Take your Bibles, if you would, turn to Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six as we continue on the armor of God. We will read verses 10 through 17 to begin this morning. Ephesians six. Ephesians six ten through 17.

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 gird about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, 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. God has given us incredible armor to defend ourselves, to fight back against our true and powerful enemies of Satan and sin and lust. Our armor and weaponry is are powerful. Powerful to the bringing down of the mightiest strongholds of the enemy and destroying the most deceitful lies of the devil. Satan, his lies, his demonic host, his power are no match for the living word, Jesus Christ, or the written word that God has given to us.

The living word Jesus Christ who triumphed over them magnificently by his death and resurrection from the dead. Colossians two thirteen through 15 say this, and you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened, that is made alive together with him, having forgiven you, what, all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, that which condemned us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Christ made a public spectacle of his victory over Satan and sin when he rose again from the dead.

And so today, we serve a what? A living, a risen savior, whoever lives to make intercession for us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for the victory that is ours in Christ Jesus, for the armor that you have given us, specifically today, for the word of God that we have here before us that we read from this morning and hopefully do throughout the week, that we have hidden in our hearts that we might not sin against you, that we share with others the good news of the gospel that they might be saved. Lord, I pray that we would be diligent to do those things for your word is powerful, your armor is great, And, Lord, we thank you for it today and pray that you would inspire and challenge us, Lord, to put it on every day, particularly the word of God.

In Jesus' name, do pray. Amen. One of those pieces of weaponry really, the only piece listed as an offensive weapon is the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. The only purely offensive weapon mentioned is not wielded by us, For it is not the sword of man. It is the sword of the what?

The sword of the spirit. For it is wielded by the spirit with great efficiency. The spirit of God, the holy spirit who lives inside the heart of every child of God. We may have doubts about our ability to wield it, but have no doubt for the holy spirit it is his sword to wield and he will help us to do so. John fourteen twenty six.

But the comforter, the helper, which is the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. The disciples were concerned. Jesus, the son of God, they had walked with him for three years and he is he is leaving. Hence, I'm leaving. I'm going away.

And they're concerned. Jesus says, no. Don't be it is profitable for you that I go away because if I go away, I'm gonna send you the Holy Spirit, the comforter. He will be with you, and he will guide you and bring all things to your remembrance. All things that Jesus had taught them and that Jesus had said, many of which are written where?

Right here in our hands before us. Luke, twelve eleven and twelve. And when they they bring you into the synagogues and unto magistrates and powers, taking no thought how or what thing ye shall answer or what ye shall say, for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. Jesus said to his disciples, don't don't be frightened. Don't despair because you're not alone.

The Holy Spirit, he is with you and he will help. He will give you the words to say. He will bring the words back to your what? To your remembrance. Powerful words.

The words of who? The words of God. It is the Holy Spirit which gave us the word of God, we are told. In second Peter chapter one, for holy men of God spake as they were moved or carried along by who? By the Holy Spirit.

He is the off author of this word that we hold in our hands. Not not man, not Moses, not Paul, not Peter, but the Holy Spirit. They were channels, but they were not the authors. The author is one. That's why everything in this book agrees so well because there are not many, there is just one.

There is just one. And that one is not a mere man with man's opinions and inaccuracies and frailties, but one holy spirit who is never wrong and who is mighty. And it is that same holy spirit that knows how to wield the word of God that he gave us with great effect in our hearts and in the minds and hearts of others. God's word, he promises, will not return what? Void.

Will not return void, but will do amazing things, especially when rightly used by those led by his spirit. In Hebrews chapter four twelve, the writer of Hebrews puts it this way, for the word of God is quick. It is mighty, powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit of joints and marrow is discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Let's read that one more time. For the word of God that you hold in your hands, that you read from, that hopefully some of which you have hidden in your heart, in your mind.

The word of God is quick. It is powerful. It is sharper than any two edged sword. A two edged sword is a mighty weapon. It can cut this way, and it can turn around and cut that way.

But God's word is mightier than the sword, sharper than the sword, the sword that can only pierce flesh where the word of God can pierce the what? Can pierce the heart. The spirit is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is a sword that pierces the heart of man, exposing the thoughts and motives of his heart, rendering him vulnerable, leaving open wounds before the discerning eye of almighty God and ourselves. The writer of Hebrews, point being that it is far more menacing weapon than a real sword to those who are struck by it.

And yet, at the same time, it is like a surgeon's scalpel, precise and can be lifesaving. Its truths plunge inwardly, enlightening the soul within man, awaking in him the truth of his sinful heart and lost condition, revealing the holiness of God before which self righteousness of man dissolves away. Now, this this here is a menacing looking sword. It belongs to my son, David. It has extremely blunt edges.

You couldn't cut butter with this sword. Okay. Literally. The only thing sharp on it is this little point. Anyway, I won't put a hole in my finger.

But anyway, this is pretty impressive. This is more impressive. This is mightier than this. I'm not very good at wielding this. I'm a little better at this, but really it's not me.

It's who? It's the Holy Spirit. It's God that wields his word in this world to open eyes, to bring conviction, to challenge and empower in his service, to give wisdom and guidance. It is a mighty sword. That's why we're here today, to worship the living word and to learn from the written word that we might, by the Holy Spirit he has given us, wield it in this world in which we live because it can change hearts and lives, families and communities.

It is more powerful than the sword. While tearing into the pride and wisdom and vain imaginations of the mind of man, it offers hope and relief and release from its dungeon of corruption and deception, which man desperately needs more than that piece of metal over there. John eight thirty one and thirty two, if ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you what? The truth shall make you free.

The sword of God, its primary purpose is not destructive. It is edifying. It is not destructive. It is constructive. That sword can be used to hurt or kill.

The sword can also be used to cut the things, the ropes that bind people. The word of God is capable of doing both. It can free you or it can also condemn you. It can do both. John chapter 12 verse forty seven and forty eight.

And if any man hear my words and what does it say? Believe not. I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

You can be broken in heart today by the word of God. And with a broken heart, receive the one who can make you whole or you can reject him and his words and be judged and condemned one day by those same words. For those who would recoil at its truth, for those who would close their ears to God's voice and fight its convicting power, they, like the hardened hard trodden path of Matthew 13 in the parable of the sower, will be hardened further and face recompense or consequences for their choice. The sower sows the seed. The seed is the what?

The word of God. And some of it fell on hard packed walking path, sidewalk. And it it just bounced off and bounced around. And it laid there until the birds came and ate the seed. In the parable, the hard path is man's hardened heart that rejects the word of God and Satan takes it away.

Or you could be the good ground that takes in the word of God and bears fruit. Pharaoh and Cain and the world of the lost before they flood, they will be judged of God and of his word and will find no escape. What did God tell Cain? He said, just go back and bring the right sacrifice. But if not, sin lieth at the door.

He had a choice. Would he receive God's word by faith as Abel did? Or would he be face the consequences and condemnation of rejecting it. We have that choice. God does give us that choice.

It can either free you or condemn you. The lost world of Noah's day no doubt heard that judgment was coming, but they just continued to ignore who? Ignore God and his word. And judgment came. Will judgment come again?

The answer is very clear in scripture. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the what? The judgment. And there's a judgment coming upon this world. And there is a judgment day looming out there, the great white throne judgment.

And those who appear before that judgment will be judged out of the things written in the, what? In the books and be found guilty if their name is not written in the book of, what? In the book of life. The lamb, book of life. In Proverbs one twenty four I gotta turn there.

I don't have room for this on the screen. But in Proverbs one beginning in verse 24, it says this, because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded. But ye have said it not all my counsel and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh.

When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, then shall he call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge and did not cheer the choose the fear of the Lord, They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil. If you reject God and his word and his wisdom, it will condemn you, it will destroy you, but if you will receive it, it will protect you. If you will receive it, it will bring you quiet and rest and peace unto those. It is powerful to save.

It is powerful to guide. It is powerful to protect us and defend us against the wiles of the devil. To those who will open their ears and hearts to its word, it proves produces something in them called faith. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the what? By the word of God.

And this is why the tracks that are on that back table, particularly the ones that I wrote, they're full of God's word. Because it is not my arguments that are mighty, it's his what? It's his word that changes hearts and lives and produces something that every person needs to have relationship with God. Something called faith. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the mightiest of weapons in God's arsenal, the word of God.

It gives light and life, enlightening the eyes and soul to the truth, revealing the path to eternal life, the will of God and its reward. Thy word is a light, a lamp unto my feet and a a light unto my path. It lights the way before us as does Jesus, the living word, who is the way, the truth, and the life. We live in a dark world that desperately needs light. Give them the light.

Give them the light. They need it. They need to be shown the path, The word of God. Like water, it washes the mind and soul of sin and brings refreshment to a thirsty heart that he might sanctify and cleanse them with the washing of water by the word. Our mind gets so full today of all kinds of terrible lies and confusion and and nasty perverted things because of the world in which we live.

We're bombarded by it the minute we turn on a a radio, if it's not Christian radio, the minute you turn on your TV set, the minute you walk down the street and look at a billboard, the minute you walk into a place and hear other people talking, it's it's all around us. What can cleanse us? What can give us the strength to overcome those things, to have a clean heart and a clean mind? Here it is. Right here.

Wash it out with what? Not with soap, but with the what? With the word of God. It cleanses our mind and our heart. It redirects us to that which is true and not false.

It overcomes the lustful things that the world wishes to implant in our mind and our heart, and it gives us victory over temptation. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not, what? That I might not sin against God. It is a wonderful thing that we so much take for granted. We have this great weapon at our disposal, and usually it just sits over there on the shelf.

First Peter one twenty two and twenty three, seeing as you have purified your souls and obeying the truth, the word of God, through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. You have been saved and born again if you have put your faith in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ that you find written here in his word. But God doesn't stop there. This word is not just to bring you to salvation. It is to help you to grow, and it is just as powerful to do that.

But in order for it to have the effect that it can, there are some important things. First, you must receive it. You must receive it. God will not force it down your throat. God did not create robots.

He created human beings in the image of who? In the image of God. You can choose to receive it or not to receive it. That is your choice. It will either save you, change you, empower you, enlighten you, lead and guide you, or condemn you based upon your reception or not.

Mark four twenty, and these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the word, receive it, and bring forth fruit, Some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a 100. In order to receive it, that means, obviously, you've got to hear it. You've gotta read it. You can't receive it if if you don't see it, if you don't hear it. If it just sits on a shelf, it's not going to be received, is it?

God's given us a great gift. Great gift. Would you receive it? Read it? Hear it?

Number two, believe it? John five twenty four, Jesus said, verily, verily, say unto you, he that heareth my word and, what, believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life. You must believe it. You must believe its message. You must believe the person that it's all about, Jesus Christ.

You must receive it as it is indeed the word of God. And then you must, what, embrace it by faith. Not just that Jesus Christ is the son of God who came and died on the cross for your sins and rose again that you might have eternal life. That is just the starting point. If that's all it was, then, well, our Bible would be kinda short.

We wouldn't need Acts and Romans and first and second Corinthians and and Revelation. But guess what? God wasn't done yet at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There's a lot more for you to believe than just the gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ and to then hide it in your heart. Dwell upon it.

Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, but his delight is in the, what? The law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate, ruminate about it day and night. Bring it back up in your mind throughout your day. Hide it in your heart.

Receive it. Believe it. Dwell upon it. Apply it. How does it apply to you?

How does it apply to your circumstance, to your life? What God has to say in his word about about being holy. Be holy as I am holy. How does that apply to you? How does that apply to the way you talk?

How does that apply to the to the things you watch, to the things you say, to your appearance, to your testimony, even to your what? Your very thoughts. If then anything be be true and honest and just, think on these things. What are those things in your life that God wants you to dwell upon? How can you apply it to your life?

And the verses before that says, be anxious for nothing. Be don't worry. Be anxious for nothing. Be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God.

And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. What is it that is bringing you anxiety today? Take it to who? Take it to God. Believe that he will hear your prayers because he says he will.

Ask and it shall be given. Seek and ye shall not find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Take it to the Lord with thanksgiving that he is a God who hears and answers your prayers. And he will give you peace that what?

Passes all understanding. Apply it to your life and be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. Obey it. Do what it says. What does it tell us?

Go into all the world and what? Preach the gospel. So then take a track and give it to the person that the drive up window or the person who brought you your food or the person that you bought something at the counter at the store or the person that you rub shoulders with at work. Maybe even open your mouth and tell them what Christ means to you and what he has done for them. There are sins of commission and there are sins of omission.

Joshua one eight says, but this the book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou may observe it observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. God says to Joshua, read it. Believe it. Dwell upon it.

And then what? Apply it and do it. And if we will do it, we will see the power of God in our lives like we have never seen it before. But so many times, we judge our standing, our our fellowship, our our growth as a Christian solely based upon the things we know that we don't apply. God's word is not the sword that it's just as my David has a place that this, sits in his, in his house.

And it sits there and it looks pretty. Okay? But is that what swords really were made for? No. They were made to use.

So is this. So is this. It's not made so you can say and I can say, I know better than you, that's wrong. I'm right. God's word says so.

That's great. That's good that you know right from wrong. Now go and do what? Do right. Do right.

It's not enough to know right, but we need to what? Do right. Obey it and proclaim it. Proclaim it. Jeremiah seven two says, stand in the gate of the Lord's house.

Proclaim there is there this word and say, hear the word of the Lord. Hear the word of the Lord. Proclaim it. And that's that's only for pastors. Right?

No. No, it's not. No, it's not. Every child of God today is a representative and a mouthpiece and an ambassador for Jesus Christ. And you have the opportunity to proclaim it to people that I will never meet.

We have some visitors here with on from Ontario this morning. I won't make them stand up and give their names or not. I'm not likely to be on Ontario anytime soon. I won't have the opportunity to preach or to tell people that they rub shoulders with about Jesus Christ, but they're they're just here on vacation, so they're going back. And they'll have opportunities that that I won't have, and so will you with your neighbors and your coworkers and your family.

We need to pick up the sword, and we need to let the Holy Spirit wield it through us. We we need to not fear. The Bible says the fear of man brings a what? A snare, but whoso trusteth in the Lord shall be saved. What does that mean?

That means open your mouth and trust God. I know for some of us that's more scary than others. And I was one of those people for whom it was scary, particularly when I was younger. I was not an extrovert. I was not a bold person with my words, and it is not my nature.

But you know whose nature it is? It's the Holy Spirit's nature, and he will help us. But we have to read it and receive it, believe it, hide it, apply it, obey it, proclaim it. This this mighty weapon that God has given this piece of the armor, we need to pick it up, not just on Sunday. We will see victory.

We will see souls saved. We will see lives changed. We will see victory over temptation and addiction and the lives of Satan in our own life that we might never think possible. But in God, all things are what? All things are possible.

All things are possible. If you would see sin defeated and at bay in your life, God's word not only has the answer, it what? It is the answer. If you would see salvation of your neighbors, your friends, and relatives, God's word not only provides the answer, it is the answer that they need. It is the truth that will set them, what, free.

It will cut the bindings that hold them as it pierces their heart and soul and mind and brings them to their knees to receive everlasting life and hope. What a weapon it is. God has promised it will not return void. It will produce a response from those who hear it. It will produce life in those who receive it and victory over those who would silence it.

So don't forget to pick up your sword this week. Tomorrow. Let it do its work in in your heart. If you'll open up your heart to it, it will. It will.

And you won't regret it. At times, it might be a little bit painful, like the surgeon's scalpel. But it is necessary, and it is good and it saves lives and it gives wisdom and it gives peace. Let it do its work. Don't be ashamed of it.

Romans one sixteen, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Don't be ashamed of what you believe. Don't be ashamed to share God's word even with those who say they don't believe it. Let it do its work.

Let it do its work. And please don't leave it on your shelf this week. Let it do its work in your heart. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, if there's one here today in particular that has never that has yet to receive the good news of the gospel, has yet to receive Jesus Christ, who is presented in your word that you preserve for us, slain before the foundation of the world, slain for our sins upon the cross that we might receive salvation, redemption, forgiveness, and freedom through faith in him.

Lord, if there's one here today that is yet to receive that word and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Lord, this would be their day of salvation. I pray as we give this hymn of invitation that they would come. And, Lord, if there's one here today or two or three or many of us to whom you have spoken concerning lies that we've been holding onto that need to be washed clean by the word of God. Lord, if we've been guilty of letting God's word sit on our shelf rather than hiding it in our heart, Lord, I pray that you would help us to take that more seriously, to confess our sins exposed by your word today, and, Lord, to reap the cleansing and power that it provides. In Jesus' precious name, we do pray.

Amen.