The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Ephesians 6:10-20announced as the main passage for the sermon on the full armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace;
16 above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
19 on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the Good News,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
cited in the retraction as the verse addressing masters
9 You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.
quoted to show that the multifaceted wisdom of God is made known through the church to rulers and authorities
8 To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ;
10 to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places,
quoted on being dead in offenses, the prince of the power of the air, and being made alive together with Christ
1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
noted as the only place in the Bible where the Greek word kosmokratoras appears
12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
cited as where Jesus prays for unity and says the Father should sanctify them by the truth, noting your word is truth
1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
quoted on the beautiful feet of the one who brings good news and announces peace
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray walked through Ephesians 6:10-20, the full armor of God passage, and framed it not as a personal checklist but as a communal calling, a "y'all" situation. He tied it to the larger argument of Ephesians, that the church is God's only plan for making his wisdom known to the spiritual powers of this world.
What was said
Before getting into the passage, Pastor Ray offered a clarifying note from last week. He had cited Young's Literal Translation in a way that made it seem as though that translator only emphasized wives. In fact, the same emphatic treatment was given to husbands, children, servants, and masters in sequence. He also acknowledged that he had softened the word "slave" into "servant" when connecting the passage to modern employer-employee relationships, and he wanted to push back on that himself.
The opening command, "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might," was the first thing Pastor Ray wanted to sit with. He said Paul is not asking anything of our own willpower. The sentence goes right on to say "in the strength of his might" because God is almighty. The implication is that we do not identify primarily as sinners who keep failing, but as saints who have access to his power. He referenced an aunt who passed along something she had heard: that Jesus said he did nothing outside of what the Father gave him to do, and that is the same posture we are meant to have.
The reason we need armor at all is that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Pastor Ray was direct about this: the people who argue with you, oppose you, or make you furious are people Jesus died for. Going after them as though they are the enemy is wrong and gets in the way of what God wants to do. The actual opposition is described in the Greek as kosmokratoras, a word used only in this one verse in the Bible, meaning cosmic or world forces. He noted that Pantokrator, the term for Almighty God, and Kosmokrator, the term for Satan, are parallel in form but not in power. The enemy operates within a designated jurisdiction and no further.
He then connected this back to chapter three, where Paul says the multifaceted wisdom of God is made known through the church to the rulers and authorities. That is the cosmic assignment. God has no plan B. The church, gathered, unified, and walking in his power, is how the spiritual powers of this world are shown that God wins. Pastor Ray called it a cosmic game of Red Rover, and said we are on the winning side.
Going through each piece of armor, Pastor Ray emphasized that all of it is defensive except the sword. The belt of truth guards against misinformation and error. The breastplate of righteousness, he said, is not about winning arguments. It is about walking humbly and incongruently with what you know to be true from God's word. The gospel of peace on your feet means you go out every day knowing the battle is already won. The shield of faith extinguishes the small, persistent doubts that chip away at whether what you are doing matters at all. He used the example of Mike in the youth ministry and the kind of discouragement that can come after years of faithful work. The helmet of salvation guards the mind against the enemy's suggestion that you are not really saved, something Pastor Ray said hit him hard during his first weeks on the mission field.
The passage closes with what Pastor Ray called a comms check. He said the armor means nothing without prayer running alongside it. The language of the passage piles up: all times, every request, all the saints, all perseverance. He read that accumulation as intentional. It is all-encompassing because the conflict is cosmic in scope and the God on our side is almighty. He asked the congregation to pray specifically that when he opens his mouth, boldness is given to him to make the mystery of the gospel known, echoing Paul's own request while writing from chains.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
Pray for Revival at the Rodeo this week, even if you cannot attend the event at the Rodeo Grounds.
When someone frustrates or angers you, stop and pray for them instead of responding with the same anger they brought to you.
If the Holy Spirit brings someone to mind, stop and pray for them right then, or reach out to them.
Ask God to show you his will for your day and consciously remind yourself that your strength to do it comes from him, not from yourself.
Memorize or sit with the truth that your struggle is not against the people who oppose you, so that when conflict comes this week you can respond from that place.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray mentioned that being 'strong in the Lord' means the strength comes from God, not from us, and he contrasted identifying as 'a sinner saved by grace' with what Paul calls us, which is 'saints.' How does the way you think of yourself day to day line up with that, and does it actually change how you live?
The sermon emphasized that 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood' and that the people who oppose or frustrate us are people Jesus wants to save. Where do you find that hardest to believe, and what would it look like practically to respond to a difficult person the way the sermon described?
El pastor comenzó recordando que la batalla cristiana no es contra personas sino contra fuerzas espirituales. Usando Efesios 6:10-20, explicó que la frase "sed fuertes en el Señor" no es una invitación a depender de uno mismo, sino un reconocimiento de que solo el poder de Dios nos sostiene. También aclaró algo que había dicho la semana anterior sobre la Traducción Literal de Young, para no haber dado una impresión equivocada de ese texto.
Al repasar la armadura de Dios, subrayó que casi todas las piezas son defensivas, porque nuestra lucha no es contra la gente con la que discrepamos, sino contra poderes espirituales que los tienen ciegos. Quienes se oponen a nosotros son personas por las que Cristo murió, y responderles con ira o desprecio nos saca de la voluntad de Dios. El cinturón de la verdad, la coraza de justicia, el calzado del evangelio de paz, el escudo de la fe, el yelmo de la salvación y la espada del Espíritu son lo que Dios ya nos ha dado para mantenernos firmes en un terreno que Cristo ya ganó.
El sermón terminó con un llamado a la oración constante, que el pastor describió como una verificación de comunicaciones dentro de la armadura. Orar en todo tiempo, estar alerta, e interceder por todos los santos, incluyendo por quienes predican el evangelio, es lo que permite que la iglesia cumpla su papel en este conflicto cósmico. La mesa de comunión que siguió fue una manera de anclar todo eso en la muerte y resurrección de Cristo.
---
Pasajes bíblicos mencionados:
Efesios 6:10-20
Efesios 2:1-10
Efesios 3:8-11
Juan 16:33
Juan 17 (oración sacerdotal)
Isaías 52:7
Hebreos 11 (mencionado como "Efesios 11" en la grabación, claramente un error del hablante)
Read the full transcript7,617 words
Speaker 2Hold
Speaker 1you sit down and it's not gonna come up on the screen, can you all take a deep breath with me? And would you recite the Lord's prayer with me? Y'all can start. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 2Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our
Speaker 1trespasses as we those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,
Speaker 2but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom,
Speaker 1and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Now y'all can have a seat. Thank you, Ray.
Thank you, Jeff. Yeah. Announcements. We have a couple of them this morning. Revival at the Rodeo starts tomorrow evening.
Tomorrow evening at 7PM at the Rodeo Grounds. Revival at the Rodeo Grounds. Yeehaw. That is fun. That's gonna be fun, and so we're looking forward to that.
It'll be a kind of a band from various churches, and Brad is gonna be bringing the message wrestling with God or encounters with God at least. So here we go. Looking forward to this. Be praying for it. Even if you don't go, be praying for it.
But it ought to be a lot of fun. So that's revival at the rodeo. Seeking truth in your twenties started last week, and that is happening. We'll make sure it's happening again tonight. There you are.
It's 06:30. 06:30. Thirty. But it's seeking truth in your 20s. Six, 06:30.
Get there. Alright. 06:30. Out at the McCooey's Place, North Roberta Drive out behind the airport. And we also have this coming up and I know you can't read that, but this is a reminder of Compass Women's Care.
There's a benefit that's coming up on July 9, I believe it is. Wait a second. When is it? July 9. July is July 9 for sure.
And you all remember when we had Tim Hodgson from the Bar J, the fiddling man from the Bar J, he came and he brought a band here and they took Sunday morning a few months back. It was fantastic. That's the band for that night. And they would like for you all to know that ahead of time and like for you to sign up ahead of time. There will be a great speaker from Students for Life and there will be a Hoedown Supper.
It will not disappoint. Alright? So please plan on doing that. Also, Carolyn Warzyniak is the is the executive director over there, and she is here today. There she is.
And it's her birthday. Hey. Hey. Hey. And we are thankful with you for what's going on with Compass Care and for what God is doing in your life and in the life of this church through what you're going through.
I wanna pray for Carolyn right now. Thank you Lord for another completed trip around the sun. Way that she her family, for the way she loves her church and this community. And Lord, thank you for the way that she loves you because that is what empowers all of that. In Jesus' name, we ask a blessing for Carolyn Marziniuk today.
Amen. Amen. Gonna make me cry. I think there's probably more, but that's all I'm gonna do for today. So if you would like more information, you can go to the church website, and I think that's it.
Y'all have anything else? Three more songs. Would you stand with us? And we will continue to praise the Lord together.
Speaker 2I'm not ready. Thank you, guys. This next one's the first time for me. I've never heard this song. Nick made me play it, and I like it a lot.
Very thankful.
Speaker 1Y'all know it, though.
Speaker 2It's called leave it there. Everybody here knows it except me. So listen to Maria. Don't follow me.
Speaker 3Who made you learn this one, Jeff?
Speaker 2This was Van. You know, they tell you, you're gonna lead singing, and it already tells you what to do. Alright.
Speaker 1Yeah. This time. Well, y'all have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward and would y'all pray with me? Lord, thank you for this place to come and gather.
Thank you for this place in general. There's so many people here who who are having the trip of a lifetime and they're surrounding us, lord. For those of us who are locals, may we recognize the opportunity that we have to bless the world. In Jesus name, may we bless them, lord. Thank you.
Thank you for the opportunity to just live here and for those who are traveling and joining us today, lord. Thank you for the opportunity to visit and to find yourself in the midst of the body of Christ in this area. So, Lord, for the whole capital c church, we just wanna do what you want us to do, Lord. Would you show us how to do your will in your way? Would you carry us forward, Lord?
Direct us. Guide us. May we walk in victory. May we walk in a way that reflects your goodness and glory onto this world. May we be a little microcosm of heaven.
May it be on earth as it is in heaven. Lord Jesus, would you make it so? In your name we pray. Amen. Okay.
Here we go. Jeff. Thank you. Jeff. Thank you.
We got dueling Jeffs today. Ephesians six ten through 17 is a normal passage for full armor of God. I think it goes further than that. I think it goes to 20 because without prayer, none of this happens. Right?
So, the full armor of God and then a comms check. If we're going to speak in military analogies, full armor, we gotta check our comms too to make sure that we've got a communication going both ways. So, here we go. Ephesians six ten through 20. First off, retraction or clarifying addendum to the sermon last week.
Now, there are some of y'all who would wish I would retract a whole lot of stuff I said last week. Not gonna do that. I do wanna say though, retraction for the Young's Living Translation. I misrepresented literal, not living. Young's Literal Translation of the Bible.
I shared a slide of the Young's Literal way too small for y'all to read, way too small for me to read from up here. That's it. And I said, when it got to verse 22, I said, Young's Literal actually translate this the wives and he stomps his foot with an exclamation point and he does but he doesn't stop there. So, he says, the wives in verse 22 with an exclamation point and then he says, verse, the husbands in verse 25 and then he says, the children in verse six one and then he says, the servants in verse six five. And then he says, the masters in six nine.
So I just didn't wanna misrepresent that that translation. He's saying this is the way that each of you that find yourself in this particular position, wives, husbands, children servants, masters. And I also kind of brought it forward and said, hey, if you have to, you can you can say servants and masters as employees and employers, but it's not. We all know it's not. Slave is a very different position to be in.
So I don't wanna leave that there. And I do wanna say that God has a lot to say to the folks who are in the traditional traditionally authority role. And it kinda continues in this next part. But I didn't wanna miss that. When I got away from it, I I was actually embarrassed that I said, oh, God.
And I didn't say that happens. Okay? So couldn't sleep at night. Finally finally, Tanya says never ever ever say in conclusion or finally, it gives people false hope. Don't do that to him.
So, finally, up here, it is Paul's closing. So, he's going to be closing. We're not gonna finish Ephesians today. I'm gonna leave the last little things and we'll go back, hit Ephesians one more time next week. But finally, after all that he said and especially after he shared this kind of revised household code, everybody knew how society around them was acting.
And he's elevating people that have been subjugated, I think. Finally, finally, be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. He's just out of the box saying, it's not your strength. You are not able to handle this.
You cannot do this alone. So finally, be strong in the Lord. And then as if that were not enough, the sentence goes, and in the strength of his might. Because he is what? Almighty.
He's almighty God and he has brought you out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of marvelous light and he will empower you. I said last week, we've got folks from this stripe and this stripe and this church. We got 40 something nominations represented. If I kept on about every ism that is this ism versus this ism in Christianity, we have all of those people in this room right now. Okay?
But we are called to be unified and the only way to do that is in the strength of his might. I had a professor in seminary who would not sing prone to wander lord, I feel it. He would through that verse. I get an amen from somebody just saying that. When we say, my sins there are many, his mercy is more.
It's almost like it gives us an excuse to sin. No. The truth is our sins, they are many, but we don't have to identify as that. If we identify, well, I'm just a sinner saved by grace instead of what Paul calls us, saint. Sinner saved by grace is a saint who longs to do the Lord's will and is able by his might and by his power to actually do it.
That's amazing. What a privilege. If we wake up in the morning thinking, what a privilege it is it is to serve almighty God. He has all the resources that I need to do what he wants me to do. If I am strong in the Lord and the strength of his might, things will go well for his kingdom today even if it feels like they're not going well for me.
Sacrificially, Jesus came humbled to the father's will. I heard something this week that was helpful to me. One of my aunts from back home called and said, I heard this and I can't get away from it. When Jesus says, I do nothing outside of what my father gives for me to do. That's the same way we're supposed to be operating.
I can do nothing apart from the father's will. So, when we're singing about the father's will and we're talking about the strength of his might and then it goes into, now, be putting on. Be putting on the full armor of God. Now, is it God's armor and we're like David and this is Saul's armor that's way too big for us? No, it's like, it's the armor that God has provided for us.
These are the things that he has given us. You've heard the sermon a 100,000,000 times. I'm sure that all of them are defensive except for one, sword of the spirit. We'll get to that. We'll get to that.
I wanna just think about this today. Putting on the full armor of God is saying, dress yourselves. And I am an American. I said a few weeks ago that I used the new American standard because I'm a new American. Right?
But not as new as I used to be. Gracious. Putting on the full armor of God, I have always read that I have to do that. This is a y'all situation. Why do we do this?
Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. He doesn't have any new tricks. As Mike is fond of saying in the youth group, there is no new news. There is just old news happening to new people. The tricks are the same, causing you to doubt, causing you to question, did God really say?
Right. In the garden, he still says that to us today. So that we will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. That's why we put on the full armor of God. And I wanna say again, that is a y'all.
It's not you individually. It's y'all. Y'all. Okay? So so that y'all will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
If we go after a consistent logical extreme that leads us to an ism that moves us away from the balancing paradox in scripture, then we're wandering off the middle way. We're wandering off the way of Jesus who was absolutely centered on the will of God and he understood him. And some things take nuance. It's not always so do do able able comms check, And and you have to know in which case are we right now. Right?
So that you all will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, Paul says. For our struggle, again, it's emphasizing the y'all when it says our. It's not your individual struggle necessarily, it is our struggle. And it's not against flesh and blood. There will be a lot of people who disagree with you to the point of wanting to fight with you over it.
There will be a lot of people who disagree with us to the point of wanting to fight over it. Those are people that Jesus wants to save. Those are people for whom he died. And so our struggle is not against flesh and blood. If we blast them and make them look like fools, that does not help.
Jesus saved them. Okay? Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. You can't think of it that way. I hate that guy.
I can't stand that guy. They just make me so mad. God, help them. That's the better option. Right?
God, help them to see. God, beyond that, instead of me just retreat meeting them with what they met me with, instead of me meeting them with the same kind of angry and vitriol that they met me with, Lord God Almighty, would you use me to show your grace? Would you use me to show your love? Would you use me to show what you want them to see of you in me? And let me get completely out of the way of it.
Oh, to be forgotten so that you may be remembered, lord. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Those are people that God wants to save, and they are in the midst of a spiritual battle too. So that's why our armor is defensive. A lot of the reasons why our armor is defensive.
But it's against the rulers. Now rulers is properly from the beginning, it's our cases where we get architect, people who start from the beginning, But it just means anybody that has priority or is preeminent. And in this world, the prince of the power of the air is actually unfortunately preeminent. In the eyes of the world, he has blinded the eyes of the world. Biggest trick devil ever did was to convince me it didn't exist because you can manipulate them.
If you mention that you actually believe that there is an capital e, enemy or the devil or Satan, whatever, you mention that and people just go, come on. That's ridiculous. Little man with red underwear and horns, that's crazy. That's not that caricature is not it. There is an enemy.
There's a ruler of this world. There is. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against powers. Powers is exousia. That is conferred power or delegated empowerment authorization operating within a designated jurisdiction.
When I see that, I remember a guy named Joe Parker who was one of our missionaries down in Mexico with us. When we got down there actually, I'm gonna tell a quick story. I got time. This morning, I woke my family up with Joe Parker's way. This is crazy.
He's a missionary in Mexico. I went down there, and I was like, how did I spent the night with him on a Saturday night, and Sunday morning, he turned the stereo speakers up to eleven, the amplifier all the way up, and he turned on Yes Roundabout. Do you all know what that song is? It's ridiculous progressive rock from the late seventies, and he or maybe early. He he just let it blast.
And when they were in their stupor, he's like, time to go to church. I did that to my family this morning. Same song. Pascal goes, what is going on? He used to always say, Ray, the devil is God's devil.
He's God is almighty and there is an opposing power, but he's not equal. He has already lost Designated jurisdiction here and no more, and you cannot touch one of mine. Now, we are going for everybody else too. We want everybody else to come to know. God wants for everybody else to come to know.
But the devil is doing everything within his designated jurisdiction. He's doing everything in this world to try to keep him from coming to that. So our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and the powers. The rulers and authorities, it says in chapter three, he's already told us this. This is one the most exciting parts of the book for me because I'm now a preacher, a pastor at a church.
It says that, I mean, Paul's going on and on, but to me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to be able to preach to all of those others, Gentiles, everybody else, not the Jews, but everybody else. To preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to enlighten all people everywhere as to what the plan of the mystery which been kept for hidden in God who created all things so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to whom? The rulers and authorities. This is who our struggle is against. We are gonna show that God can.
He only has plan a, does not have plan b. We're it. The church, capital c church is it. People who know him and appreciate how good he is, showing that to the world and telling that to the world. And this was all in accordance with the eternal purpose which he already carried out, past tense, in Christ our Lord.
The victory has already been won, but we're living in the midst of a day where a defeated foe is still making all kinds of racket and trying to take down as many as he can. So our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's not against people. Much as you disagree with what they're saying and what they're doing, that's not where our struggle is. It's against the rulers and the powers.
You can bring it down from heaven to earth if you want to. I think it's talking about heavenly powers, but there are plenty of abuses of earthly power, but they're motivated from the spiritual realm. Against the world forces of this darkness, I had to share this Greek word just because it's awesome. Kosmokratoras. Kosmokratoras, the world forces are cosmic forces.
If you look down at Cosmokrater, if you come from an orthodox background, you're used to hearing Pantokrater. Pantokrater is the term for Almighty God and Cosmokrater is the term for Satan. So when it says cosmic forces or world forces, it's talking about the devil. It really is. Influence in the lives of worldly people.
It's only used here in the Bible. It's only used in Ephesians six twelve. But he's talking about that realm of influence. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, against rulers, against powers, against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness. We don't need as human beings a whole lot of coaxing to do that which is wrong.
I could I thought of 50 examples yesterday in my own life that I didn't it didn't take any coaxing to do that. I broke that thing. I tore that thing up when I was little. I did all kinds of mischievous nonsense. Well, I didn't need a whole lot, but there's something within us or there's something around us, something that is motivating us, especially before we know Jesus because we've got the still we still got the still small voice.
Even even they outside, those that you think your battle is against, they even we have the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit that is also at work. The spiritual forces of weakness, we don't need a whole lot of convincing to be wicked, honestly, in the heavenly places. That's what our battle is against and to know that there are things that motivate us that we don't even fully understand. But we've got our the world, the flesh, and the devil, and we've got almighty God through his Holy Spirit. We can hold on to this with pride or we can go in humility.
And like Jesus, completely bowing to the father's will as the song says. He took the crown of thorns. All this was in accordance. I think I said that already. Here we are.
Back to Ephesians two for just a second. Though we were dead in our offenses and sins in which we previously walked according to the course of this world, that's normal spiritual forces of darkness according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit. He's now working in the sons of disobedience. He still has his reign and he's going with it. Among them, we too all previously lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we were by nature children of breath just as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us. He, even when we were dead in our wrongdoing. So does that say he still loves them who are dead in their wrongdoings? He does. He does.
And if you hate them, you're absolutely out of the will of God. He made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And he raised us up with him and he has seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are on team God but team God is trying to win over folks from team devil.
Alright. Are y'all getting how cosmic this really is? It's amazing and Ephesians is so perfect. I'm just in awe. So that in the ages to come, he might show the boundless riches of his grace and his kindness towards us who are in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you've been saved through faith. That's not of yourself. It's the gift of God. It's not a result of work so that no one can boast. But listen, we are his workmanship and we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.
There are things that God prepared for us beforehand. Some of those things are evangelistic. Some of those things are mercy ministry. Some of those things are prayer, intercessory prayer. Some of those things we were created for and he's created us individually, he says, with differing gifts.
But he's getting the job done with plan a and y'all are plan a. We're plan a. It's a cosmic game of Red Rover, Red Rover. But we're on the winning side. Okay?
We're on the winning side. Therefore, take up the full armor of God. That's an imperative. Y'all be taken up the full armor of God so that you'll be able to resist on the evil day. And that said, so that you'll be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
So that you'll be able to risk the evil of that. When is the evil day? Well, this says, make the most of your time because the days are evil. Redeem every bit of time we've got left. So that you'll be able to resist on the evil day.
The temptations will still come but take up the full armor of God and you'll be able to resist the temptations. You can walk in victory. That is not heresy. Okay? I'm not talking about sinless perfectionism.
I'm talking about being able to walk day to day. Today, I didn't drink. Today, I didn't do the thing that I'm so prone to do naturally. Supernaturally, I can get over this and have so that you'll be able to resist on that evil day. And having done everything, you'll be able to stand firm.
Stand your ground. So if the victory has already been won and he died as it says for the sins of the world. The victory has already been won. Can we stand firm? We're holding ground.
That's what we're doing. We're holding ground that Christ has already won and it's a good thing to think about that. Stand firm. Don't let your heart be led astray. And he's gonna give us the how to's here in a minute.
But how to how to do everything? Do y'all know Watchman Knee? Have you ever read anything by Watchman Knee? It's amazing. Yeah.
Really good stuff. His commentary on Ephesians is called sit, you're seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Now, be walking worthy of the calling with which you've been called walk and then stand and the stand is stand firm. Stand firm therefore. You ever see two things that close together, it says, so that you may be able to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore. He has made it possible for you to stand firm. He has made it possible for you to resist temptation. Stand firm, therefore, having belted your waist with truth. If you keep on if you if you just stay in the same place where he found you.
Right? If you just stay wherever it was that Christ found you, he's redeeming you out of the kingdom of darkness and putting you in the kingdom of light. There are new things to be discovered there. There are new things for you to see there. There is truth over here.
He's brought you out of the lies. Don't keep living in the lies. Stand firm. Having belted, great grammatical little thing there. Having belted is this happened already.
To be cognizant that I have belted myself with truth. Now, there are a lot of different ways your mind might go. Capital t truth, truth, goodness, and beauty. Truth like not a lie, not an error. Truth, Jesus says, in the high priestly prayer, John 17, he says, father, sanctify them by your truth.
The same place where he told us to be unified, right? He says, may they be one just like we are one. Father, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. It's bedrock and we know it's good.
It's still possible for us to misunderstand but it is truth. So knowing that you've got that on your side, you have the truth, Jesus, the truth, the Bible, the truth that your comms check will provide. Having belted your waist with truth. That's right there with you. I don't leave the house without a belt more now than ever.
Right? I ain't doing that. I don't wanna be embarrassed. I'm gonna remember putting my belt on. So the truth is really, really, really important.
Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now James Montgomery Boyce, great great Presbyterian preacher and had a radio hour, really good stuff. He said the first sermon he ever preached was when he was 13 years old. He was on a football team at 13, which he was a little guy anyway. I think he was.
Maybe not. Might be thinking somebody else. John, do you know? You quoted him on Wednesday. Boys is great.
He said he was playing football, he had his helmet, and he had his pads. And when he went through this list, he had a note stuck to the back of each one, and he was scared to death to be up there. But he was doing it. Having your belt, he showed him his belt, and he read the little note on the back. And he said, and then I started expository preaching.
It was thirty five years before I got back to this passage. And he said, when I got here, I made a course of life to just keep on coming back to this passage because it's so good for us, practically speaking. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, something that will protect your heart, something that will protect your core is righteousness. Now, I've already said it about 10 different ways since I started. You can walk in victory.
Walking in victory is walking in humility. And in humility, you can walk a righteous life. If you insist on being right in an argument, that is not righteousness. Okay? Righteousness is where you can humbly disagree with somebody and say, wow.
That's not the way that I understand that and walk it out incongruent to God's word. Right? To the truth that you know. So you can walk in righteousness. If you are putting on the breastplate of righteousness, you are.
Lord, I long to do your will. Show me your way and I'll walk in it. And I'm gonna stand firm that way. Amen. What is truth?
Defend against? Error. You think we live in the information age? We live in the misinformation and disinformation age. You have to have truth to combat misinformation and disinformation.
Righteousness, whether people admit it or not, actual righteousness is always attractive. Actual righteousness is always attractive because lawlessness, sinfulness is its opposite, unrighteousness. Having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace. The good news that there is peace in Christ Jesus. Even though there is a war around us, the war is already won and knowing that that war is already won gives peace in the midst.
So let your heart not be troubled. In this world, you will have trial. You will have tribulation. You will have trouble. But take heart, I've overcome the world.
John sixteen thirty three. Having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace. This also is obviously drawn from Isaiah. Isaiah fifty two seven and since we're living here, Nick was all up in the mountains yesterday with those beautiful feet. How delightful on the mountains are the beautiful feet of the one who brings good news, who announces peace, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to God's people, Zion, your God reigns.
Having strapped on your feet, the preparation of the gospel of peace. It is easier to go out every day knowing that the good news of Jesus wins the battle. Now, in addition to all this, actually, I think the better translation maybe take up the full armor of God. It says, so you're taking up these three things and then this taking up the shield of faith is next. In addition to all or maybe in everything, in every circumstance that you might encounter in everything, taking up the shield of faith.
Walk in faith. The shield of faith. Why? This one says what you'll be able to defend against. You'll be able to defend against and extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
So faith is the evidence of here we go. Faith is the certainty or the evidence of things hoped for. It is the proof of things not yet seen. Whenever you see hope in the Bible, in the New Testament, it is always saying hope does not disappoint because hope is an absolute certainty that has not yet come to pass. So now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
For by it, faith, the people of old gained approval. If you wanna see the hall of faith, start right there in Ephesians 11 and go from Abraham on down, you know. Faith is what we take up because there will be little fiery darts that are coming at you all the time. Let me sit with that for a second. The little fiery darts that are coming at you all the time.
An example of that might be, Mike, why are you doing this? Why are you still doing this? He's our youth director. Why are you still doing this? Man, has it really made a difference?
You got 27 seniors this year. Yeah, but they're going to be gone next year. Give up, man. Let go of it. That's a fiery dark.
But his faith says, hey, when I started this, we didn't have it just a handful. It's amazing to have 25 seniors. There are like a 100 kids coming. The truth is that it does make a difference. The gospel makes a difference.
He's always talking about making good choices, living a righteous life even though it might not be popular. He's doing this. And if you do this, it'll extinguish all of those flaming arrows. They're still coming though. I don't wanna go backwards.
Let me go forward. Take up the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation. This is one of the places where the enemy would attack me when I moved to the mission field. The first two weeks were the worst two weeks of my life without any close second.
And mainly because he got in my head. I began to think that I was not saved. How can it be? And I had those fiery darts for coming big time. You undertake something important, something that an assignment that God has given you to walk in, and there will be attack.
There will be fiery darts. But if you're ready for it, it helps. I was not ready for it. I needed for my pride to be quashed, humbled, and it was in a glorious fashion, the helmet of salvation to know that you are saved. You can have blessed assurance.
Why? Because it's in the Lord, and it's in his might. It does not depend on me. I just trust in what he's already done. I could not be good enough to keep it.
I couldn't be good enough to get it in the first place. But if I'm strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, then I can know that I've been saved because I've trusted in the way that God has made. Period. Don't let the devil tell you, oh, you you're not in. If you're in.
And don't let him say, oh, you're fine. You don't really need salvation. Who needs saving anyway? That's what our society says. Who needs saving?
Why? Who's in peril? Yeah. I don't see any of this stuff. Man.
Take the helmet of salvation. You can have blessed assurance that Christ has done all that was necessary and when you humbly our word or our opinion. It is the word of God. Not ours and not our opinion. So the word of God wins the battle.
That's what allows for new ground to be gained. There might be people that say, I had a dream, I had a vision, whatever, but God always brings them to the book. He always brings them somebody that knows the truth. And then that truth being shared advances the kingdom, if you will. The whole world has been one as far as the possibility is there, but people, individual people, acceptance saying, I want that.
Still remains. So here it is. The truth is, the word of God is what wins the battle. That's what always wins the battle. Now the comms check is this, with every prayer and every request, and we get a lot of them.
And sometimes I miss them for two or three days. Sometimes it's it's like, oh my goodness, I can't believe I did not know that already. But with every prayer and with every request, this is an imperative for all of y'all, all of us. Pray at all times in the spirit. Be connected.
Even the stuff that we don't know. You can sense that God just wants me to pray for so and so. By all means, pray for him. If he says, God wants me to reach out to so and so by all means, reach out to him. With every prayer request, be praying at all times in the spirit and with this in view, be alert.
Be alert with all perseverance and every quest for all the saints. Does that sound like a lot? It's all and every, all and every, all and every. Actually, if you go back, I wanted to do this. I didn't do it on the slide.
But where it says power, power, power, power, or strength, strength, power, power, strength, strength, strength. And then it says, all, all, every, every, every. It's because this is an all encompassing thing. It's cosmic in scope, and it's almighty God and your own team, almighty God. And he's saying, be alert.
No sleeping on for the new generation. No sleeping on perseverance now. No sleeping on prayer. Every request for all the saints always be ready to be interrupted and to be ready to pray. Be alert.
Be awake. Another version of that. And be praying, Paul says, in my behalf. And I echo that from Paul. Y'all be praying on my behalf that speech may be given me in the opening of my mouth.
To make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. I didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it, but yet we have it. So for all of those other people that don't deserve it, what are we gonna do? Do this.
Do this. If you do this, some of those folks will come in. There'll be some people who resist. But by all means, go for it. May I speak with boldness the mystery of the gospel?
Pray. Pray with every prayer. Always be praying. And then he says, for which I'm an ambassador in chains. So that goes back sort of to the very beginning of the book where he says that he's a prisoner and then the beginning of this hortatory or exhortation section where he says, I'm a prisoner of the Lord and I urge you to manner in a to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called.
With all humility and gentleness and patience, be bearing with one another in love and be diligent to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. I'm an ambassador in chains, but I wanna be proclaiming the gospel that I may be speaking it boldly as I ought to speak. And if you speak the gospel boldly, it's not about you. It's about Jesus. With boldness, I can say he is good.
He knows everything that you're going through. He cares about it, and he wants to bring you into a place of peace and righteousness where you can resist the schemes of the devil and where you can stand firm. I think that's it. Man of sorrows. We already sang that.
I'm gonna ask the ushers to come forward. Elders to come forward, I guess, today. And would y'all pray with me? And the band is coming up. We're gonna sing something.
Okay. I think we're gonna sing Are You Washed in Blood? Would you pray with me? Lord God Almighty, thank you for the precious blood that was spilled. Lord, but as we celebrate this communion time, I also want to first think about this bread.
You said it is your body which was given for us and the body of work, lord. You had a perfect record. You walked it out in the flesh, in this world. You know what it's like to go through everything that we are going through. Yet, you were without sin.
Thank you that you walked it out in submission and you showed us the way. But Lord, you also were the way. So I pray that you'd bless this little cracker that's representative of the body of Jesus. As we distribute, Lord, for anyone who would partake, it's an open table. Anyone who's put their faith in Jesus, whether it be many, many years ago or in the last fifteen minutes.
Lord, I pray that they would partake and it would be an encouragement to them that your life mattered. That your perfect records transfer by your blood mattered. So Lord, I pray a blessing on this as we distribute it. For each who would not let it pass because they don't have not trusted you or don't know yet. Lord, I pray that you'd use the one sitting around them to eventually move their heart.
Amen. Did you play something pretty? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth what were strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. He said to his disciples on the same night that he was betrayed, after supper, he took bread and he broke it and after he had done that, he said, take this.
This is my body which was given for you. Take this in and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for for submitting to the spirit and for discerning the will of the father by prayer. For often withdrawing into the wilderness to know what to do.
Know when to do it, to know when your hour was to know, lord. Thank you for all of that full life that you live. May we be able to follow after and live in the abundance of life that you provided. Lord God, I also pray a prayer over this little representation of the blood of Jesus that takes away the sense of the world. Lord God, thank you for the voluntary and sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
Lord God, I pray that you'd bless this little representation as it's distributed for everyone that would partake and for those that pass again. Lord, I pray that you'd use this team of of humble and obedient servants to bring them into the kingdom of life. Amen. I think I'm gonna sing a song. Is that alright?
It's always alright in the second service.
Speaker 3When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died. My richest gain, I count but loss and poor content on all my pride forbid it lord that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God. All the vain things that charm me most. I sacrifice them to his blood. See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingle down.
Did there such love and sorrow meet? O'er thorns compose so rich a crown. Worth the whole realm of nature mine that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Oh, the wonderful cross.
Oh, the wonderful cross bids me come and die so may truly live. Oh, the wonderful cross. Oh, the wonderful cross. All who gather here, thy grace draw near and bless your name. Let's sing the first verse again.
When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory he died, My richest gain, I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. In
Speaker 1the same manner that he had taken the bread, which is very different manner than the way we took it this morning. I think a common loaf of bread probably, a common cup of wine. We got a rice free gluten cracker, whatever, and a little plastic cup of Welch's. Representative though of the same thing. He said, this is the new covenant in my blood.
In the strength of his might, be strong in the Lord, in the strength of his might. This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this, take it in, drink of it, do it as often as you will, in remembrance of me. Amen. Would y'all sing the doxology with me?
Would you stand? Sam, could you give us a G?
Speaker 3Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below.
Speaker 1Amen. I don't know why I even asked for a key. May the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and may he grab hold of you this week like he grabbed hold of me last week. Amen.
