Again, we are listening to Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 17. Again, this is the Lord's Word. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Amen. Father, again we come and ask now your blessing on this word of yours that it will go forward with power. We pray that you would defend us and that you would cause your gospel to go forward with great power. by the power of your spirit. We ask that you will advance your kingdom and cause the kingdom of Satan great injury. Be with these your people. We pray Lord that you would control their hearts and their minds and this mouth as well that it will pour forth that which is pleasing to you father and edifying to your people. We thank you for your word and pray now that your will be done. Again in Jesus name we ask all these things. Amen. Here we are at the last of the articles of the armor of God. And again, I want to ask this question, what is at stake here? Why did the Apostle feel the necessity to write to these Christians to put on the full armor of God? I mean, isn't it enough that we say, Jesus, please save me? Isn't that it? Isn't that enough? You know, that's that. We were saved now. Or isn't it enough that we just say the prayer or walk the aisle? Or isn't it enough that I have a date inscribed in the front of my Bible? As we've been saying, friends, it's not a mere performance or perfunctory deed by which we enter into heaven. But as Paul and Barnabas, on a return trip to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, when they went back to those disciples that they had led to the Lord, They dealt with them, encouraging them to continue in the faith, saying this, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. They encouraged them to continue in the faith. You notice there's always this aspect. And again, as Americans, we buy an insurance policy, we get the paperwork, and we put it in the filing cabinet, and we forget about it until we get that renewal notice. We do this. We like to get all our ducks in a row, and then we set it aside. But that's not the way that we should be thinking of the Christian faith. After Paul was stoned and left for dead, he gets up, he and Barnabas go on to Derbe, then they make their trip back, and he goes right back into the very cities where he was persecuted, and he goes to encourage them to continue in the faith, saying, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. Again, the very real and present danger that we face is that there are people in the Lord's Church who merely say, I'm the Lord's. I'm the Lord's. And yet, they aren't the Lord's. We have this warning given to us. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven, will enter. Beloved, your faith in the Lord, your continuing to follow Him, to love and serve Him, will come under attack. your service, your faith in the Lord Jesus will come under attack. Satan will tempt you to lose interest, to follow after the things of the world, to persecute you so that you turn and you walk away, to hurt the witness of the church, to get us fighting one another, to get us with this mindset of that I'm the diva and that I'm supposed to look after my own interests. If you will turn over to the book of Revelation I want to show you this very thing in chapter 2, verses 1-11. And I'm just reading a couple of the churches, but you'll see this with each of the churches as it is spoken. Here in chapter 2, verse 1, it says, To the angel of the church in Ephesus write, The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lamps hand, says this, I know your deeds, and your toil and perseverance, that you cannot tolerate evil men. And you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not. And you found them to be false. And you have perseverance, and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent. And do the deeds you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, The first and the last who was dead and has come to life says this, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death." Notice, to him who overcomes, to him who overcomes. Again, going back to Paul's statement in Acts, he goes back to Lystra, Antioch, and Iconium, and he says, continue in these things, continue in them, through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. The armor of God, friends, is given so that we become overcomers, so that we are overcomers, and so that we might taste the fruit of the tree of life. Those who don't overcome are those who shrink back to destruction and who will not inherit eternal life. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ in truth, you will be tried and you will be tested. Every single one of us who says, I am a Christian and I am believing Jesus Christ, You will, if you have not already, which my guess is you have been already, you will be tempted and you will be tried. Our brother Saeed Abedini is in prison. Boy, is he being tested right now. And what is the temptation that is facing him? Can you just imagine? I can only imagine what he's going through. But every night he lays his head down as he thinks about the sweet nights with his wife as they fall off to sleep and he's laying there in a cold cell. And he's thinking, is it really worth it to follow Jesus Christ at this point? I would so much rather be in my own bed with my own children waking me up in the morning. This is the temptation and the beatings he undergoes to leave Jesus. And yet, if he doesn't leave, but he remains faithful, the Lord will welcome him home. Because he demonstrates by his endurance, by his continuation in the things of the Lord, that he truly belongs to the Lord. You see how this is working? And so, what is at stake? What is at stake for these young Christians and for you? It's life itself which is at stake. This is the very thing I ask the question, why does the Apostle Paul feel it's so necessary to say this? Because every person who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It's what is. It's what happens. It's what we can expect in our faith. So when the day comes that this little church is persecuted for preaching the truth, for taking a stand against homosexuality, for taking a stand against abortion, for whatever it is, even if it's because we've dared to preach the Word. You notice how many times in the Scriptures the martyrs are martyrs because of the Word of God. I mean, the day is going to come when this will be considered hate speech. Maybe the day is already here, but where we can be judged by these things. What do you do at that point? You see, we may not be feeling the fire right now too much here in Lander, but the day will come when we'll feel the fire. That's what Paul is saying. Get ready. Get ready because this is what the church can expect. Will you overcome? You will, my friends, if you are clothed in the armor of God and you fight these battles in the strength that he provides. So the apostle exhorts, put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Now, again, we are coming to the very end of this section of scripture. But again, what does he said? If you look at verses 14 through 17, again, he says, stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." He said, first of all, gird your loins with truth. Again, truth is like a belt. It provides confidence and freedom, clear-headedness, knowing the difference between truth and error, unhampered by the spirits, the philosophies, and the doctrines of the age. The Christian is to gird up his loins. with truth. Secondly, that breastplate of righteousness, both the front to the back, from the neck down to the thigh, covering all of the vital organs, both going and coming, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ like a breastplate. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. And so we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ and therefore who can bring a charge against the Lord's elect, right? Who can bring a charge? Can Satan bring a charge against us? He cannot, because our sins have been paid in full, and this righteousness imputed to us or credited to us results in a changed heart for you and I. Again, as a person walks and fellowships with the Lord, he begins to delight more and more in the things of the Lord, and he begins to see sin in all of its heinous nature And so we don't want to continue down that path. Though we do it, yet we kick ourselves. Why do I do the things I don't want to do, and the things I don't want to do, I end up doing? Okay, the breastplate of righteousness. Third, he says, your feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Again, the gospel of peace gives me protection and stability like a good pair of boots. Because of what Christ has done, making peace with the Father and this sinner, I am safe and protected. If God is for me, who can be against me? And with assurance and zeal, we run to this battle untaunted, unafraid at what lies out there for us. Fourth, he says, in addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, the shield again used to be covered with linen and with leather. It was about the size of a man's body. Soaked in water, it could extinguish all the arrows of the enemy. So Satan fires his fiery arrows, calling into question the fact that God is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Always trying to get us to abandon the Lord. Trying to get us to take our eyes off the Lord. One of the commentators pointed out that those fiery arrows would stick into those shields. And as the soldier would wave that thing around trying to put out the flame, it would only make it bigger. And the whole idea was to get him to drop that shield altogether. And yet it is called the shield of faith. The very thing what Satan wants you to do, drop the shield, is the very thing you don't want to do. The shield of faith will put out those arrows. And so when he's getting us to question the goodness of God, which I think he does quite often when we're faced by various trials and temptations, God must not love you very much. Look at the hardship that you're going through. Weren't you better eating leeks and onions in Egypt? What are bondage? What are shackles compared to onions? He gets us to try to abandon the faith and yet, friends, the very thing that will ensure our safety is that we not abandon the faith. Fifth, he says, and take the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is the salvation that God brings to us. It is, for us, a helmet of victory. God is Himself salvation and deliverance for those who are oppressed. So when we are tempted and tried to run, we look back to Calvary's cross and we see there in our Savior, a warrior king, a conquering king, over Satan and over death. And simultaneously, as we're looking back to Calvary's cross, as we said last week, friends, is a tremendous day. where we look forward and hope to that victory that will be accomplished at the second coming of the Lord. And this we took your attention back to the Saints in Hebrews chapter 10. It is looking forward and looking back to this victory by which we endure and we have the persecutions that are going on. We say it's already in the bag. I'm going to win because Christ has already won and we have this hope. Therefore, nothing is going to separate me from the love of God. I will not shrink back to destruction, but I will enter into my Lord's victory. So this so far has been what the apostle has said, constantly taking us back to Jesus Christ and all that he has accomplished for us, urging us to join into this battle, this armor that God has provided. He says, take it upon yourselves. Take this truth. Look to Christ and take upon yourself that righteousness. Take up that shield of faith. Take up that helmet of salvation. Put on those shoes that are the preparation of the gospel of peace. Run to this battle with great firmness, with great vigor, with great zealousness. Because, friends, we haven't lost. And we're not going to lose. But we will suffer in the process. And last with this, friends, The last item, he says, is, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Now it's interesting, up to this point, every article of this armor has been a defensive article. Here, he says, now you take a sword. You take up this sword. As we noted last week, the Apostle says here, and take. Up to this point, he's used a string of participles. having girded, having put on, having shod, taking up the shield of faith, and now, he says, and take, or and receive the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of the Lord. He gives here an imperative. In the purest sense, said one commentator, these are gifts, salvation and the word of God, whereas the other items of the armor are qualities which involve a certain degree of human effort, having shod your feet, taking up the shield, he says, take or receive this helmet of salvation. Receive this word. These are articles purely, simply, that God gives to his people. These are gifts given to us. So I want you to consider again what the Westminster Confession says about the Word of God. And I want you to think about this. Because this is both, the sword is both a defensive item but it's an offensive item as well. Listen again to what the Confession says. We recited this. It pleased the Lord at various times and in various manners to reveal himself and to declare that his will unto his church and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world to commit the same wholly unto writing." Again, "...for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing, which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased." Do you hear what they're saying? God gave us his word so that we might endure in the face of battle. How would we know who God is, friends? How would we know what he has accomplished on behalf of the sinner? How would we know who Jesus Christ is or what our sins deserve? How would we know anything about the cross being 2,000 years removed from Calvary? How would we know anything of the resurrection were it not written here in the Word of God? How would we know about the judgment to come How would we know any of these things were they not given to us in the very Word of God? This is the point, isn't it? How would we know this were it not for the Word of God? What is more, in God's providence, He caused the printing press to be invented right around the same time that the Bible was being translated into the language of the people. That might seem like a small thing, but you understand. Not everyone could read the Bible. For centuries, we were probably the most literate generation, you know, this time of the world's history. I don't want to say we're the most literate country or anything like that. But more people now in history can read than ever at any time in history. And it used to be that people would go to the temple or they would go to the synagogue and they would have a rabbi tell them what the Word of God says. even in the Dark Ages, right? In the Middle Ages, when everything was in Latin, they were dependent upon a priest who oftentimes himself didn't even know what the Latin meant that he was speaking to the people. And then you had Hus and Wycliffe and others who were translating the Bible into the language of the people. Luther himself translated the Scriptures into German. And at about that time, the printing press comes, movable type, where Gutenberg here is now mass-producing literature and the Word of God. begins to spread in the language of the people. Can you think of a greater privilege we've been given than to have the Word of God at our disposal? I don't have to wait until Sunday to find out what this thing says. I can pick it up myself and read it. And so can you. And you can be reminded of the great deeds of the Lord. Isn't that a blessing? That is a tremendous blessing. And when Paul says, take it, it's because it is a gift given to us this Word of God. Otherwise, friends, as our Confession rightly says, all of creation, the beautiful mountains, the birds, the bees, all of these things we see humming and flying all around us would not be enough to show us the marvelous grace of our God in the face of Jesus Christ. But the Scriptures, they tell us all about Jesus Christ and all that He has done. We are truly blessed. If you look over in your Bibles, you will see this attitude is seen in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13. People will say, well the Bible, that is written by men, and indeed God has used men to record his word, but it is not to be seen as merely the word of men. Paul commends the Thessalonians in chapter 2 verse 13 by saying this, for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us you accepted it not as the word of men but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." It's the Word of God. It's the Word of God we receive. So we are most privileged friends of all generations, and we have a tremendous responsibility given to us because we have the very Word of God given to us at this time. I want to give you just this exhortation. Please, if there was, they asked Billy Graham one time, What is one of his biggest regrets of all his ministry? And he said, I regret that I hadn't prayed more. I have some of those same regrets and I would add to his, I don't pray enough, but I haven't exhorted the Lord's people enough to read your Bibles and read your Bibles because you get to read your Bible. It's a privilege given to us. I think it would shock and dismay the reformers if they could up in a time machine and travel forward to our culture and they could find stacks of Bibles all around our houses and in our cars and in glove boxes and in cabinets and on bookshelves and to see how biblically illiterate we are. I think it would cause them great sorrow to see this very thing. We have been given such a privilege, such a treasure. It is a shame that we don't take time to read the Lord's Word, to know the Lord as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. So I want to make this plea to you, that if you would read your Bibles, take time with the Lord, read to your children, take time to sit alone in quiet and meditate upon the things of the Lord. Don't believe for a second, because I know that this is one of the things, the very things that Satan desires to undercut, if he can get us to think that this sword in our hand is really rather worthless and anemic, if he can get us to drop it, do you know where he's got us at that point? Is it any wonder, friends, that the Church of God has suffered such attack in the things of the Lord? You go around, right? I know that we're a little odd here. I mean, who stands up and reads two chapters from Job right in the middle of the worship service? Right? Who takes so long to go through the full armor of God? Who takes one phrase and tries to squeeze every ounce of blood out of it? And I can tell you, I haven't even begun to squeeze every drop of blood out of these things. Just for your sake, I try to keep it to 40 minutes or so. But this is odd. This little church is odd. I spoke to one of my dearest friends yesterday. He said, you have no idea how strange you are. He says, do you know there are so few guys anymore? He's a PCA ruling elder right now. He says, I go to these churches and they're apologetic for the doctrines. They're not taking time to read the Lord's Word. I have people coming up to me on the side saying, we're so glad that you're here. We hardly ever hear about these reformed doctrines anymore. And these are bastions of reformed theology. And they're not hearing it. Do you see what Satan is doing? He's undermining our confidence in the Word of God and he's having churches drop it left and right for the sake of relevance. We want to be more relevant. We want to entice the culture to come into our doors so that they can enjoy rock and roll music and potluck meals. So that's going to do them a lot of good for their souls on Judgment Day, isn't it? It does a whole lot of good to equip them to battle Satan. But this is just what Satan's doing. Friends, we shouldn't lay aside the Word of God and we shouldn't be sorry for it. We shouldn't be ashamed of it. We ought to glory in the fact that we have Bibles and that we have the time and take the time to read the scriptures long and arduously to expose you to the Word of God. Because that's where we're going to be able to fight the evil one. That's the only way we're equipped. Otherwise, we're left to our own opinions and meanderings and machinations, right? conjuring up ideas of what we think God really is pleased with and what does God hate. And then we stand around and it's only the person who's got the loudest voice or has the majority on his side who sets truth. That's not the way it is with the Word of God. He sets the agenda. He tells us this is right, this is wrong. This is how you battle. This is how you are to battle. So don't overlook, friends, the privilege that is given to us by the mere fact that we have the Word of God. Now, here's why. The imagery that we are given in verse 17 is this, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This sword that the Apostle is referring to was a short sword, the kind that was carried and used by a heavily armed Roman soldier. It was used for both fighting and for defense. It is a way that he would protect himself, but also, and I chose these words purposely, It's also for laying open your opponent. You can say death, but the Word of God is not for death primarily. I mean, it will be a word of judgment. But at this juncture, it is to lay people open so that they might see their need of salvation and come and be saved. It is to expose them for what it is, for what they are. So here, the biblical reality is that the sword is the word of God. It is the gospel. It is that good message. Peter said, For you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all is glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this was the word which was preached to you. Many people will say, well, the Gospel, that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and that's where they keep it. The rest of the Bible, well, it's not necessary, right? It's superfluous. It's okay, but it's not all that important. And so we hone in on these four books of the Bible, but I want to remind you that it is the whole Bible. When we speak of the Word of God, it's not just those four books. When we speak of the Gospel, the Gospel is not merely found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Listen to what Paul says to Timothy. "...and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." He is speaking here of the Old Testament being able to make someone wise unto salvation. He's speaking of the Old Testament. Where's the gospel found? It's found in Genesis, it's found in Exodus, it's found throughout the entirety of the Old Testament. As a professor of mine says, that the Old Testament was enough. And God was pleased to just give us a New Testament to make it that much easier for us. But the Gospel is present in the Old Testament as well. Again, all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. It is the word that God has spoken to us, 66 books, and it is the word that is proclaimed by His disciples. It is Genesis to Revelation, it is no less, and friends, it is no more. And I would encourage you to read your Confession of Faith, Chapter 1. If you think that the Mormons have come up with this extra testament given to us of Jesus Christ, think again. The Scriptures deny that that can happen. So the Mormons are peddling falseware, falsehoods. and anyone else who adds to the Word of God or takes away from it, they're peddling falsehood and you shouldn't listen to it. We have the Word of God and it is complete, Jesus Christ himself being the very Word of God and he has come and revelation has ceased after the coming of the Lord Jesus. It is the law As revealed to us in the word of God which exposes sin, it is the good news that one has stood in our place and met the demands of the law for us. This is what is revealed to us in the word of God. And I don't think it's oversimplifying it to say that the scriptures from beginning to end show us how God has created and redeemed a people for himself that we might know him and enjoy him forever and ever. There's the gist of the scripture and you can get that anywhere throughout the Bible itself. It is this Word we are to take. It is this Word that is God's Word, and it is not the wisdom of the world. How, friends, will you fight the world if you only know the world? But it's the Word of God which exposes the wisdom of men for what it is in its bankruptcy. So here the Apostle calls the Word of God the Sword of the Spirit. He calls it the Sword of the Spirit. And there's a reason for this. In calling it the Sword of the Spirit, the Apostle's point is not that it is the Word which the Spirit has given, but it is to point out that it is the Spirit of God which gives the Word its effectiveness and its cutting edge. This is a very exciting point for me. It is the Spirit of God which gives the Word of God its effectiveness and its cutting edge. Friends, some people use the word of God like it's a lucky charm, a rabbit's foot. Sprinkle Bible, sprinkle a Bible verse on this or that and it'll make situations better. But that's using it in a mechanical fashion. And there have been people who have tried to do that. Remember the seven sons of Sceva in Acts chapter 19, I believe it was. And these men go and they say, in the name of Jesus, come out, right? They're going to sprinkle the name of Jesus here, because this is what they've seen other others have done. The apostles have been performing miracles in Jesus' name, and the demon turns and looks at them and says, Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you? And they beat up these seven sons, and the scripture says, sends them out naked and bleeding. They're playing games with the Word of God. What gives the Word of God its power is the fact that it is the Spirit of God. It is the vehicle that the Spirit of God uses to move and to open eyes and to convict of sin. It is the spirit that makes the word and gives it its power and makes it impactful. Hebrews 4.12 says, For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is this word used by the spirit by which, friends, we defend ourselves when engaged in the battle and fighting temptations. And it is this word as well by which God advances his kingdom. So I'd like you to turn in your Bibles because I have a list of scriptures here that I'd like to take you through to show you this. Again, what does it matter that you're armed? What does it matter that you put on the full armor? What does it matter that you take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Your very life, your very soul is at stake. We are confronted by temptations and trials. How do you bear up under them? How do you bear up under them? The Word of God is powerful. So listen here. In defending ourselves against the wiles of the devil, look at Luke chapter 4, verses 1-13. Let me read this to you. And I want you to bear in mind that Jesus isn't just dropping Bible verses when we read this like a lucky charm. But he's standing on the very truth of Scripture, and he's responding to Satan based on the factuality, the truthfulness, the authority of Scripture. It says, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, he became hungry. And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Jesus answered him, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone. And he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, I will give you all this domain and its glory, For it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if you worship before me, it shall all be yours. Jesus answered him, It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And he led him to Jerusalem, and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. For it is written, He will command his angels concerning you to guard you. and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered and said to him it is said you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. When the devil had finished every temptation he left him until an opportune time. Here Satan comes tempting Jesus Christ. He is tempted for us. He undergoes these temptations so he identifies with us. But the temptations are real. He's hungry. He does not desire to go to the cross. He does desire to love the Lord God, his father. He does desire to love us, his church. But he does not desire the cross. He even says it in the garden, doesn't he? If it could be that this cup would pass from me, that would be good. But not my will, but yours be done. Right? And yet, he endures these temptations. Satan comes to feed yourself, throw yourself off. You deserve some notoriety. You don't need to go to the cross. You don't have to wait that long. You can show yourself to be the Son of God, and I can give you all of the dominions of this world if you will just fall down and worship me. And what does Jesus Christ do? He continually goes back to the Word, back to the truthfulness. It is not bread that makes a man live. It is the Lord. It is living unto the Lord. It is trusting His Word by which we live. I don't need that bread. I don't need to prove myself there. I don't need the kingdom that you're offering me, because I know that if I die, I will be raised again. And I know that I will gather all these things to myself. I do not need to prove to you or anyone else who I am, for the Father knows that I am His Son. And he says, you will not tempt the Lord your God. You see how the Lord Jesus himself counters the temptations of the evil one by reciting scripture back to him, and appropriately so. He's not proof texting. Friends, be careful of proof texting. Just ripping a Bible verse out of context and trying to paste it onto a situation. You need to think biblically. Right? People go, how can I understand the Bible? I don't think I can understand the Bible. Yes, you can. Because the God who gave us the Word of God also gave us nouns and verbs and pronouns and conjunctions and all these parts of speech. If you can read a newspaper, you can read a Bible. The only difference is, don't put much faith in the newspaper. But trust the Word of God. Trust it. Ask yourself the basic questions. Who, what, when, where, why, and how. Talk to it. ask it questions, you'll start to see things come together off the page of scripture and you'll go, oh, that's why. Be willing to work at reading the Bible. Some things are very clear, other things are not so clear, but the things that are necessary for us to know, the Lord will make them understandable in his timing. Don't get discouraged with that. Matthew 16, 21 through 23, likewise, look at this. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid it, Lord, this shall never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not set in your mind on God's interests, but man's. You see, my friends, Christ knew the will of the Father. A body you have prepared for me. That's what he says in Hebrews. A body you have prepared. I have come for this very purpose to die. Peter was looking after man's interests. He was not looking after the interests of the Lord. If Jesus Christ had not gone to the cross, you and I would have no hope of salvation. Here again, Jesus counters Satan's enticements with the Word of God. 2 Timothy 4, 16 and 18. At my first defense, no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. How can the apostle say this and how does he know these things? that the Lord stood with him. Does he not say, I will never leave you nor forsake you? How is it that the Apostle could remain so sweet-natured? How is it that he could speak so forgivingly of all those people who had abandoned him? It must be because he knew the Lord, and he knew that the Lord said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, not even when you're in the face of trial. So Pastor Abedini, in prison again, What does he have to say to himself? How does he counter what Satan is whispering? They've all forgotten about you. His mind and heart need to go back to the word of God. He needs to be reminded. No, it's not true. Friends, you have to sometimes talk to yourself like this. You need to go back and bring up the scripture. This is not true. This is what the Lord says in his word. And I will stand on faith by faith on this truth. He has not forsaken me. He has not forgotten me. Go on to, in a moment, 1 Corinthians 15, but I wanted to point out King David. We looked at him a couple weeks back and the temptation that he had faced, looking out his window and he sees a woman who is bathing and he says, I got to have her. What he should have said to himself was, no, I don't have to have her. If I need it, I will get it. How often have you said, I've got to have that? I've got to have this. You need to say to yourself, no, If you needed it, the Lord would give it to you. How often we fall temptation to that one. First Corinthians 15. To all the people who feel as though their lives aren't counting for anything because you're only doing a mundane service. Satan whispers that you're not going to amount to much. The Lord says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Again, it's just a simple way that I wanted to point out to you, but this is where Satan gets us. He gets us thinking things like, I'm of no value to this church. I'm no value to the kingdom of God. You know, who am I? I'm just a teenager in high school, right? I'm just a retired person. I can't do anything. Or, I'm always wrapped up in something else. I can't do anything. I'm of no value. What does the Lord say to you when Satan whispers in your mind that you don't play a part in the church and the kingdom of God? What do you tell yourself? You tell yourself this, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. My toil in the Lord is not in vain. Period. If I'm a mother, I'm a father, I'm a worker, I'm nobody of consequence in the world's eyes. Tell that to Peter. I'm just a fisherman. The Lord grabbed up a fisherman and used him. We go this way. Another temptation, and this was a personal experience, but I thought it fit nicely here is, and I've shared this before, but it always amazes me. Little verses, if you turn over to 1st Timothy or 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 10. For Demas having loved this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica, Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. My wife and I had taken a vacation just an overnight stay in Chicago near the Miracle Mile. And it was beautiful. I mean, everything that could entice the soul is right there on the Miracle Mile. I mean, they have the Legos factory, they have candy stores, they have art galleries, they have everything that's beautiful. Everyone is spelled black leather everywhere. Black Lexus and black Mercedes, everything. I mean, even there was no bubblegum stuck on the street. There was no trash in the gutter. It was everything that can entice my soul was there. And as I'm walking around, and I know, I know that I'm just in love with it, I'm just enthralled with it. My eyes are as big as saucers, and my mouth is hanging open, I'm wiping the slobber off my chin. And this verse, out of nowhere, comes to my mind. Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. And I walked the miracle mile this way, and I walked the miracle mile this way, back, and that verse just kept going through my mind. And you know what was going on? It was the Holy Spirit reminding me, this isn't your life. This isn't where you're going to find life and fulfillment and black Lexus and black leather and svelte bodies and all the things that the world prizes and esteems. This is not life. And I praise the Lord for that. for how often I've come back to this verse. And what was so strange, I had never memorized that verse. I'd read through the book of 1st and 2nd Timothy on a number of occasions, but I never sat down to memorize 2nd Timothy 4.10, and yet this verse was just screaming in my mind like an alarm. And I had to come back to my room, and I found my Bible, and I said, I wonder where that is? And I started looking through my concordances, and I found these things, and I thought, lo and behold, here's the Word of God. in my defense, protecting me now against the wiles of the evil one." So my friends, you see how important it is that we know the Bible, that we give ourselves to it. Psalm 119, your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. In Psalm 1, as John Harris pointed out last week in Sunday School, how blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in what? It's in the law of the Lord. and he meditates on that law day and night. This is what protects us, friends. This is what protects us. When Satan comes reaching out for us, when he comes to waylay us and take us off the track, we start going back to the Word of God and we start recalling all of his faithfulness, all of his truthfulness, of the reality of the things, the way they really are. Secondly, the Word of God is an offensive weapon. It is a sword. It is a sword. And it is the means by which we reach out with the gospel. I've alluded to this already a little bit, but many churches are doing themselves a great disservice by jettisoning the Word of the Lord. Reading it less, praying less, becoming more relevant because they think, really, they're Arminians. They think that men and women are brought into the kingdom of God, if I can just give them a better sales pitch, if I can just make my product look more enticing, then I'll just get them into the heaven and maybe I can slip Jesus in between the pieces of bread. That's not the way the Lord does it. Listen here again to Romans, if you would turn there. By the way, I know We're breaking every rule of preaching here by having you turn to so many places. Romans 1 16 and 17. Listen to what the apostle says about the word for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith the faith as it is written. But the righteous man shall live by faith. So the word goes forward again to Romans chapter 10. Verses 14 and 15. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. Again, it is the Word of God which must go forward and the Spirit works through the Word of God to bring people to Himself. 1 Corinthians 1. verses 18 through chapter 2 verse 5, for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside where is the wise man where is the scribe where is the debater of this age has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world for since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs, Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world. And the despised God has chosen the things that are not, so that he may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus. who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." And so you can see now that Paul is about to go Madison Avenue on us. Look at verse 1 of chapter 2. And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom. that is contrary to everything we hear in our culture, that you want to see people grow, you want to get people into your organization, you've got to put your most slick foot forward. But then who are we boasting in? And what are we resting in? Again, look at this. This is not here, friends, by accident. When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. That's the Word of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is the Word of God. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit in power. So he's preaching. And Paul is coming and he's unimpressive in how he's preaching and proclaiming. He's just putting it out there. And what's happening? The Holy Spirit of God is moving. He's the Sword of the Spirit. The Lord is moving by His Spirit through the Word and He's bringing about tremendous change in people's lives. He's convicting them of sin. He's exposing to them their need of the Lord Jesus. He's causing them to come to life and to see the importance of knowing Christ and turning of sin and being ready for that day of judgment. This is the Word of God and what it does He says, I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. If you would turn please to Acts chapter 2. I'm almost done. The Apostle Peter is preaching. He preaches a very straightforward gospel message. Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? What is the word of God? The word of God is powerful, right? It pierces, it divides, it lays a person open. And here, the Apostle Peter has preached the word and what's happening to them. They're pierced in their hearts. What must we do to be saved? They cry out. Acts 16, 14. Apostles are down by a river. This was the custom. When you couldn't find a synagogue, there was supposed to be an informal gathering of people who were by the riverside. He goes and finds a prayer meeting on the Sabbath day, and he begins to preach the gospel there. In verse 14, we are told, a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening. And the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Again, Acts 24 verse 25. Again, Paul is preaching the gospel. But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, go away for the present. And when I find time, I will summon you. He's frightened. Lydia believes the Holy Spirit is moving on the hearts of people. The Apostle is saying, you take for yourself this sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. This is how we advance the kingdom. It's how we defend ourselves against the attacks of Satan. But friends, it is also how we advance the kingdom of God. Paul says to Timothy, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, chapter 4, if you would turn there. Listen to his instruction in this. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instructions. Listen, why? For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Is the point clear? Is this clear? Why we must take up the sword of the Spirit? Why we must adhere to the Word of God? It is how we fight the evil one. It is how we advance the Kingdom of God. Because the Holy Spirit works through His Word to reveal to men and women their need of the Lord Jesus. And it is through that Word that He will frighten them, that He will open their eyes, that He will enable them to hear the calling of the Lord Jesus to come and be saved. My friends, the Holy Spirit works through his word and through it, he enables us to stand firm in the face of temptation, but also again, to advance his kingdom, to advance his kingdom. So we take this word, we take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And so I ask you this in closing, what is your attitude towards the word of God? Do you tremble at it? Do you think on it? Do you delight in it? Is it your first line of defense and do you find your comfort in it? Secondly, will we bring this Word, the truth of who God is and what He has done for the sinner in Jesus Christ, will we bring this Word to bear upon the world? There are many so-called Gospels out there that many so-called believers are listening and adhering to. Paul has said, The time comes when they will not endure sound doctrine. But you, Timothy, though you're timid right now, and you feel like you want to pull back because everyone's laughing at you and the silliness of this gospel message you're preaching, you realize you're the only one who holds hope when you preach that word. You see what this is? I mean, this is really a... If you were to say, what should one of our policies in the church be? Here's one of our policies. We preach the Bible. We only preach the Bible. And we're never going to get through a Sunday without hearing the Word of God preached or read. Period. And when people come in and say, well, you ought to try this and get rid of that, we say, no, you should leave. We're not changing. You see, this is the way the modern church goes. Well, let's just leave these things. We don't leave it because the moment we jettison this word, we have nothing left to offer anyone. This is the means by which the Lord draws people in and grows them up. So this is what we must, as a little church, must commit ourselves to. We may not ever be tremendously large. My goal would be to have 7,000 people from Lander in this church and then another 7,000, 10,000 maybe in Riverton. That's the goal. Get as many as we can in. But we shouldn't be surprised. We shouldn't be surprised when the world doesn't love the Word of God. But we don't need to back down from it. Because it is a gift from God that we should adhere to, love, embrace, and carry forward. Let's pray. We thank you, Lord, for your Word. We thank you for your kindness. Again, because you have given us your Word. You make it so plain to us. Thank you, Father, for this. I thank you for how you've put in Scripture for our encouragement, the things that we should be about. Thank you, Father, that we don't see a bunch of superstars in the Bible. We see guys who come with trembling and fear and weakness, who come and whose speech is unimpressive, whose writing is strong. Men who consider themselves and whose others consider the scum of the earth And yet you were so pleased to use them so that men would not look at other men and follow men and create for themselves idols. To use these men so that through their weakness, you would show your strength so that men and their confidence would be in you and your power, your powerful word. Father, we confess to you we are weak and we are assailed and we fail so often. I pray, Lord, simply that You would give us a greater love for Your Word, that we would take the privilege we have been given with our multitude of Bibles, and that we would once again, Lord, rediscover what a wonderful gift we've been given in Your Word. And we pray, Lord, that You would break our TVs and break our radios and our iPods if they should distract us from meeting with You in Your Word. I pray, Lord, that You would Show us yourself more plainly in the word so that we might live more boldly and faithfully before the world. We thank you for your love again for us. Again, we pray for those brothers and sisters who are sick today. Please encourage and nurture their souls. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.