Detroit Conference November 1965
Hymn 197
“Oh God, what cords of love are Thine,
How gentle yet how strong.
Thy truth and grace their strength combine
To draw our souls along...”
Ephesians 6:1010Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10): “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
In this portion that we have before us, we have the whole armor of God. When I thought of this I thought of the group of young people here. In my mind I pictured it like this: just as if we thought of each young person here in all the freshness and energy of youth, in all the happiness and joy of fellowship and meeting one with another. Then, supposing that right outside this building there was an army ready to attack us. Wouldn’t we be very much concerned? We would surely say; “We must be prepared because there is an attack about to be made upon all the young people here, and the older ones as well.” Well dear young people, there is an unseen power that is seeking to hinder your happiness and your progress. That power is the power of the prince who is spoken of in the 2nd chapter as: “The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:22Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Ephesians 2:2)) This world is Satan’s palace. It is dressed up of Satan to deceive. But God has saved you and I out of it. He has given us “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven” for us. (1 Peter 1:44To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, (1 Peter 1:4)) But there is a conflict; not a conflict to get the inheritance for it is already ours by faith, but to walk here in the joy of it. In fact, I was thinking too in this epistle how, if you or I had been writing it we might have put this conflict in the very first chapter, but God puts it in the last. He tells us in the first chapter that He has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:33Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (Ephesians 1:3)) He tells us that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)) He tells us about the length and breadth and depth and height of the inheritance and how we’re loved with a love that passes knowledge. All this before we read anything about the armor and the conflict. Because God has blessed us through the work of Christ according to His eternal counsels. As we have been having in these meetings, not one blessing that we have comes to us through any effort of our own. It’s all through the work of Christ. It’s all through what He did for us on the cross. It’s secured to us, and not one who has really received the Lord Jesus as Savior will be missing in that coming scene of glory. I know each dear saved young person is surely going to be there. The Lord is going to bring you there because He has pledged Himself as the Captain of our salvation to bring many sons to glory He says “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” Neither shall any man pluck them out of His hand. It might be that there is someone here who does not have the knowledge of eternal security, who thinks you can be lost again. But God tells you distinctly that your blessing depends only upon what Christ has done and that you are eternally secure in Him. If you don’t know that the devil does. So the devil doesn’t try to take salvation away from you because he can’t. What he tries to do is to keep you from the enjoyment of it now by faith. He doesn’t want you to be a happy Christian.
He doesn’t want you to walk in this world in the enjoyment of your portion. He knows he can never keep you from entering those courts of glory but he can fill your soul with misery now. He can make you doubt your salvation. He can tempt you to go after the world and its pleasures to the robbing of your soul. That’s what he is trying to do. So that’s why, after God has told us in this lovely epistle, the highest point, we might say of the whole Bible, where we see how richly we have been blessed in Christ, He closes it by telling us to take the whole armor of God.
Dear young people, as I look into your faces, if the Lord leaves us here with life before you, how much are you and I going to enjoy of our portion? How much are we going to walk in the precious light and liberty of what God has made known to us? I’m sure as we have been sitting in these meetings and enjoying these precious things some of our hearts have been apprehensive. We have been like Naaman when he was cleansed of his leprosy. The first thing that came into his mind was; “Well I have a situation to meet back home and I don’t know how I can do it.” He said: “When I get back home my master is going to expect me to go into the house of Rimmon.” And he said: “I’ve always done it. How am I going to get out of this?” Amid the joy and happiness of being cleansed from his leprosy and becoming a worshipper of the true God of Israel he realized that there was a situation that was more than a match for him and he didn’t know what to do. Isn’t it lovely to hear the prophet say to him: “Go in peace.” (2 Kings 5:1919And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way. (2 Kings 5:19)) Go in peace. In other words, when you know the Lord as your Savior and you know that God is for you, then you can say: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” I believe that when Naaman returned to his own country again he found that peace that he had received in God’s land accompanied him back to his own land and enabled him to meet that situation with his feet shod, if one might speak in that way, with the preparation of the gospel of peace. So if you are sitting here and saying; “Well it’s lovely to sit in these meetings.” It’s easy to be a Christian when you are sitting in the meeting surrounded by other Christians. But perhaps you are saying: “Oh, but you don’t know what it’s like when I get back home. You don’t know the temptations.” But God does. God does and He’s given you all that’s necessary to give you, not only protection, but to maintain your soul in the same joy that you can have here in these meetings. The Lord isn’t different when you get back to your own home meeting than He is right here in these meetings. It’s the same Blessed One who is filling your heart here who can fill your heart when you get back home. But we do recognize, and the Word of God recognizes, that the Christian life is one of conflict. Not only one of conflict but also one when there are special times when the enemy makes his assault. When the children of Israel entered the promised land there were times of comparative peace but there were also times of special combat. There were times when the enemy came out to deceive and there were times when the enemy came against them with all his power and might. We know
the Gibeonites came to deceive, whereas at other times we find the enemies armed came up to fight. There are different ways the enemy attacks us. He doesn’t attack every Christian in the same way. There are times, I say, of special assault, and if I might say it, I believe there is no time when he makes a more special assault than after the general meetings. Yes, when you’ve had a great victory like the children of Israel did at Jericho. They saw all their enemies completely defeated and put to flight, but then, they went against that little place of Ai and they weren’t able to meet the situation. I’m sure that you realize that it’s going to be so when you return. So how lovely this word: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.” Not in your strength of character, not in the fact that you feel that by all the truth that you’ve learned here that you’re going to be able to meet all the attacks of the enemy. No. The truth is a blessed thing and the truth does set us free, but it’s the truth in power in our souls that gives us strength against the enemy. So it says: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.” In the Lord. We don’t have the strength of character, we don’t have the wit and wisdom to answer all the arguments of the world (the world is full of that sort of thing, especially in our day), but we do have strength in the Lord.
I have noticed, sometimes when God chooses to save a very intellectual man, He saves him through a child or someone who knows very little of the truth. I believe the reason for that is to show that it is the manifestation of the power of the Spirit of God and God can use any instrument to do that. As dear Mr. Darby said: “Our testimony to the world is our joy in the Lord.” Are you enjoying the little bit of truth that you know? Am I enjoying the little bit of truth that I know? This is a great point. How precious is the Lord Jesus to your heart? You may say: “I have learned a great many things at these meetings.” But I repeat the question; how precious is the Lord Jesus to your heart and mine? Has He become more dear? Have these meetings caused you to feel nearer to Him and to know more of His precious love? If it hasn’t produced that result then the meetings haven’t accomplished what was intended. The purpose of the meetings is that you and I might be brought into a fuller knowledge of the Lord Jesus, of His love and of His grace, so that we might be drawn after Him. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.”
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Was He a match for Naaman’s problem? Was the Lord able to help him? When he got into his own land and was tempted to go into the house of Rimmon I am sure he proved the Lord’s strength. Can you name any situation that you are expecting to meet back home that the Lord isn’t a match for? Is there any situation that can arise in your life and mine that you can say: “Well this is too difficult for the Lord.” Oh, you wouldn’t say that, would you? I’m sure you wouldn’t. If you and I are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might then the victory is in Him. “The Lord is our banner, the battle is His. The weakest of saints more than conqueror is.” (L.F. #234)
So we read: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Notice this: “The wiles of the devil.” He doesn’t come, usually, with a great onslaught that we can recognize that it is really Satan who is attacking. He does it in a wily way. He does it in a way that outwits us. We don’t realize what he is about. We don’t realize that little temptation, that little bit of worldly friendship, that little bit of excusing what you know is questionable, is something that is really an attempt of Satan to get you out of the path of simple dependence upon the Lord. Satan knows our weak points. He knows your weak points and he knows mine. Something that might be a temptation to you might not be a special temptation to me. Something that might be a temptation to me perhaps doesn’t bother you. But, Satan has had almost six thousand years experience with human nature. He knows our weak points. He’s watched your whole life. He knows the things that tempt you. He knows the things you yield to, and the things that seem to be of little concern to you. So, he’s going to attack you on those weak points. Perhaps the weak point is something you think you’re strong in, because it’s often so that when we think we are strong in something it’s because we are trusting in our own wisdom and in our own strength. It’s often been remarked that Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived but he failed in his wisdom. Samson was the strongest but he gave away the secret of his strength and became like other men. Job was the most patient but his friends vexed him until he lost his patience with them. We may fail in the thing that we think we’re strong in because we are not on guard in that thing. Whether we realize it or not we have weak points. We have vulnerable points and we have an enemy that is far more clever than we are. He is more than a match for us.
There are two powers that are superior to man: the power of God and the power of Satan. If you and I are not walking in the power of the Lord, in the power of His might, then there’s another power that is more than we can meet and it’s the power of Satan. So it says here; “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Oh how clever he is. As any of us look back on our lives we can see how he used some subtle thing and before we realized it we were carried away. Did you ever do anything in your life that you never thought you would do? You never thought you would do it at all. That just shows that we didn’t realize what a clever enemy we have. He knew just a way to present the thing to catch us off guard and lead us into some path that dishonored the Lord. Oh how wonderful that God in His wondrous grace has fully measured the situation and has provided what’s necessary to meet it with His word and by the power of the Spirit. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood” simply means here that when Israel entered the promised land they used literal swords and their enemies came out against them in conflict to put them to death. It was literal carnage. But we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We are not to take the sword and cut people’s heads off. We’re not to harm people bodily but we do have a spiritual conflict. It is a spiritual one. So it says: “Against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” That means that Satan is the god and prince of this world and he has this whole world arranged religiously, politically, and through its entertainments and pleasures to try to make this world a place where man will be satisfied away from God. The Lord Jesus said: “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he cometh he taketh all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth the spoil.” (Luke 11:2121When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: (Luke 11:21)) Well that strong man armed is Satan, this world is his palace, and unsaved people are his goods. Yes, this world is Satan’s palace. You get the weekly or monthly magazines and what are they full of?
Well it’s Satan’s palace isn’t it? It’s just thrilling to read about the advancements of science and all that they are doing to make this world such a marvelous place. You young people just love to read those things and see the wonders of science, don’t you? To see all about man’s progress, what they’re doing, and what they’re going to do within ten years. It just thrills you. Do you know why all this is being done? Satan’s trying to make you contented with this world. He’s trying to make you think this world is a grand place, a palace. If you are not saved you are part of his goods and he doesn’t want you to be disturbed. He doesn’t want you to know that judgment is coming. He doesn’t want you to think that this world is soon to be burned up. Oh no, he doesn’t want you to think about that at all. He wants you to think this world is a palace, a grand place, but it isn’t. It isn’t. The perception of it is of God.
The Christian, as one has often said, is the only person who has an intelligent outlook on what’s going on in the world. The Christian has been brought into the secret of the Lord. He has been told where he came from. He has been told by God what would take place in this world. He has been told about the end of things in this world: the doom of the lost and the blessing of the redeemed. God has put the Christian who listens to His voice through His Word in an intelligent position so that he can look out on this world and not be taken by surprise. He can realize that the God who is over all is the One who has let him into all His secrets. Oh how wonderful it is dear young people. I can’t tell you what a wonderful treasure you have in this book. I just can’t tell you how blessed you are to have a Bible in your hand. All the textbooks at school are going to change and change and change if the Lord leaves us here. But, here is a revelation from God where God, who knows all about the world, who made it, who placed man in it, tells us what man is going to do in it. He also tells us what He is doing in His grace in it, tells us of this world’s doom, and then tells of the final blessing that will be brought in by the second Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I have been brought into the secret of the Lord. Are you reading the Bible? Are you acquainting yourself with the mind of God? Oh you have a great treasure in this blessed book. It will fortify you against all the attacks of science, infidelity, and atheism if you will just take this blessed book and make it your stronghold, that in which you trust, come what may. So it says here: “Against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” I believe the reason that Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air” in this epistle is because, in this epistle, we are seen as being “blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.” You know when Israel entered the land; the enemy tried to keep them from the possession of the land. But our blessings are up there and the air comes between us and that heavenly scene. So the devil is doing all he can to try to keep us occupied with things in this world so that we won’t look beyond this scene in which we live. He’s doing his best to keep us occupied, I say, with this world and all its progress, but the Spirit of God is lifting our vision above this scene to those bright and blessed scenes where sin can never come.
The Christian is also looked at like Paul here. Paul said he was “an ambassador in bonds.” (Ephesians 6:2020For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:20)) God has sent down ambassadors to this world. He cares for you. He is interested in your boyfriend or your girlfriend. He is interested in your clothes. He is interested in the food you eat. He is interested in all those things. What would you think of a country that sent an ambassador to another and didn’t care whether the man had a house to live in or whether he was cared for and had the proper food. Of course, they care for him. But he’s sent there, not to take part in the affairs of the country, but to represent his country in the other. That’s your part and mine. God does take care about the affairs of your life dear young people. He’s interested in your friends. He’s interested in your getting along with other young people. He’s interested in the health of your body. This is all a concern to Him. But, not to make you an “earth dweller.” Not to make you one that expects to find your portion here but, rather, an ambassador. One who is living in this world, in it but not of it. We find ourselves in conflict with the whole principle on which this world operates. The whole principle on which the world operates is to improve conditions and make a palace out of this world. But the principle on which the Christian operates is to go through this world with the hope of the glory before him, with Christ before his soul, and to properly represent Christ in this world that others might learn to know Him and love Him too.
Then we are also viewed as soldiers, as we read in verse 13. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Yes, the evil day. As I said we are always in constant conflict, but there are certain days, certain times, in our lives that could, perhaps, be properly called the evil day. Pardon me for saying it but perhaps youth is more particularly that time in a special way because you are molding your whole life. It’s your friendships now, it’s whether you’re storing your mind with God’s word now, it’s your attitude toward one another, your part in connection with the meeting, and your testimony to the world that to a large degree is being molded right now. Satan knows that. As I look into your dear young faces, I realize that you only have a short time, but oh how important it is. Oh how I love to see young people who make Christ their choice and who really want to live for Him. I know it’s not easy when you are young to set your sights in the proper way because there is so much glitter and tinsel in this world seeking to fill the heart of the young. But oh dear young people let me tell you, you can make mistakes in youth that will spoil the whole rest of your life. You can make mistakes in youth. I was just talking to a man this week; a Christian who loves the Lord and who is a real testimony for the Lord, but his wife is not saved. He said to me: “We took a trip together. She went to see places and things but I went to see people.” He wanted to meet the Lord’s people wherever he went, but she wanted to see the sights. What a hindrance. He has a divided home. His wife wants the things of this world and he wants heavenly things. Why? Well he made a wrong decision when he was young. He fell in love with a girl that was not saved and the result has been that he has a divided home. You and I can make mistakes in youth that will spoil the rest of our lives. It will mar our fruitfulness and usefulness for the Lord in this world. “Oh,” you say, “Doesn’t the Lord restore?” Yes, this dear man is restored too but the effects of what he did in his youth are still felt in the governmental ways of God to this very day. Oh may the Lord help you to stand in the evil day of youth. In the time when all these things are especially a real temptation may the Lord Jesus become precious to your heart. May His love so constrain you that you and I, each one of us, but especially you dear young people, will look up and say: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Help me.” “The way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:2323O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23))
“And having done all to stand.” Perhaps you say: “Well I don’t seem to be making much progress. I should be learning more.” Well here he says; “And having done all, to stand.” Are you at least holding what you have? The devil wants to rob you of what you have. It says; “And having done all, to stand.” Oh stand for what you have. Do you know Christ as your Savior? Are you gathered to His precious name? Have you got something of His precious truth in your heart that you enjoy? Stand. Walk in the good of it and God will give you more. But make sure that you and I who have something, and if we are saved we do, that we stand for what we have. That we are content to contest it in the face of all that which would seek to rob us of the enjoyment of the things that are ours.
Then it says: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.” Now you will notice that there are different parts to the armor here. It’s quite striking that the first ones given are ones that concern our personal life and walk. The last ones are more connected with the testimony and the conflict outwardly which is the result. But I want to call attention to how it says: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.” Why is it that Satan succeeds in getting his fiery darts into some of us? The loins are a figure of our emotions or desires. Is it because our loins are not girt about with truth? When you hear that a young person has married an unsaved girl or an unsaved boy you know that that didn’t happen all of a sudden. What were they talking about when they went out? Were they talking about the Lord? Oh no. They didn’t have their loins girt about or the devil never would have been able to accomplish that defeat in their lives. So let us get right back to the starting place; “Loins girt about with truth.” In those ancient countries they had loose clothing, but when they were going to go on the move or run they gathered up this clothing. They pulled it in tight around themselves so it didn’t hinder their free movement in whatever they were seeking to do. So it just means this. You can never relax when you are with the world. You can never relax. You can’t just let your clothing hang loose, as it were. We have to pull it about us. We all like to relax and there is a place to relax. In fact, I have enjoyed noticing in the 10th chapter of Numbers that when the children of Israel were to make their journey they were to blow the trumpets. It says that when the assembly was to be gathered together; “Ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.” (Numbers 10:77But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. (Numbers 10:7)) But they were to sound an alarm when they went to meet the enemy. I think this is lovely. You can relax in the enjoyment of the fellowship of those who love and seek to follow the Lord, but you can’t relax when you go out with the world. You just can’t relax. So, the loins are to be girt about. Are you and I keeping our affections and our emotions and all those impulses that are within us under the control of the Word of God? Oh dear young people we are living in an evil day. The market is flooded with all kinds of things to make appeals to the fallen nature of man. I don’t need to tell you this. The world is just full of it. It’s horrible. You can hardly go to school, work in an office, or pick up a newspaper or magazine that isn’t filled with all kinds of things, that if you don’t have your loins girt about, you find yourself caught in the snare of all this modern trend toward freeness. “Freeness” they call it. But what is it? It’s setting aside the restraint of God’s word. You are told to form your own ideas of what sin is. You are not to be governed by the old ideas. You have to think for yourself. So the loins are not girt about. The mind is not controlled by the word of God if we don’t gird up the loins of our mind and be sober. Oh I beseech you dear young people. Have you done this the very first thing? “Loins girt about with truth.” Don’t allow your emotions, don’t allow your feelings, don’t allow those evil impulses within your heart to have their free reign in your life. Be sure that you allow the truth of God to place that restraint upon your walk and ways that will keep you from sin; that will keep you from temptation; that will keep you from being thrown right into the very place where you are liable to ruin your life and testimony.
Oh I beseech of you, remember the very first thing: “Holiness in thoughts, holiness in walk.” If you and I don’t do this there is no use talking about lifting the sword of the Spirit. There’s no use talking about lifting the shield of faith. People get carried away with things because they don’t pay attention to the first part of the armor. I speak to you dear young people; I plead with you, watch, in this day that you live. The days of Noah, the days of Lot, the days when evil and sin are so on the increase, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Be careful, it’s a crooked and dishonest world. Don’t have any part in its evil course. Be honest. Be upright. May your word be known as truth. The Bible says: “But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” (Matthew 5:3737But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. (Matthew 5:37)) The Bible also says: “The wicked go astray from their mother’s womb speaking lies.” (Psalm 58:33The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. (Psalm 58:3)) I ask you, dear young people, are you careful to tell the truth? You may be deceiving your father and your mother but you can’t deceive God. You can’t deceive God. I’ve seen the beginning of a downfall in a young person’s life when he starts deceiving his parents and his brethren. He doesn’t have on the breastplate of righteousness. He’s out doing things and his parents don’t know anything about it. He’s loving this and loving that in the world and he hasn’t got his affections kept under the control of divine righteousness. He’s succeeded in hiding it from his parents. He’s succeeded in hiding it from others. Oh dear young people, no wonder there’s a lack of power in your life. “Is there any secret thing with thee?” (Job 15:1111Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? (Job 15:11)) Have you girded up your loins? Have you got on the breastplate of righteousness? This is what gives power. You know there is a quiet power in a Christian’s life who is asking the Lord what he should do and who is walking uprightly and not pretending to be what he’s not. Oh you say: “But I’m a failure and I wouldn’t like my parents even to know what a failure I am.” They want to know. They would rather know the truth about you and they can pray for you. They want to know because they love you and they want to help you. You are only deceiving yourself and harming yourself if you are trying to cover up. Be honest with yourself and with God and be real and the Lord can bless you. “Having on the breastplate of righteousness.” There’s no better friend you have in the world than your parents. Your parents love you. They want to help you. May the Lord grant that we’ll be kept and preserved, dear young people.
“Having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” The Christian is to walk through this world having his “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” That is, he is to walk in a peace and a quietness in this world, which is the result of communion with the Lord. Well this often condemns us. In other words, we’re not to be what the world calls “worrywarts.” We’re not to be always going about worrying about this and that. But, there ought to be with us a peace and a quietness which is the result of accepting our circumstances as from the Lord. Perhaps I hear some young person say: “Oh but I’ve had a lot of disappointment in my life. I’ve had a lot of frustration. It’s terribly difficult, more difficult than you understand, brother Hayhoe. You don’t realize. You’re older now and you don’t understand what it is to have these disappointments and frustrations.” I say, does the Lord know about them? Does He know all about them? Is He able to give you peace in your heart so that you can go on? The world would expect you to be happy if everything is coming your way. But, they’ll see the life of Christ in you if they see you in the midst of frustration and disappointment and they still see you walking in a peace and a quietness and a love that they don’t know anything about. There’s no testimony to the world that compares with a Christian in the midst of his trials and sorrows and yet he’s walking in quietness and peace before God. Those in the office are watching you. The friends at school are watching you. They know the way they would act when everything was going wrong. A man was working with another man and he said he’d never noticed how he chopped wood or anything, but one time when he was chopping he hit his finger. He noticed that. The unsaved man looked on and he said: “Do you know what the man said? Why,” he said, “He just turned to the Lord quietly and didn’t get mad. I couldn’t get over that.” Why, there was a man whose feet were shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The unsaved man would never have known that that man was walking with God if he hadn’t hit his finger while he was chopping the wood.
This is a testimony; in the midst of our frustrations and disappointments that there can be a peace that reigns in the soul and displays itself in the walk of the Christian. “Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Then it says: “Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
Satan’s great attempt is to disturb the faith of the Christian. I don’t believe, primarily, that this refers to the faith in connection with salvation. I believe it includes that, but, primarily, I believe the thought in this is faith in connection with God’s ways with us. That is, I believe that Satan’s great attempt today is to work on God’s people through discouragement. I won’t take time to turn to it but I’ll quote the passage in 1 Peter 5. It says: “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:77Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1 Peter 5:7)) Then in the next verse it says: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:8,98Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8‑9)) The point is just this: if we don’t cast our cares upon the Lord, then Satan comes in and through his tool of discouragement gains the victory over us. I’ve seen it happen over and over again. I’ve seen Christians who have gone on fairly well, but when discouragement comes Satan gets the victory. Satan couldn’t lead them into the world. He couldn’t lead them into moral evil. He couldn’t lead them into going after progress and being a great person in the world. Oh, but he surely can succeed in getting us discouraged. He surely can succeed. Perhaps some of you young people feel that he’s doing that right now in your heart. You’ve been at these meetings. You’ve enjoyed the ministry, but down underneath there’s something that is discouraging you. You just feel discouraged. Things haven’t worked out the way you would like them to work and you just feel discouraged. Well, if you don’t cast that care on the Lord, Satan has found your weak point. Satan has found your weak point. It says, “Be sober, be vigilant” because it’s when we are discouraged that Satan comes in. This is the way he comes in. He says something like this: “Well if God really loves you why did He let that happen? You were trying to please the Lord and now He let this big disappointment come. Oh, how can He really love you and seek your blessing if it all worked out that way?” Did he ever say that to you? He’s said it to me. Yes, he knows how to get us discouraged. If we listen to him what’s going to happen? He’s going to get the victory. He’s going to say: “Well don’t follow the Lord too closely, You’ll just have more disappointments. Just let loose a little bit and you’ll have it easier. You will get along better.” Oh, how clever he is! What should we do when disappointments and trials come? Cast them upon the Lord. Dear young person, He cares! He cares! He loved you enough to stoop from heaven’s glory, to die on the cross of Calvary to save your soul. He’s purposed for you the richest and fullest and sweetest place in eternal glory. I firmly believe in my own soul that the ones who are going to have the richest and sweetest place in heaven are not the ones that haven’t had any disappointments and frustrations in life.
You know, I was just reading about John the Baptist. Poor John the Baptist served the Lord so faithfully. The Lord said there wasn’t a man like him. He said: “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.” (Luke 7:2828For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. (Luke 7:28)) But John the Baptist had disappointment. John the Baptist was cast into prison. He heard that the Lord was going about doing miracles and John thought: “Well if the Lord is the real Messiah, why doesn’t He set me free? I can’t understand it. I served Him. I announced His coming and now He appears on the scene and I land in prison.” His faith was so shaken that he sent a message to the Lord, saying: “Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:33And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? (Matthew 11:3)) Can’t you realize the disappointment there was in his heart? Hadn’t he served the Lord the way he should? Of course he had. He couldn’t understand it. So, when the disciples of John came to inquire, the Lord wrought all those miracles in front of them. Then He said: “Go and show John again these things which ye do hear and see:...And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” (Matthew 11:4,64Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: (Matthew 11:4)
6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. (Matthew 11:6)) But then what did He say to the multitude after they left? He said: “What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?” (Matthew 11:77And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? (Matthew 11:7)) That was what John was just then. He was a reed shaken with the wind. Did you ever feel like that yourself? The Lord said: “Is that what you went to see? No, that isn’t what you went to see. You went to see the greatest among those born of women.” (Paraphrase Matthew 11:6-116And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 7And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:6‑11)) There wasn’t a person to be compared to John the Baptist. Oh isn’t this lovely! If it had been you or I we might have thought the Lord would have criticized. But the Lord spoke of what was so beautiful in John’s life and He just simply gave that little word for John. “Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” (Matthew 11:66And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. (Matthew 11:6)) It may be that the Lord is using those very things to draw your heart to Himself. If everything went your way you might not feel the need of dependence in the same way. But He has allowed those things and if you could only hear what He’s saying about you and what He thinks of you, you would be surprised dear young person. He hasn’t missed a thing that you did to please the Lord. He hasn’t missed a thing!
Did He let John get beheaded? Yes He did. For John had finished the work the Lord intended him to do. The Lord intended him to announce His coming and that work was finished. So the Lord took him “Home”. The Lord has something for you and Ito do in this world. It may not be in the path that we expect but He has something for us to do. May it be enough for our souls that we’ve done what He wants us to do. That was Paul’s desire. He said: “That I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:2424But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)) So let’s remember this about the shield of faith: those fiery darts, those doubts, not doubts about salvation so much, but doubts about God’s ways with you. I’ve enjoyed this in the end of Matthew. It tells us, when the Lord appeared to His own in the appointed place: “When they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:1717And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. (Matthew 28:17)) Some doubted. You know, Thomas spoke out his doubts. But that verse shows us that there were others doubting beside Thomas. Maybe there are some that speak out their doubts but there are some that don’t. Some hold them in to themselves. But the Lord knew their hearts and how did He answer those doubts. He said: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:1818And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)) If there is some doubt in your mind about the Lord’s ways, remember that. “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” If the Lord wanted to take you out of that circumstance it would be so easy for Him to do it. But He hasn’t. May the Lord give you and I that grace to lift the shield of faith. It will quench the fiery darts. They will fall if we lift the shield of faith and are content to walk in the path of His will.
Then it says: “And take the helmet of salvation.” Well, just a little word about this. The helmet of salvation, that’s for the head. I’d just like to say a little word for those who are going to school and college. We are living in great days of reasoning. We’re living in days when there is so much argument in connection with the things of God. Be sure that you have the helmet of salvation upon your head. Be careful, when you start to discuss the Word of God that you never allow yourself to get beyond “Thus saith the Lord”. We need that because Satan attacks the head. He does that because he knows if you begin to question God’s Word you are in trouble. So, he attacks the most vulnerable place. To you dear young people who are going to school, be sure you have the helmet of salvation and that you walk in that quiet, simple faith that doesn’t allow you to question what God has said. What God has said is the truth. You can stand firmly on it and be sure that it can never be shaken. The Lord said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My word shall not pass away.” (Mark 13:3131Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (Mark 13:31))
Last of all: “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Notice it doesn’t say “my sword” or “your sword” but “the sword of the Spirit”. It’s put last because the only way there can be an effective testimony in your life and mine is that we walk in obedience to God’s word. You see, the enemy is trying to hinder you from being a good soldier of Jesus Christ. He’s trying to hinder us from being in this world as a testimony for Him. If he can get us “wounded”, then how can we use the sword? A wounded man, the sword drops out of his hand. So you see God makes full provision, first in our walk, then of our talk. So He says: “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This is the only offensive weapon that the Christian has. The only way that you and I can really accomplish anything in this world is not by the keenness of our arguments, but by living to please the Lord and using the word of God. The two things go together. The testimony we live and the testimony we speak. Gideon’s men had a lamp and they had a trumpet. In Philippians it says: “Ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.” (Philippians 2:15,1615That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. (Philippians 2:15‑16)) There are the two parts to the Christian’s testimony: the life we live, which we’ve been considering, and our spoken testimony. That is the word of God, the sword of the Spirit. It’s only as we’re living in communion by the Spirit that we can effectively use the Word. Satan used the Word on the Lord, but Satan used the Word to try to get the Lord out of the path of obedience. You know, sometimes I’ve actually heard Christians use the word of God in an attempt to lead some other Christian to do some worldly thing. It’s possible to do that. Satan did, and Satan can use you to do it too. He can use me to do it. We can even take the word of God as a means to serve our own ends. So, people will take the word of God out of context and use it in that way. The only way that it can be used for blessing is as it’s used in communion by the Spirit. So the Lord, in answering Satan, answered by the word of God in the power of the Spirit and Satan was overcome.
Then it says: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” Well, God has told us about the whole armor and now he concludes with this: “praying always with all prayer and supplication.” Obedience and dependence are so important. Are you and I on our knees?
Dear young people, Satan and this world are more than a match for us. We can’t meet these things in our own wisdom and strength. God has given us what is necessary for the conflict in the whole armor of God. But then He has said: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication.” Oh, I ask you, when difficulties come, do they lead you to your knees? When they come do they lead me to my knees? Oh you say: “ I wring my hands. I feel so upset. I just boil inside.” Well, did you ever get any victory that way? Of course not. May God grant that each time Satan attacks we’ll just be sure we have put on the armor, and have sought to be before the Lord that our own life would be such as would be pleasing to Him. Then get down on our knees and say: “Lord this is a difficult situation. Keep me. Keep me. I can’t keep myself.” We need His keeping grace. So I say again as I close, dear young people, we’re living in difficult days. The Lord is about to come. May the Lord keep us for His praise and His glory. May the Lord grant that you, dear young people, who are looking out in life, may have your lives ordered in such a way that He will be glorified and that you will become a blessing to those you contact. That you will become a blessing in the assembly where you are, and may each one of us seek to live day by day in this world waiting the time when the Lord Jesus will come and take us out of the scene of conflict. When, as the little hymn says:
“‘Till of the prize possessed
We hear of war no more.
And oh sweet thought forever rest
On yonder peaceful shore.”
(LE #312)
But be sure you don’t lay down your armor too soon. Don’t lay it down. As long as you and I are here we’re going to need it. But, when we reach that home then we can lay the armor down. We can, as it were, ungird the clothes. I’ve often said: “To me, one of the joys of thinking about heaven is first, the joy of seeing the Lord. I love to think that I’m going to be in a place where I can fully relax. I can fully relax.” I believe that when you and I get to heaven the first thought that will come into our minds is: “This is home. This is home.” When you get home you throw off your hat, you throw off your coat, you take off your shoes. This is home. You relax. Isn’t it grand brethren that when we get to glory and look around, or within, we will not see a thing that hinders, or that we won’t be able to enjoy to the full. Yes, that’s home. That is heaven. That’s what is before us. But this is the scene of conflict. May the Lord keep us soldiers for Him until that day when we reach “Home” and we throw off the things that shackle us down here and enjoy in his presence the fullness of all that His love and all that His death at Calvary has won for us. “Forever with the Lord.” To have His “well done” will surely be more than a compensation for anything we could do for Him.