little bit last week and to look at each one and how they equip us then to go to battle, the spiritual warfare that we are in. and to be able to stand and be able to come through those battles victoriously in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we looked at this spiritual battle and we understood some things about that. First of all we must understand that the spiritual battle we are in is reality. We all face this and it's something that is upon us every day of our life and you know the temptations and the things that you experience, the trials that you go through and those thoughts that come into your head that would be contrary to that of faith that we find in the Word of God. So we understand that there's a spiritual battle that we are in today and we must understand where it comes from. We know it comes from the devil and he has many tools in his arsenal to attack us and to try to bring us down, to cause us despair, discouragement, to render us ineffective for the cause of Christ. So we see the spiritual battle is real and we see that we are fighting Satan and his armies as we've just read here in our portion of Scripture. And why then do we need this spiritual armor? Well it's because of these two previous things we've just mentioned. Because the spiritual battle is real, because we are battling the devil and his armies, God understands the battle and He understands the tools then that we need to face this battle and to be again victorious in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So He gives us this spiritual armor. So we won't go through each one again that we've gone through already, but we looked at the warrior's protection, the belt of truth. If we're going to stand for something, we must understand what we're standing for, right? So we have the Word of God that He's given to us, that we know what God expects of us, that we know His truth, and that we align ourselves then with His truth. Now we hear a lot about that today, you know, what is your truth? I hope it's said of us that our truth is God's truth, that we align with God's truth. That's the only truth there is, the only truth that matters. So as Christians, we must be aligning with the Word of God and we are to be girded about with that belt of truth. That's what helps us then go to battle. And then the breastplate of righteousness. And aren't you thankful at the moment of salvation that you're clothed in Jesus Christ's righteousness? He is the perfect, sinless Son of God. And because He went to Calvary's cross and died for our sins, the blood that He atoned for our sin with is now covering our sins. And we have His righteousness. We're clothed in that righteousness and we can go forth to battle knowing that we are righteous positionally in Him. And then we have the shoes of the gospel. So that tells us that there's action here. Shoes take us places. So we are prepared with these shoes to carry the gospel. So we are to be about witnessing as Jesus Christ left his disciples and he left the first New Testament church there and he commanded them to go forth and spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Great Commission as we know it. So we are to be about spreading the gospel and He's prepared us and He's equipped us in this battle to go forth and share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then He gives us the shield of faith. So we know these fiery darts are coming against us in this spiritual battle and the darts of all sorts, as we've mentioned, some array of discouragement, of doubt, of fear. These darts that are aimed at us and coming at us, we have this shield of faith. So what protects us is what we know to be true and having faith in that truth that it will protect us, that it will sustain us, that God will provide all that we need. So the shield of faith is a very important part of our arsenal, of our armor that we would be defended then in battle. So that brings us where we left off, the helmet of salvation. So as we look, consider the helmet of salvation, the first century Roman soldier was far more than just, this helmet was far more than just a bull covering the top of the head. We see that it had a neck guard slanted down from the back and it usually had leather or metal pieces on the side to protect the ears. You've probably seen renderings of this. Often made of bronze or iron, the helmets were in many cases treasures passed down from generation to the next. So as we consider how do we put on the helmet of salvation, well our victory against Satan is provided for us through salvation. The Bible tells us that faith is the victory and that our faith is the victory that overcomes our foe and our adversary. So the word salvation in verse 17 of our text speaks of deliverance from the penalty the power and ultimately the presence of sin. What a tremendous blessing that we have in salvation and understanding all that it frees us of and all that God has blessed us with through offering us salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5.8 says this about it, that let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for in helmet the hope of salvation. So as we consider this helmet it's protecting our mind and it's allowing us then to think the right way, to think appropriately and we know what salvation offers, we know what salvation has freed us from and as we consider those things we are well equipped then to mentally be prepared for battle, to know what we have been delivered from and know that we have already obtained the victory through Jesus Christ. So what does this salvation offer? Well, it offers deliverance, first of all. Salvation takes place at the point of a decision where we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. 2 Corinthians 6.2 says, For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Consider the day that you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and the time leading up to that when the Holy Spirit was working on your heart and He was pricking your heart and helping you to understand that you were lost and on your way to a devil's hell without a Savior. And understanding then that Jesus Christ is the Savior who came to die for our sins and placing our faith in Him delivers us from that penalty of sin. So what great deliverance we have through Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers. We also see here, secondly, that salvation is our victory. Without salvation, we do not have power to overcome the enemy. Only those who have been saved can stand against him. And we see previously, in previous chapters of Ephesians, specifically Ephesians 2, that speaks of this victory that we've been given. In chapter 2 verse 1 it says, And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. So before salvation we understand that we were dead in our trespasses and sins and we understand that we walked according to the pattern of the swirl, the pattern of sin and we obeyed the flesh and the lusts thereof. But now we are given the power then to live a separated life, a holy life, a righteous life that's dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. So salvation is our victory, our victory over sin. So we have the ability through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to say no to sin, to say no to temptation and to live for Him. So we've spoken of the fact that we're in a spiritual battle, but God has given us a full armor of defense. He's given us what we need to defend against those attacks. But then we turn our attention to the next weapon here, and it's a weapon of offense. These previous ones have been weapons of defense. This is a weapon of offense. So we saw the warrior's protection first of all. Let's look at the warrior's projection. So there are five pieces of defensive armor given to us and this one weapon then of offense and it is the Word of God. And as we speak of offense, the Word of God is the only weapon we need. Ephesians 6.17 says, And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So we look to the Roman sword and understand that it was a small sword, almost more of a large dagger for cutting and thrusting. It was used in hand-to-hand combat, so they were up close and personal as they were battling one another. So even as this sword for a Roman soldier was designed for close-range fighting, so our spiritual warfare is intended then for one-on-one, an intense and personal battle that we face. So how can we use the Bible? I want to give you several verses here to help us to particularly understand how we use the Word of God in this spiritual warfare, this spiritual battle that we're in. So how would God have us to use this Word? Well first of all I believe He would have us to use it in witnessing. and sharing Jesus Christ with others. In Acts 4 and verse 12 he says, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. So if you spend any time witnessing or sharing the gospel with anyone, you understand that there are many perversions out there. There are many ideologies that people want to believe in. So, we must establish this fact that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. You know, people are trying by their good works or confessing their deeds to some man or just hoping that they're good enough to get to heaven, whatever it might be. We understand that there are many beliefs out there today, but the Word of God declares for us that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ. So the Word of God helps us establish, then, what truth is. And He's sharing with us, this is the way of salvation. It is through Jesus Christ. So we use the Word of God as an offensive weapon, then, in sharing the truth of how men can be saved. And it's only by Jesus Christ. We can also use the Word of God when temptation comes to our lives and we understand that we need to know what the Word of God says about certain things that come our way and how we are to handle them and how we are to respond. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, but such as is common to man." So we face temptations, we face struggles of life, and sometimes we feel like, I imagine no one else has experienced this. No one else has gone through what I'm going through, and we get that pity party going, don't we? But understand the Word of God tells us that there's no temptation taking us, but it's common to man. So we all face temptation, we all face struggles, we all go through difficult things. But here's the good news, God is faithful. who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape. that you may be able to bear it. Have you ever been locked in a dark room and you're just searching for that way to escape? Well, I'm thankful that we always have a way to escape in our darkest moments of life. There's always hope. There's always a way that God makes for us to escape. So when tempted, understand when we don't know how to get out of the situation, God does. And we can turn to Him and He will help us find that way of escape. All right, the next one we want to look at is when we're worried and anxious. You don't have to raise your hand, but how many of us face that worry and that fear or that anxiety that comes up when we're faced with decisions, we're faced with difficult life scenarios that come our way. The Bible tells us when we're worried or anxious to apply Philippians 4 and verse 6. Again, as we in our finite minds, our finite wisdom, we don't know the answers to every situation of life, but God does. And He's asking us then to bring our petitions and our requests to Him. and He will answer our prayers and He will hear our prayers and He will guide us and give us the wisdom we need at that moment in time. So how do we deal with this worry and anxiety? Well, it's trusting God, placing our faith in Him to guide us and direct us through those difficult moments of life. Then when anger enters our life, how do we deal with it? Ephesians 4, 26 and 27. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. So we understand that anger is an emotion of life that we will experience but God gives us guidelines on how to handle it. It says be angry and sin not. How many of us are good at that? Being angry but we don't sin when we're angry. Often we want to lash out and let our anger be known. But the Bible tells us that the word of God can be a help to us when we experience that emotion of anger. It cautions us not to give place to the devil in those moments of anger. When fearful, goes along with worry and anxiety, 2 Timothy 1.7, for God has not given us the spirit of fear. So where is the source of fear? Well, it's not from God, but where must it be from? It must be a tool of the devil to use in our life. So God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Last one we wanna see here is when indecisive, the Word of God can help us in those moments of indecisiveness. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, you know it very well. It says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and what does he promise he will do? He will direct thy paths. We know those two verses very well. We may have it on a plaque on our home. But we need to claim the promise that we find in those verses. And we need to live those verses understanding that every decision in my life I need to be turning to the Lord and understanding what His wisdom is in it, what His leading, what His guiding would be. Knowing that He sees all, He knows all, and He knows the best course that I should take. So again, we're coming to Him in moments of indecisiveness. trusting Him to guide us and direct us and having full faith and confidence that He will direct us in the correct way we should go. So God's Word has the answers that we are seeking. We're looking for answers today. If we have questions, if we have doubts, the Word of God is the answer. No matter what kind of issue we are facing, we can turn to the Word of God. So in light of that, how do we treat the Word of God? Well, we need to view the Bible as a treasure and we need to take it seriously. Amy Carmichael said this about the Bible. The amazing thing is that everyone who reads the Bible has the same joyful thing to say about it. In every land, in every language, it is the same tale. Where that book is read, not with the eyes only, but with the mind and heart, the life is changed. Sorrowful people are comforted. Sinful people are transformed. People who were in the dark walk in the light. Is it not wonderful to think that this book, which is such a mighty power, if it gets a chance to work in an honest heart, is in our hands today? We hold within our hands the living word of God. Because it is living, it can work in the lives of individuals. If they can hold it in their hand, if they can read it, if we can impart those words of truth to them, the word of God has the impact. It has the transforming power. So we need to understand it is the weapon of our warfare. It's the all-offensive weapon. It is what begins the work in the heart of an individual. As the Word of God is presented to someone, the Holy Spirit comes right alongside confirming that these words are true and begins to work on that individual's heart, moving them to a point of decision, what they will do with Jesus Christ. So let's look at some aspects here of God's Word. God's Word is correcting. The Bible we understand is given by the Holy Spirit of God and it is the perfect Word of God. Until we are made perfect in heaven, we will never lose our need for growth and correction. So we live in a sinful body. We won't get rid of that sinful body until we're perfected when we go to heaven. So we are in need of correction. Just as children that we're raising, they need correction. And boy, the society needs to understand that our children need correction at times. They need guidance. They need to know what is right and wrong. They need help in those areas. And we need help as spiritual individuals. We need help and discerning what is right and wrong as well. And when we've erred, we need correcting. So God's word is the tool through which the Holy Spirit corrects us. John 15, three tells us now, you are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you. So how does the word of God correct? Well, it corrects the spirit of man. People can see and correct our actions, but only God sees our spirit. He can see and correct our hearts. And the Word of God is a tool that the Holy Spirit uses to expose our hearts and correct us, not just our actions but our very thoughts and our very intents, our motives. God sees those things and He wants to correct them. Hebrews 4.12, we know this to be true of the Word of God. The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know what it is like to be corrected of the Lord and He gets to the root of the issue. And as parents we seek to get to the root of issues, the root of problems between maybe siblings or situations, we try to get to the root cause. Well, aren't you thankful that God automatically sees the root cause and He gets right to the point in our life and He deals with the issue of the heart and He wants to get that corrected so that we might live for Him as He desires for us too. So the Word of God, this truth that we've spoken of so much already. This is what is the mirror to our life and shows us when we begin to think wrongly and how then we are to correct that and confess those things to the Lord and get thinking correctly once again. So not only does it correct us in the spirit, but it also corrects the opinions of man. Our thoughts and opinions are subject to error because we are human. Opinions can shift quickly. Have you ever talked with someone, maybe you knew someone in high school and they were of a certain opinion about a subject. You met them a few years later and their opinion has changed. Well, that's the way we are as individuals. Our opinions change and they can change unless they're grounded on something solid and truthful and that will withstand the test of time. So as humans, we know our opinions change, they shift quickly. As we look at our society and we see how we shift things, today's hero can become tomorrow's enemy. And maybe that's happened in your life as people have had a certain opinion of you and then tomorrow it changes. So if we allow the Word of God to shape our thoughts and ideas, we will not be easily swayed. So the Bible is our foundation. It's the rock on which we can stand. So instead of our opinions and beliefs, we must build then upon the firm foundation that we find that will stand the test of time. And what is that? Well, we know it to be the Word of God. And Paul is admonishing Timothy where to stand as he's going out into the ministry. He wants to make sure he's firmly established that he will not be swayed by these opinions of men. So he says to him in 2 Timothy 3.16, he says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. So it sets the authority. Where does the Word of God come from? Well, it comes from God. It's inspired of God. So it's God breathed. If it's God breathed and God is truth then we understand His Word is truth. So he's setting the stage here and setting the foundation for Timothy to understand that the Scripture is the source of your foundation. This is what you must stand on. So what does the Word of God then do? He says, it is profitable for doctrine. What is doctrine? Doctrine is truth that we must follow, that we must align with. So He's saying, if you want to know how to live, if you want to know what I expect of you, look to the Word of God and establish your doctrine there. Not by what men think, but what I have said in My Word. So the Word of God is profitable for doctrine. As we've already talked about correction, it says for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So as he points out to us through the word of God the errors of our way, where we've sinned, where we've not followed God's truth, he points those things out to us through his word and then he gives us instruction on how to do life properly, how to live righteously. So not only does he show us the wrong way that we're living, but he shows us how to live the right way. That's the way that any good parent should be. We should point out the errors within our child, the things they're doing wrong, but then show them how to do what's right. And God does that for us through His Word. So the power of Scripture to correct man's opinions isn't only a power at work in Christians' lives, it is also powerful to bring people to salvation. Jeremiah 23, 29 says, It is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. So we need to remember and be mindful of the power of the Word of God. This happened to Charles Spurgeon in 1857. We know that he is a famous British preacher and he was scheduled to preach at the Crystal Palace in London. On the day he was to preach he went into this palace in London and he stopped there just to test out the acoustics. And as he went into the place, he stepped in and he loudly proclaimed, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He left there satisfied with the acoustics and that they would carry his voice and understand they didn't have microphones and things like we have today. So that his voice needed to carry and so that people could hear. So he was satisfied with the testing here of the acoustics, but unknown to him, there were two men working in the rafters of that large auditorium that day. Neither one were Christians. One of them was pricked in his conscience by the verse Spurgeon quoted and became a believer later that day. So we must never question the power of the Word of God. Understand the power does not reside within us, but the power resides in the Word of God. We're just the mouthpiece. We're just to proclaim it and to let the Word of God do the work in the lives of individuals. So never feel you haven't done much when you share the Word of God. Understand it's exactly what they need, sharing the Word of truth. Isaiah 55, 11 says this, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void. But it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." So we can have confidence in the Word of God. When we don't see things going on, when we can't visually inspect the life of an individual and see how God is working, understand that if His Word has been proclaimed, His Word is doing the work. It's convicting the heart and it's still up to the individual whether they'll respond in the right way to that convicting, but understand the Word of God will convict. The Holy Spirit is right there alongside proclaiming that truth and pricking that heart and telling them they're lost and they're in need of a Savior. So God's Word is correcting and we've spoken about it already a bit that God's Word is convicting. We know the Holy Spirit works in the life of an individual to bring them to the knowledge that they are lost. We've often made the statement that a person needs to understand their loss before they can be saved and we know that to be evident in our lives in our own salvation testimony that we understood that we were lost without Jesus Christ as our Savior and we needed to accept Him by faith, understanding the finished work that He did on Calvary's cross to be the sole means of salvation given to us. So the Word of God has the power to defeat any temptation, but we have to know it and use specific verses against specific temptations. I'll give you this verse that would help us here in this area. Psalm 119, verse nine says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? So think of when you were first saved, how are we gonna begin this faith journey and begin to cleanse our way? So how shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." It's turning to the Word of God, taking it in, ingesting it, and then applying the principles that we find therein to cleanse our way. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee is what we find in verse 11 of that chapter as well. So simply knowing the Bible is not enough, but we must believe it and we must live it. And we must allow it then to work through us and have the impact on this world around us. So this is the warrior's projection. God's given us the tool, the word of God, not only as a benefit in our lives to cleanse our way, to help us live righteously, but then to be able to proclaim it to a lost and dying world, to give them hope and to give them the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Then we see here the warrior's petitions. Verses 18 through 20 of our text in Ephesians 6, they're grammatically connected to the preceding passages. In fact, in verse 17, about the sword of the Spirit does not end with a period, but with a colon if you'll notice there. As Paul speaks about prayer, he is not moving to a different topic, but he's just joining it here to the previous topic. He's talking about how one can effectively use the armor of God. So God equips us with this armor, but I understand for this armor to be effective, it must be bathed in prayer. It says in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Boy, if you're in the midst of a battle, you're going to be about prayer. Just think of the physical battles, the wars that this world has faced. You can imagine a soldier as they're in the trenches and the bullets are flying over their heads. You know they're in moments of prayer, praying that God will deliver them. that the armor that they have would be effective, that the weapons of warfare would be effective against the enemy. And we need to be in the same attitude of prayer as we're facing our spiritual battle, knowing that God has equipped us with the tools that are effective, armor that can withstand the battle, and then the weapon of our warfare, the Word of God that can penetrate and be effective in battle. We need to be bathing that with prayer and supplication to the Lord that we might be effective in using these tools that God has given us. So we have an open invitation from God to bring our prayers and petitions to Him. Yet many of us do so with far less frequency and fervency than we should. In 1 John 5.15 it says, So let's look at two specific aspects here of prayer. We can first of all pray for others and we often We gather here on Wednesday nights and we pray for others, we pray for their needs, physical needs, spiritual needs, whatever it might be. So God commands us then to pray for others and their needs. In verse 18 it says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplications for all saints. So we should be cognizant of the of what's going on within the body of believers, specifically here at Shawnee Mission Baptist Temple that we would be praying for one another and then for other Christians, missionaries that we support around the world, petitioning the Lord on their behalf. So God commands us here to pray for others. And verse 18 mentions that we are to make supplication for all saints. And it urges us to do this then consistently, unselfishly, and diligently. So let's look at this constantly. This verse says that we are to do this always and it means that we must be in a season of prayer at all times. That it must not cease within us. So in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17 it speaks to this very truth. It says pray without ceasing. So we should always be in an attitude of prayer, understanding that we may have times that we set aside, that we kneel down, we pray before God, but God wants to converse with us throughout the day. And we can bring our prayers to Him throughout the day, any time of the day. And God wants us to converse with Him. Boy, I don't know about you, but there are things that come your way throughout the day that you need help answering, you need help making the decision, and God's right there. And you just pray to Him and ask God for leadership and direction. So unselfishly, as a part of the body of Christ here at Shawnee Mission Baptist Temple, we are to pray for one another, bringing each other's petitions to the Lord, praying for what is best for others. And it's one of the most unselfish acts that we can do. Then diligently, it admonishes us to pray with all perseverance, in verse 18. Effective praying is not something we do once or twice, or even occasionally. It's something we do with passion and regularity. James 5.16 says, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So we are not to be about casual prayer, but we are to be about consistent, diligent prayer. So pray for others, pray for opportunities. Here Paul specifically requests that the Ephesian church pray for him, verses 19-20. So he's petitioning them to pray for him. for opportunities to share the gospel that there would be doors open to witness and as those doors open that he would have the boldness and the courage then to step forth and proclaim God's truth. So we need that same boldness and witnessing and we need boldness throughout our Christian life to proclaim and stand up for the truth of the Word of God. A timid Christian is unlikely to be an effective Christian. So we need to understand that God has called us to be ambassadors of the gospel. We are to be a testimony of Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world. And we ought not to be ashamed or scared to openly declare our allegiance to Jesus Christ. and understanding that that's the impact that this world needs to see. Jesus Christ, Him lifted up and His truth proclaimed that they might have an opportunity to make a decision about Him. So we must have boldness in our witnessing. And then we must have clarity. And how do we gain that clarity? It's being well established in truth. And we find within our hands the truth that God has given us. So in our world today it's filled with confusion, It's filled with uncertainty. We find that many proclaimed churches today are causing confusion. They don't present a clear message of the gospel. So we as individuals who hold to the Word of God, who know what the gospel is and what it proclaims, we must declare it with clarity. In other words, the things that we say must line up with the Word of God. The things that we do also must line up with the Word of God. So both a declaration of what we say and a declaration by the way that we live. We say we believe these things, but we also do them. Paul himself saw himself as an ambassador in bonds. As an ambassador, he wanted to be sure that he had a clear message. So we must ask ourselves, what message am I presenting to the world? If they are examining my life and understand that they are, what is the message that I'm putting forth? And as we have social media today, it's easier to see what people are all about, because they'll tell you what they're all about. And we need to be cautious and we need to be cognizant of the fact that I'm an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the message that I'm portraying to this lost and dying world, to those around me, is it portraying that of Jesus Christ and Him glorified through it? So we must be presenting a clear message. We must not be diluting the message. Boy, there's a lot we could say about how Christians are diluting the message today in the way that they're living. Boy, we line up a lot of things that the world is doing that we ought not to be lining up with. And there's a lot of confusion. As people look to us, they say, well, they're doing it. And they think they're all right. I must be all right as well. So we need to be aware of the message that we're sending to this world around us, not only to the world around us, but our family and the children we're trying to raise. We must be very clear in our message. So we must understand as we bring this to a conclusion that we are in a battle. We need this warrior's protection. Put on the armor of God. This is a daily thing as we wake up. Equip yourself for battle. Be ready to go to battle. And equipping yourself means that we must spend time with our weapon. The weapon of our warfare is the word of God. Establishing ourself in the truth, knowing what the truth says, being able to declare that truth with others. So that's the warrior's projection. And then the warrior's petitions that we might have the opportunity to use what God has given us, the truth of the gospel message to share with others that we would have an impact on this lost and dying world. Understanding that we don't have much time and we must be busy about the Lord's business, about seeing souls saved. Revelation 20.10, I'll leave you with this verse. Understanding that we're in a fierce battle and this battle's against Satan and his angels, but know this, that Jesus will triumph. Revelation 20.10, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. So as we toil in this life and understand that this battle can wear us down and knowing that one day the devil will be defeated and he will be cast into a devil's hell and he will spend all eternity in the lake of fire with his angels and those unfortunately they have not accepted Jesus Christ. We have an opportunity to spare the lives of individuals from going to that place by sharing the truth of the Word of God. This is the most important message that we have to share this Christmas season, why Jesus Christ came. and what He can do in the life of lost individuals. And then the opportunities we have as saved individuals to share that truth with others. Heavenly Father, I pray today that you'd help us in this area of courage. And I know that many of us may battle this courage and not have it at times, but I pray that we would find these truths that we've mentioned today and in the previous lessons that we would build this courage once again in our life to be able to withstand those fiery darts of the devil, but also be able to declare the truth of the gospel And Father, I pray that we'd be busy about Your business, what You've left us here to do, and that we would send, as we've mentioned here already, a clear message of who Jesus Christ is And we may be able to do that through the Scripture and through what the Word of God says, but may our life also exemplify a clear message that we align with the Word of God, that we align with God's holiness, that we align with His righteousness, that we align with the precepts that we find therein. And I pray that we would have an effective witness and an impact on this world around us. 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 for the worship hour.