Okay, let's start with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your grace to us, and we thank you now for this opportunity to be together. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, Ephesians chapter six, and verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord, Ephesians 6, 10, and in the strength of his might. Just what that hymn said. Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. There are schemes and they're evolving us, okay? It's not just once in a while, you know, this is what is going on. 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. that you may 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, and here we are. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. So, as I said last time, I think it's interesting that God the Holy Spirit chose to lead Paul, the Apostle Paul, to these works and to choose even what was being shot against us. Because I think there's more there than maybe meets the eye. And what I mean by that is Satan, I believe, loves to put something into us that will burn. What I mean by that, something that will bother us, shake us up, cause us to doubt, cause us to have all kinds of things that are contrary to what God's plan for us is. And we're to stand firm against those things. I'm amazed, I'll just speak for myself. I probably could say this about you, but I won't be so mean. I can't believe what a flake I am. And I mean, how easily I can be set in a turmoil. you know, bothered by something, and then that bothering grows. To me, that's like the burning, you know, and it grows, and it becomes something that's in your mind. It's in your mind too much. It's keeping you awake at night. You know, it's causing you to, you know, I think most of you know what I'm talking about, and if you don't, I'd like to meet you afterwards. But at any rate, so we have this, Shield of Faith, now, there might be a picture around somewhere, but you realize that this thing stood 37 to 42 inches high. This is big, this is wide, and you're able to squat down behind it, and then they also had the ability to join together and join many of these, so you had like a wall. And then even though this is not offensive combat that's being displayed here, the Romans would use it that way. You can see that knob sticking out in the center of it on the outside, and they would they would get into a V-shaped kind of thing, and following the archers and so forth, they would then just plow into the enemy with these shields and knock them down. And of course, with armor on, you get knocked down, you're in real trouble. It's not a good thing at all. We've been looking at, at least last time, what are these, what kind of things are we looking at here? What kind of things are we talking about? And we see in scripture that God has been gracious to reveal to us the thinking of some of his great saints when they were in a turmoil. You know, God doesn't just cover that up. He lets you see. what they were thinking, what they were saying, and how he dealt with them in that situation. And so I'd like to go to Job, Job chapter 40. We're gonna come down to verse seven, where now the Lord is talking to Job. And he says this, now gird up your loins like a man. I will ask you and you instruct me. How would you like to have God say that to you? And then this question, will you really annul my judgment All these things that God has brought into the life of Job. That's his judgment. He judged and allowed Satan to do what Satan wanted to do and this was all in the plan of God and he brought some wonderful things out of it. But I love this verse because it ends up with this. Will you condemn me? that you may be justified. Life is full of things we don't understand. I did not expect to come here this morning to hear that my great friend Tom is in some type of trouble. It's the kind of thing that's scary. Is that fair? Is God right in allowing that to happen? I mean, we all know God's sovereign. He could have stopped it. His blood pressure could have never even fluctuated at all. And I have no idea what the Lord's allowing, what the Lord's doing. I know it's for Tom's good. but the tendency that we have with our flesh is to think this isn't fair. Why is this happening to me? Lord, you say you love us. This doesn't look like love to me right now. I know it is, okay? But you, you can see Job was just having trouble. Job lived a righteous life. He's the most righteous man on earth, as far as we can tell at that time. And how could this be happening? and all his friends turn against him, and you know, it's just not a pretty situation. Then go to even the great weeping prophet, Jeremiah, who had such a difficult ministry, because he was a preacher of the things of God, a prophet of the things of God, during a terrible time in Judah, and a time that while he had to watch the judgment of God on his people, the discipline of God on his people, and the invasions that came under Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity for 70 years in Babylon. But I would like you to go to Jeremiah chapter 15, Jeremiah 15, and there, let's look at verse 10. So, a tough time for Jeremiah. And he says this. Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me as a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land. I think that Jeremiah is saying, wherever I go with the message of God, I'm causing, there's all kinds of trouble. There's a man of strife and a man of contention, all the land. Now he says, normally this stuff would come about. He says, I have neither lent nor have men lent money to me. There's some wisdom here. Yet everyone curses me. The Lord said, surely I will set you free for purposes of good. Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in a time of disaster, in a time of distress. Okay, and I want you to come down. to verse 16, which is always our, in fact, this relates to taking the shield of faith, believing what God says in his word. And Jeremiah says this, this is his testimony. Thy words were found and I ate them. What does that mean? I ingested your word. I chewed on it. I meditated on it and it's become a blessing to me in this strife that I'm in. Thy words were found and I ate them and thy words became for me a joy. How many times have you seen that happen? And the delight of my heart. I'm reminded of how My dad taught a lot of Bible classes, and sometimes five times a week. He'd say to me, we teachers of the word get all the benefit. He said, I don't know what they get, but. we get the benefit, you know. And I think about thy words, how often you'd be, you know, in your study, or you in your own study of the word, and it just lifts your heart up and just becomes wonderful to see what God has said. He says, thy words became for me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I've been called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. He says, I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, nor did I exult. Because of thy hand upon me, I sat alone, for thou didst fill me with indignation. And then he says this. Why has my pain become, been perpetual, and my wound incurable? Think of that. Do you think these things through? And you think about, you get a, you know, a cut on your arm. What if it doesn't heal? In fact, not only is it not healing, it's getting really red and it's not looking good. And you're wondering, should we go to the doctor? And the next day it's worse. And so he says, my life is like this. And he says, why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? We get something like that, we expect that it's going to get better. And then he says this, he says this to God. And you know what I love? The Lord says, don't you talk to me like that. He says, wilt thou indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that's unreliable? Now this isn't a, ordinarily this is not a Western Oregon problem. But it is a eastern Oregon problem. You can go over there and find places where you can see water runs, sometime water runs through here and it runs hard and it runs fast. What is this? And so in these places that are dry places, people can go out of their way to get water and get to where they think it's gonna be and it isn't. And so Jeremiah's saying, Lord, are you like that? Are you a deceptive stream to me, not giving me what I need? So here we go. Verse 19, therefore thus says the Lord, if you will return, Jeremiah, you're the one that's not where you should be. Therefore, thus says the Lord, if you will return, then I will restore you. Before me you will stand, and if you extract the precious from the worthless, oh boy, isn't that what the word does, you will become my spokesman. They, for their part, may turn to you, but as for you, you must not. Turn to them, then I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze. Think of that picture. And though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent. Wow. powerful. But isn't it interesting that God allows us to see? And you go in the Psalms. How many of the Psalms are people just crying out, when, Lord? Why the wait? What's going on here? Bow the heavens and come down. I love that phrase. I think of how often I've prayed that. Lord, it's time. Fix this. Show yourself in a mighty and a powerful way. Okay. Now this next, I got thinking about the shield. Just bear with me here. I'm imagining this, that the Roman soldiers crouched down behind his scutum, or his shield, this big shield. And it's being hit by darts to liken it to scripture, fiery darts. And he looks up, and he has printed on the back of his shield SPQR. You know what that is? That's the Roman Empire. That's talking about the Senate and the people, and it's how they did it. I don't know if you remember the movie, The Gladiator, and he had been a Roman, high-up Roman soldier, and he had that tattoo on his shoulder. What did it say? It said S-P-Q-R. And so now he's been, they dealt with him, they've been traitorous to him. And they've turned against him, and the powers that be want him removed. And so he cannot be identified as to who he is. And so there's some scenes in there where you see him trying to grind that tattoo off his shoulder. What should, again, bear with me, what should I have on the back of my shield? It's not gonna be SPQR. It's not even gonna be for the United States. What's gonna be on the back of my shield? And I've thought long about this. And for me, I don't know, maybe you'll have something different, but for the glory of God. Do you understand that You as a believer in Jesus Christ, your, if we're gonna boil it down, your purpose in still being here is for the glory of God. That's huge. I don't know whether I talk about it, but, When I was cognizant enough to think that I was dying and I couldn't breathe, you get serious about your thinking. And I've said this before, but I can remember this thought. When you walk through that door, which I thought was close. When you walk through that door, what's it gonna be like on the other side? What is that? What are you going into? And just this overwhelming truth of everything there is about the glory of God. That's what it is. The whole future in eternity, you'll hear somebody say, they don't have a clue what heaven's about. I'm gonna go there, and I'm gonna play golf, and I'm gonna hunt and fish, and I just wanna go. They're gonna make me throw up. This is not anything like that. This is where God is given his glory and his rightful place. It's where things are the way they should be. And so then my thinking was, and by the way, I'm not in any way setting myself up as a person that's doing this or doing it perfectly and so forth, but It just became apparent. If that's true, if when you're moments away you know that that's what you're, you know, scripturally what you're facing, what the truth says, then that means that that's what here and now should be about. And that's why I want it on the inside of my shield. As these things occur that just shake me, you know, they're not at all what I thought would happen, I wanna know and I wanna say. What I want this to amount to is bringing glory to the God who loved me and saved me through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's all that matters. That's what it's about, okay? And so in every situation, just think how everything changes if that's exactly how we think. So something rolls into our life that we didn't expect, we would never have chosen. And instead of saying, why me, or I don't deserve this, or any number of things, we say, this is here in my life by a God who loves me, and it's for his glory. And I want it to play out that way. in my life, that's how I want it to be. I want that to go forth. Because it's all that matters. Now my flesh says, now wait a minute, Linton. You need to save some of that glory for yourself. No. That's stealing. So we know that God is sovereign. We are, that's wonderful. We know that he is all wise, that he always chooses the very, very best ways to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. And I'll put that together and I'll add in there that he loves me. that he saved me, called me, saved me, as he did you if you put your faith in Christ. And so now let's take all that and put it over against who knows how to best glorify himself, God, by bringing into your life things that will most glorify. Who knows that best? And state that very well. But who knows best? Do you know what I mean by that? So often, I can look at decisions I've made and just say, yikes. You didn't put much thought into that, Whittles. You just went ahead and did it. God doesn't do that. God is all wise, and he's always gonna choose the very, very best. So now the very, very best comes into my life. Am I gonna use that as a place to rebel and a place to sin? Or am I going to use that for His glory? And the great thing is that there isn't anything that can come into your life that it can't be used for His glory. People are watching. They want to see. Let's look and see how he or she is handling this. Because that's the real test, isn't it, of what our faith is. Okay, having said that, let's go to 1 Peter chapter four. 1 Peter chapter four and verse 11. Whoever speaks, let him speak as it were, the utterances of God. Whoever serves, talking about believers, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified. Did you see that? So that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion, don't miss these words, forever and ever, amen. Who does that glory belong to? God. Okay? Then, let's go next to 1 Peter 4, verse 13. This tells us something. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. So that also at the revelation of his glory, when the Lord comes back, you may rejoice with exaltation. What does that tell us? That there's, we're gonna be excited about these things in the future when the Lord returns. If you suffered for him, you're gonna be excited about that. Because why? Because it brought him glory. It will continue to bring him glory. You see the, okay. Then let's go to Psalm 29. And in Psalm 29, start at the beginning of the chapter. Psalm of David, ascribe to the Lord, give to the Lord, credit to the Lord, praise the Lord. O sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Because those are his. Ascribe, now get this, ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. It's his, it's rightfully, wonderfully his, and the only way things can be right are to have that glory ascribed to him. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. And then Romans 11. This is that end of that wonderful chapter. God's dealing with Israel and the church and so forth. In verse 33, oh the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? Now get this. For from him, I think about this, you know, in prayer, Lord, Thank you for creating me. I mean, I have to think, I don't know how I even go here, but there have to be so many possibilities to so many people, you know what I mean? And yet, I'm here, and my wife's here. And he gave her to me, you know, to be my bride. And you're here, you know, this body of believers that believe. And it's, he just did that. He made, he wove each one of us in the womb and he, it's not a random thing, you know. For from him and through him, everything that goes on, the planets and the tides and the air to breathe and oh, just mind-boggling. And through him and to him, it's all for him, are all things. So you look at it, you look at whatever it is, came out of his, you know, for lack of a better word, his mind or his omniscience, came out of this, How could we even begin to grasp the wisdom and the knowledge of God? Stunning, just stunning. Let's go to Romans chapter 16. And in Romans 16, let's come to verse 27. Notice how this ends up. To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory for how long? forever. Let me just say this. I've had a past of being so shallow in this area, so stupid, and thinking, I don't know, sounds boring to me. Not realizing that it's the only thing that can really fill you up. It's the only thing that can fill you up forever and never have your enthusiasm for it flag or get tired or look elsewhere. I don't think we have a clue of what God has in store for us. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And verse 31. So let's bring this down to our everyday life here. Motivation, you know, my thinking of what's on the back of that shield? The shield of faith. It's what are you trusting God about? What are you trusting God for? that he is perfect and that he does everything right, including everything in your life, shocking as it may be, tragic as it may be, trying as it may be. He knows what he's doing, okay? He's at work in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure. And... Do we realize at all where we would be spiritually if we hadn't been stretched and refined and faced some pretty difficult things? Those are good for us. And there's only this small window of time where we can get this all in. Do you know what I mean? I think of Wynn's brother. great guy, goes in the Marine Corps, and he's brilliant. He either already has or he's working on his law degree. And so the Marines see this and say, this guy's brilliant. And so they have him at boot camp. They put him in charge of writing out the schedule every day. And so he says to me, he says, you know, when the DI's got you there in the push-up position, and he says, I can keep you here all day. And he'd say, I'd say, you got 30 seconds, and we're going to the next class. because he knew the schedule. So think about, oh my, but coming back to this 1 Corinthians 10 verse 31, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do you understand that you can, God has told you what his plan is and that you can eat to his glory, you can drink to his glory, you can, you, there isn't, those are pretty mundane things. Think about it. You can do everything to his glory if you are trusting him. and putting him first, back of the shield, for the glory of God. That's what I'm here for, that's what I've been saved for. Everything else is just gonna dry up and blow away. Father, how we thank you for your word and oh Lord, the things that you've done. And Father, we thank you for your working in each of our lives and your perfect plan for each one of us. Father, what majestic, wonderful things you're doing. May we see that, Father, through the eyes and behind that shield of faith, so to speak, as we apply these things in our lives. To your glory we ask in Jesus' name, amen.