I want to reiterate the importance of a telephone
call this week to your representative. One statement
that was made this last week is that the Civil
Rights Restoration Act is the greatest threat
to religious liberty in this century. I received
a telephone call long distance last night warning
us again of what this act contains and the threat
that it is to a church like ours. We can not
deny employment, for example, to a person who
is homosexual because of his sexual preference
if this act passes, nor can a Christian school
or any Christian organization. It is a sweeping
act, and that's only one example. It is a sweeping
act that takes away the liberty and the rights
of religious organizations. It's a very innocuous
name, Civil Rights Restoration Act. Well, everybody's
in favor of civil rights, but ladies and gentlemen,
this is an assault upon the liberties of people
in the United States. I want to urge you to make
that telephone call tomorrow morning, first thing,
and keep calling until you get through. to let
the representative in your area know exactly
how you feel about it. I want to thank you for
praying for the ministry this last week in Pennsylvania
at Calvary Independent Church in Lancaster. I
enjoyed the conference a great deal. Two of our
friends were there, Al Larson with UFM International,
who has spoken here, as well as Dr. Robertson
McQuilkin, who likewise has spoken in our missions
conference. We shared the ministry of speaking
to the missionaries this last week. Here's a
church that in the fall has a conference for
their missionaries whom they support. And at
that time, their missionaries report to the church.
But in the spring, they invite missionaries from
a broad spectrum of organizations to come to
be encouraged and fed. And so throughout the
day, Missionaries are spoken to. There were 265
of them there this week. The church prepares
the noon meal and the evening meal, feeds them
right there at the church, and then they are
kept overnight in the homes of members. That
goes on from Sunday through Sunday. It's a marvelous
ministry to the missionaries. Then in the evening,
they have the opportunity to share some slides,
seven minutes apiece. From 6 .30 to 7 .30, there
were seven or eight missionaries that would show
slides telling about their field. Then from 7
.30 to about 8 .40, some of the leaders of mission
organizations spoke, bringing all of us up to
date on what was happening in the part of the
world where they are ministering. So it was an
inspirational and informational time. and a great
week. They've done this for 53 years as a church.
In fact, they did it two years before they were
organized into a church. That's how embedded
missions is in that particular local church.
And so thank you for praying, and God bless,
and it was a fine week of ministry together with
them. Now would you open your Bible, please,
to Ephesians chapter 6. Verses 17 and 18 will
be our primary focus, but we will complete the
book this morning. And so read with me, please,
as we begin in Ephesians 6, 17. And take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. With all prayer and
petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and
with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance
and petition for all the saints. And pray on
my behalf. that utterance may be given to me
in the opening of my mouth to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which
I am an ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming
it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak, but
that you also may know about my circumstances,
how I am doing. Tychicus, the beloved brethren
and faithful minister in the Lord, will make
everything known to you. And I have sent him
to you for this very purpose, so that you may
know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.
Peace be to the brethren in love with faith from
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace
be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ
with a love incorruptible. As we hear about various
wars going on in the world, some of them formal
wars, others, many others, of them informal guerrilla
kinds of wars, we are reminded of the importance
of weaponry. In Ephesians chapter 6, we have
been studying about the armor which God has provided
for us in Jesus Christ. And we have worked our
way through this text up to the point that today
we talk about the sword of the Spirit. We come
now to an offensive weapon that you and I are
able to wield, the sword of the Spirit. The word
here, machaira, sword, does not refer to the
long sword which was approximately four feet
in length, but it refers here to a short sword.
which was 6 inches to 18 inches in length. It
was the kind of weapon that was used particularly
in close combat. It was worn by the Roman soldier
in a scabbard or sheath on his side. The use
of this sword demanded skill and accuracy for
it to be effective. The sword of the Spirit is,
for you and me, an offensive weapon. There are
two possible renderings of this phrase, the sword
of the spirit. It may be understood this way,
the spiritual sword. Rather than a capital S
on spirit, it could be an adjective saying the
spiritual sword. This would agree with what Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians 10 .4 when he reminds
us that our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual.
We use weapons in the realm of the Spirit, and
the sword that he mentions here is an example,
the spiritual sword. It can also be rendered,
as it is in most translations of the Bible in
the English, a sword of the Spirit or a sword
produced by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This
would, of course, involve the work of inspiration,
for the word is given to us by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. He superintended and oversaw
the human writers of Scripture. So that while
they wrote out of their own personalities, with
their own vocabulary, and with the concerns on
their hearts, what they wrote was the very Word
of God. It was in thought and in word what God
wished them to express. That is the miracle of
inspiration. And so it is the sword produced
by the Spirit in that sense. Now I think that
we could combine both of these thoughts and probably
come close to what Paul was saying here. What
we have as an offensive weapon is a spiritual
sword produced by the Holy Spirit. And he identifies
that as the Word of God. Most of us would be
familiar with the Greek word logos. which is
frequently used in speaking about the Word of
God. Jesus Christ is named the Logos by John.
The Bible is called the Logos. The word Logos
refers to thought, to communication of that thought.
And it's a great word, a great expression. But
that is not the word chosen here to describe
this Word of God. Here it is a different word,
not Logos. but the word rhema. This is the proclaimed
word or the uttered word, the utterance of God.
And Paul's point seems to be this. It is that
specific utterance of God which is appropriate
for the moment or the occasion of attack. In
other words, when we feel ourselves under attack
of the enemy. We're not to take out all 66 books
of the Bible and begin waving this book in the
air. That is not the sense in which it is a sword.
But he is saying here that it is the sword of
the Spirit when you and I take a particular utterance
of God, when we draw out of this armory, as it
were, a particular sword to use which God has
said that relates to that specific time of attack.
Now, as most of you would be aware, it's exactly
what Jesus did in the time of his temptation.
When the enemy attacked him, his response was,
It is written. And then he would quote from the
Old Testament a specific direct word dealing
with that temptation of the devil. And each time,
the word was able to pierce the enemy. and to
stop the temptation. What a tremendous example
our Lord is there to us. When you feel yourself
coming under attack of lust, or you sense an
attack of pride against you, or there is covetousness
welling up in your heart, you're tempted toward
greed, look in the Logos for a rhema. Look in
the word for a word, an utterance from God that
applies to that specific temptation and wield
it, quote it, verbalize it, bring it to your
mind, and use it. And that will be effective
in cutting away the enemy as he seeks to lead
you into defeat. This is a sword which is given
to every Christian. It is not for just a few.
It is not for those who have been to seminary
only. It is not just for those who have read
their Bibles all their lives. It's for every
believer, even the youngest, is able to take
from the Word. Now, the better we know our Bible,
the better off we are. The more we study our
Bible, the more aware we're going to be of what
God has said regarding a variety of temptations.
We'll be able to go not just for one sword, but
maybe for several swords, dealing with the very
same theme or temptation. And so the more we
study it, the better we know it, the better off
we are. But the fact is that any Christian can
wield this sword. It is not just for a few. God
wants us to wield it powerfully so that we can
withstand in the day of evil when evil comes
against us. God wants us to use it skillfully,
not carelessly, sloppily, but to wield it skillfully
in battle and be precise and go for the enemy
because he's going for you. It is a battle, my
friend. This is not a tea party. This is not
a weapons inspection. This is a fight. It is
a battle and Satan is out to destroy you. He's
not out to play with you. He is out to absolutely
destroy your life's effectiveness. So when we
talk about the weapon to use against him, this
is serious business. We're talking about an utterance
from God to meet that temptation. And you will
wield that in your mind and strike out at the
enemy. And you will see that the sword will do
its work. How sad it is when a Christian does
not know the word of God. How sad it is for a
believer not to be able to go to the weaponry
and pull out the particular one that's needed
at that moment. So, beloved, it's imperative
that you and I spend time in the Word, that we
read the Word and study the Word. We meditate
upon it so that we can become equipped with this
offensive weaponry against the devil. And then
we come to this verse 18. It mentions prayer.
Prayer is not specifically a part of the armor.
Do you notice that? He does not identify it with
any particular piece. Now the reason for that
would seem to be that he is now going to speak
about the energy for the soldier, the resource
for the soldier to drop on. It is not just a
piece of armor, but it is the power for the battle
itself. Prayer is our communication, shall we
say, with headquarters. It is our ability of
knowing and understanding our superior, our master.
Through prayer, we are able to lift our voice
to him and communicate with him. And he is able
to respond to us. The United States, and undoubtedly
other countries, has developed sophisticated
units of communication for its soldiers. Some
of our special forces have communication gear
that they're able to carry on their persons.
They can go into the remotest part of the earth,
into some jungle in Central America, or in some
part of the Middle East. in the desert. And from
that one spot on planet Earth, they are able
to take out from their gear that they have carried
with them, hand -held units that will send a
signal to a satellite in space and back directly
to the Pentagon in Washington. It is now technologically
possible for a soldier in some distant part of
the earth to have direct contact with the Pentagon
in Washington to find out what his orders are
specifically. And you can understand with some
of the situations that we are confronting in
the world today in the battle against communism,
battle against radicalism, that that kind of
communication is essential. The way things are,
there is no opportunity. to make up for a miss.
We can't afford a mistake, a misunderstanding
in orders. There's too much at risk in our world
today. That kind of instant communication is
valuable, if not essential. Do you understand
that you and I, who are believers, have had that
all of our lives as believers? And for 2 ,000
years, We've enjoyed that direct access to headquarters.
We don't even need to carry gear on us. All we
have to do is to pray and immediately our word
is before God in heaven. We have instant communication.
What a resource that is for you and for me. We
are able to bring our needs to the attention
of our heavenly commander immediately. as soldiers
of Jesus Christ and able to have his response
immediately to us. Prayer is the energy, it is
the resource of the Christian soldier. And God
works when people pray. I believe that we need
to do everything we can within the liberties
granted to us under the Constitution to impact
the legislation that comes before Congress. That's
why I urge you to make that phone call this week.
But let's face it. Ultimately, the battle is
not in the halls of Congress. That is not where
the battle is. The battle is in the realm of
the Spirit. The battle is in the heavenlies.
It is not against flesh and blood, but it is
against the wicked spirits of Satan, which are
seeking to close down this nation. And don't
think for a moment that God would never allow
them to do that. That's what the Jews thought
in the Old Testament, too. They said, well, as
bad as we are, there are many righteous people
in our nation. And as bad as we are, we're better
off than that nation over there that would want
to dominate us. And God sent word. And in fact,
he was going to allow that nation of the Chaldeans,
the Babylonians, to come and attack and destroy
his people and bring them into judgment. We must
never get into the game of comparing ourselves
to other nations. We're better than they are,
or that we have more Christians here, or more
money comes out of here for world missions. God
would never allow anything to happen, and I don't
believe that. There is a battle right now for
the soul of this nation. But I repeat, it is
not being fought ultimately in the halls of Congress.
Nor is it being fought in the presidential primaries,
as important as those are in our system. The
real battle for the United States is being fought
in the realm of the spirit, folks. You and I
can have a direct impact. on the direction that
things go in this nation by getting on our knees
and being in touch with headquarters. God works
when his people pray. This was illustrated last
week in the testimony of Dr. Frank Severn, who
is the director of SEND International. In 1984,
Frank related to us this week, Send International
was considering closing their work on the field
of Taiwan. There had been no converts or baptisms
among their missionaries in a number of years.
And in fact, their whole missionary force in
Taiwan under Send International now, that's just
one mission working there, but their missionary
force had dwindled to three couples. And so as
a board, they met together and considered just
closing down the field and moving those three
couples elsewhere where they were stronger, where
the mission was stronger. But they decided to
call a time of prayer before they would do that.
And so they got word to all of the missionaries
under Send International throughout the world
and asked them to focus prayer particularly on
Taiwan. So there was a whole mission, and undoubtedly
many supporting churches as well, praying for
God to give a breakthrough, to give direction
regarding the ministry of Send International
in Taiwan. And now, just three and a half years
later, instead of three couples in Taiwan, there
are 30 couples in Taiwan. 30 couples. And he
reported that every prayer letter that he has
received from all of those couples for the last
six months, every prayer letter, every month,
has mentioned converts and baptisms. What's the
difference? Well, I don't know all the story,
but I can tell you one thing. The concentrated,
focused prayer made a big difference on what
happened in the ministry of that mission in the
field of Taiwan. God works when his people pray.
Our need is to be a praying people. The apostle
says to us here that we are to be alert with
prayer. Notice that there are several alls, A
-L -L, alls used in verse 18. That is by design.
The Apostle Paul used a particular Greek word
in four different forms, but to get the same
point across, it seems he wants to tell us the
what of prayer, the when of prayer, the how of
prayer, and the who of prayer. In the first place,
the what of prayer. He says, with all prayer
and petition. Praying with all prayer and petition.
Prayer, the noun that is used there, is the most
common word for prayer. It is a general word.
It refers to our conversation with God. It is
a word that is very broad in its meaning, embracing
many different approaches to the Lord, whether
it be worship or confession or petition. But
then he mentions specifically petition. This
word is supplication, need, a specific request
for a particular benefit. With all prayer and
petition. And what is Paul saying? Well, it seems
to me that Paul is telling us that the water
of prayer involves our being in touch with headquarters
at all times in a general way. Prayer. need comes.
When there is a special, particular, and urgent
request, immediately we are to send that off
by way of petition. An urgent word to God, a
request that comes in this whole general life
of prayer. And then as to the when, he says,
with all prayer and petition, pray at all times.
This coincides with what he says to the Thessalonians,
chapter 5, verse 17 of 1 Thessalonians. Pray
without ceasing. On every occasion, with every
opportunity, pray. He's speaking here about learning
to relate to God regarding every part of our
daily experience. Or to say it a different way,
to develop a God awareness in our lives. When
are we to pray at all times, he says. Then again
to the Colossians, he says, continue in prayer.
Or as the NASV puts it, devote yourselves to
prayer. The word there means to hold fast to
it. Boy, that's our need today, folks. That's
our need today. I've been out of town for a week.
I don't know how these morning prayer meetings
have been going. I hope they're being better
attended each week as we look to that spring
conference, which is a critical time for us as
a church. Every morning in the week, Monday through
Friday, our church is open, room 7, for an hour
of prayer. For part of the hour, all of the hour,
630 to 730. On Saturday morning at 9 o 'clock,
it's open for prayer for an hour. I hope that
you're taking advantage of that. We can have
all the armor on, folks. But I want to tell you
something. If we are not praying, God is not
going to work. Are there areas of ministry you're
concerned about? Do you have burdens regarding
something that ought to be done that's not being
done? Are you concerned about some particular
area of your life? God says pray about it. And
pray at all times. Be devoted to prayer. Don't
just pray when things are tough, but be devoted
to prayer at all times, in every occasion and
circumstance. And then how are we to pray? Well,
he says we are to pray at all times in the Spirit.
Capital S. This does not refer to... some charismatic
experience. That is not what he's talking about.
He simply says pray in the atmosphere or in the
sphere of the Spirit. The point is that the Holy
Spirit ought to be empowering us. The Holy Spirit
desires to enable us so that then when we don't
even know how to pray or we pray amiss, we miss
God's will in one of our petitions. The Spirit
of God, according to Romans 8 .26, is able to
intercede directly to the Father according to
the perfect will of God. Pray in the Spirit.
That's how we're to pray. And then he says we're
to pray on the alert, being watchful. We're to
stay awake. The thought here is to pass even
a sleepless night, to be vigilant. Prayer is
not something passive. It is an active discipline
in our lives. It certainly is in contrast to
the disciples in Gethsemane, isn't it? Jesus
said, watch and pray. They slept and didn't pray.
How are we to pray? We're to pray in the Spirit
and on the alert, and we're to pray, as he says
here, with all perseverance and petition. The
idea is to hold out for something. This word
perseverance was used in the early days of the
New Testament times in waiting for a court hearing.
Or it was used in remaining diligent at one's
work. Folks, there is no time for apathy. This
is not the time for indifference. We must not
be listless at this critical hour in history.
Because in our generation the whole world may
change. There may be times come upon this world
like we have never seen before. In 2 ,000 years
I'm talking about. The end of the age is upon
us. The judge is standing at the door. The Lord
is at hand. It is as it were he is in Gethsemane.
We must not sleep in this critical hour of all
hours. But be diligent in prayer. That's how
we're to pray. And then who or for whom are we
to pray? For all saints, he says. We are not
reticent to bring to the Lord our own needs and
requests. And that's fine. God wants us to bring
those to him. But notice the next all here. It's
for all saints. Perhaps Paul is looking back
at the church there, remembering that there were
some Jews and many Gentiles, and as he wrote
in chapter 2, there are now one. Maybe there
was a tendency to be a little cliquish. He says,
listen, pray for all saints, whether Jew or Gentile,
all saints. Likewise, we must not be cliquish.
Let's not pray just for our church. Let's pray
for other churches in our city. in our community,
who love God, who preach the Bible, let's pray
for them too. There are some wonderful churches
in the Twin Cities. Let's pray for them. They
may not be of your denominational preference.
They may do things a little differently than
we do. But folks, if they are saints, we're instructed
to pray for them. And let's not just pray for
white people. Let's pray for the black Christians
in Africa. God's Spirit is sweeping across Africa.
The reports this week, just one after another,
told what God is doing in Africa. South America,
tremendous movement of the Spirit of God throughout
South America. Let's pray for those brothers.
Our Latin brothers, our African brothers, our
Oriental brothers. The Spirit of God is moving
so dynamically in parts of the Far East. Japan
is just beginning to show signs of breaking open
to the things of the Lord. It's been so shut
for generations. Just now beginning, but you
go across the sea there to Korea, or you... You
skip on down to the southern part of that Asian
continent, and you think about India. In India,
there are 3 ,000 nations in that one country.
Some of them made up of a few thousand people.
One of them made up of 100 million. But 3 ,000
different identifiable nations of people within
India. And only 100 of them have any gospel witness.
2 ,900 of them are without a viable gospel witness
today. Pray for all the saints. These are great
days as God is working. Pray for the places where
God is working. Pray for where the church is
suffering. And it is suffering in places. We
have mentioned this morning the Philippines,
Nicaragua, where true believers are suffering
under the repression of the Sandinistas, and
El Salvador, Guatemala. Pray for the suffering
church behind the Iron Curtain. My, there are
some marvelous things happening in Poland, in
Hungary, in Yugoslavia. There's a suffering church
in Romania today. The government is determined
to destroy the churches of that land. Albania,
suffering church. Pray for the national movements,
the international movements, the events that
take place in the world today. We were urged
to pray for Komi Bam. That was a... an event
in South America last year, the likes of which
have never been seen before, when people who
especially minister to Latins were brought together
in a large conference in Brazil. And oh, what
God did at that place in stirring those evangelists
and leaders for evangelism and church planting.
Pray for all saints. Let us be world -minded
in our praying. Not narrow -minded. For all saints.
That's how God wants us to pray. And God wants
us to pray especially for spiritual leaders.
Paul does not at all prove reticent. He says,
and pray on my behalf. Pray for me. That I may
have utterance. That I may be courageous to open
my mouth and speak boldly the mystery of the
gospel. Undoubtedly, he was primarily thinking
of that time when he would stand before the officials
of Rome. to give his defense. He calls himself
an ambassador in chains. Pray for him, he said.
And notice that he sends Tychicus to them to
bring specific information as to how to pray
for them. Undoubtedly, Tychicus would return
and bring specific information about Ephesus
so that they might pray intelligently, so that
their prayer might be effective. But we need
to pray. We need to pray. We do not need to read
more books about prayer. Not that that's bad,
but most of us have read enough books. We don't
really need to hear sermons like this on prayer.
We've heard enough sermons about prayer. All
we need to do is practice what we know. James
tells us that we will receive from God what we
ask for. And if we do not ask, we will not receive.
What are we asking God to do? And to bring it
back to the primary concern of our own church
for the spring meeting, as we think about Vernon
Brewer's coming, Steve Ragsdale is going to minister
to us April 10 to 13. What are we asking God
to do? What are we asking God to do in terms
of deepening our own commitment to ministry here
and abroad? as a result of the Nehemiah campaign
that gets underway this week. What are we asking
God to do? Are we spending time in prayer? Does
it make any difference to us? If it doesn't make
any difference to us, why then should God move?
We will get from God what we ask for. Boy, there's
some encouraging signs across the United States
when it comes to prayer. There's a great student
prayer movement that is underway on many college
campuses. It is growing. It's becoming international.
And the commitment on the part of thousands and
thousands of Christian college students on both
Christian and secular campuses is to pray, to
pray. Pray for missions, to pray for revival
in our nation and a spiritual awakening. Pray
for the own walk with God, but to pray. I want
to assure you that a church's future is only
as secure as the prayers of the people are faithful.
For when people cease praying for a ministry,
it is finished. It may continue to exist for
a time, but it's finished. When people then begin
to pray, God begins to revitalize. God begins
to do a new work. No prayer, no power. Little
prayer, little power. Much prayer, much power.
My heart's burden this morning is that God will
put upon us a spirit of prayer that we have never
had yet, actually, in our seven years as a church.
We call a prayer meeting on a Sunday evening
like last Sunday night. The crowd is way down.
Was something special on television? I don't
know. I don't really care. Maybe people were
doing other things. But where were you last Sunday
night when the church was asked to come and pray?
If we want the blessing of God, then I hope we
want nothing less than that. We must be a people
who are soldiers, armed and equipped for battle,
and who are drawing upon that privilege of communication
with headquarters and who are filled with energy
and resource because they are being faithful
in prayer. Oh, folks, let's be that kind of people.
Let's commit ourselves afresh this morning to
our own praying. Would you bow together with
me, please? In a time of silent response, I wonder
if you would talk to the Lord, if you're a Christian,
if you would talk to the Lord about your prayer
life. What do you need to do to turn up the notch
on your prayer life? We've learned something
about the what, the when, the how, and the who
of prayer. Will you pray? Will you join us in
prayer for God to do a special work in our church,
in our hearts? Oh God, I pray that you will in
fact lay upon us a spirit of prayer and of supplication.
I pray that you will shake us from complacency
and apathy regarding prayer. I thank you, Father,
for those prayer warriors in this congregation
who uphold me and others and the ministry of
the church and its future, its outreach in prayer.
Lord God, there are too few warriors doing that.
I pray that you will raise up today hundreds
of others who not only will put on the armor
of God but will pray and enter into the power
of the battle itself. My friend, would you be
one of those? Would you say, by the grace of
God, As much as I will be given to understand
what it means, I determined in my heart to become
a prayer warrior for Jesus Christ, for my church,
for all saints. My heart's desire this morning,
indeed my commitment, is to be a prayer warrior.
Would you lift your hand and put it down? Praise
God. I know that others of you, undoubtedly scores
of others, are already prayer warriors. Will
there be others who want to lift a hand and say,
yes, I will enter into prayer? I don't know how
that application may be specifically carried
out in your life. God bless you for lifting your
hands. But as God may lead you, be a prayer warrior.
And now, Lord, thank you for... the commitment
this morning, which I trust will grow and embrace
many, many others in our congregation. I pray
that you will make us a praying church, that
we may be successful and victorious in the battles
that we're facing in the end of this age. In
Jesus' name, amen. I invite you to take your
worship folder. We're going to close with a stirring
hymn by the choir, and then we will sing together
this hymn of commitment, Soldiers of Christ Arise.
The words are in the worship folder, so I invite
you to take that. Remain seated, please, as the
choir comes to sing, and then John will signal
to us when we should rise. that you may be able
to stand. Having put on the fresh plate of righteousness
and having shot your feet with... © BF -WATCH
TV 2021 his eternal Son. Again the Lord of hosts
and in his mighty power through him the strength
of Jesus Christ is given. And strength to strength
On Stanford prevails.