Address—Bob Thonney
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Turn to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 34.
Last chapter of Deuteronomy.
Verse one.
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is, over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, and to Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea. That's the Mediterranean Sea and the South, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the city of palm trees.
Unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swear unto Abraham.
The Isaac and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed, I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes.
Thou shalt not go over thither, so Moses the servant.
Of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord like to pause there quite a panorama. We read that Moses wasn't abated in his natural force nor in his sight. So as he stood up there on the top of Mount Pisgah and saw the whole land before him, it must have been quite.
A tremendous panorama. He deeply wanted to go in, and it's beautiful to see in the New Testament the amount of transfiguration. Moses did get into the land, not during his life, because he was the Lawgiver. And the law will never bring you into blessing. No, it brings you to the border of it. But it was reserved for another servant of the Lord Joshua to bring.
Him into that land. And that's what we have in the next book, the next chapter, really.
Just like to tell you about southern Bolivia. A little bit down in southern Bolivia there is a mountain too.
It's called Cherokee, and on the southeast side of that mountain is a little town called Santa Barbara.
Easy for me to remember because named after my wife.
But that little town sits at the altitude of about 15,000 feet. I'm not sure if there's any other meeting on the globe that's quite as high as that one, but it's, uh, interesting place to visit. And the brethren that live there have told me that they look down and they can see the planes fire flying under there altitude. It is so high there that when you walk uphill, you walk.
Pretty slowly and you walk huffing and puffing, but there's a little meeting there. As far as I know, they're still breaking bread there in that place. But it is a beautiful place to look out over the countryside and see how long distance away you can almost see up to the city of Uyuni, which is 100 kilometers away. See a long ways.
Just imagine how Moses looked out over the Promised land, that land flowing with milk and honey and the desire of his heart to go in, but he couldn't. And now Joshua. In the first chapter of Joshua we'll read a few verses here. After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses minister.
Saying, Moses, my servant is dead now, therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people.
Unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
From the wilderness in this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, this Mediterranean Sea shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Thee strong.
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And of a good courage. For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them.
Only be thou strong and very courageous.
That thou mayest observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded thee.
Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst prosper whithersoever thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein.
Day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then shalt thou have good success.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. And so Joshua was the one that led them into the Promised Land. Now, before we leave the Book of Joshua to go over to the fifth chapter, please.
For just a couple of verses there 3 verses verse 13.
Came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, by Jericho that lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went up unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay.
But as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come? And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
The captain of the Lord's host said unto him unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place wherein thou standest is holy. And Joshua.
Did so. So here's Joshua and he's about now he's across the Jordan and he's about to go in to take the land and he meets this man that has a sword drawn in his hand. You know, Keenan in Scripture is not a picture of heaven when we get there at the end of our lives. It is a picture of where we are right now.
It is.
A zone of conflict. And whenever God wants his people to come into the enjoyment of the blessing that is ours, you're going to find there's going to be conflict.
It starts right when you want to get saved.
Remember being in the South of Bolivia at a place.
Called Ulo where brother Eric Smith started his work amongst the Fukachumpi Indian tribe and there was a lady there. The end of the meeting she said IR that she wanted to get saved. You know what, she had a little baby in her arms and that little baby.
Did not want to be quiet at all. She just screamed and wanted nothing else but to take her mother completely out of that room. And when somebody else offered to take the little baby, it screams so badly that the mother decided not to let that go, let her child go. You know, Satan wants to impede blessing. And that's the conflict that we are in and as soon.
As you desire to go on in obedience to the Word of God and in the enjoyment of those things that we've been talking about in these reading meetings, let me tell you, there will be conflict. There is. We are living in a war zone, not a war, bullets and bombs like there are in parts of this world, but nevertheless, a very real war is going on.
And if you are here a seeking soul for salvation, let me tell you, there's somebody that doesn't want you to get saved.
But you can get saved by repentance toward God for those sins of yours.
And by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior, the sinners, the one that hung on that cross.
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The one that paid the price of our redemption. You Simply put your faith and trust in Him. He will save you and He will save you now.
There's somebody that way here. Let me encourage you just simply right where you are sitting to open your heart to the Lord Jesus and to accept Him in your own personal faith as your Savior. But I want to speak mainly to those who are believers in the Lord Jesus. And it has been evident to me when we have taken up these subjects of heavenly blessing, the enemy makes determined attacks to keep you.
You can't take away your blessings.
No, they are eternal, but He can take away the enjoyment of your blessings and that's what the conflict is about.
Remember in southern Peru one time we were visiting the town called Quora Quota. It's way up in the mountains. In fact, it's kind of at the end of the road. And from there we went on in by a foot to preach the gospel into the Andes of that section of southern Peru.
And we met some believers there. I don't know that they were connected with any denomination as such, but they had heard the gospel and they said we'd like to have a meeting and talk about the Scriptures. They were not very well instructed. So we started out with some very basic things about our blessing and the forgiveness of sins that it speaks about that we've been talking about in Ephesians chapter one.
And how that you can have it as a present possession. You know what happened while we were there, some drunky came to the door. It was a WI uh, door was opened onto the street. This drunk guy comes up and he starts hollering in at the door. And thankfully it was in Quechua. And so I didn't understand what he was saying, but all the attention of the people went towards the door.
And the drunk guy, I don't know if he was saying that stuff that interesting that they didn't pay attention to me anymore, but somebody had the grace to go and take him gently by the arm and lead him down the street and around the corner and hope he would stay away that way. Well, he stayed away for a little bit, but he made his way back eventually to the doorway again and started hollering again. You know, Satan uses anything.
Sometimes even good things in themselves, but to keep you from enjoying the portion that is ours in Christ, dear young person, and older ones too, we need to realize that if you're going to live in the enjoyment of it, it is a zone of conflict.
It said every step that you step on will be yours, but every step they took it was contested by the enemy and so they went forward in battle.
I sometimes think we just, I was brought up in the meeting too, you know, and I remember learning lots of wonderful things in the meetings. But just because I heard him and kind of stored it away in my memory didn't mean that I had it. Time came when I had to make it my very own to put my foot on it, to speak in that way.
And to possess it for myself, this precious truth of the forgiveness of sins, to be able to say that I have the forgiveness of my sins according to the riches.
Of His grace, what a tremendous blessing. Some people look at me and say, how dare you say such a thing? Who can know that this side of heaven?
You can know it by simple trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Precious truth.
Their spiritual blessings and so.
Joshua, when he was going into the land, he meets with this man with a drawn sword. Who was this man? We know now that it was the Lord Jesus, and Joshua probably thought himself rather important at the head of the armies of Israel, and he walks up to them to see who this is.
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And says, are you for us or for our adversaries? Notice how he answers nay. Why did he say nay? Joshua, you don't have the right perspective on this.
I'm come as captain of the hosts of the Lord.
And dear brethren, it is such a tremendous comfort to your heart because we live in a war zone, because we live in a place of spiritual conflict. Sometimes you might get discouraged, but let's take comfort with what Joshua saw and he how he was reminded there was one who was the captain of the host of the Lord.
Remember Mr. Eric Smith talking about this?
And he said it this way. The Lord said to Joshua, Joshua, there are no ranks in the soldiers here in Canaan. I'm supreme, get back in the ranks, Joshua, you're just a common soldier. And take off your shoes, too. Nothing more humbling to a soldier than have to go barefoot. But he had to do that. And I think it's so important, Brethren, we're going to enjoy these things.
We've got to lose sight of what we are as men in the flesh. It's not.
What I am, it's not what some other gifted brother may be, it's who that supreme person is, the Lord Jesus Christ, captain of the host of the Lord. Now I want to go back to the book of Ephesians. What we've been having in Ephesians is that panorama of spiritual blessing that we have gone over in the first chapter and this last reading meeting we took up the question of.
The inheritance that is going to be ours when the Lord comes to take the inheritance as his own. But I want to go to the 6th chapter because there we have the conflict that we cannot escape.
If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus, this is going to be what you will experience if you're going to enjoy.
These spiritual blessings, let me tell you that the enemy is going to try to shake your joy. You can't take away the blessings. Again, I say you can take away the enjoyment of your blessings. So let's read from verse 10.
Ephesians 410 Finally, my brethren, the strong in the Lord.
And the power of his might, isn't that beautiful?
We live in days of weakness and ruin of the public testimony. Is that reason to be discouraged? Dear young people, maybe you come from small meetings. Let me encourage you that the power that is available to carry you through is just as great as it was on the day of Pentecost.
The strong in the Lord.
And in the power of his might, just like he exhorted Joshua to be strong and very courageous, so you and I are told to be strong. And in the in the power of the Lord, in the power of his might. And then it says verse 11, put on the whole armor of God, that you 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 or heavenly 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.
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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. And for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds.
That therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
Well, here we have the whole armor of God, and I'd like to kind of go over this.
And apply it practically to our lives. Rather, I think it's so important to have the truth in practicality. You know, sometimes we have an understanding of it in the mind and we might be able to even explain things.
You know, when I went to South America, started visiting amongst those brethren and I got closer to them, I noticed that sometimes they were not very able to explain things very clearly, but they did. They had laid hold of them in their hearts. And it was a challenge to me. We as Americans in the North American continent are challenged to try to understand things and to be able to explain them and.
I don't say that that's wrong.
But that is not where you possess the truth of God. You do not possess the truth of God in your mind. The mind is only a channel by which the truth should by meditation, get down into the soul and the heart. It's what you enjoy of the truth of God that's going to have power in your life and mine. And that's so important to lay hold of it in the soul and so.
There are here 7 different things we want to talk about. The first one is.
Verse 14 having your loins girt about with truth.
That means put it on. The soldiers used to have a wide belt that go around their middle and as they battled, that belt would strengthen them. There is nothing that makes you strong like the truth, but put it on.
Not enough to know about it in your minds. Put it on, make it practical. Or I like to use the word practicable.
Practice it. And that's where it comes as a real challenge. And we have to challenge ourselves constantly on this. We have the truth when we speak about the truth objectively, your young people, and when we speak about the truth in its absolute sense, we have to be careful.
To say that we're speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ who said I am the way, the truth and the life and his precious word. The Lord Jesus said thy word is truth. There you have it.
In its absolute mess.
Are there is there to be truth in US? There should be, but don't look at me for believes because.
You might see something else than truth.
So you might see it subjectively in me, but objectively, look at Jesus.
He is the truth in the absolute sense and His precious word that we have in our hands, important to keep that clear in our souls. But what we're talking about here now is putting it on. And one of the points of truth that we have in this book, we have in chapter 4, it says in verse 4.
There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. One body.
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Yes, one body. And what does that body composed of every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
You look around City of Richmond and Vancouver, you say 1 body.
I see so many different bodies that say they're Christians. What are you talking about?
Yes, the public testimony is in ruins and you're not going to see it there. You're gonna see it in the truth of the Word of God, but it's still a reality. Now, in 2009, it is still a reality. There is one body, and it really rejoices my heart. To be able to act in view of that truth doesn't mean that I can have fellowship.
With everyone who says they're a believer in the Lord Jesus, no, doesn't mean that often point out to young people and others too that one thing is to be a member of the body of Christ. It's another matter the fellowship of the body of Christ. There's two different things and you need to distinguish what we're talking about but think about that the truth is there is one body and so.
As we walk in this world, we need to gird ourselves with that truth that there is one body. And wherever I meet a believer in the Lord Jesus who manifests his faith in the Lord Jesus, I say he's part of that same body that I am. And my responsibility is to seek to be a blessing in any measure that I can to him. Well, there's many ways we could speak about girding on the truth, but it is so important.
To put it on, meditate this book, dear young people and older ones too, Meditate on it until your mind is saturated with the word of God. Somebody has said so that when you think it is no longer your thoughts that you're thinking, that thoughts that God has shown us in this precious word, and then make it practicable in your life, put it into effect.
When I see the need there is all around the world of Christians who don't have much teaching, young people, you've gotten tremendous teaching. Are you getting a hold of it for yourself? Now? Gird it on and pass it on to others. That's the truth of the one body of Christ that's saying we have to go join some big organization to mobilize people into action, no?
You obey an individual basis and enjoy that. Yesterday and the address, our brother showed that faith is an individual thing. And I wanna challenge you young brothers especially make it your own, Meditate on it, let it sink down into your soul and then turn it on and go to be a blessing to others. That's the truth of the body of Christ there is.
One body member in Bolivia, we had some difficulties down there some time ago and there was a some that split off. They would not have fellowship any longer. And I happened to be in a town where one of those brothers was and I said to him.
As I visited him, I said, uh.
Still love you, brother, He says, yeah, it's too bad that the body of Christ is all broken up into bits. I said, I've come here, brother, because I want you to know the body of Christ is still one. It's just we that have trouble showing that to the world because of our fleshliness. You know, that was a different idea to him. He hadn't ever thought about that way. Thankfully, he's back in fellowship now.
At the Lord's Table, you know, it's a challenge in the day we live and it's not easy. I, umm, was recently in the country and I'm not tell where it was, but.
With some brothers that I have known for some time.
Was not on this continent, but uh.
When I when the meeting was started, the brother.
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Uh looked at me and gave me quite a piece of his mind that he was not happy with me or those that visited there.
So much so that I wondered just what my place should be there in view of his feelings. And after he got done he looked at me and.
Wondered my my reaction was when I didn't immediately react, he says. Maybe I've offended you, brother. If I've offended you, please forgive me.
I said, brother, you haven't offended me, but perhaps you don't want me to interact here because of your feelings. If that's the case, please tell me. I don't want to push myself on you. No, there's there's place for the Word of God. So I opened the word of God in First Corinthians 12, first of all, to show that by 1 Spirit we are all baptized into one body.
And then we open to Ephesians chapter 4, where it says, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I said to him, Brother, it's evident that we have some differences. But you know what? I didn't choose you to be in the body of Christ, and you didn't choose me.
Somebody else chose us both and they put us in the same body.
We'd better figure out how to get along together because nothing is gonna change that truth as much as we have our differences. Brethren, it takes some endeavoring to do this with all loneliness and meekness. Anybody like to volunteer that they got at all already? I think we all recognize we are lacking in those traits. Loneliness, meekness, long-suffering.
For bearing one another in love. And I looked around to those dear brothers and I said I know the Lord loves them. I can't just hook up and pull out. I've got to see what I can do to be a help here.
Oh brethren, may the Lord give us the GERD on the truth in whatever way it is. Make it practicable. The enemy has done too much damage already, pulling us apart.
Because one thinks they know a little bit better than another. What was the Spirit of our Lord Jesus when He stood before Pilate?
His face running with the spittle of those soldiers, his back bleeding.
Is there any tendency on his part to claim that they haven't treated me right?
Absolutely nothing. Oh, what an example from my heart. May the Lord help us, dear brethren, to gird on the truth. It will make us strong to stand in days of trial.
And then the second part of verse 14, it says having on the breastplate of righteousness.
Breastplate was a plate that covered the breast of the soldier. You've seen pictures of it. Sometimes it was a solid piece of metal. Sometimes it was kind of more like a coat of mail that the arrows as they came in, they couldn't penetrate. And so it would protect the soldier. Very important because one arrow through the heart and that soldier is not going to do much. He's gone.
So what is the breastplate of righteousness? It's practical righteousness here, and I like to think of it as a good conscience. Very important to maintain a good conscience, Paul tells Timothy, in first Timothy, the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart and of faith and faith and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned. Very important to maintain a good conscience. What is conscience?
Conscience is what man got in the Garden of Eden when he ate of the forbidden fruit. Remember, God told him one tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And he says not to eat of it.
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They were innocent before it meant innocent means without knowledge.
Conscience is a word that means with knowledge of good and evil and you. Every human being has conscience. That's why even a little child, he gets ready to do something. He knows it's bad. He looks around to see if his mom is watching. Why does he do that? His conscience. Everybody has a conscience.
You have a good conscience.
You know, Scripture speaks of a purged conscience. That's what we have when we come to the Lord Jesus as Savior and he washes away our sins, his precious blood. We have a purged conscience, but then we need to be always exercising a good conscience. Paul says in the book of the Acts, says herein, do I exercise myself to have a conscience always?
Without a void of offense towards man and towards God.
How is it?
You know, that little favorite sin you just kind of allow in your life, it's going to take away that breastplate of righteousness and you're not going to be fit to engage the battle with the enemy. How important it is to judge ourselves.
I noticed in my own life that often.
The day is so busy that maybe I don't recognize I've misstepped in a certain area. I've found often the Lord wakes me up at night and brings back to my knowledge things that weren't what He wanted them to be, and then I have to judge them to maintain a good conscience.
So extremely important. What do you allow in your life?
The Internet. Are you watching stuff you know is wrong?
Don't you realize that the Lord is right there with you and He's watching that too? I ask you if that's the case, in whatever area it may be in your life, judge yourself.
In the Lord's presence and be done with it.
Maintain that good conscience, Paul says. He doesn't say I always have a good conscience. No, I exercise myself to have a good conscience. So it's a con, constant exercise because we're passing through a world that is contaminated everywhere you look. We need to have that exercise in the book of Hebrews, the end of the book, he says.
Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things. Willing to walk honestly. May the Lord help us. Dear brother, we need to pray for one another too, because sometimes we are in situations where contamination is pretty rank. We need to cultivate a good conscience before God. That's the breastplate of righteousness.
Then the next one is verse 15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
That is very important feed always speak of our walk and how are you walking in this world.
The way you walk prepares the ground for the gospel of peace.
You don't walk right. How can you open your mouth to give out the gospel? It's important. The part of the soldier, the Christian soldiers armor, the feet shod with the preparation. It's not the gospel of peace, but the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Verse 16 We have a very important part above all.
Taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And I think this is such an important part of the armor. The way I have it in my mind is that the soldier is right-handed. At least you'd have his sword in his right hand and he'd have unbuckled onto his left arm this shield, and he could defend himself against the blows of the enemy or the arrows that might come in to down him.
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And so it was a very important point. He could raise it to defend them from an arrow that might be coming in. But what are these darts, fiery darts of the enemy of the wicked? I'd like to just say their doubts.
Satan wants you to doubt God. That's the way he always works. He worked that way in the Garden of Eden. He came up to Eve. He said, yeah, as God said. He put a question in Eve's mind, and in the end he fell. And Adam did too, even though Adam did it with his eyes wide open. The woman was deceived. But Adam.
Did it with his eyes wide open.
Oh, trust God, Never let anything take away your trust in God. You may doubt me, You may doubt others who are believers in the Lord Jesus. I can understand if you doubt them, but don't doubt God. Remember meeting with a man. We are having our tire changed. Hit a flat tire in Bolivia and met a man there at the place where we're getting it changed and.
I said that I gave my gospel tract and I said, are you a Christian?
I used to be, I said, what do you mean you used to be? Well, I was a Christian and I was going to this church in La Paz. The pastor turned out to be a fake.
I said, well, I can understand how a pastor might turn out to be a fake, but I say, why do you doubt God? I don't understand that.
Well, I never thought of it that way, but you know, sometimes people use any little excuse.
A failure on the part of some of those who are called Christians to doubt God.
Yes, there's failure in God's people, but you'll never find God unfaithful to His Word. He always stands by His Word, above all taking the shield of faith.
We're with you be be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Trust God implicitly. Let nothing come between your soul and your trust in God, even though you don't understand what's going on in the world around.
And in your life, as it applies to you, trust him implicitly.
A verse that we often quote and I enjoy.
Proverbs 35 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.
All your heart is there some little corner of your heart? You're kind of entertaining a doubt as to the Lord.
Get it out into the light. Let.
The light of the word of God exposed that little corner of doubt. Don't allow it to be there. It can be fatal. You let in one little doubt and the shield goes down because this soldier has been weakened, and in comes another doubt, and in comes another, and all of a sudden that soldiers done for.
Dear young people, dear older ones too, don't doubt God. That verse in Proverbs 35, the verse six says, uh, uh, the last part of verse five says lean not to thine own understanding. And in the Spanish it's interesting how it reads.
Vietse dejoba de todo tu correzon Y no estrides into propia, prudencia and the word for.
Lean is a word in the Spanish that means the stirrups. When you run mountain, when you get on a horse, you put your feet in the stirrups, and when you start getting off to one side, you put your weight on those stirrups to get yourself straightened. That's the word that you use. You have some understanding about things in this life. I suppose you do have some understanding, but don't lean on your understanding. Use the understanding you have.
I'm not saying you should not use it. Use it, but don't lean on that. Lean on the Lord with all your heart and not on your own understanding. That's what it means. Well, let's go on here because it touched these other parts of the armor.
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Verse uh.
17 now and take the helmet of salvation. That's the part that goes over the head. Very important, our thinking. Take the helmet of salvation. I'd just like to read a verse of a hymn that to me explains what the helmet of salvation is better than. Maybe I can even explain it. Listen and I'll try to explain it after I read this. It's the 16th him and the appendix in the last verse.
Says for every tribulation, for every sore distress in Christ.
A full salvation sure help and quiet rest. No Fear of foes prevailing.
I triumph, Lord, in thee, O Jesus, friend, unfailing, how dear art thou to me? That's the helmet of salvation, the knowledge that in the end he's going to bring us out victorious. And if a soldier goes into battle knowing he's going to come out victorious, with what confidence he wages that war, That's the confidence that belongs to us put on.
The helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. It's not our sword, it's the spirit sword, and you're gonna wield it. You ought to do it. Independence on the direction of the Spirit of God. Sometimes we think we can wield it on our own. No, is as the Spirit of God gives us. It's what the Lord Jesus used against the enemy.
Every time he came along with a temptation, the Lord said it is written.
And the devil came back with a scripture too. And what did Jesus say? It is written again.
He could not be.
Uh, taken out of the path of complete obedience. He is the sword of the Spirit. You know, there's a tendency in my mind sometimes to reason with people.
And I suppose there is such a thing. Scripture speaks about it in the book of the Acts that Paul reasoned out of the scriptures.
But.
There is something that is more.
Uh, powerful than reasoning. It is the word of God. It's the sword of the spirit. It's extremely penetrating. And I liked what Brother Heinz said in the reading fill your minds with the word of God. Give that because that's what God uses to give to communicate new life.
To dead souls.
I don't know if you've heard the story of Giovanni Graniti in Italy. There was a little gospel tract, maybe some of you have read it. But years ago, when he was just a young man, maybe 19 or 20, he was playing poker with some of his friends and a knock came at the door and it was Mr. Firapata. They let him in and he gave them all gospel tracts and he repeated twice one verse in John chapter 6.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Just repeated it twice.
Went out, he shut the door, but that was the verse that Mister Granidi could not get out of his mind. He tried his best when he went home to forget it, to go to sleep. He couldn't get out of his mind is what God used to communicate new life to that man. And he was a real blessing in his life. So use the word of God. It's the sword of the spirit. Now one thing more here.
That's six things. And the last thing is verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints.
Praying, the spirit of the Christian soldier is a spirit of dependence on God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication. Supplication, to my understanding, is something that is more intense than just prayer. Supplicate. God wants us to mean business.
00:50:17
When we pray, dear brethren, may the Lord help us. I really believe that we.
Don't know very well how to pray. We're too busy for one thing. Maybe some of you have heard what Martin Luther said years ago when he was alive. He says. I have so much to do every day. I dare not take any less than three hours to pray.
No wonder God used that man. May the Lord help us to know what it means to pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching there into in other words.
Waiting for results.
With all perseverance and supplication for All Saints, sometimes we.
Stop with just those that we are acquainted with, brethren, the Lord give us in our hearts affection to embrace.
All God's redeemed people. And then one further thing. And for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds. Pray for God's people. Some are in bonds today.
In different parts of the world, do we remember them? Scripture is pretty clear that we should remember them in prayer.
Lord stir us, dear young people we have, and dear older ones too. We have a tremendous panorama of blessing that's been set out before us. My desire is to see you walking in the full enjoyment of that. But I know, sure, as I'm standing here, that the enemy is going to try to take away your enjoyment of it. Don't let him.
Gird yourself with a whole armor of God. Stand in the evil day. Having done all, stand the Lord help us. We have so much that we can be encouraged by. Yes, there's a lot of things to discourage, but I sometimes say, put all the negatives on one side, put all the positives on the other. Which is greater? Without question, it's the positives.
That God has for us. We have every reason to take courage and to go on. Dear young people, we're getting close to the end. The Lord's coming at any moment. Are you awake or are you asleep? You know, the world around is basically asleep. They don't know where they're going.
And many times Christians are pretty well asleep as well. I think the Lord is allowed things.
In our lives to awaken us. He's coming again, and may He give us even in these days to walk in the full enjoyment of that portion, the Lord Jesus, as one for us. Let's just pray, Father.