The Tongue

He was a new clerk in the greens goods department of a supermarket. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted. Finally he said, “I’ll have to go back and talk to the manager.” He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, “There’s some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?” Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned around, and seeing the woman, added, “And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be alright?” Considerably relieved, the manager said, “That would be fine.” Later in the day, he congratulated the boy on his quick thinking. He then asked, “Where are you from, son?” The boy said, “I’m from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women.” The manager looked at him and said, “My wife is from Toronto.” The boy said, “Oh, what team did she play for?” (From Bruce Thielemann, “Because,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 105).

It’s amazing what a little member in the body can do. As one person said, “Because the tongue is in a wet place, it can easily slip.” Warren Wiersbe, in his book “Be Mature,” tells about a pastor friend who told him “about a member of his church who was a notorious gossip. She would ‘hang on the phone’ most of the day, sharing tidbits with any and all who would listen. She came to the pastor one day and said, ‘Pastor, the Lord has convicted me of my sin of gossip. My tongue is getting me and others into trouble.’ My friend knew she was not sincere because she had gone through that routine before. Guardedly he asked, ‘Well, what do you plan to do?’ ‘I want to put my tongue on the altar,’ she replied with pious fervor. Calmly my friend replied, ‘There isn’t an altar big enough,’ and he left her to think it over’” (89).

What is it to indulge sin?

"To give the breast to it and feed it. As a fond parent humours his child and lets him have what he wants, so to indulge sin is to humour sin.

To indulge sin is to commit it with delight: 'they had pleasure in unrighteousness' (2 Thess.2:12).

In this sense, a godly man does not indulge sin. Though sin is in him, he is troubled at it and would gladly get rid of it. There is as much difference between sin in the wicked and the godly as between poison being in a serpent and in a man. Poison in a serpent is in its natural place and is delightful, but poison in a man's body is offensive and he uses antidotes to expel it. So sin in a wicked man is delightful, being in its natural place, but sin in a child of God is burdensome and he uses all means to expel it. The sin is trimmed off. The will is against it. A godly man enters protest against sin: 'What I do I allow not' (Rom.7:15). A child of God, while he commits sin, hates the sin he commits (Rom.7)." (Thomas Watson, The Godly Man's Picture, 146).

The Doctrine of Election

“God is not working at random: the gospel has been sent forth on no uncertain mission: the final outcome in the conflict between good and evil has not been left indeterminate; how many are to be saved or lost depends not on the will of the creature. Everything was infallibly determined and immutably fixed by God from the beginning, and all that happens in time is but the accomplishment of what was ordained in eternity.”

So “Let it be plainly announced that salvation originated not in the will of man, but in the will of God (see John 1:13; Rom. 9:16), that were it not so none would or could be saved—for as the result of the fall man has lost all desire and will unto that which is good (John 5:40; Rom. 3:11)—and that even the elect themselves have to be made willing (Ps. 110:3), and loud will be the cries of indignation raised against such teaching” (A.W. Pink, The Doctrine of Election).

True Worship

“A few years ago the Chicago Tribune reported the story of a New Mexico woman who was frying tortillas when she noticed that the skillet burns on one of her tortillas resembled the face of Jesus. Excited, she showed it to her husband and neighbors, and they all agreed that there was a face etched on the tortilla and that it truly bore a resemblance to Jesus. So the woman went to her priest to have the tortilla blessed. She testified that the tortilla had changed her life, and her husband agreed that she had been a more peaceful, happy, submissive wife since the tortilla had arrived. The priest, not accustomed to blessing tortillas, was somewhat reluctant but agreed to do it. The woman took the tortilla home, put it in a glass case with piles of cotton to make it look like it was floating on clouds, built a special altar for it, and opened the little shrine to visitors. Within a few months, more than eight thousand people came to the shrine of the Jesus of the Tortilla, and all of them agreed that the face in the burn marks on the tortilla was the face of Jesus (except for one reporter who said he thought it looked like former heavy-weight boxing champion Leon Spinks)” (John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority, p.1).

It seems incredible that so many people would worship a tortilla, but such a distorted concept of worship is not really unusual in contemporary society. Tragically, although the Bible is clear about how and whom and when we are to worship, little genuine worship takes place today. In fact, worship is one of the most misunderstood doctrines in all the Scriptures. The concept of worship dominates the Bible.

In Genesis, we discover that the Fall came when man failed to worship God. In Revelation we learn that all of history culminates in an eternal worshiping community in the presence of a loving God. From the beginning of Genesis all the way through to the consummation in Revelation, the doctrine of worship into the biblical text.

Jesus quoted Deut.6:4-6 and called it the greatest commandment: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk.12:29-30). This is a call to worship, and it affirms worship as the universal priority.

Exodus 20 records the giving of the Ten Commandments. The very first of those commandments calls for and regulates worship: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3  "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4  "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5  you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (vv.2-5).

In the OT, worship covered all of life. It was the focus of the people of God. For example, the Tabernacle was designed and laid out to emphasize the priority of worship. The description of its details requires seven chapters — 243 verses — in Leviticus, yet only 31 verses in Genesis are devoted to the creation of the world. The Tabernacle was designed only for worship. It was the place where God met His people, and to use it for anything but worship would have been considered the grossest blasphemy. In the Tabernacle there were no seats — the Israelites didn’t go there to attend a service, and they didn’t go there for entertainment. They went there to worship God. No wonder A.W. Tozer says, “The greatest tragedy in the world today is that God has made man in His image and made him to worship Him, made him to play the harp of worship before the face of God day and night, but he has failed God and dropped the harp. It lies voiceless at his feet” (The Quotable Tozer, p.198). “The person who uses his life for any purpose other than worship — no matter how noble that purpose may seem — is guilty of a grave sin. It is the same sin as that of an Israelite who misused the holy incense — a sin so serious that under the law it was punishable by death” (John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority, p.4).

How are you using your life today? Is it for worship?

The Good News

The Bible provides the answer to our dilemma in a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Paul describes him in Ephesians 5:23 as the “Savior.” And according to 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save [or rescue] sinners” from God’s judgment. How did He do that? He took in His body on the cross the consequences of our sin. By Him bearing our sin in His own body, He provided the justice that the Law demanded for our sin. The Law said the penalty for breaking God’s Law was death and Jesus took our penalty for us. In other words, instead of God punishing us for our sin, He punished Jesus. Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 5:21 in this way when He says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” In other words, God treated Jesus as if He sinned. Isaiah 53:4-6 says, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” When Paul says that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,” he tells why He did this—“That we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” To “become the righteousness of God in Him,” refers to salvation from your sin. It refers to deliverance from sin and judgment. How does one acquire the righteousness of God? Paul answers that question in Ephesians 2:8-9 when he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is “by grace...through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” To receive this gift of grace the Bible says you must turn from your sin and surrender your life to Jesus Christ who alone can save and forgive you of your sin. Acts 17:30-31 says, “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” I would like to pause at this point and ask you to pray with me. Pray that God will open your eyes and heart to what I have just shared with you. To come to Christ is not easy. In fact it is the greatest commitment you will ever make.

Lord Jesus, open the eyes of the one reading this post that they will understand the truth presented here and turn from their sin and surrender their life to Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Bad News

In the fourth book in the New Testament, known as the Gospel of John, we hear about a religious leader who came to Jesus at night seeking to know more about Him and His message. But before he could even ask what was truly on his heart, Jesus answered Him by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). In this one statement, Jesus gave Nicodemus the necessary condition for going to heaven. He said, “unless one is born again.” You cannot go to heaven when you die “unless” this occurs first. He stated it again in verse 5, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” To be born again, Jesus says, you have to be born “of water,” that is, you have to be spiritual cleansed of your sin, and you have to be born of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is saying there must be a spiritual renewal and cleansing in order to go to heaven. And for that to take place, Nicodemus needed to stop trusting in himself and his accomplishments to get him to heaven but in Christ who alone was to die in his place for His sin. Jesus tells Nicodemus in verses 14-15, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” But, according to verse 19, man has two problems. First, he will not believe on his own. And second, verse 19 says, he loves “the darkness rather than the Light.” In other words, he loves his sin. So what can man do?

First, he needs to see he is a sinner who loves his sin.

Romans 3:10-18 says, “as it is written, "There is none  righteous , not even  one; 11 There is none  who understands , There is none  who seeks  for God; 12 All  have turned  aside , together  they have become  useless ; There is none  who does  good , There is not even  one." 13 "Their throat  is an open  grave , With their tongues  they keep deceiving ," "The poison  of asps  is under  their lips"; 14 "Whose  mouth  is full  of cursing  and bitterness"; 15 "Their feet  are swift  to shed  blood, 16 Destruction  and misery  are in their paths, 17 And the path  of peace  they have not known." 18 "There is no  fear  of God  before  their eyes.” Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:18-19). The history of sin takes us back to the first book of the Bible—Genesis. We are told in Genesis 2:16-17 that After God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, He “commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” In chapter 3 of Genesis we read in verses 6-7: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” This is what the Bible calls sin or disobedience to God’s specific command. Romans 5:12 sums it up by saying, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The consequences of what Adam and Eve did that day was passed to every person who would ever be born. But death itself was not the only thing passed to every person, also the sin nature. Every person would now have the knowledge of evil which would manifest in “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, [and] blasphemies” (Mat.15:19).  And even the good that man could express would be considered as “filthy rags” in God’s sight.

In Exodus chapter 20, God gave His Law, the Ten Commandments, to man to follow. But because of man’s sin nature, he could not live up to what God commanded. For example, the Law says: (Ex.20:3-17):

• “You shall have no other gods before Me,” but man fashions a god after his own likeness.
  

• The Law says, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image,” but man bows down before everything his heart desires.
  

• The Law says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” but man uses God’s name as a filthy four letter curse word.
  

• The Law said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” but man refuses to rest one day a week and worship God.

• The Law said, “Honor your father and mother,” and “He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.” But man says, “'Whoever says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God’– then he need not honor his father or mother.’Thus [he has] made the commandment of God of no effect by [his] tradition” (Mat.15:4-6).

• The Law said, “You shall not murder,” but Jesus said that “whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (Mat.5:22).

• The Law said, “You shall not commit adultery” but Jesus said “that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mat.5:28).

• The Law said, “You shall not steal,” but man takes what is not his and uses it for his own purposes.

• The Law said, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” but man lies and slanders because his tongue is set on fire by hell itself.

• The Law said, “You shall not covet” but man lusts after what his neighbor possesses.

Because of man’s sin nature, he has broken every one of these commandments and is guilty of being an idolatrous, blasphemous, lying, thieving, adulterer at heart. And God says he will not be innocent on the day of judgment. Because Adam’s sin was passed to every person, they will be given the wages of their sin—death (Rom.6:23). And if the picture of the human dilemma was not bad enough, Paul said in Ephesians 2:1 that because of Adam’s sin everyone is therefore “dead in trespasses and sin.” Spiritual death not only speaks of our nature but also of our inability to do what is pleasing to God. It paints a helpless situation with no where to go, no where to hide, and no remedy. And if the Bible stopped right there none would have any hope. But praise God it doesn’t stop there. God has provided a Savior the Lord Jesus Christ! We will talk more about the Savior God sent in our next post.

It's All There in the Word "Therefore."

"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called" (Ephesians 4:1).

God has called us to holy living. That statement alone should suffice in answering our question of whether we can live anyway we choose or not. But to heighten that thought further, we hear Paul’s response in Ephesians 4. He begins verse 1 with the word “therefore.” “This word marks the transition from doctrine to duty, principle to practice, position to behavior” (John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible: Ephesians). “Our exalted standing in Christ calls for corresponding godly conduct” (William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians). In Jesus Christ we are righteous and holy, now we’re to act like who we are by living in a manner that is worthy. The purpose of the “therefore” in verse 1 is to tell us “in view of all that God has done for the believer, which we have seen in the first three chapters of this epistle” (J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible), “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”

In other words, "Because you have been ‘blessed with every spiritual blessing’ (1:3), ‘chosen in Him before the foundation of the world’ (1:4), ‘predestined to adoption as sons’ (1:5), given ‘redemption’ and the ‘forgiveness of sins’ (1:7), given the understanding of ‘His will’ (1:9), ‘an inheritance’ (1:11), given the Holy Spirit (1:13), made alive by God (2:4-5) and ‘brought near by the blood of Christ’ (2:13), live in a manner befitting your calling” (MacArthur).

Get Off Facebook - Be a Man - Paul Washer

Get off facebook, BE A MAN - Paul Washer

In case you're wondering, I got off Facebook before I saw this video.

Attitude....

I have been writing in the last several post about trusting God in the midst of trials. The outcome to that is "joy" that James refers to in James 1:2. My second question is, how do you get past what others think of us? We are all human and none of us like it when people talk behind our backs or when we are not liked. There are numerous examples in Scripture of this but what does Scripture say in how we are to deal with it when it happens?

Romans 12:14 says to "bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." The word "bless" means to speak well of. The word "curse" refers to wishing eternal ruin on a person. It is equivalent to saying, "Go to hell." Paul is saying we are to always speak well of others, especially those who cause us great trouble and harm and never wish that God would repay their evil deeds by sending them to hell. Jesus said it another way: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Mat.5:44). The problem, though, is it is not our nature to forgive, love, and speak well of those who hurt us. James recognizes this when he says in James 3:10-11 that the tongue blesses "our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way." One minute we are worshiping God and the next wishing harm to those who harm us and James says this is inconsistent with who we are. God made all of us in His image and therefore when we speak against someone we are striking out against His image. So what should be our response then? Maybe another question is, "How do we set aside the feelings that many times control and overwhelm us and not strike out against someone? Jesus already gave us the answer in Matthew 5:44. He said to "love" and "pray." You say, "But I don't love them, how in the world can I pray for them? All I desire is that they hurt as much as they have hurt me." The next word is to "forgive." In order to love someone you have to "forgive" them when they wrong you. The word "forgive" means to "release." When you forgive someone, you are "releasing" them of any debt you think they owe you. You say, "That is so hard!" Yes, it is hard but it doesn't erase the fact that we are to do it. In fact, there is one thing we can do to help us when we're struggling with unforgiveness, it is to remember what each of us did to Jesus on the cross. Jesus went to the cross because of our "offenses" and "transgressions." Isaiah 53:5 says, "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities." Everytime when we're struggling with something someone says about us or with something someone does to us, we should remember that we all have done this over and over to Jesus.

So, what am I saying in all of this? We have to transfer our feelings, desires, hurts, frustrations, etc. to His control. We have to stop holding on and relinquish all control to Him. Is it even possible? Yes. Is it difficult? Yes. But God is able to do this in us as we surrender to Him. So, before you criticize your situation, pray and ask God for the wisdom you need in this situation. Also remember that in this trial He is not going to give you more than your able to bear (see 1 Cor.10:13). And finally, remember that He "gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to [you]" (Jas.1:5).

Everyone needs to hear this.....

A Biblical Church by Paul Washer

No Worries

Disney's Lion King was famous for their song, "No Worries" or as the kids would recall kunnamatota. Not sure if I spelled that right but you got the idea. Is it possible to live a worry-free life? Paul says in Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Jesus even said in Matthew 6, "Do not worry." Why then do we worry?

In my previous post, I mentioned what I am seeing as the key to joy in trials. It is trusting God. I'm not talking about putting on this "happy" face but truly experiencing the joy of the Lord from the heart. We can only do that when we give everything we are feeling and experiencing to Him. Peter said it this way in 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." The psalmist agreed when he said in Psalm 55:22,  "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." When Peter says to cast all your anxiety on Him, he is calling for a once for all action on our part. Do this and never turn back. There is nothing you can't give Him that He will not receive.

Count it all Joy?

James 1:2 says to "count it all joy when you encounter various trials."

All of us experience trials but how can we go through them and experience full joy? There is only one answer, trust. We have to trust God that He is in control of our lives. It is when we do this that we are able to count it all joy. Maybe we could phrase it "no worries." When we stop worrying or fretting over our situation and trust God then we can experience His joy. So "be anxious for nothing" or "stop worrying." Trust God that He is in control.

No More Facebook.......for Now!

If you have been following me on Facebook, I have decided to deactivate my account for now. You can follow me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stevehereford if you want updates. For now I want to simplify and focus my energies on this blog and twitter. Too cumbersome to keep Facebook up-to-date.

So keep watching for more........

Pastor Steve

Death to Self

Why are those three words the most difficult to live? Well I think the answer is obvious. Think about it for a minute. Everything we do is for "self." Even those thngs which are so natural tend to have only "self" in mind. But Jesus says we are to "deny ourselves" (Lk.9:23). He even says to do this "daily" while "taking up your cross." Is it possible to live this way when everything we do, say or pursue is for "self?" It is if you want His gift of salvation. It is a prerequisite. It is more that just believing, it is surrendering "self." It is "death to self." Have you died today? Think about it.

Hate Evil, Love God

Psalm 97:10 says, "Hate evil, you who love the Lord..."

You can get an simpler than that. The dominating view of Scripture towards evil is to hate it. Hate it in all it forms and deceptions. Don't rationalize with it. Don't debate with it. Run from it. Whether it be immorality, anger or slander. 1 Peter 2:1 says to lay "aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander." This is to be put off once and for all! Romans 12:9 says we are to "abhor what is evil." We can say "amen" to such Scripture but each time we give in to evil, we are loving it rather than the Lord. The remedy to such is to "walk by the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh" (Gal.5:16). Let's live that way today!

God takes pleasure in holiness

Psalms 5:4 - For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You. (NASBEC - CadreBible)

I am so thankful when I read a verse like this. God is so unlike us. His pleasure is righteousness not evil as the context reveals. David knew that and called on God to rescue him from his enemies. No evil dwells with God. What about you? What are you taking pleasure in?

Grieved...

I recently learned that some former members of my church have now taken up social drinking. They say they are happy now in their Christian life because the restraints have been removed. I fear where this is heading. Sure we have liberty but what about those brothers or sisters who stumble with this? Romans 14 teaches that my liberty is limited if it causes another Christian to stumble. That means I am not at liberty to live any way I choose. Paul says in Ephesians 4 that I am to preserve or maintain the unity of the fellowship. I can't do that if I am not careful with the questionable things I pursue.

Can we live any way we choose?

After spending a week teaching on practical holiness, I am even more convinced that we are to pursue holiness at all costs. God commands us to be holy. That mean we are refuse to give our affections or devotion to the world in any way. In the words of Ephesians 4:1 we are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. In other words, our behavior and lifestyle is to be consistent or balanced with our calling.

What are you thankful for?

I bet if we were pressed we could come up with a million things to be thankful for. I know I could. For example, I am thankful for my family. They are the ones that really know me and they love me still. Even better than that is God knows me and still loves me.

There are so many things we take for granted---things we consider little like our homes, beds, AC, Heat, food, cars, clothes, jobs, even friends. But when you lose any of them then you appreciate them even more. I am thankful that God provides all these things for me and a family to share them with. I am also thankful for my church family. They love me in spite of my shortcomings. They love me enough to tolerate a bad sermon or song full of mistakes.

This Thanksgiving, I want to complain less and thank more and not take for granted the people God has put in my life. What about you?

To those of you who are reading this, thank you! I hope that you will be encouraged by this. Let's thank God today and forevermore for "all things," even the bad things knowing that they all "work together for [our] good" (Rom.8:28).

Whose the Real Enemy?

Now we noted the warfare that is found in Ephesians six where Paul tells the believers at Ephesus to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” And then he tells them in verse 11 the way that you can be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might is to, “Put on the whole armour of God.”And by putting on the whole armor of God that you are able to stand against the wiles, or the schemes of the devil.

And then he notes before us in verse 12 that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.”The warfare that we engage in is not on a human level. It is on a spiritual level. It is against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And therefore Paul says in verse 13 because of all of this, we are to take up the whole armour of God that we may be able to withstand or to resist in the evil day and having done all to stand.

Now we talked last week about how important it is to have the armor on and to leave it on. And with noting the items of the armor last week we saw it wasn’t something mysterious. We saw it wasn’t something mystical, not even something physical. But it is taking the Word of God and putting it on in your life and being committed to it, seriously committed to the Word of God and the things of God. It is having yourself covered with the practical righteousness of holiness and it is taking these elements in your life and being seriously committed to them. And then he sums it all up in verse 18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication.”

We must understand that the enemy that we are fighting is a tricky enemy. One moment you think you understand a little bit about him and the next moment he has fooled you. He is a master of deceit. He is a master of trickery and don’t think for one moment that you have the power in and of yourself to overcome him. That is why Paul says in verse 10 that we are to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,”not the power of your might, but the power of his might. We are to stand strong in the might and the strength of God.

E.M. Bounds says that, “The existence and the work of the devil is a serious matter. It is to be considered and dealt with from the most serious standpoint and only serious people can deal with it. For this reason the New Testament gives the repeated note of warning: Be sober.”