 Yeah, so before the break we were looking at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 where it says put on the full armor of God So that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes The word that is used over there for schemes It literally means methods. There are certain methods which the devil adopts to to stop us Prevent us from gaining our inheritance. So Over the centuries even as the devil has operated here on this earth. He has kind of Understood that certain methods work very very well So he uses these methods again and again to bring down the believer and prevent them from Enjoying what Christ has for them But this does not have to necessarily, you know, make us feel At a disadvantage or make us feel fearful because God only permits attacks which he knows that we will be able to handle So God will never permit an attack that is beyond That particular believer's ability to withstand. This is a promise which God makes to us So in fact, if someone could turn to first Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 because even as we start talking about this topic of Forfeit, it's good for us to know that this is the assurance that God has given us first Corinthians 10 verse 13 If someone could please no turn to first Corinthians chapter 10 if you could read out verse 13 No temptation has overtaken you except first as it's common to men But God is faithful Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able about with the temptation will also make the way of escape That you may be able to be It is very clearly told over here that the Lord who is faithful, you know We serve a faithful God. He knows what each of his children can withstand and It says he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it To have the strength to just take your stand and say no, I will not let go of my, you know Godly principles. I will not dishonor the Lord. I will not disobey me disobey him to be able to just endure through that temptation and take a stand and say no I will not be shaken. I will not given God will enable us to only face those things that we will be able to you know Approach with that kind of an attitude This is a promise that God has made to us. So, yes Satan has got his schemes He has got his methods which he has, you know, tried out thousands of times, you know over the centuries and these methods of his work well but The Lord has got other methods which are superior to Satan's methods So the promise it's that's given to us here in 1st Corinthians 1013 it says You know when we face these temptations when we face these schemes of Satan The Lord will also provide a way out so that you can endure it He will show us how to you know how to To withstand those schemes how to overcome those schemes. He will show us what Strategy or what method we can use to be able to resist Satan and stay strong in the Lord when those attacks take place So when we are faced with temptations, which we feel are too Great or too powerful for us to be able to bear we must remember this promise that is given to us in 1st Corinthians 1013 Because one of the thoughts which Satan would bring to our minds is that the mighty power of God is not going to work in this situation You can't be strong in the Lord in this situation because this is something beyond you You are too habituated to this temptation. You are too Deep into sin and so you will not be able to overcome those are the lies which Satan would speak But the promise which God made is that he will not allow us to be tempted in any way Which we will not be able to overcome He will only permit those temptations those attacks to come into our lives Which he knows for a fact that we will be able to overcome by the power of the Lord The Lord will reveal to us. He will show us how to overcome it He will show us what method to use so we must remember and hold on to this promise So keeping this in mind knowing that the Lord will not test us beyond what we can bear Knowing that the mighty power of God is available to us and we can make ourselves strong in him Knowing this we choose to put on the full armor of God You know was 13 and where it says therefore put on the full armor of God So that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground And after you have and after you have done everything to stand So all that is going to be explained to us in the next few verses has got one goal When the attack comes you take your stand and you say no, I will not dishonor the Lord I will not disobey him. I will not lose my faith in him and you stand and you stand And you and you resist and you say no, I'm not going to back down. I'm not going to fall I'm not going to give way So it's all about standing because once it's all done and you know Satan has he tries his best And he retreats. There you are still standing You have not given up any ground. You have not you know retreated You have not failed so The things that we're going to be looking at in the next few verses All of them are aimed at one thing to help you to continue standing And not to fall not to give in not to give up not to turn around and flee So, um, this is something that we would have to keep in mind. Okay, so, uh, the emphasis is on Standing your ground and after having done everything to continue to stand and so Uh, with this in mind when verse 14 Paul says stand firm then how Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist If you're going to be taking a stand and remaining standing Then it's very very vital that you would have to be wearing this belt of truth And so from now, you know, this verse onwards he starts using the imagery of the roman soldier Because this is uh, this is something that the people would have been very familiar with even as he's talking about these different, um, portions of the armor They can picture the roman, uh, you know armor in their minds and then they would Draw the parallel the spiritual parallel, uh, you know of that armor when it comes to spiritual terms So they would know what what Paul is indicating when he talks about the belt of truth Because the oroman armor at that time was basically too metal What would you call the metal plates you would have one long metal plate in the front Uh, maybe up to knee level may be a little higher up above the knee so that you know, it will not restrict your movements So all the way from your shoulders Right up to just above your knee You would have one metal plate Covering you in the front and then you would have another metal plate covering You know at the back And so these two metal plates are held together by brass rings on your shoulders So it's not a very sophisticated You know armor Very basic very simple. You have a metal plate in the front. You have a metal plate in the back You have brass rings which are holding these two plates together Now picture a soldier Taking his sword the enemies coming towards him. They're in hand to hand combat The enemy is using his sword and attacking this soldier is you know Stepping into battle wearing these two metal plates and he's fighting back with his sword What would happen you would basically have this metal plate shaking and you know moving all over the place and getting displaced The belt is vital Without that belt holding those metal plates in place The soldier would not even be able to operate would not even be able to function this belt holds that armor together Without that belt that armor would not even stay in place and so Paul you know refers to this little piece of you know the little little piece of armor the belt and he Parallels it with truth That's the you know, um, the spiritual Parallel which he draws he calls this belt belt of truth You know much when you're looking at the At maybe a painting of a roman soldier you would admire maybe the grander aspects of the armor You would hardly even look at the belt But that belt is central to the whole thing because that belt of truth is what is holding the entire armor in place And in fact the belt was also used to um, you know to hold up certain other pieces of of the equipment for instance on one side of the belt, uh, the soldier would clip his Um, I know sword on the other side of the belt He would clip a small shield which he sometimes uses you know, it's a small hand shield It's like a tiny little, you know circle Uh, so that would be used sometimes this is not the bigger shield Which is going to be talked about later on, you know in one of the latter verses So this belt also served to hold certain other pieces of armor in place So this belt of truth Is basic it's vital And it's so important for us believers because satan mainly attacks us with lice He comes to us with half truths You know like he did with eve He will not speak an outright Falsehood because then we would just ignore him He comes to us with half truths which sound almost truthful and he tries to confuse us And so if we are not sure of what the truth of god's word is It is so easy for the entire armor to get displaced It is so important for us to hold on to the truth of god's word and declare to satan and say no This is what god's word says and what god says is true and I choose to abide by this I take a stand on this and I refuse to budge So we hold on to the truth of god's word and we refuse to budge And when we do that Then satan will no longer be able to attack us because we are refusing to believe his lice And if we are not even ready to believe what he is saying He has no hold over us So the belt of truth becomes very very important The truth of god's word is vital Once we know that this is the truth of god's word is saying We hold on to it and we refuse to give in to whatever lies satan is trying to sow into our hearts and minds The second piece of armor that's being talked about is the breastplate of righteousness So this breastplate of course would be the metal plate in the front that would be your breastplate and Now this metal Like I said, it goes, you know all the way up to your knee level So this is uh, he parallels this uh, paul parallels this breastplate with righteousness If a person is not rejecting sin on a daily basis and holding on to the righteousness of god It's like as if he has taken off that metal plate in the front And is exposing himself to the arrows and the attacks you know, so As long as a person on a daily basis says no to sin And holds on to righteousness. It's like he's keeping that metal plate, you know in place If he says, oh, it's all right to know today's my day off I'm I'm going to just indulge in sin It's like as if he's just taken off that protective covering in the front And now he's completely exposed to any attacks from a spear from a from a sword from a arrow You know, he's the Evil one can attack him in any any way So which is why it becomes very important for the believer on a daily basis to say no to sin As long as you're saying no to sin and you're holding on to righteousness that metal plate is there Covering you protecting you But if you say no today, you know, I feel like just taking a day off from spirituality and I'm going to indulge in sin It's like you're literally just taking off the plate and exposing yourself to these four levels of demonic powers I mean, it's a it's such a foolish thing to do, you know, so we would we would be careful not to do that The third piece of armor that's talked about it says and with your feet fitted with The readiness that comes from the gospel of peace So if you notice over here, your feet are not fitted with the gospel of peace Your feet are fitted with what your feet are fitted with the readiness How do you make your feet ready? How do you fit them with readiness? How do you feel, you know, fit your feet with preparedness The preparedness the readiness comes from Knowing your gospel of peace very very well The more you know it the more you have absorbed it the more you are, you know Your your your life is revolving around this gospel of peace your feet are that ready that prepared to to take a stand and refuse to budge so He says, you know, you have You have put on your belt of truth your precipitate of righteousness is in place And now your feet need to be ready because the attack is going to come and when the attack comes You'll only be prepared and ready If you have prepared yourself with the gospel of peace beforehand um, let's first of all look at, you know, the this the shoes which the Roman soldier used to wear and then we will make a comparison with how that can, you know Help how we can compare that to the spiritual armor so these Roman soldiers Would wear this very heavy sandals The sole of that, you know the the bottom of that shoe the sole of that shoe Would have layers and layers of leather Uh, they say it's like, uh, you know many inches thick So it the the sole of that shoe would be very very thick and attached to the bottom of that shoe would be spikes Because when you have two soldiers, they come at each other with their shields and swords and they hit against each other This soldier, he you know, he he digs in his heels And the spikes of his shoe dig into the ground and he takes a stand and he refuses to budge And he takes his sword and he slashes at the other enemy so, uh, that That that shoe that heavy shoe that he is wearing with the spikes attached to it on on the bottom It helps him to To grip the ground and hold his place and make his attack Otherwise the enemy would push him and he would fall down. He would not be able to To withstand the the onslaught so these shoes they Help him to take a stand and not budge. Okay, so over here. These are not running shoes These are shoes because the running shoe would never have spikes You know, it would not allow you to run The spikes are meant to hold you in place Because that's the instruction which Paul gives right take a stand Stand your ground and after everything is done. You're still standing strong over there Why because you have readied and prepared your feet with the gospel of peace um So, um, let's look at this uh How does the gospel of peace Prepare the believer, uh, you know, there are all kinds of Silly things taught especially in Sunday school regarding this armor of God But you know, we are doing the letter to the Ephesians Let's look at what Paul has to say about the gospel In the letter to the Ephesians the word gospel is used in Ephesians Four times four times this word gospel in the word gospel means good news The word gospel is used four times in Ephesians one one of course is over here right here in this verse verse six I mean chapter six verse 15 the other three places where this word gospel is used in Chapter one verse 13. It is used to talk about the gospel of salvation the good news of salvation And in the other three places where this, uh word gospel is used it is used to talk about peace one thirteen three six and Six nineteen in all of these three places where the word gospel is used It's talking about the peace between the Jews and the Gentiles in a broader sense It's basically talking about peace between believers So in one thirteen it's talking about, um the the gospel of salvation and in the other three places It's talking about the gospel of peace So here in the instruction which Paul is giving in chapter six verse 15 he says Let your feet be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace So what kind of a gospel are you dwelling upon and you know, which you're absorbing and making it a very part of your being First of all, you are really absorbing this gospel of salvation This is who I am in Christ. This is what he you know, he is releasing towards me As part of his salvation This is uh the authority I have these this the status that has been granted to me This is the security that I that I possess So, you know, you literally fill your heart and mind with this gospel of peace So that you're you're literally uh, it becomes a part of you This this is how you think now you think according to this good news of salvation You act according to this good news of salvation. You are ready to face anything The second aspect is that uh, if the peace with other believers So you are living at peace with them. There are no grudges that you're holding on to Uh, you're you you're not, you know, behaving in a hostile manner towards anyone You're not harming anyone's interests You're ready to offer help and support to people who are there and what in need So even in your attitude towards other believers, you are, you know, clothing yourself in the gospel of peace So now because you have peace in your heart regarding your salvation because you are at peace with other believers Now your feet are ready When satan comes and attacks, he will not be able to, you know, push you over Because you will be able to stand firm. Let's look at the bible passage which makes this very beautifully clear um roman's chapter 16 versus 17 to 20 If someone could read out this very interesting passage roman's chapter 16 versus 17 to 20 I urge you brothers and sisters To watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned Keep away from them for such people are not serving our lord Christ, but their own appetites By smooth talk and flattery. They deceive the minds of naïve people Everyone has heard about your obedience So I rejoice because of you, but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil Verse 20 The god of peace will soon crush satan under your feet The grace of our lord jesus be with you If you look at this passage, there are two kinds of attacks that are coming over here One is divisions. There are people who are trying to cause divisions The other thing is there are people who are putting obstacles in the way that are contrary to the teaching which they have been taught so The gospel of salvation which has been taught to the believers people are bringing in the the the false teachers are bringing in Wrong teachings which are contrary to this gospel of salvation which has been taught The other thing that we see is that there are people who are trying to bring divisions among the believers So these are the two forms of attack and You know in Paul over here in the letter to the Romans he says keep away from such people Because you know, they are trying to take you away from the truth Rather, you know, you should be people who are innocent of such things These these wrong things which these people are bringing in be innocent of all such evil Hold on to what is good. And if you have this attitude, then the god of peace is going to do something for you What will he do? He will crush satan under your feet So even as you take your stand and you say this uh gospel of salvation, which is given to me I'll hold on to that teaching. I reject everything that is that is uh being taught Contrary to what the gospel of salvation is saying And if you also take a stand and say I hold on to the gospel of peace I will maintain peace with my brothers. I will not give into uh this whole, you know To all this Gossip and these divisions and this strife I will not do that and so in by doing these two things if you keep yourself innocent of evil And you stay wise with with regard to what is good Then the spikes with which you know the the the spike laden shoes with which you have taken your stand God will actually crush satan under your spikes I mean, that's literally what it's what it's talking about over here this god of peace because you have held on to the gospel of peace The gospel of salvation and the gospel of unity because you've held on to that the god of peace will literally crush satan under your spiked shoes So why because you have made your feet ready by Choosing to live according to this gospel of peace or the god of peace will do this for you So this is basically what paul is talking about when he says let your feet be ready all the time and how will your feet be ready by Putting on this gospel of peace by absorbing this gospel of peace and making it a very part of your heart and mind and the way You function on a day-to-day basis moving to the fourth piece of armor um That's verse 16 Above all Okay above all literally as in covering all on top of all on top of everything Taking the shield of faith because this shield of faith is you're going to be holding it in front of you It's going to be covering all the other pieces of armor Okay, so above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fury darts of the Evil one So the shield wow at that time in those days was made up of six or seven layers of thick leather so, uh Nobody would be able to pierce the shield with a sword You know, there were no arrow would be able to penetrate through it. It's like literally six or seven layers of thick leather That's basically A metal frame, you know holding the two all the pieces together You know, so the frame would hold the whole thing together And then before the battle They would soak these shields in water because when you go out onto the battlefield You're not going with a dry shield. You're actually going with there with a wet Shield that that leather has soaked in water for a uh for a long period of time and that's the kind of shield with which you are going out and it says What are you going to be doing with the shield of faith? It's going to it's going to help you to quench All the fury darts of the wicked one Now this is something that the You know the bible readers of that time would have understood very clearly So when these roman soldiers would go into battle No, um You have this army unit Moving towards the enemy the enemy is waiting for them. You know, they're standing over there all of them with their shields and um Swords and arrows and all of that They're standing over there and this roman unit is walking towards them What's going to happen if they just you know quietly casually walk towards them The enemy is going to shoot arrows at them and they're all going to fall down dead So obviously the the when this roman unit is approaching the enemy. How are they going to approach? They're going to be holding their shields in front of them You know and they're going to be standing next to each other so it's like we know if you have 10 20 soldiers in the first row All of them holding their shields in front of them. It's like as if they're forming a wall a shield wall You know, they're all holding their shields in front of them And all the shields are together next to each other It's like as if literally there is a wall and they are walking behind that wall And then the enemy starts shooting flaming arrows, you know, they would um, they would Cover the arrow tip with something called tau Don't know what on earth that is but that's what I read in the commentary and then they would light it on fire So when the arrow is shot The arrow is literally having a flaming tip And so they would shoot at these advancing roman unit Or the roman unit is safe because they're behind this wall of shields And they are walking towards the enemy and of course once they reach the enemy Then they know they will Removal the shield and attack with their spokes that it will be hand to hand combat from that point on so Here if you see You will have individual believers Whom satan is targeting and then you know, you would have to fight your battle of faith But then there's also a corporate nature to this Where all the believers come together and together Assert their faith and take their stand so that satan is not able to Attack the church so There is an individual aspect to it where you would have each individual believer when he's attacked in his heart and mind by doubts By wrong thoughts, you know, he fights back with faith and says no I believe in the word of god and so, you know, uh, I stand against uh, the attack that you are, you know, bringing against me So, uh, that's how he would face satan but then on many occasions, uh, the The the evil forces they attack the corporate body The church is attacked So it is very very important that believers come together and take a stand of faith You know, especially when they when they're having their intercessory prayers You know, especially when they're going together as a group to pray over somebody who is sick Especially when they're growing going as a group somewhere to share the gospel with someone In all these settings, you know, they're going as a group if they can assert their faith together And say lord, you are on our side. You are fighting for us So in faith by faith relying on your strength You're going to do this work, which you have called us to do whether it's, you know, it's praying over a sick person Whether it's going and sharing the gospel, whether you know, you're doing a necessary prayer together Uh for for some ministry that is that is, you know, fighting in battle somewhere So in all these things that you take up The evil one when he starts starts throwing his fury darts He will not be able to attack because you have a bunch of believers All together standing shoulder to shoulder with their shields of faith And the fury darts of the enemy are not able to harm the church And the church will be able to accomplish what it has gone to accomplish So, uh, when we are talking about the shield of faith Yes, you're talking about individual believers Asserting their faith and holding on to the lord But we also have a corporate nature to this where we together choose to Come together and use our faith to bring down the schemes of the evil one. All right, so Another thing that we see, uh, you know with regard to the shield of faith, um, it may Not look like anything connected to what we are talking about over here, but it is very very important. Um If we if we could have someone, uh, go to first Peter chapter five versus one to nine First Peter chapter five versus one to nine Uh, it may not look like a passage about faith But oh my it's definitely about that because that's basically what the whole passage leads up to So if we could have someone read out for us first Peter chapter five versus one to nine, please To the elders and the flock To the elders among you I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of christ's sufferings Who also will share in the glory to be revealed Be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care watching over them Not because you must but because you're willing as god wants you to be not pursuing dishonest gain But eagles to serve not lording it over those entrusted to you But being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears You will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away in the same way You who are younger submit yourselves to your elders all of you Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because god opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble Humble yourselves therefore under god's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you Be alert and of sober mind your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion Looking for someone to devour Resisting standing firm in the faith because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings and Yeah, yeah, thank you so much. So over here. This is talking about one aspect of faith Which I think is very very important for the corporate church because in a church setting satan tries to divide us you know, um The people who are leave who have been appointed as spiritual leaders and who are trying their very best to look after the flock Um satan brings division, you know, he causes the flock to turn against the elders So they start grumbling and complaining against the elders. They feel that the elders are not treating them properly so The elders feel frustrated from their side the either the the ones who are supposed to you know Submit to the leadership They are frustrated from their side and there's a lot of division which happens And over here the advice that peter gives you know to the to his readers. He says In verse five, he says all of you whether you're in the leadership or whether you're part of the congregation all of you Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another And in verse six, he says Humble yourselves, you know, you're clothing yourself with humility. You're humbling yourself In what way you're humbling yourself under the under god's mighty hand And in verse seven it says cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you Because you see with the shield of faith you go into battle You know shoulder to shoulder all of you holding your shields together to stop the attack of the evil one And what's the evil one do strategy number one? He tries to you know split you up divide you so that your shields are not together as one solid wall So here peter gives you a very sensible piece of advice. He says yes, there are going to be you know divisions sometimes You know, okay not divisions differences. They are sorry wrong term The bible is against division There will be differences between you differences opinion differences of what you should do and should not do When that happens all of you Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another and humble yourselves under the mighty hand of god No, the those who are in the congregation. They choose to humble themselves under god's mighty hand and say lord I will follow the leadership I'll do what the leadership is telling me to To do because i'm casting my anxiety and all the things which are concerning me which are so heavy on my heart I'll place it in your hand and I trust you I will believe in you. I'll place my faith in you. So I will not attack the Leadership I will not attack other believers in the same way the leadership will not you know In a in a in a harsh manner retaliate against the congregation. They will say lord We humble ourselves Under you under your mighty hand and we trust you to work out these things. So oh lord By faith Prayerfully we'll try to resolve the situation So both the leadership and the congregation chooses to humble themselves and cast their anxiety upon the lord And the lord will resolve the situation He will lift up, you know, those who feel that they are being downtrodden in this whole situation He will lift them up in due time and so in this United manner The they are able to withstand against the enemy which is prowling around Hoping to attack So they are what are these believers doing in verse eight? It says they are being alert and of sober mind So understanding the seriousness of the situation They choose to adopt an attitude of humility and hold on in faith They submit to god with this attitude of faith saying lord We will leave it in your hands. You will resolve this for us And when they do this in verse nine, it says resisting the devil standing firm in the faith When they adopt this attitude then The evil one is not able to you know Divide them defeat them or break them in any way because they have come together in corporate unity And they are asserting their faith together Against the enemy instead of fighting between each other They are choosing to hold on to god and say lord. We are trusting you to resolve this We are trusting you to promote our individual interest whatever they may be and you know protect our interest But lord, we will not fight against each other We will wait on you. We will humble ourselves and place ourselves under you and you will not take care of this You resolve this so In this way, uh, so that's that's another aspect of this, you know faith Corporate faith where you're coming together refusing to be divided and together you fight against the enemy Okay, so, um, this is about the shield of faith Moving on to the next piece of armor, which would be the helmet of salvation Um, you know those of us in here in india We're all so familiar with the helmet rules, you know, you go down the road you go down any road you'll at least find three four You know those posters which the traffic police have put up saying, you know, where the helmet be safe No helmet and safety They are linked together. So here the soldier is wearing this helmet For safety when he goes into battle wearing this helmet. He feels secure He knows that, you know, no arrow No sword can hit, you know attack this vital part his brain. He's protected. He's safe So helmet is all about safety And so this helmet of salvation is likewise all about protecting ourselves keeping ourselves safe What exactly is this helmet of salvation in what sense are we supposed to um Use it in everyday life, you know, practically when it comes to actually applying this, uh, the spiritual Piece of armor How do you apply and use this helmet of salvation? um Let's look at first the celonians chapter five verse eight What does it say about helmets? What does what does it say about salvation first the celonians chapter five first eight First the celonians five verse eight. Yeah But let us who are of the day be sober Putting on the breastplate of faith and love And as a helmet the hope of salvation Exactly So this helmet of salvation Is the hope of salvation you take away hope from a believer The believer will just lose interest in their spiritual walk They will lose interest in the in their future. They will lose interest in the things of god Hope is vital So the salvation which god has given us it should fill us up with hope We must believe that there is a future for us. We must believe that there is victory for us We must believe that we are rich in christ We must the the hope which this gospel of salvation is conveying to us that is absolutely vital once hope is cut off A christian completely loses You know interest in their christian walk So it is absolutely important to hold on to this helmet And see to it that we are wearing the hope of salvation always The hope of salvation acts like a helmet It it it protects our mind It guards us and keeps us from from becoming discouraged and losing all sense of You know anticipation and excitement about what what god is you know offering us and So if we think of it in that sense, um, you know romans chapter 15 versus versus 12 to 13 It makes a lot of sense because it talks about Hope and it talks about how that can make a difference in our lives romans 15 Versus 12 and 13. I'm sorry that I'm you know making you kind of move from Verse to verse, uh, it's just that Paul in this particular letter, you know, he's just kind of very briefly putting in one liners But you know in his other letters, he explains in greater depth different aspects of this armor So it kind of helps us to know these things. Okay, so romans 15 12 to 13 if someone could read out Romans 15 12 to 13 Again And again isiah says there shall be a root of jessi and he who shall rise to reign over the gentiles In him the gentiles shall hope Now may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing That you may abound in hope by the power of the holy spirit Now I myself. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that that should be enough The hope that we have is this that is root of jessi this jesus christ who sprang up He sprang up to rule over the nations and to bring all the nations hope And that is what he came for with that purpose Why did the root of jessi even bother to come down to the earth to rule? He came down to bring us hope So it says therefore because of what the root of jessi has done for us May the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him You put on this helmet and you say I choose to trust in him I choose to place my hope in him and when you have that attitude The god of hope will fill you with all joy and peace and in fact you will overflow with hope By the power of the holy spirit and your mind stays guarded You need this helmet if you go into battle with a sense of hopelessness wondering whether god will really come through for me or not Whether this root of jessi really it cares about me and my life or not If you're going with those kinds of doubts into battle without that helmet of salvation Um, the satan, you know the enemy can bring great harm to you So we need to have this The like first the salonians five verse eight says the hope of salvation should be worn as a Helmet, okay So that is the helmet of salvation that uh paul is talking about in Ephesians chapter six verse 17 And he also talks about the sword of the spirit um We are running kind of out of time But you know in the next class, uh, we will Catch up on whatever we were not able to cover regarding this armor Because every piece of this armor is absolutely important for our every daily walk every day walk I mean, it's not this is not just something that we do, you know when we have a Church camp and we have a time of intercessory prayer These are weapons which we are going to be needing on a daily basis just to get through the day And be able to walk in the riches which are meant to be ours. Okay, so Sword of the spirit, uh, there are two three aspects to this particular weapon that we need to look at We may not be able to look at all of it, but we will most definitely continue in the next class Um, so sword of the spirit what exactly uh does paul say about it sword of the spirit Which is the word of god now? The sword which was used by the roman soldier was a double-edged sword So which means it would be sharp on both sides Because you know your kitchen knife usually is only sharp on one side Whereas the double-edged sword would be sharp on both sides Because then you know, there was so the soldier will be able to attack better So which is why it it you know, it was made in that manner and Uh, so paul explains that the spiritual sword that he's talking about It is the sword of the spirit which is the word of god And so in hebrus chapter 4 versus 12 to 13 The word of god is described in fact as a double-edged sport. You know, which is sharp on both sides So the sword is used in two ways First of all, the sword is used to attack the impurities which are there in the inside the believer himself And secondly you use the sword against the enemy when the enemy comes to you with temptations So the sword is used in two ways It is used first of all to attack the impurities which are there inside the believer And then the sword is also used. It's released from your mouth the words of god are released from your mouth to attack the evil one So, um We will not have time to look at all of this. So just to note well on the first aspect No, the first manner in which the Sword of the spirit is used In hebrus chapter 4 versus 12 to 13. It says this word of god It's a double-edged sword And what does it do it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow Uh, basically it is saying, you know, the word of god goes right penetrates right into the inner Into the inner thoughts and motives of the believer and and and and separates what they think is, you know, uh, the What they think is their motive and what is actually the motive because it's a double-edged sword It's able to separate what you think And what is actually the fact It's able to it's able to slice those two things And separate them so that the truth is exposed to the the marrow itself is exposed And you're able to see oh was this my actual real motive in in doing what i'm doing Because we think that we are right but But god who knows the truth Knows what is actually in our hearts and so when this word of god penetrates us What it does is It goes to the inner being And it divides the soul and the spirit in the sense It shows us whether what we are thinking about our motives and our priorities is actually true or not And the truth gets exposed god shows us and reveals to us What is actually hidden in the deepest parts of our being? So that's what this double-edged sword is able to achieve So we are able to pluck out whatever is wrong over there And in that way we are able to purify ourselves and guard ourselves from the attacks of the evil one And we also use the sword against satan, you know as an offensive weapon We will have to dwell on that in the Next class. All right, so let's just close with the word of prayer right now Lord, there is so much that we studied from your scriptures today Help us a lot to walk in the way of love This is central a lot to our christian life If we are not walking in the way of love, then we are not imitating christ And then whatever we do will not have value and worth because we are not Following the way which has been set for us by our master So in whatever we do, whatever we speak, whatever ministry we take up, whatever we We are we are contributing towards the kingdom. May it all be done, oh lord With an attitude of love In the same sacrificial manner that christ Set as an example for us and we pray oh lord that even as we Conduct daily warfare We will remember these vital pieces of spiritual armor that you have taught us about And we will use them oh lord make full use of them So that we can fight against the enemy stand our ground and gain all the spiritual riches which are rightfully ours Oh lord in christ Help us a lord in all of this. Thank you lord in jesus name amen. Amen. Thank you so much Thank you