Fundamental Christian Attitudes: Strength, Part 4

Victory first begins with a commitment to win most Christians lose the spiritual war at this point and it simply because winning isn't that important to their content to lose.

You want to win more than you want anything else in writing. There has to be a heart attitude of a champion adding us for the day. John MacArthur's going to look at the spiritual armor available to you vital equipment for being a courageous Christian that others can look to for support. That's the title of John study here on grace to you. The courageous Christian well John, happy new year. I'm glad 20/20 is over.

Of course, as we minister in an uncertain and constantly changing world. We don't know what 2021 is going to bring, but talk about what courage might look like for you and for our ministry during this new year well for us the courage is to continue to proclaim God's truth accurately without compromise. That's always been called to do. We can't control the times, but at the same time they're not out-of-control either because all of this works within the framework of God's sovereign purpose.

So we just continue to proclaim God's word accurately and without compromise. And I think you know, even if 20, 21, is a lot like 2020 and I will wait we don't know we don't know that all of a sudden everything is going to revert to being the way everybody would like it. That's not likely. So this is going to have some tough tough things to face as we go through this year. The kind of things that we had in 2020 that we don't have any control over. Let's put it that way there liable to be more of those. Not only this year but in the future, but all of that works within the framework of God's purpose and it makes the, the word of God more valuable.

Again, the more difficult life is the more confused people are, the more they you have struggled to find hope and meaning and significance. The more the truth of God shines in that kind of darkness so we're confident in God's word. We are confident that God does his work through his word and let me say that again he does his work through his word, and so as we teach his word. The spirit uses that to accomplish the building of his kingdom for his glory. But we need your prayers. Again, a lot of unknowns ahead of us pray for our staff here in the United States who generate these programs and help us get all the resources into your hands.

Pray for the encouragement and strength of the faithful saints who operate our offices in Canada, United Kingdom, and India.

Pray for God's continued provision for our ongoing financial needs and pray for the people that do we minister to radio books, television, podcast, blogs and more. Pray for the word to have free course around the world and accomplish God's purpose for his glory and from all of us the grace to you. Much thanks yes thank you Fran for all that you do for us.

Your prayers and support have helped us connect countless people throughout the world with biblical truth and we trust that God will bless the opportunities we have to teach his word in 2021. So with the first message of the new year from the series called the courageous Christian here is John MacArthur. Here we are in the midst of the world that is been so designed by Satan to do everything it can to destroy us calls for tremendous strength to be able to stand against the wiles or the schemes of the devil to be able to stand against his subtle craftiness is cunning, takes a tremendous amount of preparation and what is that preparation will according to this passage.

It is the full armor of God, let's talk about that armor.

Paul has in mind a Roman soldier and what you see here typically is the that the basic outfit that a Roman soldier engaged in battle would have it would have a belt to wrap around his lines, he would have a breastplate to protect his vulnerable chest area. He would have the right kind of shoes to engage in hand-to-hand combat. He would have a shield and he would have a helmet to protect his head and he would have a sword to engage in the battle. That's the image in Paul's mind the spiritual implications are profound for all of us. Let's start first of all, where Paul starts in verse 14. The first thing you need to know if you're going to be in this battle and be able to stand is that you have to have your loins girded with truth. This is the belt your lines, your midsection, and are a Roman soldier would start in the matter of arming himself or the battle by putting a belt on soldiers belt to which could be attached his breastplate, which would be over his shoulders and connected to that belt a belt to which would be attached to sheath or a place to put his sword and more than that.

The belt served him in another purpose.

The belt could be singed tight in the corners of his tunic pulled up through that belt you remember in ancient times they were basically what amounts to address a piece of material with a hole in it for the head and two holes for the arms and just kind of put it on when you went out the battle.

You certainly didn't want to go out to battle with your dress blown around somebody will might pull it over your head in the hearts curtains you know and you certainly didn't want to get your arms tangled in your breasts or your tunic you want to make sure as you got into the battle that you had everything pulled in very tightly and typically they would let the corners of that tunic and make it into some kind of a mini tunic so they could move with some alacrity and some agility in the hand-to-hand combat in which they were engaged and if needed they could dodge and run and move to look at the belt is to understand something very basic to warfare and in Paul's imagery.

He calls it the belt of truth, it might be better even to translate that word truthfulness and I don't think he so much talking about content I don't he's talking about biblical doctrine. He gets to that when he gets to what weapon the sword what he's talking about here is truthfulness in the sense of dedication.

It really is the idea of sincerity. It's the idea of going into the battle with a view toward the seriousness of what you're engaged in making a real commitment to a sincere desire to contend a sincere desire to pull all the loose ends of your life in pulling the loose ends of your life and make a real commitment to the battle and anybody in the in any kind of endeavor like this knows that victory first begins with a commitment to win total heart, soul, mind commitment to win. I suppose it might be safe to say that most Christians lose the spiritual war at this point and it simply because winning isn't that important to them, their content to lose when you want to win more than you want. Anything else you gotta fighting chance. Anything less than that and you're liable to be trampled. There has to be a heart attitude of the champion of the winter. I can promise you you're not going to win in the spiritual warfare until winning is really important to you and how does it become important to you when you understand what's at stake when you understand that eternal reward is at stake. When you understand that the eternal glory of the Lord Jesus is at stake. When you understand that usefulness in the kingdom is at stake for you when you understand that the souls of people are at stake. Paul says that the Timothy when he tells Timothy Locke why am I beating my body. Why am I exercising self-discipline because he says in chapter 4 of first Timothy were dealing with something that has eternal consequences. This is not trivial stuff. This is a warfare with immense consequences. This whole thing of spiritual war starts with commitment and I try to give you a pep talk.

I just want to tell you the fact until you get a grip on eternal things until you set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth until you offer your body as a living sacrifice until the purposes of God, matter more to you than your own goals and ambitions until the eternal glory is the compelling issue in your life and not worldly comfort. You're not going to get the belt on, pull the loose ends of your life and make a commitment. The battle that can turn out in victory. That's where it starts. Secondly, in verse 14 Paul looks at this image of this Roman soldier who is so prepared for war and he sees a breastplate of righteousness breastplate in ancient times could be made out of thick leather. They could be made out of the summa configuration of letter leather and metal as you perhaps seen sometimes you even seen pictures of Roman soldiers who had that great Eagle on on a brass plate that was molded and cast in place over their chest.

A very formidable kind of protection. There have been all different kinds that have been used, but those breastplates were absolutely crucial because what they did was they covered the vital organs and you can get in hand-to-hand combat. Somebody might whack you in the arm. More money might poke you in the shoulder. Somebody might get a shot at your leg somewhere that you could survive.

But if they start poking around in here you're in some real serious trouble.

Vital part needed protection. Sometimes they even used very heavy linen and overlapping iron. Sometimes they put pieces of animal horn on their due act as a barrier. No soldier would go out into hand-to-hand combat.

Without the protection that was needed in that area. Now what is the image that Paul sees here, translating into in terms of the spiritual dimension. Well, it's a very simple thing.

It's a matter of protecting the vital areas of your life with a breastplate of what a righteousness. What is that simply doing what's right doing what's right.

The same kind of righteousness, of which Paul spoke to Timothy in first Timothy 611, when he said, fleeing from these things sinful things all the things involved with the love of money fleeing from these things you man of God and follow after righteousness and godliness.

If you are not living righteously, you have immense vulnerability. You are really vulnerable. You are exposed if there is a pattern of wickedness in your life. If there's a pattern of sin in the words of second Corinthians 211 an advantage has been taken of you by Satan.

He has the advantage if there is sin in your life and by now I'm not saying that you need to be perfect, but I am saying you need to deal with sin is there. What if there sin in my life. Well, the thing to do is to confess your sin in the Lord is faithful and just to what forgiven confronted deal with it.

Honestly, openly turn from it is 1/3 component here and I think this is a very very graphic one as well. In verse 15 he says have your feet shod some shoes on one of these shoes called well there called the preparation of the gospel of peace. What is it. Meanwhile, the word preparation simply means prepare your feet prepare your feet with the proper shoes and what are they, they are the shoes called the gospel of peace is an important piece of armor effect with the Roman soldiers used to do us they develop what was called a hobnailed boot very simple to make you put a leather soul on it and you hammer nails through the leather soul so that stick out the bottom short stubby nails. Why because they were on the ground that they were on dirt or some kind of grass in a field somewhere and it would be a very Merry good idea to have some kind of shoe that would give you a grip because you are literally in hand-to-hand combat. They had their feet prepared to go into this war to go into this combat and if they didn't they would be slipping and sliding and very ineffective very vulnerable and I love what it says in verse 50. Here's what makes up your shoes. The gospel of peace.

The gospel of peace never lie.

Preachers talk about this, but I don't think they very often get it right because almost every time I've ever heard a preacher refer to this, they say that we take our feet and preach the gospel. Blessed are the feet of those who publish the good news that's not what it's talking about here is not talking about feet going somewhere it's talking about feet doing what standing firm. This is not evangelistic feet folks this is not the beautiful feet of those who preach the good news. This is the feet of those who were under assault in the spiritual war, and with these feet you hold your ground and you take your firm grip and you stand against Satan and you don't run in your perfect balance as he comes at you and your feet are on solid ground and their anchored and what is it that anchors us.

It is the gospel of peace. What does that mean it means this did meet the gospel is that we have made peace with whom with God. That's the good news right.

The good news is we have peace with God and so I stand my ground. Why because I have made peace with God, which means God is on my side and that's why I can stand my ground and when Satan comes at me I just say God get when the temptations come when the world attacks God. I have made my peace with you through the gospel.

You're on my side, I need your strength that's essentially what you have in verse 10. Be strong, in whom, in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Your divine resource. The victory is yours if you just call upon God and his strength to what is it mean just cry out in the midst of the onslaught strengthened me oh Lord, come to my rescue. Just like the psalmist did many many times. Well, let's keep moving. Verse 16. In addition to all on top of everything else. Take the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. Take the shield of faith because it will extinguish missiles. This shield in the Roman time was about 4' x 2.5', 4 feet high to happy. What an soldiers would get behind them literally sometimes when an army moved like a phalanx. That's a long sort of group sort of stretched out across the countryside moving like this sideways as it world snake moving sideways. A phalanx sometimes when they would do that. The front troops would have the shields and as the enemy would fire this great long phalanx of shields would extinguish the arrows that would fly the shield would be wooden usually covered with thick leather saturated with oil so that when the fiery arrows went into the oil. They were immediately extinguished.

It was an oil that put out the flame rather than given energy Satan viruses missiles at us as he fires his temptations at us. We have a shield and what is that shield is the shield of faith, we put to you as simply as I can put every single temptation that Satan sends your way and my way is a temptation to this trust God. It's a temptation to believe a lie and the line might be. Do this and you'll be satisfied. Do this and you'll be fulfilled. Do this and you'll make more money. Do this and you will gain popularity do this and you'll feel more comfortable.

Do this and you'll get what you want. That's the lie, and God says obey me and I'll bless you right every time you sin who have you believed about God see what really shields you is faith.

If a trial comes into my life and things are going the way I want them to go in the 10K station comes to me to get angry with God and I get angry with God.

I have not trusted.

I should know that God allows these trials to make me strong.

I should know that in the midst of these trials he can work his will.

I should know that God has a positive purpose and it all. I should know that he is teaching me something and I should say God I thank you for this trial and what you intend for me and when I do that I say no to the doubts and the anger and the hostility toward God that Satan wants me to exhibit. If I believe God I worked the temptation and let said the next one.

Verse 17 take the helmet of salvation now Roman soldiers were helmets. Why well because you didn't want to become a split personality. He didn't want to have a somebody chop your head off. Arrows could strike you in the head. There was a sword called ROM fire could be as long as for feet in length. Double-edged wheeled with two hands. You needed a helmet to protect you from a blow from that sword. What is the helmet of salvation you mean salvation. You mean you have to be saved know were already saved. What does he mean by this. Well, to help us.

Paul refers to it. Also, in his letter to the Thessalonians 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 verse eight calls it the helmet of the hope of salvation.

Listen now is the helmet of the hope of salvation for God has not destined us for wrath, but obtaining the salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. What is this it's the helmet of the hope of salvation yet to come. You say will what's the point.

The point is this one of the great weapons that Satan wants to use to crush the Christian is doubt. Doubt he wants to crush you would blows of insecurity. You'll never make it. You'll never cut it. You're not a Christian letter that kind of behavior look at this kind of behavior.

Look what you did over there. Look what you don't do look at all the stuff that goes through your mind. Look at all the times you fail your no Christian in the continual assault against the assurance of salvation or make them like this. You can lose your salvation. One false step and you've lost your salvation Lord is going to take that salvation away, you're going to forfeit that salvation. You know, in evangelical Christianity all over the world. There are lots of people to believe that and they live in constant fear that somehow they're going to lose their salvation. It is a debilitating fear. It creates anxiety.

Satan wants to steal your joy and steal your usefulness and just grind you to a halt with doubts and so you have to have the helmet of the hope of salvation. What is that confidence in God's eternal salvation. One final component in this battle the end of verse 17. Take the helmet of salvation and the verb is applied and take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. This is great sword here, not ROM fire. It's not a big 4 foot broadsword you're flailing around.

It's not a weapon you use indiscriminately. Paul is very selective. The word for sword. Here is my Kyra and my Kyra referred to a dagger maybe a dagger 8 to 12 inches long, very sharp, but you didn't just stand somewhere and waive it when doing a good, had to be used with tremendous precision you could just swing it at somebody like you could around fire you had to just put it in the right spot. It had to go right into the vulnerable area that had to be used with very great precision. You had to be skilled to put yourself in a position to thrust it into the deadly blow and what is the sword.

It is the word of God. You might have him. If you know little Greek. You might've thought that Paul would use the word log us.

Translated word here, but he doesn't log us as a general term for the word he chooses a word that is different.

Rhema and Rhema means a specific statement.

It's not a generic word for Scripture. It's a word for a specific statement. I listen the sword of the Spirit is not just a Bible, the sword of the Spirit is the specific statement of the word of God wielded at just the precise moment we tape you can own a Bible you can own a Bible warehouse and not have the sword of the Spirit is not possessing a Bible it's snowing it well enough to use it with precision. When Jesus was tempted by Satan with, what did Jesus answer each temptation and he didn't just say what the Bible says you shouldn't do that Satan recorded a specific verse that all three of them out of Deuteronomy. He quoted three specific verses that drove the dagger into the heart of the enemy at the exact moment and at the exact location is the ability to use the word of God precisely that defends you against the subtleties of Satan's temptation. If you don't know what the Bible teaches about a certain thing you're vulnerable. As you begin to learn the word of God, you become a skilled wielder of the precise dagger that is thrust into the heart of the enemy system as it comes against and then on top of all that verse 18, with all prayer and petition, you pray at all times. Consistent with the Holy Spirit you bathe this entire operation in consistent constant prayer reflects your dependence upon the Lord.

That's the sum of the if you are so equipped you will be strong in the Lord and in the power strength of his might and this is grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us today.

John showed you the spiritual armor that will help you thrive spiritually in 2021. It's part of his study, the courageous Christian and friend here at the starting line of 2021.

Perhaps you've set a goal to study God's word even more consistently this year and if so, let me encourage you to get a copy of the MacArthur daily Bible each day you will read a portion of the old and New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs taking you through the entire Bible in one year to place your order. Contact us today. Just go to our website Jide TY.org the daily Bible also includes helpful study notes by John that explain the difficult passages and this would be a great resource for any new believer again. You can purchase the MacArthur daily Bible when you go to our website Jide TY.org and remember it Jide TY.org you can also download all of John's sermons, free of charge.

If there's a verse in the New Testament that you don't understand or you want to know it better. John has a sermon on it as well as many sermons from the Old Testament. You can also read the grace to you blog with articles by John and other staff members or listen to Grace Street it's a continuous broadcast of John's teaching through the New Testament, all of those resources and more are available@jidety.org now for John MacArthur on Phil Johnson. Be sure to watch grace to you television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378 be here Monday as we consider the question what should your church be known, for the most.

John kicks off a series titled the Bible driven church with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on the next grace to