This sermon emphasizes the spiritual battle Christians face against the schemes of the devil, highlighting the need to be strong in the Lord and put on the whole armor of God to withstand evil. The message underscores the importance of understanding the spiritual nature of the enemy and the necessity of actively engaging in the fight with faith, prayer, and reliance on God's Word for victory over temptation and spiritual attacks.

I asked John Steinberg, do you preach on these things in India? They don't know what these things are. I want you to turn with me this morning to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6. Finally, my brethren, this is in verse 10. Ephesians 6, 10. Finally, my brethren. That is even a little bit with Paul here. When you hear a preacher say finally, don't get your hopes up too much. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It's not your power. It's not your strength. You don't have to contribute anything as far as strength is concerned. You have to draw it from Him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, the schemings 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. We're foretaken to you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is, the preparation that believing the gospel of peace puts into your life. The gospel of peace prepares you to face what you have to face. You're prepared through it. The emphasis necessarily is not that the shoes are compared here to the gospel, but the shoes are compared to preparation. You're prepared. You're prepared for the battle, and what has prepared you for the battle is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of peace. Above all, if you can't remember anything else, if the similitudes and the metaphors and the illustrations are forgotten by you, remember this. Above all, it's interesting, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Faith being a shield compared to a shield. And it's like a spotlight is shining down on each of these instruments as one is brought into view. Truth has been brought into view. Righteousness has been brought into view. The gospel has been brought into view. The shield of faith has been brought into view. But notice he says, above all, faith is the most important. Why? Because anything that the devil throws at you can and will be overcome simply by faith in Jesus Christ looking to Him. And the shield referenced to is not just a little shield. It was the full body shield in which the Roman soldiers had two shields. They had a short shield in which they used for personal combat, but they had the big body shields. When they went into war, they carried the big body shields, so they were expecting the onslaught of the arrows of the enemy. And that's the way warfare was in those days. You lined up, and then the enemy pulled back their bows and let forth a barrage of arrows. And the Roman soldiers simply took their shield, their whole body shield, and put their whole body behind it. And as the arrows fell, there would be no harm. And that's how Paul compares faith. Just as valuable. Just as protective. Just as useful in battle. The shield of faith which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy, the wicked enemy, the spiritual wickedness in high places. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. By the way, all of these instruments of warfare, these offensive and defensive instruments of the soldier, of the Christian soldier, all of them are basically, in one sense, the same thing. Just different aspects, as it were. Different facets. Looking at salvation from different angles. Looking at the things of God. Spiritual resources. The helmet of salvation. What's any different about the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness? Are they not one and the same thing? But they're different aspects of the same thing. The helmet of salvation. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Become familiar with the Word of God. It's the sword of the Spirit. The devil can't stand it. He hates it. Of all the powers and resources Jesus had in the wilderness to defeat the devil. And put him in hell. He called upon one simple resource in every onslaught, and that was the quotation of the Word of God. And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praying always. Don't quit. Stay at it. Pray when you feel like it. Pray when you don't feel like it. Pray when you're moved. Pray even more when you're unmoved. Pray in season. Pray out of season. Praying always. With all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. It was December, late December 1944. The American Army felt secure and sure that they had the war won. The generals were all working out the plans after the war was over. The post-war plans were all being worked out. They were going to slide through, as it were, the last remaining miles of conquest into the heart of Germany. And then, in the most unexpected event of the war, the Germans had been secretly massing together dozens of panzer units in which they pulled from northern Italy and eastern Europe. And gathered them into the Ardennes Forest. And on a Sunday morning in December, all hell broke loose against the American Army. And the German Army advanced so swiftly, overrunning thousands and thousands of American troops, that there was this one community in eastern France, a little French town called Bastogne. The town was completely circled. Hitler had given the orders that no town that had tremendous defenses were to be taken immediately, but press on and drive the Allies back into the sea. That was their plan. So they circled this town. And they brought out their heavy artillery, especially the dreaded 88mm cannon that they possessed. It was one of the most feared and dreaded instruments of the war. They circled the town of Bastogne with these 88mm and their other heavy armor, and they blasted and they pounded and they poured rain fire down upon this city because the American Army was strong and they were holding out a stubborn defense. And then a motorcycle escort from Germany would sit out, and two Germans on a motorcycle with a white flag came and made contact with the American Army, and the German read something like this. American soldiers, you have fought bravely. You are very noble and very good soldiers. But in the ever-changing fortunes of war, your situation is hopeless. You are vastly outnumbered. Our armies are completely encircling the town. There is no possible way that you can escape. The only option before you to save not only your slaughter, but the slaughter of many innocent civilians, will be for your honorable surrender. You will be treated fairly in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. If you refuse our offer, you will be annihilated. The German high command. You have one hour to respond. The American imbecile boy that had received the letter and had the troops took the message to the Brigadier General McCulloch in which he read this letter, and after reading it, sent this response. You have one hour to surrender. You are completely hopeless. You are vastly outnumbered. You have lost many men. There is no hope. The response was from the General Netz. That's the title of my sermon. I know Bobby asked me what my title of the sermon was. I said Netz. Do you ever feel surrounded? Do you ever feel blasted? Do you ever feel tempted? Tried? Do you ever feel the enemy encroaching on you? Do you ever have a thought run into your mind, I can't do it anymore? I can't go on? The situation is hopeless? That's the enemy talking. Netz, devil. I'm not going down. I'm not surrendering. I'm not giving up. I'm going to fight to the last man. In the darkest hour of the siege of Bastogne, when all seemed that the German prediction would come true, General George Patton's army had made a miraculous move, traveled day and night, pulled his men out of a fierce battle to engage in the Battle of Bastogne, and at the last and darkest hour, relief and deliverance came. I want to talk to you today about your spiritual battle. It's amazing how everything in the natural world reflects spiritual realities. You know Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. He was at Rome. He had the occasion to watch as he was under house arrest. Many Romans, in fact, they say Paul much of the time may have been chained to a Roman soldier. But I don't think it's from his chain to a soldier that he got the imagery that he presents here. I think it was from the Roman soldiers he saw coming back into Rome, many of them from victorious campaigns, and they would be in their various suits of armor. They would be carrying their shields. They would have their short swords. They would have their leggings, their leather leggings, which protected their legs from the briars and brambles. They would have all these various pieces of armor. And he thought, the Spirit of God said, I can use that because there is reality in every one of those things for my children. For you that are Christians. And so the apostle here in this passage spiritualizes the similarities between the armor of the Roman soldier and he makes application to us who are Christian soldiers. We are Christian soldiers. Now as I read this passage, there are two things that immediately stand out in my mind when I consider my own struggle with Satan. The first thing that stands out in verse 13 to my mind is this little phrase, and having done all... Listen to this, and having done all to stand. Now let me say right quickly, the use of the word standing and falling is not just a little standing and falling. Ultimately standing is salvation. Full and final salvation. We cannot go under, brethren. We cannot be defeated. Now we may lose a little skirmish now and then, but the overall battle, the overall war, we've got to win. So standing is vital. But there will be no standing and there will be no success in your Christian life. Listen to me carefully. There will be no success in your Christian life against the devil without you giving it your all. If you're not fully committed to giving this business of serving Christ your all, you may as well put up a white flag of surrender. You must be fully committed. If you're not totally serious and totally determined to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, you will go down, I'll assure you. Now every major player in this business is deadly serious. Christ was deadly serious. How much did He do? Christ has done all. How much is Satan doing against the church and against Christians to bring us down? He's doing all. How about you? You will win this battle against sin if you're half-hearted about it. And having done all, you must be fully committed. Now think about that. My Son, give me Thy whole heart. If your affections are divided and you're not sure which side you want to be on, you're not sure whether or not you really want to follow through with this thing, with Jesus Christ, or you're looking back to the world and you're thinking about the world and all the things that you're left. And you know, Jesus said, if no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God, you will not win if you're half-hearted. Throw yourself into this thing. As it were, give it your all. The second thing I notice is the admonition in verse 11. And it repeats in verse 13. Notice, put on this statement. Put on the whole armor of God. Then in verse 13, Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God. This is something else that stands out in my mind. None of these spiritual realities that Paul itemizes for us, none of them can be ignored. We have to implement, as it were, all of these things in our warfare with the devil. We have to have, as it were, righteousness in our hearts. The breastplate covering our hearts. If you don't have righteousness, and that is Christ imputed righteousness and made righteous. If you don't have that, your heart is exposed. You have to have righteousness. Every one of these are vital. You will need the aid and help of every one of God's provisions. God has given you abundant provision. You're going to have to lay hold of these things and use them in your battle. Put on the whole armor of God. Get it all on. You can't leave your head unprotected, or your breast, or your loins, or your feet. Be well equipped. Now, here are my points. The first thing that we need to understand is we ought to and we must get used to the idea that if you've turned away from the world and you've started following after the Lord, you are at war. There is war being waged against you. You need to get used to that idea. This thing is war, folks. I mean, there's almost something artificial. We love them and God uses them. But there's almost something artificial about a conference setting because it's not really natural. We've got all this compacted preaching. We've got all this fellowship. We've got all these good Christians around us. And then Monday morning comes along and we're back in the dirty now and now. Back out there in the world. Back there in people that talk nasty. Back out in the world where there are all manner of temptations being flung and hurled at you. What do you expect? You're at war. You're at war. Get used to the idea. Get over it, folks. You're at war. And as long as you are in this world, you are going to be warring and fighting and kicking and struggling. It's amazing to come to these conferences and meetings and hear people say, well, I've been struggling this week about this. And I remember last year they told me, no, I was struggling about this. We're always struggling. We've always got a problem. We're always dealing with something. We're at war. The pressures that you face in your Christian life, the miseries that you're dealing with and feel is in large part due to the fact that you're surrounded by a world of evil. And you're still within the reach of the devil. Paul says in Leviticus, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Do you realize that's what the devil is doing? He's scheming against you? Think about it. What if you had at work somebody in a high place and you had a job and you had somebody who was in a high place in that institution and he was brilliant and he didn't like you and he was thinking all the time how to take you out. That actually sometimes happens in work situations. Well, folks, in the real life, that's exactly what I said. You've got somebody that's thinking about you and he's not a good boy. He's thinking about you. He's considering you. God asked the devil that question in Job. Hast thou considered my servant Job? The devil said, you bet I've considered him. Has the devil considered you, Christian? Oh, you bet he's considered you, Christian. He's thinking about you and he's scheming. He's watching you very carefully and he's looking at your strengths and weaknesses and he's seeing where he can hit you the hardest. Now, that's what the meaning is. It's not just, again, that he's just a general tempter. He is a general tempter, but he is a very specific tempter for you because he will use things on you that will bother and bug you and be luring to you that might not even bother somebody else. Why? Because he's a schemer. He's intelligent. He's working devices. Devices are being employed against you. Strategy is being devised. Instruments he has on hand that even now, it's amazing, that you can even be in church and the devil can be working on you even in church. I'll never forget after I got right with the Lord, 17 years old, I had such waves of peace and joy and pleasure in the Lord, I thought all my Christian life was going to be a flowery bed of ease. And then I was sitting in church listening to His sermon and all hell began to break loose in my mind. I had such wicked thoughts come to my mind about Jesus Christ. I've never had those wicked thoughts before. I had such vulgar things come into my mind, such blasphemes, that when it happened and when it was unloaded on me, I almost withered and fell to the floor. Because I had that peace of God that passes understanding, but then somehow, suddenly, my peace was so disrupted. My mind was being assaulted with vulgar things that I didn't like. My heart was being tempted. My mind was under assault. I didn't know it was the devil at the time I was young. I thought it was me. I said, I can't be saved and feel this way. I can't be a Christian and have these things go through my mind. I'm surely lost. And I would cry out to the Lord. And I would say, Lord, save me. Save me. I can't be a Christian, Lord. I don't like these things. And I went to all sorts of people for help. But what I'm telling you is this. Just because you walk in the doors of the church does not mean you are off limits to the work of the devil in your mind. He's a worker. And he schemes. There's but one objective behind every temptation that you face, every wild thought that runs through your mind, every subtle suggestion, every weird feeling that comes into your soul. There's one objective, and that is to make you fall. To discourage and defeat you. You can't win. You can't. You can't follow the Lord. You can't be a Christian. You can't ever get things through the same. Give up. Give up. That's the objective. To make us fall. To discourage and defeat us mentally. So we just cave in and give up and go back. Haven't you noticed, beloved, a wrestling? Are you wrestling? Are you in a wrestling match? Has it been tough for you recently? Haven't you noticed a conflict? A battle? A struggle? And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many victories you've known in the past. It doesn't matter how many sermons you've heard in the past. This assault still keeps coming and coming and coming. What's wrong with me? No, beloved, it's what's right with you. I heard a fellow say recently, oh brother, the battle seems to be stronger than it's ever been before. I don't know. Do you sometimes sense that? I don't know it's really doctrinally true that it's stronger than it's ever been before, but it sure seems like it. It's tough! It's tough! It's difficult! It's hard. We're under attack. Such horrendous thoughts at times. It's amazing how at one moment you can be just at such wondrous meditation on a glorious truth of God, and the next moment the most horrific thought runs through your mind and you play that thing out right to the end. Isn't that terrible? Sensual suggestions. Materialistic lures. The lure of the world. You cannot go into the temple of Wal-Mart without this discontentment being stirred up. Brother, amen. And the thing about it, all these hellish things that go through your mind, they never happened like that when you were lost. No. Why? Why? When you were lost, you were just a dead chunk floating down the river with the rest of the mess of mankind. But since you've turned away from sin and turned to the Lord, you're going upstream. You're facing opposition and enemies. It's hard. And notice this thing. You're in the evil day. Day! That you may stand in the evil day to withstand... Notice verse 13. To withstand in the evil day... Some days are especially evil. Days when temptation is stronger on you that day than it was another day. Days when violent attacks occur. These intense, evil, unearthly attacks of the enemy, they can be so emotionally straining upon you to go through and live through that all sorts of bad feelings come into your soul. This warfare, these eighty-eighths of the enemy that are blasting around you, these bombshells that are bursting over your head, these foul and loathsome thoughts and temptations that are coming your way by the enemy are so horrendous that you can go through depression. You can feel depressed. Or you can be confused. Am I a Christian? Do I know the Lord? Fear? Or just the blahs and just... You're tempted and you feel... What's the use? But I want to encourage you, this morning, saints, take courage that such attacks are coming your way. You would never be so violently opposed if you weren't a child of God and going in the right direction. I'll tell you, in this crowd, you people that are sailing along in life smoothly and there's no striving with sin, there's no flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and everything in your life is neat and ordered and orderly and you're carrying out your agenda with no bumps on the road. You're the ones that ought to be afraid. For our attacks bring us at times to a state of mind which is severe. But we must answer and we must respond. Because if we don't fight back, we're going down. Listen to me. If we don't fight back, you say, well, the Lord talks about it. Yes, He does. He's got armor here for us in this world and He's admonishing us to put it on and to use it. You would go down if you do not fight. And that's exactly what Satan wants you to do. He wants you to go down. He wants you to give up. He wants you to turn back. He wants you to be discouraged. He wants you to be full of dismay. He wants to so demoralize you that you feel there's no use, I'm not going to make it. Nuts! You are going to make it. You can make it. God has given you such provision, and I'm not going to go through all of these and I don't have time to mention all of them and go through all of them. But brothers and sisters, we have been abundantly... Our Captain of Salvation, He has meted out everything we could possibly need. It's ours! It's been issued to us! We've got the finest weapons in the world. Hallelujah! You say, Brother Don, I don't want any part of this. I don't want to have to struggle with bad thoughts. I don't want to strive against temptation. I don't want to be hit upon by the devil and be strongly lured to turn back to the world. I don't want that. I don't want any part of that. Well, if you are a Christian, if you really are a Christian, you're in it, whether you like it or not. And the second thing you need to understand, you must fight if you would win. The first thing is, reconcile to yourself. It will help you if you'll do this. You just reconcile yourself to the fact that you're at war. And as long as you're in this world, you'll be at war. And if you live to next year, you'll come back to the conference, or if you live to next Sunday, you'll come back to the church. You'll come. You've been struggling. You've been fighting. You've been facing things. You've been things going through your mind. You've been feeling feelings and temptations. You're coming back to the house of God where you can hear the Word of God again and get a little more ammunition. Yes! You're in a fight. An epic struggle. And you must fight if you would win. The second thing I want to quickly deal with is know the nature of your foe. That's why it's interesting here. It's like the Holy Ghost is giving us some intelligence on the enemy. You know, in both sides in World War II, countless hours of ingenuity and the best minds were pouring into this area of espionage on both sides because the more you can know about your enemy, the better it is for your side. It's like the Lord is saying here, know your enemy. Now, there's a very simple thing here. Listen to this in verse 12. Here's the inside story. For we, listen to this, 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. Brother Ron, I don't know if I understand all of that, but there are two main points that I think I do understand. At least three main points here. And that is, here, listen to this statement. The rulers of the darkness of this world, virtually everything in this present world is tainted and corrupted and spoiled with the presence and the influence with the activity of the devil. Almost everything you see and face and touch out in the world is spoiled and corrupted with the influence, activity, and presence of the devil or his subordinates. You're in the world. You're in a wicked world. You're in an evil world. And even though we glory in the sovereignty of God, when Satan tempted Jesus, I don't believe he was lying in this point. He is a liar. But when he offered Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, he said, all of this will I give thee if you will fall down and worship me, for to me it has been delivered. And as far as I can see, he was dead on right. The rulers of the darkness. How much darkness do you see around you, folks? It's everywhere. And another point is, notice this, the last stanza. Against spiritual wickedness in high places. What you face has a spiritual objective. The enemy is not, now understand this, the enemy's main objective in temptation is not just getting you into the arms of another woman or getting you focused on making money or getting you all balled up in some false doctrine. His main objective is to get you away from God. That's, see, it's spiritual wickedness. The nature of wickedness has a spiritual, it's spiritual in nature. Why do we face temptation? Why do we face attack? Why do we face these things? The ultimate objective of our enemy is to get us away from God. He hates God. He wants to pull as many human beings down with him. He knows he's down. He knows that hell has been prepared for him. And he is not happy to go there alone. He wants to pull as many people as he can away from God, away from Jesus, to himself and bring them there. The nature of the battle is spiritual. The spiritual implications. It's not just the ugly moral sin. It's the turning away from God. That is the end desire. Spiritual wickedness. And the third thing that is said about our enemy, he rules in the world. Do you believe he's the ruler of this world? Let me give you some facts. The power that dominates and prevails generally everywhere in this present world is of our enemy. He's the genius behind all false religion. How much false religion is there in the world? There's more of it than there is of this. Far more. Who's back of it? Excuse me, Republicans. The rulers and politicians, generally Republicans and Democrats, who shape and direct the direction of government in this world are mostly under the full sway of the devil. The devil is the one with the power and wealth to bankroll anybody who's ambitious to set their heart on making money. That's why the Jews are so prosperous. They've turned away from God. They don't like God. They don't like Christ. They want the world. They want this world. And the devil's giving it to them. That's why they're the most prosperous. Oh, it's because God's favoring them and they're blessed. They're the chosen people of God. They've opted for the world and the devil's giving it to them. He's the power to bankroll the ambitious. He'll bankroll you. If you'll set your heart on making money, he'll see that you get there. This present world, where do you see him? Everywhere. The airways, the media, the Internet world is largely under the devil's influence. The philosophy and direction of modern education, institutions of higher learning. At Princeton, I believe it was, university two weeks ago, they had in this prestigious Harvard-Yale, academically esteemed, mega place of education, they had what they call sex week, in which I won't even tell you what went on. But it went on in the guise of education and learning and open-mindedness. It's of the devil. The general direction of higher education is demonic. It's not God-honoring. This hellish doctrine of evolution, which is the most insane and ridiculous thing in the world, is believed and loved as much as the gospel of Jesus Christ in these institutions. The whole world, its spirit, is in the direction and drift of the enemy. And here you are. You're in a sea of filth. It's all around you. And you're trying to go and think differently. And you want to serve God? You want to believe on Christ? You want to follow the Lord? Yes, you do. No wonder you're having such a hard time doing so. The world is against you. The devil is scheming to bring you down. The third thing about our enemy that we need to know is this. Our fight is not... This is a very important, crucial point. Our fight in this world with our enemy is not against flesh and blood, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. This is a very important Bible statement. It's not human opponents or any mortal man that is your enemy. It is not flesh and blood that is agitating and stirring you to get upset with flesh and blood. The powerful element that works in our congregations to stir up anger, hostility, jealousy, envy, unrest, conflict, wars, fighting, division, splits, all of that is really not the work of flesh and blood. It is the undercover work of the enemy. That's why this is a good thing to learn. Our fight, folks, is not with people. That's why the Bible gives us this instruction. The servant of the Lord must not strive. Anytime you start fighting, you're right where the devil wants you. When you start fighting with flesh and blood, I got you. Does the devil work in our churches? You bet. He brings in his type of believers. What do you mean his type of believers? You know, there are two types of believers. There are believers that endure to the end and stick with the truth and stick with the church. And there are those that will be leaving soon because something don't suit them. And if they can't get it their way, they're going to take their pretties and go home. Isn't that so? Surely the devil doesn't use people in our churches. Yeah. But our fight is not with them. It's the undercover work of the enemy. When we begin to fight and get angry and get our tempers aroused, that's why Galatians 5, according to last night, 15, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed lest you be consumed. When you start biting, no good can come of that. Here's my third point. Am I preaching too long? I'm conscious of this now. And I know that this is one. You and I are going to have to do something all out as a Christian to be standing at the end of such an evil day. We're going to have to do something all out. I'm telling you this thing, you're not going to get through it sliding by. You're not going to be passed with a passing score by missing class. You cannot be lazy. Anybody here a little on the lazy side? You cannot be lazy. You've got to get with it. You've got to work. You say, Brother Don, you're preaching works for salvation. No. Christ's works bring salvation. But if you don't start working in the right direction, you're sure to be damned as the devil is. Your Scripture. We are created in Christ Jesus unto. Good work. You're going to have to work. You cannot be idle. You cannot be indifferent to your own unfolding situation. You can't just put your head in the sand and say, Well, what I'm going through will pass, and it's no big deal. You've got to be aware of what's going on, folks. This is deadly serious. If you don't come out on the right end of this, you might end up in hell. It's that serious. You can't be indifferent about what's going on. The prescribed method Paul gives us here for overcoming our enemy is not easy. It's not automatic. But thank God it is not particularly hard or impossible. It can be done. But we must do it. What must we do? The Bible tells us to put on. You do it. Notice this thing. Your responsibility. Put on. You've got to do it. You've got to dress yourself every day in it. Every day you get up. I've got to dress myself in prayer. I've got to dress myself with your righteousness, Lord. I've got to put on. I've got to be prepared for what's out there today, Lord. I'm looking to the gospel. I'm taking a shield of faith. I'm going to be facing things today that the devil is going to be coming and talking to me. He's going to be assaulting my mind. I've got to have faith. I'm going to believe in you. I'm going to trust in you, dear Lord. I'm praying that you'll give me faith. I pray, oh, I want to put on this armor, Lord, today. Put it on. Take it to you. Take up the whole armor of God. There must be action and response and utilization towards each sphere of these spiritual helps to secure their benefits in your personal life. I'm telling you, folks, you will not win unless you touch these things and grab hold of them. Access them into your own experience. And not just once, but you'll be putting them on again and again and again. You're not going to get the devil and defeat him by putting a rosary around. I don't believe they wear rosaries. But counting beads is not going to get you over this business. Wearing a cross on your lapel is not going to help you one bit. Using the Bible like you would use a charm is not going to help you one bit. You're going to have to lay hold of these things. These things are spiritual weapons, and they must be employed into your experience inwardly. They are spiritual. You're facing something spiritual to drag you away from God. You need an internal resource and power and ability that comes from God alone. And you're going to have to get it inside you. And you're going to have to do it over and over and over again. You're going to have to have salvation from God above. Save me, God, today. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, I'm calling upon Your name. I need salvation. I need it today. Don't you need saving today? You'll need it tomorrow. You'll need it Monday. You'll need saving. Salvation from God is like a helmet. It will protect your head. Righteousness in your heart is like body armor. The Word of God. Get the Bible out. You don't have to be a theologian. Get the Bible out and start reading. You may even barely read, but read. Read the Word of God. And God will give you truth. It will help you. Faith. A body shield that covers up and quenches. This is amazing. The devil shoots them at you. You hypocrite. You sorry thing. Look how you fail. Look at that black thing you've done in your past. He shoots at you. And you raise the shield of faith and say, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And when you deploy the shield of faith against the fiery parts of the wicked, every one of those things burns off. Prayer. Your prayers don't have to be complicated. They don't have to be theologically rich. When Peter was drowning after he took his eyes off Jesus, he didn't say, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, the H2O is interfering with the O2 in my cardiovascular system and is exposing me to the danger of cardiac arrest. What did he say? He said, Help Lord! That may be all you can get out, but pray it. Pray it as often as you need to. Call upon the Lord in the day of trouble and I will deliver you. Bless the Lord. I'm as tired as you are. Look to the Lord. I'm just telling you this morning. I'm leaving. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His name. Look to Him. That's what He wants you to do. That's why He's arranged this little affair. He loves to be needed. He'll help you. And you'll love Him all the more for it. Because, you see, nothing makes your heart any more joyous than coming away from a battle doing the right thing. Because holiness is happiness. Doing the right thing is nothing like it in the world. The people that are miserable and tormented out here are the people that are living in sin. The people that are saying no to sin and striving against it and going in the way of the Lord, they are full of joy. There's joy. Look to the Lord. Exercise your will. Have a will. I'm not going down by this thing. I think it was two summers ago we had a situation in which I was violently tempted by just out of the ordinary. I mean, I go through a lot of things, but this thing was out of the ordinary. I mean, this thing came upon my mind and I was seriously tempted. I was riding out on my riding line and I said, and I stopped and I said, I want victory over this, Lord. I'm not going to have this thing, Lord. You've got to help me. I don't want this thing out of my mind. I don't want the devil bothering me in this area no more. Help me, Lord. I'm not going to go under. Nuts! And it left. You see, there's no power of the devil so diabolical or ingenious that shall ever be able to take you down if you'll just simply say no. I will not. I will not. Will to do the right thing. Now let me summarize all of what I've said this morning by this. Ultimately, in this terrible struggle, it's not us who are Christians that have to be worried or fretful. We're coming to take a stand today against the devil with tools he cannot stand. He's evil and he'll attack you and he'll work on you again and again, but he can't stand what you can use against him. When he comes at you, he can't stand that. The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knee. That's a pretty girl. What would that girl be like? Thou shall not commit adultery. God told me not to do it, that there was misery, disaster, death, and hell in that sort of thing, and I'm not going to do it. The Word of God. He can't stand it. I'm telling you folks, to us who will stay with our Lord Jesus and nestle up against him, to us belongs the victory. Amen. That's right. Father, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for the warfare. We thank you for your help, for your grace that is more than sufficient for every trial. Help us, Lord, as we go out to battle. Help us as we struggle and strive against sin. Help us to overcome the enemy. Help us to realize that all that he says to us are lies. Help us defend wholly and lean totally on you. In Jesus' name, amen.