In this sermon, the preacher begins by urging the audience to tie together the scriptures in their Bibles for future reference. He then emphasizes the importance of being strong in the Lord and putting on the whole armor of God to stand against the devil's schemes. The preacher highlights that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil. He emphasizes the need to take up the whole armor of God to withstand the evil day. The sermon also touches on the purpose of Christ's deliverance, which includes freeing us from the fear of death and the penalty of hell. The preacher encourages the audience not to settle for only one aspect of Christ's delivering grace. The sermon concludes by mentioning the gifts given to the church by Christ, which compensate for what was lost in the fall, such as the gift of knowledge.

Will you turn, please, to Ephesians, the first chapter. Now, should we have, if you have the scripture open, will you follow as I begin reading? And there are three portions I wish to read. We shall read first Ephesians 1, 15 to the end of the chapter, one verse from the fourth chapter, and several from the sixth chapter. Listen carefully. Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him the head over all to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Now to the fourth chapter, and I begin reading with the seventh verse. Just the seventh and the eighth verses. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore, he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Then to the sixth chapter, and we begin reading with the tenth verse. Now, tie these scriptures together by some key that you use, either in the margin, or in some separate piece of paper, or in the white sheets of your Bible, that you might have the material that we're presenting for your use in the days to come. 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 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. Now you will notice that this sixth chapter gives us the scene of battle, the twelfth and the thirteenth verses. 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. History has, in the past, had many different theories regarding the existence of good and evil, but most philosophies of the ancients, at least, were dualistic in that they had someone representing that which was bad and someone representing that which was good. The Gnostic heresy to which the Ephesian letter alludes and with which the Colossian letter deals was a refutation of that type of thinking that was characterized by Plato and some of those who followed him, wherein it was thought that matter was bad. Substance, material substance, was evil. It grows out of the so-called Gnostic heresies, which held that all matter was created by Demiurge or by Satan, if we wish to use the term with which we're familiar, that when man sinned, a pure spirit was imprisoned in a physical body, that matter is evil and spirit is good. This was the philosophy that grew out of Platonism. It had origins beyond that, but we won't bother dealing with that. Sufficient to say that in the time of our Lord, there was a strong thought and a well-held and strongly advocated philosophy that matter as such was bad and had been created by Satan. Now we trace this down and we discover that it was held by the Church Fathers to be a heresy, but if you follow the stream, you will find that after two or three centuries, the man by the name of Mani, a Persian, took biblical terms and put into this system so that we find Manichaeism was a counterfeit religious system that, to some degree at least, infiltrated the Church about the time of Augustine. So this was one explanation. This was one of the descriptions of the origin of evil and the nature of evil, that substance, flesh and bone, was evil. We hold this to be a heresy and to be utterly untrue. We know who the author was because of his very nature. We understand that Satan, Lucifer, was a spirit, spirit being, non-material, non-physical being, and of course by this means he was made good simply by saying that matter that God created was bad, that all matter was bad. That meant that since he was not material, he was good, and it was just a means of whitewashing himself. Now this was, I say, one of the man's inventions, and it influenced a great many people for several centuries. But the Word of God has been consistent with its single testimony all across these centuries, from the very earliest, that evil had its origin with an intelligent being called Lucifer, the sun of the morning, the bright one, the shining one. The Bible tells us that God created Lucifer. Not in his image as man was created, but God created him a pure, brilliant, and beautiful spirit that had power superior to other beings that God also created. Apparently God invested in Lucifer far more intelligence and strength and ability than in others, that this superior one might rule for God over the angels. He served more or less as a prime minister would, functioning in behalf of the monarch of the region. Now being an intelligent being, he had the capacity to imagine what wasn't as though it were. Imagination is one of the highest functions of intelligence. Now we are continually amazed, all of us, when we find something that's been invented, that's been discovered, that's been done, because a man dreamed and had a vision and saw something, then proceeded to take the steps necessary to bring it into being. So Lucifer used his intelligence in somewhat this fashion. If I were God, innocent imagination, if I were God, I would do this. This had no quality of evil about it. But then there came a moment in the career of he said, I will be like the Most High. I will be like God. And the moment that he said that, evil had its existence. When an intelligent being set his will against the will of God, evil which had potentially existed and waited for its moment to be brought to birth, actually came into birth. An intelligent being set his will against the will of God, and in that moment, I believe, sin became an actuality. And so we find that he was successful in influencing a portion of those whom he served under him, the angels. And we are told by Christ that he saw Lucifer fall as lightning from heaven, and we are also told that he was cast down to earth. It's my personal metaphysics. I certainly can't prove it and would never make it a test of fellowship. The Genesis 1-2 describes the event when Lucifer and the angelic beings were cast down to earth. For the word says, and the earth became without form and void. That word, the verb is became, not was made in the sense in which it was originally made. Became without form and void, and there's abundant evidence of a great cataclysm striking this earth at one time. Well, it's my personal feeling that it was at that time that Lucifer was cast out of heaven, down to earth, and every living thing died. The earth became without form, without life, because the God of death and darkness now had been cast to earth, and earth became his kingdom. And so we have the Bible establishing this principle, that an intelligent being with other intelligent non-material beings were imprisoned on a planet, in a place, and that place was the earth where we are. That this he was described by Christ as being the God of this world, the prince of this world that had nothing in Christ. It's very difficult for us to conceive of beings without bodies. We're so such creatures of time and sense that we actually are inclined to think that if it can't be seen or handled or weighed or measured or gauged some way, that it doesn't have existence. But this, we know, when we stop to really think about it, is not the case. God is spirit, you are a spirit living in a body, and Lucifer and the demons that were angels that fell with him are also spirit beings, non-material beings. That is, they don't have bodies such as ours. Now this, according to what I understand the Word of God to indicate, was how it began, how Lucifer and the demons got to earth. They were cast out of heaven, down to earth, when they expressed their character by what happened to the earth, that became without form and void. Now when God's time came to make man, of all the planets that he could have fitted as a habitation, he came to this one, and which you find described in Genesis the first and second chapters is actually a recreation. For I believe that it is bringing order out of chaos, and this is the recreation or the preparation of earth to be the habitation of man. And then when it was fully prepared, he made man in his image and in his likeness. There is a real reason for his making man in his image, because as we pointed out so many times in the past, man was made to be the object of God's love. God wanted someone like himself, to whom he could himself, with whom he could share himself, and with whom he could do all that he planned to do. And so he made someone just like himself. And man, therefore, is a microcosm of God, has on a finite level the attributes that God has on an infinite level. Thus it is appropriate and proper that God should love man, that man should understand God's love, and man should be able to love God in return. And this is the mystery of our being, that we are made with a hunger, created with a need for God and a hunger for God, and God has ever loved us. The only creature described as being made in God's image is man. The only one that's described as being loved by God is man. But he came to the very place that he had cast Lucifer. And here he prepared a proper place, and you might say neglected, to build a wall. Now later, he put someone in front of the gate. He put an angel there with a flaming sword to keep Adam out. I believe, had it been in his purpose, he could have sent the angel just a little earlier with a flaming sword to have kept Lucifer out. But you know the effect of this, do you not? It would have meant that he would have had to have kept man in, and would have therefore meant that he couldn't trust man. And so he simply allowed Lucifer to choose what means he would, to reveal himself, and to present his argument to Eve. You recall the fallaciousness? You recall the subtlety with which the approach was made? Yea, as God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree? That's right. God said we shouldn't, lest we die. Now, God didn't say, lest you die. God said, you shall surely die. But somehow she lost sight of that. And then you'll not die. There's nothing poisonous about this fruit. God knows that when you eat it, you'll be like him, knowing good and evil. And you see, he doesn't want anyone like himself. And so he's kept you from the very means of fulfillment. And he doesn't really therefore love you. He loves himself, and he's simply lying to you to try to protect you from fulfilling your potential and becoming all you can become. This is implicit in the argument of Lucifer, Satan, to Eve. And if she listened, seemed logical, seemed right, it appealed to her appetite for food, her appetite for status, and it was an all apparently wise thing, and being deceived, she ate. And her eyes were opened. Then she went to Adam and told him what he had done, and he deliberately ate. He wasn't beguiled. He deliberately chose the woman instead of God. This was open rebellion. That's why sin is attributed to Adam and not to Eve. She was beguiled. And he rebelled. He revolted. Deliberately set mind and heart and will in defiance of God. Now, when this happened, the lordship of creation that God had invested to man, man transferred to Satan. Transferred all that he had received from God to Satan, relinquished certain rights and passed them over to Satan. All that God had told man that he was to do, he relinquished to Satan. Now, man went into bondage. There were several different ways, and if you were, and some other time perhaps we can do it, if you were to trace that verse that we read in the fourth chapter, he led captivity captive and he gave gifts. If you want to understand what man lost in the fall, then you understand the gifts that he gave to his church, for the gifts are the compensations that he made to his church for that which had been forfeit in the fall. And I think you can get some insight into the nature of this bondage by studying the nine gifts of the Spirit. When you do, you see that there was a tremendous loss sustained by man. We find one of the gifts is the gift of knowledge. Man lost that and became ignorant in a sense in which he had not been before. So when he led captivity captive, he gave this gift of knowledge back to the church. And then there's the gift of the word of wisdom. Man had become, in that sense, unwise in his bondage to Satan and blinded by the God of this world. And so when he led captivity captive, he gave a gift of the word of wisdom back to the church. And each of the gifts of the Spirit can be viewed as a compensation to the church for the loss that was sustained by man when he fell. Now, if you're continuing to think with me, then you will realize that by this act of revolt, Satan became the God of this world in a double sense. He'd been cast here by God, but now all of God's purpose with and for and through man was forfeit in a sense, because man had deliberately passed over what he'd received from God into the hands of Satan. And so he's called the prince of this world and the God of this world. And our Lord Jesus described the literal descendants of Abraham as saying, you are of your father the devil. He was a liar and you're a liar. You have his nature, his attributes, as is your father. We find, therefore, that the Bible makes it perfectly clear that man, by his natural birth and his sin, his sin of nature and his sin of choice, repeated at the age of accountability, puts himself under the immediate control of Satan. Now, it's a rather terrifying thing when you stop to think that everyone, according to the Word of God, everyone without Jesus Christ is under the control of Satan. Now, obviously, this is not in a personal sense, because there's only one devil and only a limited number of demons, and Satan is not omnipresent, and he cannot be every place at once, nor can he touch every life at once. So the control that he uses over men is largely through principle and policy. He is the origin of the philosophy of the day. He's the origin of the principles of government, the principles of economics and business. The study of the Book of Revelation, as we engaged in it a year ago, brought us to see that he has destroyed and killed, not largely through swords and spears and guns and bullets, but through ideas, through philosophies, and through policies and principles. He is the author of these. If we recognize that the God of this world, therefore, controls most of the inhabitants of the world by policies, by principles that seem logical and right and proper, we approach the truth. We come near to it. But I would certainly want to make one thing here clear, whereas he doesn't have enough demons to influence every life directly, and he is not omnipresent, I do believe that there are prince's demons assigned to certain key individuals. For instance, when Daniel prayed, he said, The prince of Persia withstood me these twenty-one days. I believe that we will discover that if we study the Word of God and study history and our present day, that there are individuals that are influenced by demon power. Now one of the things which troubles me greatly is the fact that for many years, one of the most profitable independent private businesses in Washington, D.C., has been that of the palmist and the tea-leave reader and the other necromancers that many government officials have had, practically had charge accounts at the local palm readers, as they have consulted with them in order to get guidance for the policies that they were seeking to make and steps they were taking. This isn't probably quite as prevalent as it was some years ago, but it still prevails, unfortunately. We are to recognize that the little reader's shop that you see on the side street, if it is valid, has someone in it that has actually consorted with Satan. There's an elaborate ritual. I am not too familiar with it, but I have been told, and what I felt was quite good authority, that it requires a two-weeks fast and then going to an appointed place there to make a petition to Satan for this gift of insight and deception and necromancy, then that there has to be evidence that they've had some special ability imparted by Satan. So these aren't just hoaxes. This is what you see on the street. Many of them are, undoubtedly, but there's another evil element in it. And so we would recognize this as being a factor. But we also realize that there is this gradation of evil government. Here in the twelfth verse of the sixth chapter of Ephesians, you have principalities, perhaps having to do with those that are in charge of areas, countries, such as the Prince of Persia, and powers as a level above, just below principality, and rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in high places. So it would look to be a system of government with the graded responsibilities that would indicate that certain philosophers, certain leaders of thought, certain government leaders, men that could have great influence, are often subject to special demon attack. Faust made a personal deal, so said the writer, with the devil in order that he could enjoy a few things. I think that this has happened not only in literature, but it has also happened actually. I'm sure many of you are aware of the fact that Hitler had prescience, he had abilities, the whole book Mein Kampf was an arrogant setting forth of plans that were followed out in miraculous, just complete detail, quite startling, overwhelming, in fact, when you stop to think that he published the book and then proceeded to do exactly as he had written that he would do. This isn't just accidental, you know. There's something more than that. Man can't make his plans that complete, that far advanced. And so we find, and we're not surprised to find, that there was in this man a considerable superstition and consorting with those who were to be counselors and guides. So we have several different levels of satanic influence today. We have the principles and policies of selfishness, which are taught by many different ways, usually by axiom or by adage or by some little expression, such as get while the getting's good, or better look out for number one, if you don't, who will? Little things which just become a rule, a sort of a motto. And these things have far greater influence than is generally thought. People often live by mottos. And so these are the principles of the God of this world. Then there are individuals that are directly controlled by demon powers. Then we have these who act as witch doctors. I should, out of all fairness, having spoken about the pomace in New York, in America, having their little witch die every place I go. It's amazing. You on every town, it seems, there's a little hut. I noticed it driving just the other day up from the South. Almost on every town there was the reader, the advisor, Madame Eden, or whoever it was. Just hardly a town, however small. But what the little witch doctor's hut was to be found on the outside, just the same way as we saw it in Africa. And so we discover that this has been the means by which the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, and has governed them. So we'll add to that then another factor. There is such a thing as demon possession. I get a little weary when I find my friends attributing everything to Satan. Frankly, it just troubles me, because it just isn't so. People often will try to escape from the responsibility of their own meanness by blaming it on the devil. If they've ever been on the mission field where they've actually seen demon possession, then they're not quite as prone and apt to do this. They're more apt to be restrained in making such statements, because they've had an opportunity to see what happens when a person does become possessed by an evil spirit. But let's accept then that the Word of God makes it perfectly clear from the ministry of Christ, from the experience of missionaries confirming what the Word teaches, and also from the statement of Christian psychiatrists. I think of my friend from Dallas, Texas, a man held in the utmost respect and repute in these profession, who states there are some types of mental aberration and sickness that he feels perfectly coincide with the description in the Bible, and can be explained by no other basis than demon possession. So demon possession, where the human spirit, the human body, is tenanted by an evil spirit, is an actuality. This does happen. And it happens today, and it happens in America, as well as on the mission field. So this is the extreme case, demon possession, where the actual personality is invaded by another entity, another personality, and this invading personality uses the faculties for communication of ideas and practice. Then we have demon obsession, where influence is direct but external, where a person becomes obsessed with something, usually with one of the appetites, where the mind is just brought to focus on it and can't escape from it. Demon obsession. There's a third quality of demon activity, demon oppression. Oppression, where satanic influence is direct, but it has the effect of laying a heavy weight upon the person. And then, of course, that which we've described more fully, demon influence, which comes by virtue of all the means of communication, all the media of communication, carrying the party line of hell. Strange that in one country he may use communism as atheism, and another country may use sensual materialism under governmental form of democracy, but sin is sin wherever it's found, and it's always traced back to the author and the origin of sin. Now, what are you? A child of God. But what were you? A child of the devil. You were of your father the devil, you obeyed him, not that you were possessed by demons, but you were acting according to the party line of hell, doing what he wanted doing, living as he wanted you to live. And something happened. You who were the possession, just as really owned by Satan as the person in Africa that has the tribal marks carved in the face, so were you, so was I. And Jesus Christ loved us, and he died for us, to set us free, not only from the penalty of sin, but from the power of appetite and from ourselves, but also from the dominion of the devil. So the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to completely deliver you. He had these three problems with which to deal. What you had done, which brought you into legal disfavor with the sentence of death. What you were by your nature and your traits, apart from Satan, but nonetheless exhibiting the same character as he had. And then the influence, in whatever degree it might have been, of Satan. He wanted to deliver you. Deliverance was his purpose. He came to set the prisoner free. He wanted to deliver you from the fear of death. He wanted to deliver you from hell and its penalty. Oh, what a tragic thing it is when a person is content with only one-third of the delivering grace of Christ. What a sad thing it is when a person says, all I want from Jesus Christ is just to escape hell. What a pity, because this person is just taking a fraction of what the Lord Jesus died to make theirs. He not only died to save us from what we have done, but he died also to save us from ourselves, from the tyranny of traits and disposition and nature. He died to save us from ourselves. And he died also that he might deliver us from the power of Satan and translate us into the kingdom of himself, his own kingdom. So let's see this latter part. We've dwelled at great length on the other. Because you have, by your attitude, followed the governmental policy of Satan and consented to his government, you represented the kingdom of Satan. You were a member of his kingdom. He was your prince and god. Mine as well. We were just naturally his subjects. So, if we were to ever be delivered, there must be something done for us, something done to us, and something done by us. Well, now we know that Jesus Christ died for us, and we know that the Holy Spirit worked upon us and did something to us, but there also had to be something done by us. And so that act of commitment to the lordship of Christ was in a sense a disavowal of Satan. When we turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, we did it literally. Thus, in repentance, there is a sense in which we renounce the devil in all of his works. To confess with the mouth, Jesus, to be lord, is literally to deny the lordship of Satan and the god of this world. Now, maybe it isn't apparent to the individual, maybe he isn't aware of the contrast, but nonetheless it's there. So when you, at the time he was working upon your heart, said, from today on, as long as I shall live, Jesus Christ is the undisputed lord of my life, this was a declaration of allegiance, an affirmation of government. You were declaring that from this time on, he was to be lord, and in effect this was that Satan could no longer be the lord of your life. So this is something that's been done by you. But there's something else. It's not only an affirmation, but it is an application. We read in the Scripture that it says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. By your testimony that you have embraced Jesus Christ as lord and thus have denied Satan, you have put yourself in the place that God can work for you. But there's an application of the power of the blood of Christ in your life. They overcame him by the word of the... by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. In what sense is the blood efficacious? Well, in at least two, possibly three, we'll look at. First, it was the blood of Christ which atoned for your sins. When Jesus Christ died, he died for you. He was there on the cross in your place dying your death. He died for you. So when you testify to the fact that you're trusting the blood, you are literally saying that the penalty of your sin has been paid by Jesus Christ. Therefore, the hope that Satan had upon you has been broken. There's no place to get a hold on you now. You see, the hold he had was because of your sin. But now the penalty of your sin has been paid. The blood has cleansed. Past sins are remitted and are washed away, and thus you're set free from the hold that Satan could have upon you. But there's another sense. You are living a morally responsible life. And so it could be that today you grieve him whose name is holy, possibly in word or in thought or in deed. What happens when a child of God grieves God? Well, the Bible says give no place to the devil. And this is where so many people fail in their Christian walk in life. They do not realize the terrible consequence of sin, of thought or word or deed, as far as it affects Satan. They've only seen hell. They've only seen future punishment. But they haven't seen the present battle. And so it is, dear child of God, even though your past sins are remitted, even though you know you've been born of God, when you knowingly allow sin of bitterness, of strife, of unbelief, of uncleanness of word or thought, when we knowingly allow sin, we have opened the door and allowed Satan to affect us. Now this is the tragic consequence of sin. Now he's going to do many of several things. He may come in and attack the body. There's no question, but what he does, because you remember the Lord Jesus spoke to the woman that had arthritis that was bent and twisted, and he said, Lo, ought not this daughter of Abraham, daughter of faith, that's been bound these 18 years by Satan be released? And we know that he does touch the body, but we know he also touches the family. We know that this often will allow Satan to touch the business. It will often allow him to touch the mind. Very frequently, the Christian that has allowed sin is influenced by the enemy to speak the party line of hell and so disrupt the work of God. This is seldom saying, but very frequently someone that's been forgiven of past sins, someone that's a child of God who's allowed sin, will be, because of that thing that's been permitted, will have given the voice to Satan to get his party line into the situation. Now it's not possession, but it's influence that he is exerting through an intellect to which he can make suggestions. And so there's a terrible, terrible consequence of allowing sin. Thus overcoming him by the blood of the Lamb can correspond to putting on the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation, I would see, is the blood of Christ applied to the mind and the conscience and protecting the intellect. So they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. What is this? If we're walking in fellowship with God and we sense that by attitude or by action, by word or by deed, we grieve him, instantly, without any delay, we ought to judge that thing to be sin, confess it to be sin, ask to be cleansed. And if it's involved someone else on the spot, ask for their forgiveness right away to keep a conscience void of offense as near as we can, because if we don't, we find that we have put ourselves in the place where we've given place to the devil. So it's extremely important that we should understand the cleansing, the present cleansing power of the blood, so that we keep our consciences continually void of offense. This is one way. Then, of course, the other is that we understand that the power of the blood is to be not only to deal with what is wrong, but to protect us. It was Charles Spurgeon who said, make much of the blood, to the young preacher. I said, oh, make much of the blood, because Satan hates it. For the blood of Christ preserved in heaven is the testimony that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and raised from the dead. And it's the symbol, the seal, the certificate of the defeat, an open conflict. And so there's always been a great hatred of the blood of Christ. And whatever he hates, we love, because we realize that this is where the preciousness lies. And so it ought to be that we recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ died to set us free. This means to set our minds free from the domination of the evil one, our imaginations, and our hearts. And so he says, put on the helmet of salvation, that the merit, that the power of the precious blood, cover and enclose and protect that most vulnerable part of our personalities, our minds, and our imaginations. And may God bring us to that point of sensitivity, where we realize that the imagination is the beginning point. If this is the place where sin had its origin, and with Satan, as I pointed out originally, then it's the place where sin has its origin in your life. You may hear of some Christian that falls this week. You may hear of someone that grossly disgraces our Lord. But I want you to know it didn't happen this week. It happened back there when the imagination began to tolerate that which was wrong, and didn't deal with it as sin. So there's the helmet of salvation. There's the breastplate of obedience, perfect obedience as near as our, fully in our purpose, and whenever there isn't that obedience to deal with it as sin. The breastplate that covers us, loins girt about with truth, a hunger for the word of God and understanding of its principles that prepare us to fight. Feet charred with the preparation of the gospel of peace, repentance toward God, one's handle, faith toward our Lord Jesus, the other. The shield of faith, the sword of the spirit. There's the panoply that he's given for us, the armor, the uniform that he's given. Why, my dear, with Satan ruling this world system as he is, you ought no more to go out into a day without having made sure your panoply is covered with his armor than you would think of going out without properly dressing. This is what he's given to protect us. And we ought to make every day absolutely sure that we're fully clothed with the whole armor of God. Put on, said he, the whole armor of God. But there's something else. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. We've got to go back to the first chapter to see that, and we'll see it quickly and close. In this 15th, 19th verse, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe? The exceeding greatness of his power. And he says, put on the whole armor of God. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his mind. The exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him. We'll stop there. When you go down to the first two words of the second chapter, does your Bible have that line drawn in it? Look, does it? Does it? Anybody? Anybody have a line drawn in it? Oh, will you put them in? I see one or two. Yes. Now will you all put them in? Take your pen or pencil and encircle and you, and then run it over and up the very center of the page and bring that little arrow in until it comes between him and from in the 20th verse. And this is the way it'll read, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him and you from the dead. Isn't that glorious? Isn't that wonderful? He raised him and you from the dead and then just extended down and set him and you at his own right hand in the heavenlies. Do you see it? He raised him and you, and he set him and you. That's what that and you means. Didn't you see that? Oh, when I saw that, it was just like getting a, inheriting a million dollars from my uncle. It was wonderful. It was great resources for, they're better than that. It was resources for life and walk and victory and joy. When he raised him and you and set him and you, you say, well, brother Enid, you can't do that in the scripture. Well, I guess I can. If you'll just go down to the second chapter in verses five and six, you'll find that the Lord repeated it so as to reassure your heart and to give me greater dogmatism in saying, look at it. But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ and hath raised us up together and made us sit together. Now, what did we say back in verse 20? Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him and you from the dead and set him and you at his own right hand in the heavenlies. Go back to verse three and you'll find it. He blessed us. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. Now, my dear, what's your natural habitat? Mine. Oh, may God make me to see it tomorrow as well as tonight and you as well. What's your natural habitat? Seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This is the only place of spiritual warfare. This is the only place of spiritual victory. This is the place where he's blessed us with all spiritual blessing. You see, you were in Christ. The father placed you in Christ. He put you in Christ. He didn't ask you to put yourself there. He put you there. And when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, the father had put you in Christ. And when he went to the tomb, the father had put you in Christ. And when he raised him from the dead, the father had put you in him in his resurrection. And when he was seated, the father had placed you in Christ. You had been placed in him. And so what happened to him happened to you. And his victory is your victory. And so the place that you're to stay is at the right hand of the father, enjoying the triumph of Christ and the victory of Christ and living in the heavenlies. Oh, this is a place of joy. This is a place of blessing. This is a place of peace. This is where he wants us. And so when he says here in the sixth chapter, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, what is he referring to? By realizing that you were in Christ when he was crucified and in him when he was buried and in him when he was raised and in him when he was seated. Then the greatness of his power to us were to believe is that very resurrection power of Christ released in us. And we have the whole armor of God to put on and Christ in. And he asks us now to go back as his kingdom. I close with this. Years ago in China, I am told, there were extraterritorial rights granted to certain governments. There was, I understand, up in Peiping, a little British district where the British flag would fly, similar to the little bit of Russia over here on Fifth Avenue, you know, where the Soviet flag flies. But it was larger there in China. And so they would have British bobbies governing, there would be control. There was extraterritorial rights, a little bit of Britain put right into the heart of China. And the government wasn't the government of China, it was the government of Britain. Now this is just a feeble illustration of something wonderful. The Scripture says the kingdom of God is in you, but the Scripture also says the kingdom of God is in you. In other words, he doesn't have territory, but he has extraterritorial rights in you. Because you've renounced Satan, over you is the banner of Jesus Christ, his cross, you're under the blood, you've embraced him as Lord, you've renounced Satan, you've been put into Christ, crucified with him, and buried with him, quickened with him, and raised with him, and seated with him. And now, wherever you walk, there Jesus Christ has extraterritorial rights in Satan's domain. Do you see? Here he has a little walking kingdom where he governs, and his purpose can be done. You can imagine that no country appreciates having a foreign government and foreign laws within its shores, within its boundaries. And you can be well assured that the God of this world is no friend of grace, nor friend of Christ, nor friend of yours. And it's extremely important, therefore, that you should understand that his kingdom is in you. When you go to the office tomorrow, recognize that that chair that you occupy in front of that desk isn't just yours for a salary, but it's his, and that his kingdom is in you, and you are the extraterritorial rights of heaven. And Jesus Christ reigns within that little space. And just think if here we are, a company of people whose men know more than we are, if this principle with which I'm dealing tonight could become operative, something so transformingly glorious could happen tomorrow, that the world would take note that we'd been with Jesus and he was with us. The trouble is, you see, we compromise too frequently, by attitude, by disposition, by word. And so his flag is hand-hauled down to half-mast, covered, and Satan says, well there's nothing to worry about there, we've got this one. And the extraterritorial rights of Jesus Christ have been violated. And his kingdom? Overrun. Oh, won't you see it tonight? Won't you see this? That wherever you are tomorrow, there the government of heaven prevails, there the king is King Jesus, there the law is the law of love, there is his kingdom in you. Satan hates you because it hates him, but nevertheless if you will allow this one to be all that he wants to be, the very resurrection power of Jesus Christ will flow through you. And you'll be that walking, living witness to his presence and his resurrection glory. It's wonderful. It's true. Let's pray. Does anyone here tonight that's come in under the bondage and control of the God of this world, a load of sin, a weight of guilt, a burden of heart, I have good news for you. Jesus Christ died to set you free from the fear of hell, from the penalty of your sins, from the power of sin in your disposition and trait in nature, and from the power of Satan. He died to set you free. And whom the son makes free is free indeed. Oh, I plead with you tonight, throw down the arms of your rebellion, throw down the weapons of your warfare against the Christ of God. Sue for peace. Come and ask for forgiveness. Ask for pardon. Embrace him as your rightful sovereign and grieved Lord. And he will deliver you. He'll cleanse you. He'll set you free. He'll make you whole. He'll give you all the deliverance from sin that you want and all the freedom that you want, all the victory that you want. You really want. Will you come to him? I wonder before we go any further with our heads bowed and eyes closed, if there would be those who'd say by an upraised hand, do pray for me. I know that I'm under the bondage of the God of this world. I've habit and disposition. I've passed sins, a great weight of guilt. Oh, I have so many things, but I have heard tonight something of victory. Pray for me. I do want victory. I do want deliverance. Would you raise your hand? We might remember you in prayer. Be your first break. Yes, I see it. God bless you. Yes, I see it. Yes, God bless you. Are there others? Yes, God bless you. Still others. Our Father, thou knowest the hands that have been raised and the hearts behind them and the burden of these hearts. Oh, we thank thee that the Lord Jesus met in open conflict the God of this world. We thank thee that he has triumphed openly, leading captivity captive. We thank thee, our Father, that thou hast put us in Christ and that his death was our death and his burial our burial and his resurrection our resurrection. And his enthronement ours, for we're seated together in him. We ask thee, Lord, that this truth may be released in us in our minds and hearts and spirits and all that thou hast meant it to mean shall be demonstrated by us. We ask thee for these whose hands have been raised. Thou knowest the burden, the conflict. Thou knowest all that they represent, all the heartache and grief and yearning and longing and the hope and the expectancy. And we pray for each of these, our Father, that somehow tonight they may realize that as they've raised their hand, they can slip it into the nail pierced hand of the Son of God. And that in that nail wound is the testimony that he died to cleanse from sin, that he died to deliver us from habit and trait and disposition, that he died to set us free from the dominion of the God of this world and that he's been raised from the dead and everything that he died to do he's done and he's provided this full, complete and perfect salvation. Oh, let the truth come alive, burst into life, our Father. Let men and women lay hold upon that truth and know that greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We thank thee for the testimony of such men as Pastor Xi of China who could sign his name Master of Demons. We thank thee, our God, that thou hast given to thy church the victory and the authority of Calvary and of the risen Christ. And we pray that tonight this one who conquered Satan and rose again triumphant and led captivity captive shall be triumphant in us and that his triumph and his victory shall be manifest in us and through us and by us and that we shall walk in great liberty and freedom as thy children. The kingdom of God is in you. Grant our Father that we shall realize that we are his extraterritorial rights. We are his kingdom and he our king. Now blessed as we go into the service of baptism, may these whose hands have been raised stay steady and continue, open their hearts knowing that thou art here and Lord that thou would prompt some to seek further help. We know thou art ready and able to meet them. And so we give thee thanks now for the deliverance in due course in response to their expectant faith of each who've raised their hands tonight. In Jesus' name and for his sake we ask it. Amen. Now our brother Bynum is going to come and lead us in singing. As we sing, I'm going to ask that those of you who feel you must leave, perfectly free to do so, but we're going to have a service of baptism. There are four who have come and have been examined and given testimony and are going to follow the Lord in believers baptism. We'll sing, you leave at the time of singing, and then the remainder of you stay and enjoy and share together in the blessing of this ordinance. So brother Bynum, what will we sing? What's the number? 194. Stand as we sing.