If you would, turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 6. As we looked at the words of Paul here in chapter 6, beginning in verse 10 that we considered last week, we learned that we face the opposition of the evil one and his multiple wicked companions. One of the reasons I wanted us to read Luke 11 this morning is because of those greatly heartening words from our Savior that He is the stronger man who has come and plundered the evil one. The place that prayer is for us. It's a good passage to meditate on. I encourage you to do so. But what we are looking at in Ephesians 6, And in a way, follows from his earlier words in chapter 4 in verse 17 when he said, "...and this I say therefore in testifying to the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind." When we no longer walk as the Gentiles, as pagans, but as Christians, We are in fact opposing the spiritual rulers of darkness, which we cannot see or perceive with our own senses. We know by the Word of our Savior of their activity, and we can by the Spirit's power, and isn't that encouraging as well, what our Savior said in Luke 11? That if we will pray, the Heavenly Father will give us the Holy Spirit. And that's a word to His people of encouragement. But we know by the word of our Savior of their activity and we can by the Spirit's power then make progress and learning from Christ. And doing what he says here in verse. Later in that same paragraph in chapter four. Put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt. According to the deceitful lesson, be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That's the idea. That's where we are at war against those who oppose us. As we put on Christ, as we put on His doctrine, that which was covered in chapter 1 and 2 and 3, those precious and encouraging and strengthening and necessary doctrines, and then as we put on His behavior, that which was taught from chapter 4, in the conduct of the church, in the pastoral ministry, and then our relationship as members, one with another through chapter four and into chapter five, and then those family relationships, and then the more commercial ones we talked about there in chapter six. All these things have to do with putting on his doctrine, putting on his behavior. And when we do that, will be strong in the Lord and the power of His might as He admonished them and commanded them in chapter 6 and verse 10. It's all connected. These are not just somehow independent ideas that He's now coming to. We must wholly adopt Christ's belief system and His ethical system as it's laid out in the Scriptures. The problem we must not forget is assumed in the imperative that He gave. What's the problem? Well, I think Matthew Henry helps us when he says this. We have no sufficient strength of our own. Our natural courage is as perfect cowardice. Not a very flattering picture, is it? And our natural strength is as perfect weakness. So how will we be strong in the Lord and the power of His might? How do we wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places? How can we possibly withstand, in the evil day and having done all, to stand? We must remember the doctrine we have received. We must regularly rehearse to ourselves what Paul taught about the covenant, about election, about adoption, about redemption, about the sealing of the Spirit, about the resurrection of the soul and the power and love of God, our union with Christ, our covenantal inclusion with His people, free access into the Father's presence, gathered prayer, gathered worship, All that flows to us from Christ's death and Christ's love and the ministry of His Word and His Church. All these are necessary if we're going to take a stand here and continue standing. Paul called the church to perseverance in the things that he taught them. So you must know what he taught them. Hold them as essential. Perseverance. Essential. to living out the faith together as disciples of Christ. And on that basis, then, to engage in the spiritual combat that spiritual growth and faithfulness involved. As I pointed out, victory may yet seem out of sight. But He assured them of the Sovereign Lord's help, of the necessity of continual vigilance if they were to remain standing in the onslaught, and it is nothing less than that, the onslaught of spiritual opposition. So this is our concern. Diligent, disciplined perseverance as we live by faith in this age, seeking to glorify our God. To those ends, let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, We thank you for exposing to us the true nature of the battle in which we are involved daily, hourly, moment by moment. Thank you for your faithfulness to us as your children and as one of your churches, as those who've come to rest our soul's salvation upon our Savior. Thank you for teaching us that we face an impossible foe. But thank you for teaching us that we march together, we combat, we war in this battle. that come to us in waves. But we do it together as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we do it under the banner and head of our King and our Redeemer, Your Son. We thank You that we go to what would be a very fearful battle. with this knowledge that our Savior has triumphed, that He has ascended back into heaven. And there sits at your right hand the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one to whom all will be brought to bow, the one who has dominion over all principalities and powers. who rules over all things for the well-being of His churches, His people, His body. Our Father, we come to You aware of our weakness, aware that we cannot accomplish what needs to be accomplished in our own strength, asking that You would continue to instruct us in the ways of our Savior And grant to us the ministry of your blessed spirit to make us faithful soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder in this battle. We are joined in. At all moments of our life. Help us, we pray, help us to better understand it, help us to go to war as you called us to go to war. Help us to go to it together as a congregation, as fellow members. We ask these things in Christ's name. Let me give a little more review from what we talked about last week. This battle, as I've alluded to already, as I've already mentioned, involves all the doctrinal and practical instruction that Paul had given them, the church at Ephesus. They would face this battle within the membership of the congregation, in their relationships one to another and how they worked out their love for each other. They would face this battle in their homes, attempting to be a godly husband, a godly wife, a godly child before their parents. They would face this where they labored and worked, masters and slaves. But Paul assured the Ephesian church, my brethren, he called them, that Jesus has sovereign might in the battles that they fought, so that they need not fear over much. Although they had no native power themselves, Jesus has all power so that all enemies serve His purposes and accomplish His ordained will. Knowledge of Christ and active faith in Him would make these brethren strong in the Lord. The devil and his band of wicked warriors assailed all those in Ephesus who had come to believe the Gospel, believe the doctrines that he taught here, and labor to implement the practices taught by their Redeemer King through the apostles' words. These were implacable, untiring enemies. But Paul called this congregation, these members of that church, to battle these enemies with all their might, with all the means that the Lord gave them. We read in verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age. against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God." Their immediate goal in all of this was not total victory, but perseverance in the war with the least injury to their souls, just like in the physical plane. A soldier goes to battle. He's in combat. He may be weary. He stays at that work, that labor, sweating and maybe bloodied, but doing all he can in his power to remain standing and facing his foe and helping his brothers in arms to stay at that battle. Paul laid on this church Just as He does on every church by the Spirit, this same battle. He laid on them at the same time both a personal and a corporate responsibility for the battle. A personal and a corporate responsibility for the armor. The outfitting and a personal and corporate responsibility for the outcome. That there would be perseverance. in the face of this opposition. He says there at the end of verse 13, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. E.D. in his commentary on this verse says this about this statement of Paul. To stand. Not when the combat is over. That we can see would be doable. That's not Paul's point here. He goes on, but to stand with the front to the foe in the very attitude of resistance and self-defense in the expectation of immediate attack. That's the kind of thing Paul was speaking about here to this congregation. That's the kind of thing the Spirit is saying to us. Front to the foe. Our attitude is one of resistance and self-defense and expectation of immediate attack. You cannot let your guard down in the spiritual realm. as I mentioned last week. This was their ever-present situation, and so it is with us. And that brings us then to these next verses, which Paul began his description of the Christians and the church's armor. And I say it that way on purpose. It's individual and it's corporate. Every believer, in a way, has this armor upon him, but so does a congregation. I hope I can bear that out before we finish. I don't want to get so specific in examining these pieces that I cover each as a theme taught throughout the Scriptures. I think many have done that and I think they kind of lose the punch and the import of what's going on here. I don't want to be so general that I meld them into one indistinguishable generality. Many seem to do that such specific focus that they lose what Paul, I think, is saying here. So I will risk that being too general in an attempt to consider this section in much the same way that the members of the Ephesian church would have received it. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. Well, what is that armor? They were to put on, they were to take up, So that they might stand and having done all to stand. Well, let me say something first, and I have basically three points to my message today. First, something in general about all of it, about the whole armor as a whole. Secondly, the three pieces that I believe were worn primarily for defense. And then thirdly, the three pieces that were worn for both defense and offense. And that's going to be our breakdown that I want to make some applications I think that are appropriate to a modern church in thinking about these things. So first of all, in general, there's a subjective note to all of the armor, to each piece. Not subjected in the sense that it's talking about one's own personal goodness or quality of character, although that's not wholly absent. but subjective in the sense that every member was assured of Christ. There's a confidence, as they thought about this spiritual warfare, that every member was assured that they could take these up and put them on at Christ's command and at Christ's provision, personally and corporately. Now, it is true that one who has Christ as Savior has Him as Lord and Commander and Master, so that not only his theology and philosophy, but his entire way of thinking has changed to be like Christ's. So his ethical and moral standards have been changed and replaced by Christ's. However, the sense here is not so much on the believer's character, Not wholly absent, but that's not the emphasis, but on what he and what the church was fully persuaded is so. About Christ. About them in Christ. About Christ's work with them. What each in his inner man was assured is true. You can see why. We must not give on things like the covenant and election and predestination to a doctrine. We must not give on these. Paul was indicating that all these doctrines, as you go into chapter 2, the resurrection power of God and bringing us to life and melding us into one new man, a worshiping whole for the glory of God and to manifest the grace and the wisdom of God to this world. All these things were essential that they be believed, held as true. So much was this so that each and every one was assured that he had embraced Christ, embraced His Word, embraced His promises and commands, embraced Him and these as their own, fully persuaded of their surety and reliability, infallibility, trustworthiness, and absoluteness. That's the idea. You see, I'm afraid that sometimes in looking at this passage, when some try to make it the focus, the personal character, there's a subtle shift almost into a self-confidence that's not here. This is wholly resting on confidence in Christ. Christ believed. Christ known. Christ understood. Christ embraced. Christ my own. Christ our own. So we're assured as we go to this battle. Paul's instruction to them gave them a perspective that these must be in place for every member. The case would be that when one noticed the need of another, he went immediately to his comrade's aid. You can see that. in combat in this way, and only in this way, all would be successful in this combat of spiritual warfare. So do not miss this corporate aspect. Do not miss that we are all called to so embrace Christ together, confident in these things that He's going to outline for us pieces of armor that were shoulder to shoulder looking out for one another as we go into this battle. I emphasize this because I am very concerned. I think that we lack something they had, and that was the more overt persecution. The more overt sense of the profound difference between that Ephesian church and the society that they lived among in. Where there was danger and persecution, ours is much more subtle. We'll talk about that before we finish. So secondly then, first this kind of general overview, but then secondly, Paul described three pieces here in this next verse where he says, "...stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness," in verse 15, "...and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Paul described three pieces, all worn for defense of one's own and the church's well-being in spiritual combat. All are necessary to fulfill Paul's imperative here of having done all to stand, to fight, and this is the idea, to be ready for the next battle. Yes. You're thinking as you're in spiritual warfare, how can I keep from being overcome with this knowledge that Once through this initial battle, there's another one out there and another one and another one. Well, you must have this preparation. You stand facing the enemy, having girded your waist with truth. Now, just a word, I'll do this with each, just a word about what's being referred to and then a word about what that represents. This was the foundational piece, this belt about the Roman soldier. This was his foundational piece of equipment. It held his equipment and supported his body. And it represents objective truth. I'm not missing what I just said about the general overview, but it represents objective truth subjectively believed, corporately and personally. Look with me in chapter 1. Remember where Paul prayed. And I think all of this, as we're going to see once we get down to verse 18, is infused with prayer. Just as we saw the Lord's teaching there in Luke 11. But in chapter 1 and verse 18, in Paul's prayer for them, his first prayer records for them, what did he pray for? The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." In a way, the rest of what he'd said previously in chapter 1, what he'll say in chapter 2 and 3, fills that out for us. But it's understanding those doctrines. It's embracing them. It's having a grasp of the objective truth of what's being taught, but subjectively embraced and believed. It's art theory. You see, it's meditating on election. It's meditating on These great doctrines laid out here in the sovereignty of God. So confident as I go to battle day in and day out. We are confident as a congregation. In chapter 4, we see this again in verse 11, and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints. for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. These are going on all the time in the pastoral ministry. Why? Until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Objective truth subjectively believed and taken in. Stand facing your enemy, having girded your waist with truth, and then secondly, having put on the breastplate of righteousness." This is the attached chest protector and possibly it has this, there's debate on this, but it had a leather apron that shielded the whole trunk, the strong part of the human body, the core of the organs and muscles and skeletal structure. You can see how important it was to protect this. And it's attached. This is the belt that was attached. So he wouldn't have to think about this. With this, Paul signified for the Ephesian church, imputed rather than imparted righteousness. You can see why I would say that. It's an assurance, personally taken in, of the sufficiency and application of Christ's own righteousness to the soldier. to the believer and to the members of the congregation. Resting in that. Resting in what he said in chapter 2 in verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, imputed righteousness, pardoned from iniquity. Verse 19, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." Full reconciliation. This is attached. This is something that is such a part of us. There's an element. This is where I think the illustration breaks down. In a way, we don't have to think about it, but we do think about it. It's such a confidence to us. Such a protection to us. Such an effective warding off in the battle that we face. Chapter 3, again, his second prayer. In verse 18, he prayed that they may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes now. bringing to bear all His work in making the sinner righteous and accepted before God, clothed in His righteousness, protected in His righteousness, so that reconciliation, there's no doubt about it any longer, received by the Father as His very own children. What a breastplate we have here in Christ and His work on our behalf. So stand facing the enemy, having girded your waist with truth. Stand facing your enemy, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. And then thirdly, stand facing your enemy, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This is a reference to the well-made leather, hobnailed sandals that were bound tightly to the soldier's feet that these were essential for both protection and mobility. He could get purchased with his feet as he moved quickly to battle. And in that battle, why was this so important? So they didn't have to think about their feet as they fought. You see, when you're a soldier, and just imagine for a minute, you've got your shield. You've got your sword. Your helmet's on your head. Do you want to be thinking about your feet at that moment? Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What's he talking about here? Edi helps us again. It's that possession of peace with God. that creates such a blessed serenity of heart and confers upon the mind peculiar and continuous preparedness of action and movement. I believe it's what Paul already taught them, again, back in chapter 2. In verse 13 again. I think this is a key verse. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off This is glorious. This is amazing. "...have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for He Himself is our peace." You see, we were born into one kind of warfare. And that was the warfare between us, the enmity between us and God, under His wrath, with sovereign opposition. No hope. Dead in sins. The blood of Christ has changed everything. And we go to battle having our feet shod, standing facing our enemy with our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. We have this confidence that Christ, and we have believed in the preaching of the Gospel, has made all at peace between us and God. What confidence that is, what preparedness, how essential that is that we go into battle with this knowledge. As he says then in verse 16 of chapter 2, that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity, the enmity between us and God, the enmity between us and one another. It's gone. Peace rules. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, to those who were near. For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. I go into battle. We go into battle confident. Our prayers are going to be heard because there's peace. It's like we can just assume that because of the thoroughness of Christ's Word. I understand. Again, the illustration does break down. We have to be careful. We don't want to be presumptuous. But we stand facing our enemy with this perspective. Our feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Christ is accomplished. What we could never accomplish. And it's sure. We can be confident in it. So third then, We looked at those first three pieces that I believe are primarily defensive. They're attached to the body. In a way, we don't have to think about them, though you understand we do. We have to constantly be involved in thinking about them in a way. But then we have these next three pieces described by Paul that all of us must use for both defense and offense in spiritual combat if we're going to persevere. We're going to persevere in combat, not be overcome in combat. Now notice, in a way, there's a change here, somewhat of a change from the more passive having these things attached to taking them. He's calling you to action. In a way, the first three must be settled. The second, used. So you stand facing your enemy, taking the shield of faith, as he says here, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Now let me just say something about the latter, and then we'll come to the primary here. In ancient combat, small missiles with fiery tips, sometimes with combustible tips, were repeatedly lobbed at opposing soldiers. which added to the high danger of hand-to-hand combat. And these, Paul likened to the assault upon church members by the devil of blasphemous and wicked doubts and impulses. Disobedience. Temptation of disobedience. And the very things that he had laid out in chapters 4, 5, and up to this point in verse 6. These were the areas where the fiery darts would be lobbed at us. Horrendous temptations to impurities of all sorts. Lying to one another. Stealing from one another. Sexual impurity with one another. Fiery darts. Just as in physical combat, the only weapon that effectively warded off the projectiles was a sturdy shield. So Paul says, taking up, taking the shield of faith. So that in spiritual combat, here's the idea. Unwavering confidence in God and His grace. The shield of faith. You can see how these are all interconnected, aren't they? Only this shield of faith will extinguish the evil one's assaults of doubt about God's doctrine and promises and commands. It would extinguish the evil one's assaults of blasphemy against God, of disobedience against God. I believe he was pulling from the confidence that was theirs that he mentioned all the way back in chapter 1 when he said in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Is there anything that we need in the spiritual realm? It is provided for us by the work and blessing of our God. That's our shield of faith. And of course, we fill that out. as we go through chapters 1, 2, and 3, understanding what Christ had accomplished in our behalf. Just as a soldier used the combat shield for such protection and for offense when it was opportune, so the believer and the church might employ firmly with certainty the doctrines of our Savior. And we can use them to rout the opposition and wound them. when they are seeking to destroy us. This puts us squarely in the position of our great need of understanding our doctrine. Embracing it fully. Not letting it go. Secondly then, if we're going to stand in the face of our enemy, take the helmet of salvation, he says here. Take the helmet of salvation. It's that ubiquitous military helmet. worn to protect the soldier's absolutely indispensable head, and which might afford opportunity of a well-timed and lethal headbutt in the midst of combat. Don't think of this just as some defensive thing. This piece represented the essential and all-important nature of one's own assurance of salvation in Christ. and the assurance of the congregation that we have heard the Gospel, we have believed the Gospel, we are standing together united as members because of the Gospel, because of the great salvation of our Savior. resting in what is said to us. Back in chapter 1 and verse 13, in Him, you as a congregation, individually, corporately, also trusted after you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. Assurance! We've heard the message that God has sent into this world. We've embraced the Savior. He is ours. That's our helmet of salvation. We stand facing our enemy with that securely placed, ready to use it in combat, not willing to give it up. And then the last one, stand facing the foe by taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. the Roman soldiers' primary weapon with which they deflected another soldier's attempts to severely injure and kill them, and with which they cut and stabbed their opponents to death. It's a sweaty, bloody, dirty, foul-smelling thing. to be in this combat. The Ephesian church members were to use Christ's Word effectively to effectively ward off and then efficiently dispatch spiritual enemies. So as our Savior repeatedly did at the temptation against the devil and regularly against the Pharisees, He used the Word of God to dispatch Him and to dispatch them. to bring division among their numbers, weakness into their ranks. The church there at Ephesus were to copy Paul, who used the Old Testament Scriptures in instructing them, as you see throughout chapters 4, 5, and 6. So these people that made up that church would learn to use the Scriptures against all opposition. that came to this new religion of Jesus, the Christ, taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Now, I understand much more could be said, but we must see these kind of as a whole and as a unit and see how we must take them up as a whole and as a unit and as a church together. Let me make some applications. I think we'll bring even further understanding as we go. Number one, The whole armor of God refers to the whole furnishing of the inward man and the grace of the Spirit of Christ. In other words, these furnishings, each of these pieces comes from the Spirit. You have them contained in the Spirit's work and in the Word delivered to your care and to our care as a congregation. To them we are to add diligent prayer, just as Paul prayed, just as our Savior taught us to pray. to them were to add to the Spirit's work, were to add the diligent use of the means of grace. Especially public and private preaching. You understand what I mean by that? I mean, we attend the public preaching of the Word of Christ, but then we preach it to ourselves throughout the week. And then we add diligent prayer, we add the diligent use of the means of grace, and the diligent practice of godliness. You take those things that are said in chapter 4 beginning at chapter 25 through the first part of chapter 6. Those form for you your concept of godliness to which you are to give all diligence to develop. These are our furnishings that come to us from the Spirit and our diligence. We have them, but then we must put them to work. And we put them to work in the same way that we add them, in a way. We pray and we use the means and we practice godliness by the grace of the indwelling Spirit. Each of us, as a member of this church, must be busy about these things. This ought to occupy us. In the midst of all the distractions that come your way, in the midst of all the things that grab your attention and your energy and your resources, do not let these go. These are our immediate focus. The spiritual opposition is our context. Stay focused on what's immediate while you stay aware of what the context is in which we live. Matthew Henry put it this way, this armor is prepared for us, but we must put it on. That is, we must pray for grace. We must use the grace given to us and we must draw it out and to act and exercise as there is occasion. And what Paul indicates here is the occasion is moment by moment until the day that we die. We're always in spiritual warfare. Secondly, every piece of this armor in Paul's illustration is rooted in the Word of Christ revealed to his apostles. The whole outfitting for combat springs from the ministry of that Word in the assembly of a local church. As we listen, as we pray, as we sing, as we encourage one another and each other by that Word, remembering Christ's great love for us, each member is being outfitted for the spiritual warfare the church as a whole is called to engage in. Think about it this way. Look with me in chapter 2 again. In verse 20, after he talks about our reconciliation, our inclusion in the covenant and the commonwealth and kingdom of God, he says, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. That's the doctrines of the Word. In whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple to the Lord. It's a different illustration, but it carries similar import here. This is spiritual warfare to be a worshiping assembly of God's people. We have great enemies that oppose us in this. Everything surrounding us in a way, wars against being what God has called us to be. We must put on the whole armor of God. We must take in the ministry of the Word. We must remember Christ's great love for us so we'll be outfitted for the spiritual warfare we've been called to. Thirdly, because of the modern evangelical culture in which we live, you likely do not value the place of the preaching of the Word as highly as you ought. as the means Christ gave to outfit you and to outfit us for spiritual warfare. I just ask you to think about this. I don't mean that you don't appreciate the preaching of the Word here. Many of you express to your elders, the prophet, the preaching of the Word here is to your soul. And we appreciate your encouragement. It's good to encourage the laborer in his labor. But what I'm talking about here, what I mean here is that you do not think every time you have this opportunity that it is an opportunity to be with and learn of Christ in the way He ordained to give Himself to His people. In spiritual warfare, in many ways, this is the most important thing we do, is gather together, pray together, sing together, worship God together, and submit ourselves together to the Word of our Savior. What I'm saying, and I challenge you to consider, is you don't take advantage of this enough. You don't make yourself Structure yourself and your time and your thinking so that you get everything out of this you can. You think you can get Christ sufficiently in other ways of your own design and of your own will. Now, don't misunderstand me. I agree that vigorous, personal disciplines of the soul are essential. Don't misunderstand me. knowing the Scriptures, meditating on them, private prayer, family instruction and catechism. These are essential. However, our strength as a congregation is directly proportionate to the alert, vigilant, godly, disciplined use of the corporate means of grace in the assembly of the saints, especially the preaching of the Word of Christ. This is how we armor ourselves. Do you see why you ought to pray for your pastors? That's an aside. As long as you allow yourself to be guided by the fleshly and cultural estimate of how to grow in Christ, you weaken yourself. To that extent, you're not fully outfitted for spiritual combat. As long as you hold back from engagement of your whole being to be nourished by the preaching of Christ's Word taught in our assembly, you weaken yourself. This is primary to armoring ourselves individually and corporately. Other things are secondary. I'm not saying they aren't important. Don't misunderstand me. Those people at Ephesus did not have Bibles. They did not have commentaries. They did not have programs. They had preachers of the Word of God. And as they gave themselves to that, it outfitted them and armored them, equipped them to stand against the evil one and his cohorts. Fourthly, we do not war in the flesh nor against human opposition, but against spiritual wickedness. We war in the Spirit against spiritual enemies. Therefore, we must enter this war in the way and with the equipment taught by Christ's apostles. The things we dream up are not going to work. They're not going to be useful for us. We must keep them in their proper place. If you will forsake your intuition and submit your mind to Christ's Word and the instruction of His Word, renewing the mind, taking every thought captive in obedience to Him, and prayerfully use the means He has ordained, you will remain standing in spite of the power of the opposition the enemy throws at you. It's a spiritual battle. You do not know how to equip yourself. Your intuition will not get you there. Only submission to Christ's Word. And by the way, let me say this, only in that way will you truly edify your brothers and sisters in Christ. Only truly will you accomplish what he says back there in chapter four and verse 16 about the body being built up as each does its labor and work and being built up in love. We must have the Word of Christ, therefore we must learn more. If you do not go into battle with a discerning submission to Christ's Word, you will not be the soldiers of honor and valor that you think you are. You must be at battle with that thing in you that takes pride and confidence in what you can dream up. Why? You need this armor. You need the whole armor taken on as Christ taught. in full engagement, side by side with your fellow church members. The whole structure, I fear, of our type of culture is to encourage individualism. We must find ways to break that down as a congregation so that we go at this war side by side, doing those things He commanded in the text of the Word of God. Anything less is disobedience to our Redeemer King. Sixthly, and last, we must all wholeheartedly be in this combat for the long haul. We fight until we die. We labor, as he said in chapter 4, using the pastoral ministry until we die. We labor, as he said in chapter 4 and 5, as members together in this congregation until we die. We labor together, as he said in chapter 5, in family relationships, in chapter 6, in family, parental responsibility. We labor in these until we die. These are the things that occupy us, but they occupy us for the long haul. To the extent that you remain aloof or unfaithful in some way in your attendance or your attention to the corporate means of grace, you're resting in spiritual pride and you make yourself an easy target for the evil one. And that way you weaken the entire church. We're in it for the long haul. We've got to have all the strength we can get to do this. When division comes, aloofness, unfaithfulness, you make it difficult for the rest of us to persevere. Do not think of yourself as an individual combat soldier. By the way, let me just say this as an aside, the worst place, the most vulnerable place for a Christian soldier is when he's not attached to a local church. They couldn't imagine being outside the church, it just wouldn't even enter their thinking. Perseverance is not accomplished individually, but corporately. We all need each other in this long haul. Your success, our success is directly proportional to how well we stay at this combat together as a congregation. I really believe if you are a man And you desire to honor Christ. You are a woman who's walked with Christ and you desire to honor Him. If I was to ask you what's the main thing in your life, you would say something along those lines. As I've described this today, this is how we do what he says in verse 13. that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand facing the enemy sweaty, bloody and dirty and ready to go back into battle again. That's what he's called us to. May God give us grace.