Your hires are back from retreat. Isn't that
wonderful? Some of them are in here. Others of
them should be coming in. So we will anticipate
their arrival shortly, I'm sure. At least one,
I know. Today is our annual book fair. When we
seek to build up the ministry of our library,
I want to thank those of you who participated.
Frankly, it's been a little bit disappointing.
We've got an awful lot of materials out there
left that we'd hoped to be able to add to our
library. If you can help us out, please stop
by the table and see Sherlyn. She'll be there
yet, wherever you are. I haven't seen you yet
here tonight, but there you are back there. She
will be able to assist you. so that we can add
that material to the library for use of everyone
in our church, but you get the first crack at
checking it out. The last time we were together
talking about the theme of the coming kingdom,
I talked about some of the false notions regarding
Jesus coming again. Let me just remind you of
five basic facts regarding the coming of Jesus
Christ. in His second advent. In the first place,
it is still future. It is not something that
has happened or is happening at the believer's
death, but rather the second coming of Jesus
Christ is still future. We are warned in the
Scriptures against time setting. We do not do
that. On the other hand, we are exhorted to be
watchful because we do not know the hour or the
day when our Lord will return. And so we are
told to be prepared for His coming. It is still
future. Secondly, His second coming will occur
in two phases. We've talked about this, but let's
remind ourselves that He is coming in the first
phase for His church, the bride, the rapture
of the church. That is, when He comes back into
the atmosphere of the clouds of the air and calls
out His people to join Him. there, and then to
go back to heaven with him. That's phase one.
Phase two of his return comes later when he returns
actually to the earth. In the rapture he comes
for his saints. In his return, his second coming,
he comes with his saints to the earth. His first
coming, as best as we can understand the Scripture,
at least from my understanding of it, is invisible
to the world. That is, it will not be seen by
the world. Certainly, the calamities that will
take place around the world because of the disappearance
of multiplied millions of people will have an
impact of some sort. But His coming will be invisible
in the rapture. But in the return to the earth,
every eye will see Him. It is visible. The third
fact is that it's a personal coming. The Lord
Jesus is coming Himself. It's not a spiritual
return, it is a bodily return to the earth. Number
four, it will precede and usher in a new age
upon the earth. We call that the kingdom or the
millennium, which means thousand years because
that kingdom will last a thousand years and then
following a brief intervention, to finally and
fully deal with evil, that kingdom will be extended
on into eternity. And finally, His coming again
to earth will bring judgment upon the Christ
-rejecting world. Now, it is that aspect that
I'd like to fill out a little bit for us tonight
as we think about the coming kingdom. Tonight
specifically, the retribution of the King. There
are many judgments spoken about in the Bible.
Several of them are related to you and to me
as believers in this age. There is the judgment
that took place at the cross upon our sin where
the Lord Jesus Christ was cursed for us. That
we might be redeemed from the curse of the law.
The judgment at the cross that He bore on our
behalf. And then there is the judgment that takes
place through chastening in this age. As our
Lord deals with us as His beloved sons, for whom
the Lord loves, He chastens as a father His son,
in whom He delights. The judgment of chastening.
And then there is the self -judgment that takes
place in this age. 1 Corinthians 11 says that
we ought to examine ourselves. That we not be
brought in to judgment with the world and so
we are to examine ourselves To be sure that we're
walking obediently to the Lord self judgment
And then there is the beam on judgment the judgment
seat of Christ which will occur after the rapture
and in heaven or between here and heaven But
at least it seems before we get there. We will
have experienced that examination before the
Lord for our works in this world. That has nothing
to do with whether we're saved or not. Bless
God that was determined that the cross our sins
were dealt with there and when we trusted the
Lord Jesus Christ that judgment the cross fully
dealt with our sins and is secured for us a home
in heaven forever. But the behemoth judgment
is for our service for the Lord. Now tonight
we want to talk about three future judgments
which will occur at the second coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The first one is found, if
you will turn please with me, in the book of
the Revelation in the 19th chapter. We have been
here before recently, but let's look again at
this particular aspect of the truth that is revealed
to us in Revelation 19. Here we have the judgment
of God upon the Antichrist and his armies. That
is judgment number one that occurs when Jesus
Christ returns to the earth. Verse 19, and I
saw the beast, that's the Antichrist, in the
language of Revelation, and the kings of the
earth, and their armies assembled to make war
against him who set upon the horse and against
his army. The one upon the horse is the Lord
Jesus Christ described in the previous verses
as King of kings and Lord of lords. His army
clothed in white and fine linen coming down out
of heaven with him. And it says, and the beast
was seized. And with him the false prophet, that
is, the religious leader who will be the front
man, as it were, for this political messianic
figure. He will bring the worship of the world
to Antichrist, as it says here. The false prophet
who performed the signs in his, the beast's,
presence by which he deceived those who had received
the mark of the beast and those who worshipped
his image. These two were thrown alive into the
lake of fire which burns with brimstone. These
are the first two inhabitants of that eternal
place of condemnation for those who are lost.
And for the first 1 ,000 years, they are the
only two people who are in that lake of fire.
The eternal residence The eternal jail and prison,
the place of incarceration and punishment for
those who are unsaved. Now it goes on to say,
and the rest were killed with the sword, which
came from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse,
and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Now the birds are mentioned in verses 17 and
18. We did not take time to read about them.
But that is God's way of cleaning up the carnage
of that battle called the Battle of Armageddon.
You will notice that at the coming of Christ,
not only the false prophet and the beast are
dealt with, but all of those who followed them
in their armies are slain. They are killed. And
their bodies then are dealt with in the manner
that is mentioned here. As I understand my Bible,
the souls of those people who are slain at that
point go to the same place where the souls of
the lost go now, and that is to Gehenna, hell,
not to the lake of fire. They will be brought
back from hell to stand before God in the last
judgment and then to go to the final place of
incarceration. And so there is this immediate
and initial judgment dealing with those who have
come in the armies to fight in the battle of
Armageddon. That is the first judgment. Now of
course there will be many people living upon
the earth in those days who will not be in those
armies. And there will be saved and unsaved.
There will be Jew and Gentile. These need to
be dealt with by the justice of God. God needs
to ferret out from among the people of the world
those who are His, through faith in Jesus Christ,
the righteous, so that they may enter into the
millennium, into the kingdom. Those who are unrighteous,
those who have not believed in Jesus Christ as
Savior, will at that time be judged slain, and
will not be allowed to enter into the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look in the
book of Matthew to begin with the following two
judgments. The judgment of all the people of
Israel. Let's think of them first. Now we're
just going to look here briefly at only the first
of the parables in Matthew 25, the parable of
the ten virgins. And without going through it
in detail, let me just remind you that there
are ten virgins who are described here as having
lamps. They are waiting for the bridegroom with
his bride to come My understanding of this parable
and there is a considerable difference of opinion
about this parable But of course those who are
right take this position I Say that in jest you
understand My opinion is that these ten virgins
represent symbolically, the nation of Israel.
Five of these are prepared for the coming of
the bridegroom with his bride. They have oil
in their lamps, the oil representing most likely
the Holy Spirit and the blessing of salvation
that comes through his presence in the life of
the believer. And then there are the five that
have no oil in their lamps. They are caught unprepared.
They seem to symbolically represent those Jews
that are not prepared for the coming of the bridegroom
with his bride. And so we see immediately that,
like the Gentiles, so among the Jews there will
be those who will believe and those who will
not have believed. And they will be separated
at this point. Let's go back to the Old Testament
to get a prophetic view of this in the book of
Ezekiel and the 20th chapter When you found Ezekiel
chapter 20 look with me at verse 33 Which is
a promise from God to the Jewish people He says
as I live Surely, with a mighty hand and with
an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out,
I shall be king over you." God is saying to His
people that there will yet come a day when the
theocracy, the rule, the reign of God over His
people Israel will be consummated. God says,
I shall be king over you and I shall bring you
out from the peoples and gather you from the
lands where you are scattered with a mighty hand
and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured
out. And I shall bring you into the wilderness
of the peoples and there I shall enter into judgment
with you face to face. So, here in this location
called the wilderness of the peoples, God says
through Ezekiel, I will gather you my people
Israel to judge you face to face. As I entered
into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness
of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment
with you declares the Lord God. And I shall make
you pass under the rod. And I shall bring you
into the bond of the covenant, and I shall purge
from you the rebels and those who transgress
against me. I shall bring them out of the land
where they sojourn, but they will not enter the
land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am
the LORD." Now God is saying here that there
is an examination time coming. for the people
of Israel as a nation. He will cause them to
pass under the rod. That is an action that is
mentioned earlier in the book of Leviticus, the
27th chapter, where God tells His people to bring
out from among their flocks a tenth as an offering
to Him, a tithe. And so they were to hold out
the rod over the sheep, the goats, as they passed
underneath, and they were to count out. And every
tenth one the rod was to go down, and that one
was the Lord's. I don't believe that Ezekiel
is saying that only a tenth of the Jews will
be separated out and be the Lord's. But I think
the point is that God is going to cause them
to pass under a rod of examination and judgment.
And of course it is those who are people of faith
who have trusted in Jesus as their Messiah who
will be allowed to pass into the kingdom as the
Lord's own. But the Lord will purge out the rebels
and those who have transgressed against Him.
Turn with me again to the book of Malachi the
very last book of the Old Testament and Here
the third chapter We have in verse 1 a prophecy
concerning the coming of John the Baptist the
messenger who would come before the Lord and
Then it mentions also in verse 1 The Lord himself
behold he is coming that is the Messiah But then
in verse 2 it says who can endure the day of
his coming You see in the Old Testament when
they talked about the coming of Messiah. They
saw coming one and coming two together They had
no reference by which to separate those two and
that's what Malachi is doing here But in verse
1 there is the first coming, John the Baptist
preceding Christ and him coming, Jesus coming
to his people. But now in verse 2 we see from
our perspective a time lapse between verse 1
and verse 2. Because in verse 2 it begins to
deal with cleansing and judgment. Who can endure
the day of his coming? And who can stand when
he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap." In other words, when
he comes, as described in verse 2, he will come
to purify and to cleanse his people, the Jews.
And he will sit as a smelter and purifier of
silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi.
and refine them like gold and silver, so that
they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness."
Look in verse 5, then I will draw near to you,
the Lord speaking, for judgment. And I will be
a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against
the adulterers, and against those who swear falsely,
and against those who oppress the wage earner
and his wages, the widow and the orphan, and
those who turn aside the alien and do not fear
me, says the Lord of hosts." And then he reminds
them that he does not change. God is faithful.
He is immutable. He is merciful to those who
repent He is Just with those who will not repent
and brings judgment to them and that does not
change in Romans chapter 11 the Apostle Paul
says that when the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in a phrase that describes the consummation
and the completion of this age in which we live
when primarily Gentiles believe and in part Israel
believes, but only a remnant, only a few Jews.
He says, when this time has been consummated,
then all Israel shall be saved. It does not mean
they're every individual Jew, but it means enough
of them that they will represent the whole of
the nation of Israel. And so there will be in
that day when Jesus Christ comes again a gathering
of the Jewish people for judgment. Those who
have believed on Jesus as their Christ, those
who have repented of their wicked rejection of
him, and who have believed on him and received
him, they will enter into the kingdom that has
been promised to their peoples. for lo these
many, many generations, all the way back to Abraham.
Those who have not believed will be purged out,
will be slain, and will not enter into the kingdom.
But now what about the Gentiles? Let us return
to the Gospel of Matthew, and this time We will
go to the last part of chapter 25, where there
is the judgment of the sheep and the goats. I
am assuming that most of you, if not all of you,
are familiar with this passage. Therefore, I
am not going to take time to read it. But I would
point out to you that it says that this judgment
will take place when the Son of Man comes in
His glory and the angels with Him. Keep in mind
that this is the second coming of Jesus Christ
to the earth. This is not at the rapture of the
church. This is when He comes back to the earth.
Here now is a third judgment and it deals with
the rest of the citizens of the world. who have
not already been dealt with either in the first
judgment with the armies or the second judgment
with the Jewish people. Now we have everybody
else gathered before the Lord. And there are,
it seems, three groups of people that are in
view in this particular judgment. In the first
place he talks about the sheep. who are on his
right hand. And then he talks about, secondly,
the goats on his left hand. And then he talks
about my brethren. You notice that? So there
are three groups of people. All of them, or at
least the sheep and the goats, are Gentiles.
My brethren, Jesus speaking, refers to Jewish
people and most likely particularly those Jewish
people who during the tribulation will be the
proclaimers of the gospel of the kingdom. Those
who will fan out across the world despite the
threat of persecution from Antichrist so that
they may preach Jesus Christ to those who have
never heard the gospel. Those people whom Jesus
calls my brethren will be in tremendous distress.
The pressure will be immense on them as they
are sought out by the forces of Antichrist that
they might be slain and killed. But God will
preserve them and the way He will preserve them,
these Jewish evangelists, missionaries. The way
he will preserve them is through believing Gentiles
who will evidence their faith by caring for them.
They will give them that cup of water. They will
give them that clothing. They will visit them
in prison. These believing Gentiles will evidence
their faith because of their willingness to identify
with and yes, help to protect those Jewish evangelists
who will go throughout the earth. Those are the
sheep on the right hand, to whom the Lord says
in verse 34, Come you who are blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. I was hungry, you gave
me something to eat. I was thirsty," and so on.
They say, when? And he explains that it was when
his brethren came in need. They cared for his
brethren. And that is evidence of the fact that
they believed. This is not teaching here salvation
by works. That would be in contradiction to what
the rest of the Bible teaches regarding the grace
of God. They are not brought into the kingdom
because of their good works in feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, visiting those who are imprisoned.
They are brought into the kingdom because of
their faith, which is evidenced in their works.
But what about the goats? What about those on
the left hand? These are the unsaved Gentiles
who, if they did not participate in the persecution
of the Jewish evangelists, at least refused to
assist them. And that likewise is evidence of
their unbelief, their unwillingness to associate
with the people of God who are preaching the
gospel. Their unbelief is evidenced by their
works and because of their unbelief our Lord
says to them verse 41 depart from me accursed
ones into the eternal fire which has been prepared
for the devil and his angels and So those who
are unsaved these Gentiles who are unsaved will
at this point be sent away from the presence
of the Lord to be slain and to enter into the
fires of hell for judgment. This is not the great
white throne judgment that comes later. This
is a judgment that occurs before the millennium
and the purpose of these three judgments is to
deal with the whole population of the globe.
Now remember, that half or more than half of
the population of the world will have died by
this time in the terrible judgments of the tribulation
period. And yet we are looking at a mass of people
who will stand before the Lord now returned from
heaven to be judged. Those who are righteous
through faith will enter into the kingdom age.
They will enter into that kingdom in bodies just
like we have now and they will reproduce and
there will be a population explosion that is
unparalleled except perhaps in Grace Church Roseville
in the millennial reign as there is no death
to take people away. The disease is subdued and
there is not war. And so the population will
grow tremendously in that thousand year reign
of Christ because righteous people will enter
into it, Jews and Gentiles from nations of the
world. Their children then will have the opportunity
to personally believe or to reject Jesus Christ.
We'll deal with that at another time. But the
purpose of the judgments is to bring only the
righteous into the kingdom and those who are
unsaved will be shut out and that forever. As
we look at the judgments here and we see our
Lord seated upon a throne of judgment, how glad
I am that by the grace of God I see him today
seated on a throne of mercy. Would bring me into
judgment before him so that he would have to
say to me depart you cursed Were it not for the
fact that? his precious blood was shed for my
sins and He led me to believe on him and to receive
him as Savior So that I am now found righteous
in his sight and I look at him upon a throne
of mercy and grace And my friend, that is the
opportunity of every one of you. I recognize
tonight that most of you have trusted Christ
as Savior, but lest there be one here who has
never trusted Christ, will you understand that
you will see him one day and he will be seated
on a throne? Oh, that you may see him now on
a throne of mercy with arms outstretched to you,
pleading with you to receive him. and that you
would receive Him, that you might not one day
have to see Him upon a throne of judgment. For
the unsaved, the judgments that we've looked
at are dreadful. They are dreadful. The weeping
and wailing, the sorrow, the remorse that will
take place on that day regarding the judgment
of the Gentiles, Joel says it's in the valley
of Jehoshaphat. We do not know precisely where
the valley of Jehoshaphat is. There is no place
in the Bible geographically so named. Jehoshaphat
means God judges. And that's significant because
it's the valley where God judges. But there are
those, and I tend to agree with them, who say
that this valley isn't yet. but that it will
be that valley which will be created in Palestine
when Jesus Christ's feet touch the Mount of Olives
and the mountain splits in two and there is a
huge valley created east to west that does not
now exist and that that valley will be named
the Valley of Jehoshaphat and that the Gentiles
of the world will be brought to that place so
that the righteous may be gathered out to enter
into the kingdom. and the unrighteous to enter
into judgment and hell. For the saved these are
delightful thoughts, not that there are people
judged away from Christ forever, but that one
day the wrongs will be made right. We long for
that now. There is so much oppression and injustice
in this world. Oh, we long for that day when
things will be set right and so it will be. on
the day when the Lord comes. Let's bow together.
Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. My
friend, if you do not tonight, as you sit right
there, have the assurance of your sins forgiven.
If you do not know Jesus Christ on His throne
of mercy, but rather must face and dread that
day of seeing Him on a throne of judgment, only
to have your sins brought forward and examined
and for you to be cast away. Oh, will you tonight
repent? While there is opportunity, in that day
there is none. Today is the day of salvation.
Will you trust Him today? Will you turn to Him
and receive Him? I'll be here at the front afterward.
Won't you come and say, Pastor, call tonight.
I need to trust Jesus Christ. Please, you talk
to me. Have someone talk to me that I may make
that decision tonight. And Father, so may it
be that the Spirit of God would draw one or several
this evening to trust in the Savior who shed
His precious blood for our redemption. Thank
you that for us, judgment is passed. But we do
look forward to that day of examination so that
when we are finished with it, we may have something
approved to throw at your feet as we worship
you. Lord, thank you for the precious promises
that are ours. Thank you that for those of us
who know Jesus Christ, the future is as bright
as your promises and the best is yet to come
for us. Thank you for the hope that is laid up
which can never be lost. The reality of the earthly
and the reality of the heavenly. We are most
keen on the reality of the earthly because that
is where we relate with our senses. But we must
not ignore the reality of the heavenlies. We
do so at our own peril. We do not wrestle against
human personalities or human movements. We waste
our energy and our resources when we focus primarily
on that. We wrestle, says Paul, against spiritual
powers. Who are in the dimension of the heavenlies?
At this moment in this room There are angelic
creatures that are observing you and me Not just
this morning, but every time that we meet they
are here there are good and there are evil They
watch us they watch us snooze and get the last
20 minutes of sleep. We didn't get on Saturday
night They watch us take notes. They watch as
we listen and begin to apply the Word of God
to our lives. They watch our reactions to each
other. They observe us. The holy angels do that,
that they might learn from us something of the
wisdom of God. I don't understand how they learn
much wisdom from God from us, but that's what
they do in Ephesians 3. It tells us. The evil
angels watch us that they might gain some advantage
over us. They seek, for example, to steal the
Word of God as it's being preached through interference
and distractions. They seek to keep the Word
of God from taking root in our lives so that
by the time we get out of church many things
have happened and what we've heard in church
is no longer in our minds. You see, they are
constantly working and strategizing against us
in this struggle that we are in. We do not wrestle
against flesh and blood. However, it is important
for us to understand that these spiritual powers
utilize flesh and blood often in strategizing
against us. John Calvin said, I can give you
some biblical examples of that. Jesus began to
express to his disciples that he had to go to
Jerusalem and there suffer and die and be raised
again. And Peter responded to him, God forbid
that will never happen to you and Jesus turned
to Peter and he said get behind me Satan What
was Jesus saying? He was saying that that instant
of time that thought had come not from God, but
from Satan Satan was using Peter's flesh and
blood to express a thought to Jesus. Jesus recognized
what it was, and in speaking to Peter, he addressed
Satan and said, get behind me, Satan. Another
example occurred some time later, when Judas,
after having schemed and planned the betrayal
of Christ, went out into the night. And it says
in Luke 22 and verse 3, Satan entered Judas.
Satan then possessed Judas and used his flesh
and blood, his body, to carry out this scheme
of betrayal. In 1 Thessalonians 2, 18, the apostle
Paul writes to his beloved Thessalonian believers,
his children in the faith, and he says, I desire
to come to you once and then again. but Satan
hindered us. He doesn't explain how Satan hindered.
But more than likely it was through people, flesh
and blood. Notice he attributes it though to
Satan. He knows where the real battle is. And
then in Revelation 3, 9, the Lord warns his beloved
people in the church of those of the synagogue
of Satan who say they are Jews but are not. He's
talking about those in false religion. False
religion has always been the most severe persecutor
of true religion, and it is so today. My friend,
the greatest threat to our faith is not found
in communism. The greatest threat to our faith
is found in apostate Christianity that has rejected
the tenets of the faith. and his following idols.
There is still a synagogue of Satan today. Those
who say they are Christians but are not. Satan
employs flesh and blood to oppose us. Sometimes
it's even people amongst us, as it was in the
case with Peter. Sometimes it is people outside.
as it may have been with the Apostle Paul in
the book of Thessalonians. But we don't wrestle
against flesh and blood, and the sooner that
we realize that our real enemy is not people,
the better off we will be. Now there's a word
of warning that must be given at this point.
We should not interpret every interference and
every difficulty in life as Satan's activity.
Even the apostle Paul did not do that. Do you
recall that he and the members of the missionary
party in Acts 16 desired to go in a certain direction
to the north and to the east and they encountered
difficulties? And so they went to another place
and there were more difficulties and finally
they went to Troas and the conclusion of it was
the spirit of Jesus forbid us to go in that direction.
So, don't be looking for Satan under every rock
in your life. Don't interpret every interference
as a demon who is opposed to you, because that's
not always the case. But it can be the case.
That is the point here that I'm making. Now what
are we to do in the face of such a struggle?
It is dangerous to think that you and I can deal
with this enemy in our own strength or intellect.
Likewise, it is unnecessary for us to be fearful.
It is foolish for us to be over -obsessed with
this topic, too. What are we to do in the face
of this struggle with spiritual powers? He tells
us three things. Number one, we are to be strong.
Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and
in the strength of His might. It's present tense
and it's passive. So he is really saying here
be continually empowered Be strengthened by this
resource that God has provided for you be strong
in the Lord and that my friend is the only name
the Satan will recognize You dare not Come against
this enemy in your own name or your own strength.
If you do, you are in deep trouble. You remember
what it says in Jude, verse 9? Jude gives us
the briefest glimpse at a most curious historical
event. After Moses died, there was an argument
over his body. Satan wanted to use his body for
some purpose. We do not know what it might have
been. There was a struggle, Jude tells us, between
Michael the archangel and Satan for the body
of Moses. Now even an archangel, and my friend,
that's up the ladder, okay, among the holy angels.
There's not a higher created angelic order of
the holy angels that we know about than the archangels
One is named Michael and It says Michael did
not even rail against Satan in his own power
But rather that spirit being said to that other
spirit being the Lord rebuke you Be strong in
the Lord Because that is the name the Satan recognizes
and must respect and does fear. How do we be
strong in the Lord, the power of His might? He
tells us by putting on the full armor of God.
Here the verb is decisive. He says, do this urgently.
It will provide complete protection for you.
Put on the full armor of God. To be without it
is to leave yourself vulnerable. Vulnerable to
the enemy. To put on the full armor of God is
to live obediently to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
My friend, there is no substitute for obedience.
Some people try to substitute partial obedience.
They try to substitute compromise. No. There
is no substitute for complete obedience. It is
the life of obedience to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. that enables us to put on the armor of
God and then to be strong in the Lord. And he
tells us that when we do that, we can do something
else. We can stand firm against Satan's schemes.
To stand firm is a military picture. It means
to hold a critical position on the battlefield.
Hundreds of stories could be told about soldiers
who were given a position to hold. And because
they were faithful and courageous to hold that
position, the army won the battle. And so our
Lord says to us here through the Apostle Paul,
stand firm against the devil. Hold that position
you've been assigned. Don't give up. Others in
the battle may depend upon you holding your position.
It weakens the army when a soldier runs. So put
on the full armor of God and be empowered by
His might and stand against the devil. There
is no reason for us to experience defeat.