Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / Ephesians 6:10-24 - The Armor of God For Your Daily Fight

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Ephesians 6:10-24 - The Armor of God For Your Daily Fight · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  All right, we have reached the end of the book of Ephesians.
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  Today we're looking at Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 10 through
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  24. Verses 21 through 24 are just
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  kind of the final goodbye. Tell everyone I said hi, here's
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  who's bringing you this letter. Love you guys, stay in the
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  faith. Like that's kind of that ending
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  thing. So versus 10 through 20 are
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  going to be what we're looking at.
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  I'm going to include in here. I preached a message probably 4
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  years ago, maybe 5 from I think it was four years ago, from
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  verses 18 through 20 about prayer and specifically about
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  praying for the gospel and missions work.
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  And so I hope that'll be an encouragement to you if you take
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  a listen to that or watch that. That's on both podcasts, the
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  Moses Lake Baptist Church Sermon podcast, as well as on YouTube.
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  So sending both of those y'all's way.
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  As we look at the end of the book of Ephesians, Paul makes it
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  really clear to the church he's he's told him a lot.
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  He's told them all about the gospel, about the Gospels,
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  implications, about who planned out the gospel from all the
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  eternity past, who purchased it, who applied it, who sealed it,
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  what it means for our relationships with people from
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  other nations and other ethnicities, even other kind of
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  religious backgrounds. What the gospel means for our
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  future and what it means for our relationship with God right now.
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  And then how that flows into how we treat others, how we
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  evangelize, what we think of the church and our marriages and our
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  homes and our workplaces. All of that is affected by the
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  gospel, That is, that we were created by God for a
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  relationship with Him, and we did not walk in that
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  relationship. Instead, we rejected God and we
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  pursued instead the character traits and life that was totally
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  apart from what He designed us for, which was to show Him, to
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  image Him out to all of creation.
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  As a result of that, we were separated from Him.
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  We were headed to death and destruction and condemnation.
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  But God loved us so much that He pursued us in the person of
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  Jesus Christ. And Jesus died in our place.
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  He died for our sins. He rescued us from being
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  citizens of the Kingdom of darkness under the control of
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  Satan and this world system. And he placed us into the
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  Kingdom of God that we are completely forgiven freely,
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  forever, and we are called to walk in the new life, in the
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  kind of life that is like the character and actions and words
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  of our God. And so as a result, we are saved
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  forever and there is no condemnation that we fear.
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  Instead, we can anticipate both now and forever being loved and
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  accepted and equipped and adored by our God for now and all of
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  eternity. And so we are called then to
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  treat others in that same way. We walk in holiness.
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  We walk in the character of God and we encourage others to as
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  well. We let people know about the
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  rescue that is found in Jesus Christ.
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  All of that is what we are called to do.
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  That is the gospel message that Christ Jesus died to save
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  sinners. And as we recognize that our
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  world is not friendly to that message for a number of reasons,
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  but our world doesn't like the gospel message.
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  And so here in the 1st century in Ephesus, Paul knew this and
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  some of the people that were in this church at Ephesus knew
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  this, and they had been persecuted for their faith.
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  The temptation would be to be angry and resentful and even
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  wanting to pursue violence against those that were harming
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  Christians as a result of their faith in Jesus.
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  And Paul tells them, no, the people that you are
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  encountering, they are not your enemy.
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  Yes, they are doing you wrong. They are refusing to, you know,
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  continue employing you. They will not buy your goods.
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  They, you know, they rile up crowds against you.
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  Even as we read that happening in Ephesus when Paul was there
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  planting the church, he says, yes, they do all of these
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  things, but they are not the enemy.
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  People are not the enemy. Satan and his forces are the
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  enemy, and the way that you fight Satan and his forces is
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  not through hurting, harming, imprisoning, finding people.
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  That doesn't do anything to Satan.
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  What does something to Satan is when you win other people to
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  Jesus. When you show them what God is
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  like, that you don't retaliate, You don't give back evil for
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  evil, but instead you show them what Jesus is like and how he
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  has treated you. That destroys the power of
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  Satan, that he loses citizen after citizen after citizen of
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  this world, and he loses the battle for the souls of mankind
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  when when we walk in the Holy Spirit armed with spiritual
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  armor. So we're going to look at that
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  today. And I've given you kind of all
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  of the background stuff. That way as we're going through,
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  you can be on the same page and you can understand, OK, why is
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  he talking about spiritual armor?
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  Am I supposed to be fighting against someone as a Christian?
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  Yes, you are, but not physically.
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  And one thing that I want to warn against that I hear a lot
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  of these days from kind of the Christian nationalist crowd is
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  that, you know, some particular political party or some
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  particular elected official is demonic and evil and they need
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  to be taken down and this and that.
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  And the truth is it will not happen through worldly means.
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  You can vote in whoever you want to vote in, and Satan in his
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  Kingdom will be just fine. He's not scared of legislation.
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  He's not scared of political candidates.
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  He's not scared of whatever means human means that we think
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  will counter him. No, he is, however, afraid of
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  the gospel. He's afraid of Jesus.
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  He's afraid of the Holy Spirit indwelling you and I.
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  And so, as we in the strength of the Holy Spirit wage spiritual
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  warfare, Satan will be beaten time and time and time again,
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  not because you or I do anything great, but because our God is
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  great. So let's read through and we'll
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  see what we have for today. Verse #10 Finally, be
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  strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength.
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  In a time where we can be weak, we can be discouraged, we can be
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  disheartened, we can wonder if we need to give up.
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  We need to be strengthened by the Lord.
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  And God has strength and enough to spare so that you can get
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  through today, that you can get through this next hour because
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  your God is good to you. Verse #11 As you're being
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  strengthened, put on the full armor of God so that you can
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  stand against the schemes of the devil.
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  He has tricks and plans that he wants to bring to fruition, but
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  you can stand against them and notice here his schemes are
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  against you. So often as we think about the
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  devil working, we think about tragedies of mass shootings, we
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  can think about, you know, legislative actions that don't
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  align with the word of God. I'm like, man, the devil's
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  really in that. And we sometimes shortcut.
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  Satan has a plan for you today. He has schemes of what He wants
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  you to do, ways that He wants you to treat people, words that
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  He wants you to use, attitudes he wants you to cop.
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  All of that are Satan's plans for your day today.
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  But God has a plan too. And God's plan is you got to go
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  to battle. And so you need to put on the
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  armor. Verse #12 For our struggle is
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  not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
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  authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against
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  evil spiritual forces in the heavens.
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  So we're not fighting against people.
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  People are the point. We fight against Satan and the
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  demons, the rulers and authorities, the evil spiritual
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  forces in the heavens. That is the realm of the
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  spiritual beings. Verse 13.
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  For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you
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  may be able to resist in the evil day.
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  And having prepared everything to take your stand.
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  Satan wants to knock you down. Satan wants to defeat you.
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  He wants you to retreat. But you can.
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  In the full armor of God, strengthened by the Lord and his
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  vast strength, you can resist him and you can stand up against
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  the onslaught of Satan. Verse 14 Stand there for with
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  truth, like a belt around your waist, that truth holds
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  everything together in this armor.
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  Don't think like medieval soldiers here.
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  Think I'm going to use some probably anachronistic terms to
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  try and make it a little bit easier for us to understand.
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  Even for myself. You'd have more of a toga type
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  thing that you would be wearing and the belt of truth.
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  It would hold all of the various pieces of the armor together,
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  that none of it would, you know, be clinking around, but that it
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  would be tight, that it would provide full protection for the
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  child of God. Truth, specifically the truth of
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  God's Word, is the thing that holds our entire spiritual life
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  together. If you want to be safe
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  spiritually, it it begins here with knowing the truth of God's
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  word. If you believe lies, you will
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  either take actions or say words or tell people something is the
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  gospel that is not the gospel. And so it is so important to
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  have truth be the foundation of your spiritual armor.
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  That's why I encourage people start the day with the word of
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  God and whether that's listening to something, you know,
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  Tabernacle talk, you can listen to that or any number of other
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  Bible study podcast that there are.
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  You can listen to sermons if you want sermon recommendations.
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  I've got some great friends even just here in the Baltimore area
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  that I would love to encourage you to be listening to their
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  sermons. And you can just pick, you know,
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  1 sermon a day that you're listening to and I promise you,
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  you will be girded with truth. You will have truth be they are
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  holding everything together in your life as a result.
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  So stand with truth like a belt around your waist.
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  It's the foundation of everything righteousness like
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  armor on your chest. That is the good actions, right?
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  Standing with God and with man is the protector that you have
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  in a fight against Satan, because if you are not in good
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  relationship with God, you're not in good standing with Him
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  that you are holding on to sin in defiance of Him.
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  You're not asking for His help in in trying to fight sin, but
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  instead you are rebelling against him.
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  You are going to be in spiritual danger.
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  Satan is already winning on that front in your life.
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  So you need that right standing with God, that righteousness
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  that comes again through reliance on the Holy Spirit.
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  It comes through the Lord's work in you.
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  It's not just a, you know, lace up your bootstraps and do
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  better. No, it comes through that, but
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  you have to have a willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to call
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  the shots. So both there your relationship
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  with God and your relationship with man, right?
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  Standing with people that if you are at odds with another person
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  and there is anger, there's gossip, there's arguments,
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  there's this or that that's going on in that relationship,
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  that is a very easy spot for Satan to get into your life.
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  And he can and he can help there be bitterness that then spills
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  out on to everyone else. Don't allow for that.
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  So when you have an importance that's placed on, I'm going to
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  do right by God and by people today, man that protects that
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  core of who you are, if you will, your your spiritual chest
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  is protected by this armor on your chest.
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  And then verse 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the
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  gospel of peace that you need to do some running.
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  There's a place that you need to get to and you don't want to get
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  tripped up. You don't want to if you will
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  get your foot scraped up here. No, you need to be ready to
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  share the gospel of peace that everywhere you walk, you are
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  carrying the gospel with you, if you will, the gospels on your
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  feet. And so your feet are sandaled
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  with that. And so everywhere that you walk,
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  the gospel is going with you. Is that the way that you view
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  your life or is it OK? Well, maybe if the church has an
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  evangelism activity, that's where I can share the gospel.
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  But when I go to Weiss, when I go to this restaurant, I'm not
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  really putting on the sandals. I'm not carrying the gospel with
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  me in that circumstance. No, Carry the gospel with you
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  wherever you go. It's why very often people are
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  encouraged, bring along a gospel tract or a church invite or
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  something with you. That way you can even in just a
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  simple little way, be able to share the gospel.
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  Should God give you the opportunity to be able to
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  interact with someone who might be encouraged, who might need
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  that gospel summer 16 In every situation, take up the shield of
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  faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming
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  arrows of the evil. 1 Your faith, that belief that God will
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  accomplish what he has said that he will, that can stop every
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  attack of Satan that he brings against you and I Satan wants
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  you to say God is not good, he's not faithful to his word, and so
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  you cannot trust him. That's what Satan is
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  consistently going to tempt you with in relation to your God.
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  And faith says no Satan, you're lying.
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  I believe as God told me this in His word and so I'm going to do
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  it. You're telling me that I should
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  be scared to forgive because then I will be taken advantage
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  of or right, right relationship, righteousness will not happen.
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  But I believe that God says I'm to be kind to others and to
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  forgive them, just like Christ forgave me.
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  And because God says He will, you know, he'll even the score
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  in the end. He's the one that is the God of
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  a good vengeance. He's the one that will right all
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  wrongs. I'm going to trust that if I
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  forgive, it's going to be OK. And so I extinguish the lie of
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  Satan through the shield of faith.
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  The shield of faith, if you will.
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  It works best when you have the belt of truth that you know what
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  God has said. That way you can believe it and
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  you can trust in it. More could be said, but I think
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  that'll suffice for now. Verse 17, Take the helmet of
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  salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
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  here. This helmet of salvation.
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  Salvation is the thing that you need.
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  Otherwise you're going to get shot in the head and you are
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  going to, if you will die spiritually, you, you have to
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  know that you are saved. How do I know that I'm safe?
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  Well, do you believe that Jesus died in your place for your
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  sins, that he was buried and that he rose again, and that
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  whoever calls on him as their Lord will be saved?
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  Do you believe that? Then?
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  Yes, you, you are saved. Especially for those that have
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  made Jesus their Lord. They have repented of sin and
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  turned to Jesus as their Savior, as their Lord.
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  That is a person that is saved. It's not the person that has
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  accomplished all the good works. It's not a person that has been
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  in church for some length of time or went through, you know,
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  a 10 step class. No, it is those that have
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  repented of their sin and believed in Jesus and what He
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  accomplished on the cross, paying our sin debt in full.
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  That is those who are saved. So we take the helmet of
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  salvation, and we take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
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  of God. How does the Spirit attack
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  Satan? He attacks through the work.
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  Look, if you will, at the temptation of Jesus, that every
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  time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus responded with Scripture that
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  Satan says, all right, you're really hungry.
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  You've been out here for 40 days in the wilderness fasting.
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  Tell these stones to be made into bread.
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  If you're God, you can do that. Jesus says man shall not live by
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  bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth
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  of God. They're quoting from
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  Deuteronomy. Satan takes him on to the temple
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  and is like, hey, threw yourself off of here.
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  Psalm 91 says that the angels will protect you so that you
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  don't even whack your foot against a stone, and so God will
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  take care of you. And Jesus responds with, you
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  shall not tempt the Lord your God.
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  They're quoting again from the Torah, from the first five books
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  of Scripture. And then Satan shows them all
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  the kingdoms of the world. And he's like, if you bow down
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  and worship me, you can have all of this.
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  You don't have to go through the cross.
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  And Jesus says that you shall worship the Lord your God only,
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  and him only shall you serve. And there again, quoting from
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  Scripture, Jesus in the fight against Satan didn't even assert
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  just his own authority or his own rightness, though he
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  certainly could have done that. He used the sword of the Spirit.
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  And so that's what we're called to as well.
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  If you don't know the Word of God, you cannot win against
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  Satan. That's just the simple truth of
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  the Word of God. If you want to fight against
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  Him, you need to know the Bible verse #18 pray at all times in
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  the Spirit with every prayer and request.
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  That is recognizing who God is. God indwells you, He lives in
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  you, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and so recognizing Him
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  and His Holiness, you bring things to the Father, and you
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  stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the
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  Saints. That you care about your
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  brothers and sisters in the Lord, and you keep on praying
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  for them, and you keep praying for their needs and for their
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  difficult circumstances and for the loss that they are praying
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  for. May we consistently pray for
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  each other as Christians. Verse #19 Pray also for me that
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  the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make
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  known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.
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  Here Paul asked for a personal prayer request.
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  He says, as you're praying in the Spirit, you're praying for
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  your brothers and sisters. He says, pray for me that God
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  would give me the words to speak the message that I need to be
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  preaching as I am declaring the gospel the word of God.
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  And I'll tell you guys, please always be in prayer for me and
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  for whoever your pastors, as your elders are at your church,
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  pray that God would give them the words that they need to say.
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  And then if you're praying for it, anticipate, act like
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  whatever you know, I bring on a Sunday or whatever your pastor
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  brings, that it is what God wants you and your church family
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  to hear. Be grateful for it.
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  Express gratitude. But I, I need prayers more than
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  anything else. Brian's got basically nothing
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  useful to say. Jesus has a whole lot of useful
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  stuff to say. And so I want to declare what
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  Jesus has. I don't just want to spit out my
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  thoughts. I want to say what the word of
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  God says and what the Holy Spirit would have me to say for
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  my context. Verse #20 He says for this, for
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  the gospel, I am an ambassador in chains from the Kingdom of
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  heaven there to the Kingdom of Rome.
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  He says, pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as
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  I should. Pray that God would give me the
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  courage, the boldness to be able to say the gospel even when
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  there are consequences for it. And I definitely echo that
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  prayer request. Then as he ends, he says, take a
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  kiss. Our dearly loved brother and
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  faithful servant in the Lord will tell you all the news about
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  me so that you may be informed. To kiss would be the one that
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  would bring the letter from Paul to hear this church at Ephesus.
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  He says, I'm sending him to you for this very reason, to let you
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  know how we are and to encourage your hearts that he would both
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  bring the letter. He would give some explanations
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  of it and then he would let the Ephesian church know how Paul's
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  doing. Verse 23 peace to the brothers
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  and sisters and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord
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  Jesus Christ that we experience peace, calmness and troubled
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  circumstances. We experience love and faith,
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  confidence in that God will accomplish what he has said he
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  would and from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and
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  then verse 24 ending the book grace be with all who have
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  undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  He says keep on going, God's grace, his empowerment, His gift
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  to you of his incredible riches at Christ's expense.
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  He will give you his grace, His strength to go through each
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  moment. Keep on loving Jesus and I'll
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  tell you guys that as well. So we end the book of Ephesians
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  realize that God is for you. He wants to strengthen you.
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  He wants to give you peace and love and faith and grace.
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  He has given you salvation. He wants to help you be in right
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  relationship with others so that you can defeat Satan, that you
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  can encourage your brothers and sisters, and that you can make
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  new disciples of Jesus. Thanks for tuning in and looking
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  forward to the next episode.