As we continue in our worship this afternoon, turn to Ephesians chapter six. We'll be looking primarily at verses six, chapter six, verses 10 through 20. I would just remind you one more time that at five o'clock and at Emmanuel Baptist in Verona this evening. They'll be doing the commissioning service for Luke and Courtney Peterson going to Costa Rica. And if any of you have any chance to coming down there, I think you'll be benefited and blessed by that. They've been a great blessing to my wife and I over the years and I know to others and we hate to see them go, but we're very happy that they're going to serve the Lord in that new place and be a good time of fellowship with the church there and others that are coming in for it also, as we talked about this morning. So I face the task of getting through the armor of God in one lesson. Breyer did not make it easier at lunch, but he is going to come back at some point and do a comparison. Where'd he go? He went, well, okay. See, I can promise this and you didn't know it. Now he came back. He is going to do a comparison of the garments of the priest armor of God at some point. So there you go, brother. I put you on the hook for it because you got me thinking and I'm not going to touch it this morning. So but I think as we look at this, this is what I would consider the conclusion to our studies in Ephesians. And it worked out really well with the afternoon service and this being able to be pulled out by itself at the end here. But if you look at verse 10 first, it says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And you've heard this theme throughout the day today. You've heard it in the songs and the hymns we've sung, and the one that we just sang. The Christian is to give everything to the Christian life. The Christian life is not showing up with your train ticket saying, when the train pulls out, I got a ticket to get there to heaven. It is about living the Christian life day in and day out. And so my encouragement to you is this, after the many admonitions and implications that we have heard from the book of Ephesians as we've looked through it, and I looked and we started back in June, it seems hard to believe it's been that long. But as you've heard the admonitions and the implications and the applications, we may very well at times feel hopelessness and despair at how far short we come of living and serving the true and living God. And that's okay. except it's okay as long as we don't stop there. We need to look to God for strength. It is strength in the Lord. It is the power of His might. We are not Christians because we came to Christ. We are not Christians because we continue in the things of God. We are Christians because by faith we have laid hold of God, and in His might we are being upheld and we are being strengthened. And so that leads into then, that verse that says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. That leads into then, verse 11, that begins, 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, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 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, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." This is aimed at all Christians. This is directed to each of us who name the name of Christ and would say we follow after Christ. This isn't just for the men. OK, I know the image is imagery of battle and war, and that tends to be something that men are a little more excited about. It's not even just for the men who are more martial than others. And some of us are more inclined in that direction than others, perhaps. But this is not aimed at a specific group like that. It is aimed at all Christians. We are told to put on the whole armor of God that we might stand against the wiles of the devil. We all as Christians are in the crosshairs of Satan. He would drag us to hell. Even as Bunyan pictures it, from the very entrance to heaven, there is a gate to hell. And so no matter how far you've gone, no matter how far you've walked, you have to finish the race. And we'll see that referenced again here. as we go through this. So it is an illustration that all must relate to, both men and women, both bold and timid, even though perhaps some of us like the illustration more than others. And I was reminded of that when we were talking about this recently, and someone said, well, if you've got a suit of armor, I'll put it on and stand up there so you can show the parts. Yeah, that's what guys do. We would do that. But it's like I mentioned at lunch when we were talking about this, why does Paul use illustrations like this? Because you can visualize them. You can think about them. Why does Dave use some silly illustrations like his truck and his car? Because you can think about them. You know immediately what we're thinking about. And so when you look at the birds and you go, oh, there's the birds and God promised that not a single bird will fall to the ground apart from his will. And right there, you've got that illustration that directs you back to the things of God. So as we go through these things, keep in mind, it's an illustration that we can all relate to and we are all intended to relate to. Now, first notice, too, that again, we're reminded our adversary is the devil. Revelations 12.9 says, so the great dragon was cast out. That serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Now, he is yet active. He may be restrained, but he is still active, seeking to do harm. And that's exactly what we're told here, that we are to put on the armor of God, that we may stand against the wiles of the devil. The devil's not just sitting there going, well, if something happens, if he steps out of the road, I'll grab him. He's working to make us step out of the way, to trip us up, to cause us to fall short of that goal that we are aimed at. So why do I make this emphasis? Well, first, because Paul had made it here, but because I think it's important to know who your enemy is. If you don't understand who you're fighting against, if you don't understand what the adversary looks like, you might be tempted to just think, well, it's okay. I can just be a Christian that goes to church and does these things and does those things. I'm a good person. That may be nice, but that's not the Christianity of the Word of God. We are in a fight to the death with our adversary, the devil, and it is only God's strength that will keep us from it. So what are we to do? We are to be bold in the power of Christ and act. We are to take up the whole armor of God. So as we go through these different pieces of armor, you can't say, well, I like that one, but I don't need that one. It's a unity. It's a whole that works together and only together. I think of the armor that Saul had. And when David came to fight against the giant, Saul said to him, you can't do that. And then he says, OK, fine, you're going to do that here. Here's my armor. Put it on. And I can only imagine, this is sanctified imagination, but I can only imagine David putting it on, and by the description of the size of Saul and David at the time, probably clomping around in it kind of clumsily, because it didn't fit him. It wasn't his armor. It wasn't made for him. You've got to figure, the king's armor, it was made for him, the king, personally. They didn't just say, oh, here, king, you're an XL. They said, here, king, here's the armor we're going to hand make for you. But it didn't fit David. And God didn't use it to protect David. He used other means to protect David. But unlike Saul's armor, this armor is made for us. So don't take up the armor of the world. Don't take up the armor that if you just do this or if you take these five steps, you'll be fine. Take up the armor that God has made for us and realize again that these days are evil. And this is the means God has given us to stand. You do well not to ignore the means that God has given. Now, we're going to look at these pieces of armor. We're going to do it briefly for each of them. And I'm going to do it basically by looking at some other verses that help highlight the truth of each of them. But first of all, we are girded at our waist with truth. Now, I thought about this because I'm like, well, a belt, right? That's what you gird around your waist. That's not really armor. But it's very important. Now, ladies, you may not feel this is as important as the men, but it holds up our pants. and our pants have a lot of stuff in them, okay? Some of us more than others, I know that, but it keeps us together. It's what brings us together and keeps our shirt tucked in and our pants held up. And even my wife will occasionally come out with an outfit and she'll say, belt or no belt? And I'll say, yeah, it looks better with the belt, or no, it looks better without the belt. And it can be used as an accent, but the point is it helps pull things together. So this is the piece that gets everything in order before we even start putting the armor on. Truth is important. That's all that to say. Truth is important. We can't live in a world where you believe what you believe and I'll believe what I believe. And that's the world. The world very much wants us to accept that premise that all truth is equal and your beliefs are no better than my beliefs. That's wrong. God is truth. And so we see that in the scriptures. Mostly it's in the gospels here, Mark 12, 32. So the scribe said to him, Well said teacher, you have spoken the truth for there is one God and there is no other but he. Now this is someone who the very next thing he was gonna do was question Jesus and try to trip him up. So you see even false teachers can quote truth, but they recognize that Jesus Christ spoke truth. There is one God and there is no other but he. If that's true, then you're not God. And therefore, you are in subjection to God and not into what you believe and not what you think. And that's how we went through the whole section this morning about. our relationships in Christ, our relationships as husbands and wives and children. And there is an order to things, and there is an absolute order to these things that God has ordained. And this equality idea that's been peddled is totally contrary to the things of God, because God has set the order that we are to worship and fellowship and live in, in the church, in our families, and therefore in our communities. John 1 in verse 14 says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. As Christ came into the world, what was it that happened? God became flesh. And what was his glory? He was full of grace and truth. That was the glory of Jesus Christ. John 14 and verse six, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. There's the exclusivity of Christianity. There's the, You can't have it any way you want. Jesus Christ himself said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That's a message that we need to take and hold on to and be fiercely defensive of as the world tries to say, no, all religions are fine. Everybody just does things a little differently. That's contrary to Jesus Christ and the word of God. John 16 and verse 13 says, however, when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will tell you things to come. So as Christ promised the spirit to come, once he had been bodily removed from the earth, what did he promise about the spirit? The spirit was the spirit of truth. The Spirit would bring truth to men and repeat to men those things that he had heard from God the Father and God the Son. That is the role of the Spirit of God. And so when you have a Spirit that is not speaking truth, you don't have the Spirit of God. It's a measure for whether or not, is this truly the Spirit of God? Does he speak the truth of the Word of God? And then finally, John 17, verse 17 says, sanctify, this is Jesus praying for his disciples. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. If for no other reason you think truth is important, it should be for this. It is the means of sanctification. You cannot grow in the things of God without truth. And if you think You'll just do it your own way or you'll just be good or be better than most. That's contrary to the teaching of the word of God and to the prayer of Jesus Christ, that we be sanctified by the truth and the word is truth. Now that brings us then to the next item, put on the breastplate of righteousness. Matthew five and verse six says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. And I'm pretty sure I used this verse a few lessons ago, but I'm gonna use it again, because it's just such a picture here. You all know what it is to hunger and thirst, and if you don't, watch a couple of the little younger kids right before the lunch when we have it down there, and they are ready to eat, right? And some of us adults are ready to eat. Why? They're hungry. It's been a couple hours, and they're thirsty. And you know, it's fun to blow bubbles too, but they eventually drink the juice, right? And it's part of hungering and thirsting and satisfying that by the eating of physical food. Christian, we are blessed if we hunger and thirst for righteousness. That's what we should hunger and thirst for, even if it means we're hungry in our bellies. We should hunger and thirst for righteousness. Acts 24 and verse 25 says, now is he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment, Paul, by the way, self-control and the judgment to come. Felix was afraid and answered, go away for now. When I have a convenient time, I will call for you. Now, several lessons here. First, Paul was reasoning with Felix about righteousness. about self-control and the judgment to come. One of those seems a little out of place, doesn't it? As we witness righteousness, we talk about the sinfulness of man, the righteousness of God, especially in Jesus Christ. We often talk about there's a judgment to come. All men will stand before God in judgment, but he also reasoned about self-control. And I think it's important that as Christians in this day and age where we are taught from young age, just do what you want. Self-control is something as Christians we need to work at from a Christian perspective of controlling self so that we grow in the things of God, including in righteousness. And so he reasoned with Felix about these things. And what did Felix's reaction, I just want to share this with you. Felix's reaction was first he was afraid and he said, go away. I don't want to hear it right now. I'll call you again when it's convenient. That's the reaction you're going to get from most of the people you try to talk to about the gospel. And some of you who go out there on a regular basis to JMU or other places, and you talk to people cold on the street like that, that's the majority of the reaction you get. Why? Because you're starting to press the conscience, and all men have consciences. Created in the image of God, we know the truth. And we don't want to hear that truth. We don't want to face it. And so what is the world full of? The world is full of noise and busyness. And it's why I visited a couple of older people recently, and the TV's blaring. They're not watching it, but it's blaring away in the corner. Why? Because they can't stand the silence. They can't stand the solitude. And it's because we want to push away and push aside the truth that is facing us about righteousness. But brothers and sisters, the breastplate, that thing which protects our heart, our very internal organs, is righteousness. But it's not our righteousness. It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so we don't have to worry about, is he good enough? We understand that God's righteousness will protect us from anything. It's not just going to keep us safe so far. And then from the breastplate of righteousness, we go to our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, first, let me just note, what is the gospel of peace? Well, it's peace with God. It's not the peace of man that, oh, we get along with everybody. We don't offend anybody. We don't step on anybody's toes. If you don't ever step on anybody's toes, you probably aren't following truth and righteousness. Okay? It doesn't mean you're rude, doesn't mean you're obnoxious, but it means you're gonna offend people when you speak truth and live righteously. The gospel of peace is peace with God. That's who you should be concerned about being at peace with. And so, as you think about, how did we go from the breastplate, I mean, I get that, you put on armor to protect your heart and your lungs and everything, to your shoes? Yeah, try going for a walk or going on a march or carrying a pack, especially. How far are you gonna get if you don't have good footwear? Not very. And so it is important that our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Hebrews 9, verse 24, harkens back to Breyer's sermon this morning, says, for Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. How do we know Jesus Christ's righteousness is sufficient for us? Because he stands in the presence of God right now. And he represents us before the bar of justice, before God, right now. John 14 and verse 27 says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. It's not the, I'm sorry, that was the end of the sentence, sorry. But don't be troubled. We are troubled. The world troubles us all the time. The world scares us all the time. Circumstances upset us. Circumstances make us afraid. And certainly all of those things can be overcome in Christ because Christ leaves his peace with us. Why? Because it doesn't matter what happens to us. Even if we miss a meal or two or three, we still, we die and go to be with Christ for all eternity. There is no sad ending to that. It's why men get so upset and hateful at Christian martyrs, because they can't harm them. You can kill me, okay. Hallelujah! I'm there sooner, not later. It's something that the normal human mind can't understand. But Christ says, that's My peace. And that's what I leave with you. You can't have the peace. The world can't give you that peace. Don't be troubled. Don't be afraid. I give you that peace. Romans 8.6 carries that same idea. It says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. It's not just life for salvation, it's peace to live. And brothers and sisters, I hope you're finding that as you walk in the Christian life, whether you just entered the Christian life or whether you've been in it decades, The Christian life isn't just life, it's peace. It's knowing that God takes care of and provides for us and brings us through every difficulty and every sinfulness that happens and every sinfulness that even self-inflicted we occur and causes us harm and yet we have. the peace of God, because we are seeking the spiritual mindedness of life and peace. And then finally, in Romans 14 and verse 19, it says, therefore, let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. So not only are we to pursue the things that make for peace for ourselves, But we are told in the Scriptures we are to pursue the things by which we may edify one another. We have an obligation to each other. We don't just come here to gather and say, OK, we've done our religious service today. We come together. Why do we have a fellowship lunch? It's such a simple thing, right? And yet, it's such an enjoyable time that we can sit together, we can eat, we can kind of see what everybody's eating and maybe tease them a little and enjoy the kids and the way they're going at it. But it's also a time of fellowship with one another that we wouldn't have otherwise. We can't all invite ourselves to each other's houses all the time, but we certainly can sit down and fellowship with one another. And hopefully, as we do that, we might think about Well, what did I bring to edify the brother or sister I'm sitting and eating with today? Give thought to that. Don't come in just unprepared. Come thinking, well, now we're going to go down and we're going to fellowship. We're going to eat lunch together. How may I edify those that I'm sitting with? That's not just Pastor Andy's job. Each of us have the responsibility in the church, in the flock to edify one another. And then we see we are to take up the shield of faith. And this is an interesting reference here. And it's because we don't tend to carry shields unless you watch some of the riots when they're gonna push back the protesters and they get those big shields out. And it's just like the Roman legions and they put them together and it's hard to stand against that. But in talking about the shield of faith, the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. So we're back to that idea that we are being attacked. And what is it that protects us from the fiery darts that the wicked one hurls at us? Faith. If you think, and you probably don't, but if you think that as you go through the day and different things happen in your life that test your faith, and different things happen in your mind and thoughts occur to you, and you're like, oh, stop thinking that, put that away. Those things aren't all your own sinfulness. Those things are the arrows of Satan. Satan knows what we're like. And it's not that he's like, I know Dave has this issue and that issue. And it's not that as much as he's like, I know Dave is a man, and therefore he has these common issues that all men have. And so I'm going to throw these darts at him. I'm going to try to make him question himself. And again, Bunyan's pilgrim. Very much talks about at some point Satan is whispering in his ears He goes down the path and he thinks how wretched I am think of those terrible thoughts that I'm thinking Until he realizes and is instructed. That's not your thoughts That's Satan whispering in your ear and that's biblical and we are to take up the shield of faith There are times that like the Apostle said to the Lord in Luke 17 5 we are to say Lord increase our faith you Help my unbelief. Increase my faith. Because I don't want to think those thoughts. I don't want to think that of someone who's a brother or sister. I don't want to think those inappropriate things when I shouldn't be. I don't want to even think legitimate things when I should be focused on worshiping God and the things of God. Increase my faith. Help me to walk more in the faith that protects and keeps us. Luke 22 and verse 32, again, Jesus says, But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me Strengthen your brethren and he was speaking particularly to Peter there and we know what happened, right? Peter did fail and Peter denied Christ even with cursing and And yet Christ prayed for him and Christ prayed when you have returned, not if you return, when you have returned, strengthen your brethren. I can't help but think that Peter at different times when gathered with other brothers and sisters who were struggling with faith would say to them, let me tell you a story. and talk about his denial of Christ and how Christ strengthened him when he brought him back to admit and to forgive him for that. Acts 14 and verse 27 also says this, now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. That's where I got the thought about Peter sharing his own experiences. Because they gathered the church together. And what did they do? They talked about what God had done for them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Book of Ephesians. It's not the Jews anymore, it is the church. And now the Jews are taken into the church, the Gentiles are brought into the church. beautiful fellowship together. What an example for us as we gather and as we come together as a church and we hear what God has done. It's one of the things we'll hear this evening as we go down and celebrate with Luke and Courtney going to Costa Rica. We're going to hear about the things God is doing in Costa Rica and brothers and sisters that some of you may never meet. And yet if you did, you would immediately feel a kinship with them because they struggle and have the same trials and difficulties and faith that you have. And that'll be a glorious time when we gather together around the throne of Christ and fellowship with all the brothers and sisters throughout all the centuries that have gone, both before and after us. And so last thought here with regard to the shield of faith, 1 Corinthians 16, 13 says, watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. We like to think we're brave. We like to think we're strong, right? But are we brave and strong and watching and standing in the faith? That's what the child of God is to be doing. And that's what we're to teach our children to do. And that's what we as men are to encourage our wives to and our wives are to encourage us to. We are to watch and stand fast in the faith, being brave and strong. And we'll see that theme here again in a minute. And then the helmet of salvation. And as you think about this, the helmet's a very important piece of equipment that most of us don't wear if we have any kind of armor at all, and some of us do. But it's the helmet, that's the important part. Your head, that's where your brain is. And it is our head, it is that which protects our very essence that is the helmet of salvation. Luke three and verse six says, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Yeah, let me see here. Acts 4 verse 9, And if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, they have done a miracle. By what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Is that a lesson in speaking truth? Oh, don't, don't, careful. You're gonna offend those Jews that are hearing you and you need to ease into it that maybe they didn't treat Christ the way they should have. Doesn't appear to be the approach here. Let it be known you crucified him. God raised him from the dead. And it's his power that has allowed us to make this man whole today. You rejected him. And they quote Old Testament scripture. And there is no salvation in any other, no other name by which men must be saved. That's the importance of truth. And that's the importance of presenting truth clearly and concisely and openly and not trying to make it appealing, because pretty soon you won't have truth if you want to make it appealing. And so another, I'm going to skip, there's another example in Acts, Acts 13, if you want to look at it later, I'm going to skip that one, though, for sake of time. Romans 1.16, Paul says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. There is no other way to salvation except the gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 10 and verse 10 says, for with the heart one believes under righteousness, And with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. You see the combination of things that happen there? It is salvation for everyone who believes. It is with the heart that we believe under righteousness, but it is with the mouth that we confess these things. You can't be a silent Christian. You can't be a Christian who just keeps their light under a bushel basket and maybe nobody will notice me. We confess with the mouth that we are children of God following after Jesus Christ. And that brings us then to the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And I deliberately only wrote one verse down, because this is something that could be months worth of teaching. You hear it, I think, in many of the lessons that we bring. You cannot live without the word of God. It is the sword of the Spirit. Hebrews 4.12, for the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I chose that verse because it's important as Christians that we know the thoughts and intents of our heart. God says only he truly knows the heart of man. And as we live the Christian life and as we seek to live more and more in sanctification and in following after Christ, how do we accomplish that? By God revealing our thoughts and our intents and helping us to deal with the sin that is in us. And it is the Word of God that does that. Just as a two-edged sword can pierce and cut and separate right down to joint and marrow, The Word of God is living and powerful. You cannot make any progress without the sword of the Spirit. You can put all the other armor on, and you can say to yourself, I'm gonna be okay, but you will only be in a defensive situation. You will not advance without the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And then that brings us to the last piece of armor, which is not actually a piece of armor, but is still very important. And there's some debate as to whether to combine these things or not. I did. But it is this praying always and being watchful. Bunyan calls it all prayer. And that's fine. But it is the ending of these things. And it is, sorry, I'm going to scroll back up here and read it, where he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me. And I think they go together. I think the watchfulness is part of the praying and the praying is part of the watchfulness. They're not separate. And if you want to take them that way, that's fine. You still have to do both. But we are to pray always and we are to be watchful always. First Peter four and verse seven says this. But the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. Brothers and sisters, the end of all things is at hand. We don't necessarily live in the worst time that has ever been. I think we think that because it's the one we know. But you read history and you find 50s, 30s, back in the 1800s. It's the worst it's ever been. It's never going to be better than this. But we do live in the end times. We live with the end of all things being at hand. Some of us, maybe because we will step from this world into the next by death, or perhaps because Christ returns and returns today, tomorrow. But in either case, we are in the last days. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, what are we to do? We're to be serious. Christianity is not glib. Christianity is not humorous. It doesn't mean that there aren't times that we can't be humorous at times, but be careful about being sacrilegious in that. But it is serious. It is very serious. It's life and death serious if we believe the judgment of God is to come on all who die. And so we are to be watchful in your prayers. So Peter kind of backs me up. I think he thinks that's what Paul meant when he wrote Ephesians. And I don't know which one got written first, so that's, I could be wrong. But be watchful in your prayers. How do you know you're being watchful? It's not just a matter of going, oh, I'm keeping an eye on things. It's being watchful by taking things to God in prayer. Different men have mentioned at different times, taking the church prayer list. directory list and praying through it, whether it's daily, weekly, monthly, but making some effort to pray for everyone that sits in this congregation with us and praying that God would have mercy on them and God would help them to advance in the things of God and God would help them to be more sanctified and that we would be brought together. That's being serious and watchful. being watchful in our prayers that God would work in this community. We've seen some encouraging signs recently with visitors coming and some interest at JMU. Let's continue to pray that God would work in this community to where eventually we have so many people coming, we don't know what to do with them all. Praise God for that. And then we'll go on from there. But we are to be serious and watchful in our prayers. And so then the final question from this matter of the armor of God that I ask is this. Do we avail ourselves of the means that God has given us? Hopefully, this isn't the end of you looking at the armor of God. Take it. Look at it. Go back through it. Say, what does that mean for me? How do I understand that? Do I use the means God has given? It's something that it's not magic. It's not some magic amulet that, oh, I've got my Bible. I go to my church and everything's okay. And it doesn't work that way. You have to use it. You have to practice with it. You have to be familiar with it. You have to get to know the armory that God has provided for you, including prayer. It takes exercise at church in Ephesus. A warning that if they didn't heed it, he said he would come and remove their light from them because they had left their first love. Their love for Jesus Christ had grown dim. They still did all the things they were supposed to. They were still the Reformed Baptist Church of Ephesus, okay? But they had lost the love of Jesus Christ. And so they had their confession, they had their doctrine, they had their teachings, they had their services, but they left their love of Jesus Christ. And he says, repent and do those first works or I will remove your lampstand from among you. And so, brothers and sisters, as a church, we should carefully consider these words and cry out that we not let that happen here, that we seek after Jesus Christ above all else, and we love Jesus Christ, and we serve Jesus Christ, and we walk in his word, and we obey him, not because we're Reformed or because we're Baptists, but because we are followers of Jesus Christ. And if we do those things, he promises, he who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And in Revelation 7, verse 16, he goes further to say, there they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. We will be for all eternity in paradise, the paradise of God, because we love Jesus Christ and we walk with him. May that be true in this place. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the Word of God, for truly, if we did not have your Word to guide and to direct us, we would be hopeless and aimless and very religious, but not seeking after and serving you. Father, these words are sometimes difficult to hear. They're difficult to speak. But Father, may they be used in our hearts and lives to draw us near to Jesus Christ and by stirring us up to love for Christ, to stir us up to love for one another, love for our husbands and wives, love for our children, love for