The National Center for Family Intubated Churches welcomes Don Hart with the following message entitled Worship and Spiritual Warfare Part 2. Father we thank you for this time to open your word and Lord to consider its truth. We thank you for this time to be taught by your spirit. Lord, to enjoy the unity that Christians can have only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that in this time together your truth will be proclaimed, your name will be lifted up, that you will be glorified, that your majesty will be exalted, Father, that you will be pleased, and Father, that you would bless this time.

Father, I pray that you would prepare and equip us, your people, for the battle to which we're called. And Father that we would walk faithfully in the path which you have laid before us. Father we thank you that you are our friend, that you've made us your friends, that you ended the enmity between us and you. And Father that you saved us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray these things in his precious name.

Amen. Well we began in our talk this morning describing some of the elements of worship and how spiritual warfare relates to the worship of God. And we saw a number of things that we won't review except for very very quickly. We saw that we are blessed to be defined by having an enemy who we couldn't possibly prevail against in our own strength. That is the most fantastic news that any of us could have.

Now it may not seem like that at first blush, but here's the way that worked out as we talked about this morning. You see, Adam, our first father, fell and decided, instead of being God's friend, to be his enemy. Despite the fact that his mind wasn't cursed by sin, that he didn't have the nature that you and I have had ever since, He was convinced by a horrible enemy to join in his cause and to turn in enmity against God. And a gracious God, instead of vaporizing all his creation and all of mankind which would have been deserved had he chosen to do so instead brought judgment but with that judgment he brought hope and in the context of that hope he promised that he would create enmity for us in order to accomplish our salvation. That he would create enmity between the seed of the woman who had fallen and the devil who deceived her into falling and convinced Adam to join him in his rebellion against God.

Just let that soak in for a moment. That in deserved judgment, mercy and salvation and hope was unfolded at the same time. Our God is so good, He is so gracious. In the context of giving us that hope, He made His own the enemies of Satan. Instead of his friends.

It was expressed early on in the context of worship as Cain murdered Abel over how they came before the Lord seeking to worship him. We talked about and heard last night about the priority which worship and salvation indeed is before the Lord. We've talked this morning about how important it is for a nation which was established on godly foundations by a movement that was belittled in England as a Presbyterian Parsons rebellion because it was instructed by the churches from the pulpits according to the law of God, according to what was right and appropriate before God, a belittling that changed into taking things very seriously whenever the demonstration of the commitment that a nation can have when it is established on godly foundations and built on the truth of God's Word. That's the foundation upon which this country was built, far from perfectly, but that's the inheritance which we have enjoyed, and which is in so many ways being squandered today. Since the time of God's gracious dealing with his people, even as he gave them certain and promised judgment, Satan has been at war, at war against the people of God.

We talked about the enemy and we began to talk about the context of fighting this war well. We talked about how important it is with regard to worship that we be committed to fighting this battle. Won't go back through all that ground but in the context of that commitment to battle we talked about Ephesians 6 and we read verses 10 through 20 together this morning. We'll be back in that passage of scripture together this afternoon So if you turn there in your Bibles, we'll be continuing to look at the spiritual warfare to which we are called and to talk about how it applies to worship, particularly the elements of worship which are so important, which are not being expanded in great detail during this message because they're being talked about in other messages during the conference. We will talk more specifically about how we fight the battle well to worship well in this particular talk.

If you were With us this morning, you know that we were talking about having been instructed to stand, therefore, in verse 14, having girded your waste with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. And we talked about the fact that that girding of the waste with truth has a lot to do with the attitude about the truth, not merely the content of the truth, not merely what is true, although certainly it is inclusive of that. But it is important for us to understand that there is a sincerity of attitude about the truth that is denoted in the word there that is used when we're exhorted to put on that belt or to gird our waste with truth. And that suggests that as we go into this battle, we need to have a level of commitment that perhaps many Christians have never quite understood, never quite embraced. We're advancing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we do that, the attacks of Satan will come. Whether we go and seek them out or not, they will come our way. Whether we're aggressive in the battle or not, whether we're aggressive or passive, we may have more attacks come our way when we're aggressive, but even if we're passive, which I hope will never be, The attacks of Satan will come. We're presented here with defensive armor against attacks that will be brought offensively against us. They will result often from our offensive action in advancing the gospel in fighting battle.

We are not to be passive as Christians by any means. That's one of the reasons that all the armor is designed for the front. We're not to flee and run from this battle. There's nothing protecting that side of us. And yet that in itself speaks to our commitment to the battle, doesn't it?

Encumbered, uncommitted, ill-prepared soldiers do not fight well. There's a reason why the morale of the Army is important. There's a reason why we are exhorted, not just with regard to the content of the truth, but with regard to our attitude about the truth, the sincerity with which we come to approach the truth, our passion for the truth, the ways in which we hold to the truth. We're exhorted in Hebrews 12, as we run the race we're called to, to lay aside the weights that encumber us. It's exactly the same thing being communicated here as we go into battle.

We don't go into battle encumbered. That's the context of this belt. It prepares a soldier for battle. It was preparation, as we talked about this morning, that was indicated there. And it was a preparation for battle with regard to the truth that denoted a real sincerity about the truth, a real sincerity and passion about the battle.

I wanted to share with you as we begin together this morning a description by John MacArthur with regard to this description of the truth that we're talking about here in Ephesians 6.14. He describes it in terms, and I won't just quote him exactly, but this is from an excellent series of sermons that he did on spiritual warfare. And this word that is translated in terms of modifying truth is sincera, the Latin term, which actually means without wax. Now, you may wonder what exactly does that have to do with the truth? Well, here's the context of how that would have come across the time which it was written.

There were pots made in those days that would sometimes crack. And a cracked pot was pretty much worthless. And crooked, dishonest merchants and sellers of pots that had been cracked in the process of being made would fill the cracks with wax. And then they would paint over the pot so that it appeared to be a sound and usable vessel, but the first time that it was used for its intended purpose, the wax would melt and everything would run out of the pot. It was a crooked way of dealing.

It denoted a great deal of insincerity to sell someone something like that. And that's with regard to the truth in our approach to spiritual battle, the exhortation that we're given is that we have a sincerity that's not fake, that is without wax, that is genuine. No covered cracks as we approach that to which we're called. A genuineness, a sincerity with regard to the battle. Look with me again at Ephesians chapter six and we'll just read these verses that we're going to try to get through today.

We've already talked about verse 14 which says, 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." Here we see the concluding exhortation in the last chapter of Ephesians which we talked a bit about this morning. The first three chapters telling us who we are in Christ. The next one's telling us what we're to do about that, how we are to live because of who we are in Christ.

And those exhortations and explanations getting more and more narrow and more specific until children were told how to interact with their parents, husbands with their wives, fathers with their children, bond servants were instructed with regard to their masters, and finally the people of God were instructed with regard to the war to which they'd been called. The context here is the level of commitment of a soldier. Think about how soldiers operate, folks. Think about what it means to be committed to serving as a soldier. Think about the determination, the perseverance that goes with that.

2 Timothy chapter 2 reminds us that soldiers don't entangle themselves in the affairs of everyday life. They're concerned about pleasing the one who enlisted them as a soldier. There's nothing casual about going into something like a soldier. You don't get to come and go on your own terms. You don't get to wear your own clothes, you don't get to set your own schedule, you don't get to show up for the battle when you feel like it and check out when you don't.

Being a soldier is a whole lot like being a slave. You're pretty well owned by the army. I have friends who are soldiers. I have a dear friend who was overseas when his wife lost their firstborn son. He tried with all his might to get home to her, but it wasn't his decision.

He wasn't in charge of that. He was a soldier. That's the context in which we're called to battle for Christ. That's the level of commitment. That's the sincerity associated with going into this battle.

If we're to be ready, if we're to be prepared, we go in with that level of commitment. God owns us. He absolutely owns us. Casual Christian commitment is not what's being brought forth here. It's an incredible commitment and that sincerity of commitment and level of commitment that you see whenever you're talked about in terms of being a soldier, goes on to the second piece of armor.

Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness. As we look at each piece of spiritual armor, it's important to think about it, yes, in terms of the context of a soldier and the level of commitment that's described there. It's important to look at it in terms of what those soldiers would have used at the time. It's important to look at it in terms of what, in terms of the Christian walk, is used to be descriptive of the particular piece of armor that the soldier would have used at the time that he would have used it as the scriptures were unfolded.

So think with me together about this breastplate of righteousness. What an important piece of armor this is that comes second. What does it cover? The most vital area on the soldier perhaps, at least the largest vital target, isn't it? The heart, the lungs, this area where you can't take a blow and survive it.

You may get an arm wounded, you may get shot in the leg, you may live to fight another day. If you take a blow right here, you're pretty well done as a soldier, and the battle is over for you, and so are all the rest of them. That's how important the breastplate was. Those were generally molded pieces of iron made to give great protection for the soldier of the day. It's like what we've seen.

It's probably a lot like what you think about when you think of a breast plate covering that vital area. It's probably a lot like what you're picturing with regard to that. It protected the vital organs and how is it described in terms of Christian life? A breastplate of righteousness. Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

So what do we understand to be communicated by righteousness as a description of this breastplate? Well certainly we have to remember always in every interpretation of these scriptures our theology don't we? We need to interpret things properly. What does it mean to put on a breastplate of righteousness? Well when we think of righteousness I hope we think of the righteousness of Christ.

That righteousness that has saved us, that has been imputed to us, that is a gift of God that was put on us, not something that we put on, but that was put on us by God. Indeed we responded to His grace and we acted in the faith that He gave us but we have nothing to boast about with regard to our salvation. That is not something that we put on, that is something that was put on us. And so certainly the righteousness that we have in Christ is part of what's being described here because without it we couldn't put on any kind of righteousness, could we? Here we have righteousness that we are exhorted to put on.

You have duty to put on this kind of righteousness. Apart from the gift of God, you can't put on the righteousness of Christ. That's his gift to you. But what you can do is live righteously. You can live just like Ephesians has exhorted those who know who they are in Christ, who are then told how to live, who are then given specific instructions to live.

So what we are talking about here is righteous living that can only come because of imputed righteousness from Christ, but that can only be put on in the manner that we're talking about, the kind of righteousness that will protect us, that will be descriptive of this breastplate that protects the most vital organs. It's not just being saved. It's how we live because we're saved. It is righteous living. So let me ask you something.

If the breastplate with which you go to battle is composed of righteousness that you are to put on, what does it say about how we will stand in battle or how we will go forward into battle if we are harboring sin in our lives, if we are living with secret sin, if we are unrepentant, if we are hard, if we have contempt for the church, if we are half-hearted in our worship, half hearted in our commitment to the Lord. What exactly does it say about this breastplate of righteousness that is to protect our most vital organs? Well at the very least there's some pretty bad holes in it, isn't there? There are chinks in that kind of armor. We're being exhorted here as we were throughout all of Ephesians to righteous living and we're being told that as Satan comes against us that this protects our very lives.

That it is so critical, so incredibly important, and remember that it is presented in this context, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. This is not just about being a Christian, this is about living like a Christian. This is about being salt and light, the breastplate of righteousness, protective of our most vital parts. That's what's talked about in Philippians 2 12. So then my beloved, just as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Ephesians, in its entirety, points to this conclusion of Christian life. This is the meat. Here's who you are in Christ. Here's how you live generally.

Here's how you live more specifically. Here's how you fight. You fight in righteousness before God, living righteously because of the new life in you, because of the regeneration that you enjoy in Christ, because of who you are in Christ. We are to live righteously. It's an incredibly important part of the armor.

If we expect to go into battle, we need to be ready. And righteous, holy living is this breastplate of righteousness which is described here for a second and we don't want a weakness in that armor. How often are churches More like hospitals than they are like armies. How many churches are just 90% the wounded and the bleeding and those to whom we are trying to minister just to help them survive, just to help them live another day. Wouldn't we like to transition from that to an army that is aggressive and more effective?

Perhaps we have a real issue in the church today with regard to righteous living. Brothers and sisters, we have a duty not to be the ones who need a medic on four corners of a stretcher and ten surgeons to take care of us all the time. We need to be part of the army. We need to have this armor. We need this breastplate of righteousness.

And that means very simply, we need to be a people of repentance. Quick, sincere, humble repentance. We don't need to hide sin. We don't need to justify sin. We don't want to live in this battle with big holes in some of the most important armor we have.

We want to be an army, not a mass unit, don't we? Isn't that what the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ should really be? Isn't that what advances the gospel? Isn't that how we stand? Righteous living connected to protecting the most vital and critical parts of us.

That's the second piece of armor. And we're having to go so incredibly fast. Forgive me, we could say, we could preach entire sermons on every piece of this armor. But I'd like for us to be able to talk about most, if not all, of them while we're together here today. The breastplate of righteousness.

So we've got our belt of truth that we've described. We have the breastplate of righteousness that we've talked about. Next we see in verse 15 an additional piece of armor and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Fascinating piece of armor to consider here. Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I gave this message in our church and kind of got a chuckle because I never really dreamed that I'd be preaching on the theology of shoes.

But in reality, it sort of invites examination here. I was going to tease the ladies about how many shoes they might have, and then I started thinking about how many pair of boots I had, and hunting boots, to basketball shoes, to boots for on the horse, and I've got my share of shoes too. And so I decided to sort of back off of that a little bit. But think about how important that is in our everyday life. It's a big deal, isn't it?

We see an entire sports culture built on shoe contracts, of all things. That these are the mighty athletes because of how their feet are shod. Significant thing for us to consider. So we're exhorted to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Well if shoes are important if we want to work or hunt or just be comfortable in what we do, how important are they if we're fighting for our lives?

How well will we stand in shoes that slip and slide and fall off our feet and put us in positions of vulnerability whenever we need to be at the peak of our defensive readiness because we're in battle and people are swinging for our head or thrusting for our hearts with weapons that can put us under. How important is this footwear that we come into the battle wearing? It was a really big deal for Roman soldiers. They wore an incredibly tough, sturdy sandal. A lot of times they would drive nails through from the inside out so that they would have things like cleats that would dig into the ground so they could stand that much more firmly as they fought.

If your foundation is off, if you stumble this way, how do you fight? How do you duck? How do you parry a blow? How do you deliver one yourself? How important is it to think about how our shoes are to be prepared for the battle in which we go?

John Calvin says this, as soldiers cover their legs and feet to protect them against cold and other injuries, so we must be shod with the gospel if we would pass unhurt through the world. So there's the instrument, there's the piece of equipment, there's the piece of armor, there's the significance of it in the battle. I think we can see that. But what is the significance of it being the gospel of peace? Would you have thought about that being descriptive of your footwear as a Christian?

A Christian in battle. Here's what John Calvin says about that. It is the gospel of peace and it is so called as every reader must perceive from its effects, for it is the message of our reconciliation to God and nothing else gives peace to the conscience. If we will stand, our feet must be ready for battle. I don't believe, nor do R.C.

Sproul or John MacArthur and their comments and sermons on this passage that we're really talking about the same thing that's described in Romans 10. This may have come to your mind, blessed are the feet of those who preach the good news. But really the context of that passage is not footwear so much or what's on the feet. Really the passage has nothing to do with warfare, not much to do with shoes. I think the understanding of Romans 10 15 there is that those people who hear the gospel will bless the feet of those who bring it to them.

Not precisely what's being described here I don't believe in Ephesians chapter 6 nor do far better preachers than myself hold to that opinion. Here in Ephesians 6 Paul's not really talking about going anywhere. Again, another difference from what we see in Romans 10, not bringing the gospel. What are we doing here? We're standing.

We're trying to survive. We're trying to make it through the battle. Trying to survive the attack. We are standing, not going. It's really not so much about taking the gospel anywhere.

It's the way in which the gospel helps us to stand firm. How does it do that? If the issue is not necessarily evangelism, but instead taking a firm stand in battle against the devil as he seeks to destroy us, as is described in 1 Corinthians 16 and 13 where we're exhorted to stand fast in the faith. The idea here is about what's needed to stand firm when we're attacked. And the thing that gives us firm footing is the gospel of peace.

The good news, friends, that you have made peace with God. The good news about who your friend is. Certainly we advance and we take the gospel, but as we come under attack, we stand on the truth of the Gospel as it pertains to us, as it relates to our life. And the fact is, the one attacking me is the enemy of God and I am not at enmity with him. I enjoy the gospel of peace.

I'm at peace with God. And that as a Christian is an enormous part of what helps us to stand firm in battle, to be equipped against the blows which will certainly come. It is fantastic news that we are at peace with God, friends. And as difficult as our enmity with Satan may be, always remember, when spiritual attack comes, when difficulty arises because of that, it is because we are the friends of the living God saved by the blood of Christ. And that enmity was the mechanism for our salvation.

I will place enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent God said. And her seed would crush his head and the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely did and we therefore are at peace with the one true God. And that gives us an incredibly firm foundation. You need to understand who you are in Christ. That's why Ephesians starts that way.

Understand who you are in Christ. You are at peace. You are safe. You are secure. You can't lose your salvation.

It's not going anywhere. Stand on that. Be confident in that. If the Lord has saved you, none can pluck you from His hand. You are safe in the hand of God.

That's why our theology matters. We can't be confused about losing our salvation. If you have no idea where you stand with God, whether he's your friend today and your enemy tomorrow, how will you stand in battle? How will you stand anywhere, anytime? Oh, what a blessing that we are at peace with the living God.

That we are His. And we're held not by our own effort and by our own virtue and our own merit, but we are held by Him. By His power. By what Christ accomplished. Does that not make you want to adore the God who you come together to worship every Lord's Day?

Does that not make you confident in battle that you know where you stand with the living God? There is a great truth that is on your side when you're at peace with God. And that's how we are what's described in Ephesians 6 10, strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Because we know we are His and we stand on the truth that we are at peace with Him in a battle that Christ has won. Friends, right relationships are empowering, Aren't they?

And bad relationships are debilitating, crippling. You who are married may know what it's like to have a difference with your husband or wife and then try to go do anything else. I can't mow the yard, my wife's mad at me. I just can't do it. The task is too much.

Hey, if my wife's not upset and I've not done something and things are good with us, I could mow a thousand acres. Right relationships are empowering. The wrong relationships are debilitating. If it's like that with our wives, or with our moms, our dads, our children, our friends, our church, how much more so is it true with our God? Stand on the truth that you're at peace with God.

Live righteously before him. Live in the way that you're called and you will stand firm in battle. You will have firm footing in spiritual battle. Peace with God is a precious, precious, precious, precious thing. Romans 8 31, what then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who can be against us? We are at peace with God. So who can be against us if he's for us. Doesn't mean there won't be opposition but it will not utterly crush us it will not destroy us it will not crush our faith it will not pluck us out of God's hand. We will not be lost when we are truly at peace with God.

Romans 8 35 who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As is written for your sake we are killed all day long we are counted as sheep for slaughter yet in all these things we're more than conquerors through him who loved us." You hear that language of warfare? We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor death nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I know that whoever the Father chooses he gives to the Son. Whoever he gives to the Son the Son receives. Whoever the Son receives the Son keeps and raises them all at the last day." According to John 6. We're safe. We're safe.

God didn't give his son any who will be lost. And so we're at peace. And so we have power on our side. The power of God. And we have security in him.

And we can be firmly grounded and not double minded and not doubtful and not shaky and not fearful and not running away and not unable to stand. Friends we're not confident to withstand battle or to go into battle if we don't know where we stand with the Lord. We need to have the confidence of Midian. As God's people in Israel gathered in armor, a huge army. God said, I don't need all those.

I don't need 32, 000. 300, that'll do. That's our God. That's the power of his might. That's the one with whom we're in right relationship.

That's where we stand. We were all born in rebellion against him, but now we're at peace. Praise the Lord. Worship the Lord. At peace with him.

And stand firm in battle when the battle comes because you are at peace with the one true God. Oh I think Christians should treasure that more. Oh shouldn't we rejoice in that more? I'd like to give about three sermons on that alone, but we need to move forward. 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.

This is so powerful and so beautiful. Shield of faith. Above all, taking the shield of faith. John Calvin opines that this is one of the most important instruments of warfare. He says that the sword and the shield are in his opinion chief.

I won't quite go that far but I'll say they're mighty important. They're all mighty important. But this shield of faith is incredible to consider. Incredible to consider. What kind of shield are we talking about here?

Let's look at it the same way we've looked at the other pieces of armor. What are we talking about? The word here is thureon. It's not the little shield that you think of on the arm of a gladiator with which he blocks this and that and moves like this. This is the big shield, friend.

This is the big one. This is the one that's like a small door. The one behind which a man can hide entirely. This is the shield that in the phalanx the soldiers took on the front lines. This is the big one.

This is the shield that protected those who were behind it who didn't have one. Don't miss that. This is the one that protected the rest of the army behind those when others didn't have one. This is the shield that the flaming arrows of the enemy, according to the warfare of the day, were extinguished by. Sometimes soaked with water or coated with an oil that would put out those flaming missiles that came at men who were equipped with armor.

But here's a problem with a flaming dart or a flaming missile. You have your armor in pretty good shape. You still don't particularly want to be on fire. That's a bad deal. Maybe enough said about that.

That's the purpose of this shield of faith. Above all taking the shield of faith to which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Why is it described as above all? Does this elevate this shield above all the other spiritual armor? No, what's the word there is in addition to. Above all, it means on top of everything else that we've talked about already, On top of all this other armor that you need to have to fight effectively and go into battle, you also have a shield of faith.

What is true about this shield of faith? It not only protects those behind who may not have one or whose faith may be weaker or whatever the case may be, You can think of the applications here, but it also is a protection for the one who's holding it, even if some of the rest of his armor isn't in such great shape. You see that? Even with a little chink in the breastplate of righteousness here because I'm a sinful man and I haven't figured it out and I'm stubborn and I haven't repented. If I'll believe God, I may yet be protected from the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Even with a shoe that's Not quite like it ought to be or whatever other part of armor we may be struggling with. Here is an in addition to. This can protect in addition to all that other. It not only protects the rest of the church, the rest of the army, it protects the one holding it. Even in areas where perhaps his armor is not as strong as he or she might like for it to be.

A shield of faith, This is incredible. This is a blessing to the church, friends. Do you know those faithful people who, when everyone else is in turmoil and just falling apart, they say, hey, don't worry. God's sovereign. Trust the Lord.

When they say, well if we do this we're gonna have this terrible result. Well is that right before the Lord? Well maybe so but well then don't worry about it. Trust the Lord and leave the result in his hands. Don't be pragmatic, don't figure it out yourself, have faith, believe the Lord.

You know people like that? You have people in your church who are that voice, are you that voice? That's a protection to everyone who may be scrambling with doubt and about to make the wrong decisions and about to turn tail and flee in the battle is a protection and a blessing that someone is holding the shield of faith and standing, standing, standing in their place. Oh it's a blessing to the one who holds it. It's a blessing to others protected by it.

So there's the shield. It's a shield of faith. A shield of faith. Oh, that we would just believe God. Oh that we would just not be practical, pragmatic, conniving, trying to work our way out.

Oh that we would just believe God. Oh that we would just believe the truth of God. Oh that we would believe him with childlike faith. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Have you known folks who have a childlike faith?

People say well he just you know, he's not being practical. He doesn't get it. He's just you know He's just he's purely spiritualizing this good get behind him. You need his protection He's got a childlike faith rejoice in it learn from it doesn't mean he's childish he's a childlike faith. I have a little girl whose name's Faith, she's three.

She asks me stuff all the time. All the time. When I come home, she just beams and she runs to me and she grabs me and she hugs me and she's always got questions. She always wants to talk. And when I pick her up, we'll talk about something and she may have something she's excited about doing or she's hoping we can do that night and if I tell her we're gonna do it she goes from just won't let me go to oh I gotta get down I gotta get down and and I put it and she runs and announces it to the whole house daddy said we're gonna do this or daddy said that And sometimes she's so excited she gets a little confused and she may get something wrong.

But she is so confident, even when she thinks I said it and maybe it's not exactly what I did say, that she'd go out and if the sun's up she'd tell everybody, it's dark outside, Daddy said so. She is so confident in my word. She just believes me because I say it. And yet, Why won't I always be that with regard to God? Why do I think I know better?

Why do I- childlike faith, it's not complicated. Just believe Him. Just believe God. It'll be a protection to everybody behind you, to those around you, to you. Just believe God, just have that childlike faith.

I don't think this is an incredibly complicated thing to talk about and understand. I think sometimes we make it really complicated to apply. We just need to have the kind of faith in our Heavenly Father that says if He said it, it's so. And I believe it and I don't care what I see to the contrary or who says what. If God said it, it's so.

And I believe it. And I'll not only believe it, I'll act on it. I'll live like I believe it. I won't just give lip service to it. Remember back to sincerity?

I'll really believe it. I'll really act on it. I'll really live like I believe it. I'm that serious about the battle. I'm that serious about my faith.

I'm that serious about this shield. Oh, what a beautiful thing is the shield that protects not only us but those around us, that protects the Army as it advances. You know this was an offensive weapon. This is what the Army's carried as they advanced on the enemy as they move forward. This wasn't just purely defensive but certainly it absolutely is.

It was defensive in the context of offensive activity as that phalanx moved forward shoulder to shoulder people of faith holding up shields. Oath of the church would look like that. Shield of faith. And what does it do again? It's not only a double protection for the one holding it, giving another layer of protection to the armor that we're already told that we're to wear and that we're already talking about having on.

It's not only a protection to those behind, but it puts out fiery darts, flaming missiles of the evil one. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Well, who's the evil one? We talked about him this morning. That's pretty obvious.

That's Satan. He and those who serve him and the world he uses and sometimes even our own flesh are those against whom we battle in this spiritual warfare that we're talking about. But here it's particularly the evil one. We fight not just the evil over which he has dominion in the world only because it's been given him by God, but we fight the evil one himself. 1 John 5, 19 says, The whole world lies in the lap of the evil one.

There's his reference. Again, this is the devil we're talking about here. We've already talked a little bit about how battle worked in those days with regard to flaming arrows. These things would have a metal tip and be dipped in pitch or a kind of tar and then launched at an opposing army. And again, if they could just, even if the arrow didn't plunge through to a man's heart, if the fire could just ignite his sleeve he had a real problem.

And so these shields were made to to quench those to put them out. Again John Calvin says how expressive quench is in terms of describing this. He says, for it is adapted to the epithet of fiery darts. The darts of Satan are not only sharp and penetrating, but what makes them more destructive, they are fiery. Faith will be found capable, not only of blunting their edge, but of quenching their heat.

1 John 5 for this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith. Do you see how powerful a thing it is to believe God? We somehow have bought the lie that we're vulnerable if we believe God. That we're less safe sometimes if we just trust him. If we just believe him.

The opposite is true. It's the mechanism by which these fiery darts are put out. John Gill describes these fiery darts like this, Satan, who was the first wicked one in the tempter of others to wickedness, and is emphatically the wicked one, being wickedness itself, and his temptations are fiery darts. They may be compared to darts because they sometimes come suddenly and swiftly and thick and fast, are very numerous, and where they stick are very troublesome and grieving." Amen. Good description.

Agree with it. He goes on to say, and said to be fiery because they serve to inflame the mind and excite to sin as lust, anger, revenge, and the like. And were they not repelled would be the occasion of bringing into everlasting burnings. John Gill suggests that in fiery here we see a path to everlasting burning. He goes on to say the fiery darts cast by enemies were cast into towns upon open houses in order to burn them.

Of course, we understand that method of warfare. John MacArthur in commenting on what exactly is meant by these fiery darts says this, now I believe these fiery darts are symbols of seducing temptation, shafts of impurity, of lustfulness, of greed, of vanity, of materialism, of pride, of anger, of impatience, of covetousness, all these things, and They come at us in this world system and they come at us all the time. We're never to be content with anything. You ever seen discontent as a fiery dart of Satan? May I suggest to you that it is?

If we believe God is sovereign and that indeed he orders all things and that he owns Satan, which he does, and that Satan can't operate apart from the permission of God, even when he does evil of which God is never the source or the author. It only happens when God permits it. But God works it for his glory and turns what Satan does for the good of his people. And we need to be content with the knowledge of that. We need to be content knowing who God is.

We need to be content knowing that he's sovereign. We need to guard against being discontent with the holy God. Isn't it exactly what led to the fall. In paradise, they were discontent. They couldn't be content with God.

That fiery dart hit home, those accusations against God. It's pretty simple. When we sin we believe Satan and not God. It really boils down to that. When we sin we've accepted Satan's premise and we've agreed to be dissatisfied with God with His word, with His instruction, with His holiness, with His providence, with His sovereignty, whatever we may talk about.

When we sin, we are expressing our dissatisfaction with God, we're discontent. I believe that's what John MacArthur may be driving at in this description that he gives here. We need to be really careful about thinking about what we deserve. We don't want what we deserve. We want the mercy of God.

We want his grace. We revel in that. We need to be very, very wary of becoming discontent. A dangerous situation to allow ourselves to fall into. Our time is growing short.

We'll move on. Again, we could preach sermon after sermon about every one of these elements of the Christian life. Oh wouldn't it be glorious just to be able to stay here and do that for hour after hour after hour. Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and taking the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

I want to at least be able to touch on these before our time is up today. Partly because I want to leave you with hope. Not because I want to manufacture it and just find a hopeful way to end the talk, but because that's what the scripture says. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Helmets.

Another vital area isn't it? You don't want one of these broad swords swung by these warriors coming right through there. That's as quick or quicker death than one right through here, isn't it? Another area of the vitals that must be protected. And so the soldiers wore helmets.

Maybe they were metal, maybe they were leather with metal woven into them. But like the breastplate, they were incredibly important in all the forms of combat which occurred, whether it was that combat with the small swords which was more hand-to-hand, or whether it was that combat with the great broadsword which could take the head off or cleave it in two if it struck a fatal blow. The helmet protected against that. Sometimes you didn't completely avoid the blow but you moved enough that the helmet would deflect it. Sometimes it would stop something altogether.

The helmet, another incredibly important piece of armor in terms of what purpose it served in the times in which helmets were worn by the soldiers of that day. What kind of a helmet is it? A helmet of salvation. A helmet of salvation. What a beautiful promise we find here.

Some may think that this is suggesting that we don't go into these kinds of battles unless we're saved. I really don't believe that's what's being taught here. We wouldn't be in these battles at all unless we were saved. We wouldn't have any armor whatsoever. We wouldn't be adding, oh yeah and by the way be saved after you've put on the breastplate of righteousness and shod your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace.

We're already there folks. In this battle what's being described here, this is to save people. This is to the saved. So what's the context of salvation here as it's being described for us? Well thankfully scripture interprets scripture and if you have your scriptures with you turn over to 1st Thessalonians and very quickly we'll read a couple of verses that help us to understand what's being described here in salvation.

If it's more than justification, which we just described, being saved from the consequences of sin, from the punishment deserved because of sin, being justified, having righteousness imputed to us by Christ and being clothed in His righteousness. If we're talking about something more than that, which I think we're certainly talking about that being true of those involved in this battle, but are we talking about something more here? We'll set a little context once again very quickly. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Here we see the communication that's happening here.

Paul is communicating with joy and relief that the Gentile church was continuing in their faith here. We need to understand that that's where the the comments we're about to read are coming from. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and we're running out of time let's just look real quickly at verse 6. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, in our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith.

For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you? For all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before the Lord, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith." He is rejoicing in the faith that they have, desiring indeed to help it to be stronger and better but rejoicing in the faith of the believers to whom he is writing that's the context in which we see what said in the next chapter turn over to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and look at verse 13 here we have hope and comfort expressed But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." What a comforting expression of what's going to happen. Glory's coming.

The Lord's coming back. You have a future that doesn't involve this battle which defines your present. Understand, salvation refers to being saved from the effects, from the consequences of sin, justification. Salvation is descriptive of what's going on right now, our sanctification. And salvation also refers to things that happen in the future, our glorification.

Part of what we must be in this battle is hopeful. Hopeful, optimistic, looking forward to what we will enjoy with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God our Heavenly Father, with the Saints for eternity. Looking forward to glory, let's read on. But concerning the times, chapter 5 verse 1, and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, remember they, them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape." Notice, he's not saying you, he's saying they.

This is someone other than them, these are the unbelievers. This is what's going to happen to them. "'But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let those who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." As a helmet the hope of salvation. Here we have an explanation for the helmet that's described as the helmet of salvation in Ephesians 6 I do very sincerely believe. For God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing." The hope of salvation.

Glory. That's the salvation for which we hope. We enjoy being justified right now. We are experiencing being sanctified right now, righteous living, seeking to put on that breastplate of righteousness. And we hope for glory.

We look forward to glorification. If you are battle-weary and beaten and bruised and discouraged, remember it won't always be this way. Glory is coming. You have a hope of salvation. You have an assurance of salvation that you can't lose that makes your mind sound and protects your mind.

You are currently being sanctified and you have a hope of salvation in the future. Not just a hope, an assurance Christ has won this victory. Glory is coming And the troubles of this life will be as a moment. So endure them with hope, with the helmet of salvation, with the hope that is related to salvation. Salvation in its future aspect, that's the only part of salvation that we hope for, that we look forward to, that we're not currently experiencing.

We're experiencing sanctification, we have experienced justification, we hope for glorification, We look forward to that. We look forward to that. And a hopeful army is a good army. A hopeful army has good morale. A hopeful army goes into the battle understanding that victory is won and having that assurance and not worrying that God is somehow going to suddenly get weaker than the devil and that we're somehow going to lose and Christ won't come back and we won't be with him in eternity.

We don't have to worry about that. Keep that fully in the front of your mind. Be a Christian full, full, full of hope. John MacArthur describes his understanding these verses like this salvation has happened to you it is happening to you and it will happen to you. Justification, sanctification, glorification.

It's what's talked about in Hebrews chapter 6 where we read, you have this hope of a future fulfillment, the final aspect of your salvation. You have this hope of a future fulfillment, the final aspect of your salvation. There's an important part of our salvation, which is that to which we look forward. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 2, we have by this divine power been granted everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and excellence, for by these he's granted to us his precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." you will be a partaker of the divine nature. You will not always have this sin nature with which you battle.

This decaying corpse around your neck as it's properly understood to be that you want to be rid of that causes you to do what you wish you wouldn't and not do what you wish you would. You know what beloved Spurgeon said about this? He said, I paraphrase, I've searched my nature as thoroughly as I can and I find nothing in my nature friendly to grace." Spurgeon and the Apostle Paul. But it won't always be this way. Better times are coming.

Believe God about that. Get behind that shield of faith. Don't let your perspective be temporal. Let your perspective be eternal because it'll change how you fight now. It'll change how you engage in this battle today if you realize the victory of which you are assured tomorrow.

Be a hopeful Christian. Wear that helmet of salvation. I've already resigned myself to not getting to the part about the sword of the Spirit. We had an entire conference on the sufficiency of scripture by the tapes. Let me say this.

It's not enough to have a Bible or to have a sword. We need to know how to use it. We need to trust it. We need to understand it is sufficient, that it is perfect, that it is the revealed word of God. This is the part of the spiritual armor with which you're most familiar.

So I console myself in not saying more about that because I believe you already know it. The sword of the spirit, the offensive weapon. That sword that is not this great giant broadsword, that's not the word used for it here. It's the little, agile, quick, parrying thrust, hand-to-hand sword. The thing to be handled well, known well, intimately, always with you.

Always with you. Never too heavy. Never too cumbersome. Never left behind. Always at your side.

Always with you. That's why we hide it in our heart. So that if we find ourselves locked in a little cell and it taken away from us physically, it can't really be taken. Oh brothers and sisters, treasure the word for the Lord. I don't know what kind of times are coming for you.

Our government is telling the Army that you're a hate group, not to be tolerated in this age where tolerance is worshipped. The battle is real. We've slipped a long way from the nation that was mocked as being established on a Presbyterian Parsons rebellion. Brothers and sisters, the best thing we can do to turn this nation, more important than who's the president or what the Supreme Court does, or a whole host of other things about which Christians really, really concern themselves. Not to say those aren't important, but the most important thing we can do is return to worshiping our God and spirit and truth.

That's where we've lost our way. That's how this nation got where it is now and departed from where it was. That's how a godly inheritance is squandered. But it doesn't have to stay that way. I don't know the will of God, But if you and your churches and your family will commit to worshiping God, I believe that's the most powerful thing we can do to reverse the course of this nation.

And brothers and sisters, whatever God's will is in our lifetime, whether we all end up in jail cells or martyred for our faith or whether we're permitted to continue to enjoy peaceable lives, the spiritual battle will come. It's a reality. Because God is our friend. That means the devil is our enemy. And he has fought against the true worship of God from the time of Cain and Abel.

And he fights with a vengeance against it now. And it is our duty to fight with all that we are to worship God properly, to walk before Him in truth, to advance the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For more messages, articles and videos on the subject of conforming the church and the family to the word of God. And for more information about the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, where you