[0:00] now turn to Ephesians chapter 6 and tonight we come to verse 13. Let us read again from verse 10. Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places then these words wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that he may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that he may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Now in this verse of our study we have God's answer to the devil and his angels. We were thinking of the devil and his angels in the previous two verses and thankfully we have the answer in this verse 13. In verse 11 here Paul speaks of the devil's strategy and his cunning and his wiles and because of that says Paul put on the whole armor of God.
[1:33] And then in verse 12 Paul speaks of the devil's agents. He has princes called here principalities and powers and powers potentates. His agents are the rulers of the darkness of this world and they operate in high places in the unseen world around us so that these things tell us about their status and their authority and the scope and the sphere of their activities. And therefore says Paul in view of the principalities and powers God's answer is take to you, take up the whole armor of God.
[2:18] This again is the answer of God to the supernatural forces of evil that encompass us as we journey on to the end.
[2:30] Let us put it this way. God's answer to the devil himself and his angels is the cross where he disarmed them publicly and triumphed over them in the cross. And then God's answer to those who are still held captive by the devil at his will is salvation through the cross and through him who died there. And then God's answer to the assaults that has delivered and saved people have to endure because of the devil is taken to you.
[3:11] The whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Of course if God saw fit to consign the devil and his angels now to the place which he has reserved and prepared for them then there will be no need for the gospel armor. But God abides by his own timing.
[3:41] And according to God's timing and according to Jude the devil is already reserved in chains. Until the judgment of the great day.
[3:53] But because the chain is a long chain he is able to go about as a roaring lion as Peter says. He is able to go about as our adversary in order to destroy us.
[4:07] Wherefore? You see the sense of it? You see the logic of it? Wherefore in view of this take unto you the whole armor of God? And we need the whole armor of God in order to be able to stand and having done all to stand.
[4:25] Well now let's come to these words. In verse 13. There are two things I want to notice. And the first is these. And the first is this. To notice the command to take.
[4:37] Which is clearly given. That's the first thing. The command to take. Which is clearly given. Take up. Take unto you.
[4:48] The whole armor of God. Now here the apostle Paul repeats himself. For just two verses back. He says the same thing in almost identical terms.
[5:01] And he makes no apology for his repetition. Neither did he apologize to the Philippians. About his repetition. When he said to write the same things to you.
[5:13] For me it's no trouble. But for you it's a safeguard. In other words he didn't consider it the unpardonable thing that some do.
[5:24] For preachers to repeat themselves. And to preach more than once from the same text. It's not the double use however.
[5:35] Of the words. That are a safeguard. It is rather what. The words refer to. That matters. And what do they refer to?
[5:47] Well the words in our text refer. To God's provision for us. Against the powers of darkness. That surround us. And that is first of all. What God's provision is called.
[5:57] It's called here. Armor. Armor. And he deals with the armor. Bit by bit. Part by part. In the following verses. And we'll look at that when we come to them.
[6:09] God willing. But here he speaks about the armor. In a general way. And we know what armor is like. If we visit a museum. Or an ancient castle. But surely.
[6:21] Someone might say. There must be some kind of contradiction here. In the apostle Paul. For he has already said to us. Be strong. In the Lord. And in the power of his might.
[6:33] Well now. Surely. If we find our strength. In the Lord. There's no need for armor. Surely. If we stand in his strength alone. There is nothing more for us to have.
[6:45] But you see. That's where you're wrong. We obviously need something else. Otherwise. It would not be referred to here. So often.
[6:55] And in such detail. And when Paul says. Take to you the whole armor of God. Because you need the whole armor of God. That is not to denigrate God's strength.
[7:08] It is rather to point up God's provision. Which he gives to those who are strong. These are complementary. The one to the other.
[7:19] We are to be strong in the Lord. And then. We're to put on. What the Lord in his great kindness and love. Has given to us. You see. We must first of all.
[7:30] Be made strong. And then. We're in a position to wear. And to bear. And to carry the armor. Responsibly. It's the same thing.
[7:41] When a person is called up. To the forces. He has to be physically fit. That's the first thing. Fit in body. And mind. And only then. Is that person sent to the stores.
[7:54] To be kitted out. In the forces. They don't. Put uniform. On someone who can hardly walk. Or hardly stand. Or who needs a stick.
[8:05] A person has to be physically fit. They've got to be strong. And we have first of all. To be strong in the Lord. And in the power of his might. And as it's not enough.
[8:15] For a soldier to be physically fit. In the army. He must be equipped. With a helmet. And all the other parts. Of his. Of his. Regalia. So. We need.
[8:27] As well as being strong in the Lord. We need the armor. Which the Lord provides. Our strength. In the Lord. Gives us. Our position.
[8:37] And the right to wear the armor. But the armor. Itself. Gives us. The protection. We need. For battle.
[8:48] And that's the point of the armor. Protection. The strength. Gives us our position. And the right to wear it. But the armor. Gives us. Protection. And we have both.
[8:58] In the Lord Jesus Christ. But that is what the armor is for. That the strong man. Might be protected. From the fiery darts.
[9:09] Of the wicked. Now. Let me make this point. That. The very existence. Of the armor. And the. And its very purpose.
[9:19] Tells us something. Of great importance. Which we should never forget. And it's this. That we must never. Assume. That we are beyond. The reach of the enemy.
[9:32] That's what the armor. Tells us about. That's one of its messages. We are never beyond. The reach of the enemy. The enemy. Is so close. That we have to wrestle.
[9:43] With him. That indicates. His closeness. His closeness. And also. The enemy's. Influence. Is so extensive. And diffused. That we need to be. Kitted from head to foot.
[9:54] With the armor. That God has given. Now. We said already. In thinking of the. The devil. And the principalities. And powers. And so on. We noticed already. That the devil.
[10:05] Is not a single. Individual power. But that he has. Agents. And agencies. Worldwide. They are everywhere. And so the armor.
[10:16] Is necessary. Because of the extensiveness. Of satanic influence. And to play this down. And for any Christian.
[10:27] To pretend. That there's no real need. To be emphasizing this. Is to ask for trouble. The apostle Paul. Says elsewhere. Let him who thinks. He stands. Take heed. Lest he fall.
[10:38] Why should he fall? Because he's not protected. As he ought to be protected. And he is exposed. In fact. By his own pride. And so we need.
[10:53] The armor. And the armor. Is given us here. And that's how. God's provision. Is referred to. It's called. Armor. For.
[11:04] Protection. But now we go on to notice. How this armor. Is described. In this verse before us. It's got this. Twofold description. First of all. It's of God. The whole armor.
[11:16] Of God. It's from God. For us. So what is emphasized here. Is the divineness. Of the armor. And I believe. That this is the key.
[11:27] This is really the key. To the whole theme. Of the Christian armor. And the Christian warfare. That. It is the divineness. Of the armor itself.
[11:38] For nothing. But its divineness. Will protect us. It's only. What has been divinely. Forged. At God's anvil. By God himself.
[11:49] That will fit us. Perfectly. So that we stand. Against the wiles. Of the devil. No amount. Of reliance. On the arm. Of flesh. Or anything else.
[12:00] Can be a substitute. For that. Which is forged. By God. And provided for us. And given to us. Its divineness.
[12:10] Is our great comfort. It is. From God. And made by him. For us. But not only. Is its divineness. Emphasized.
[12:21] Its completeness. Is also emphasized. It's called the. Whole armor. Of God. It's a panoply. It's a complete. Covering. From head to foot.
[12:33] So that we are. Fully. Kitted out. Nothing is omitted. And as it were. Every part. Of the equipment. Is always in stock. And we need. Never be without.
[12:44] And we dare. Never be without. Well now. What. Among. Other things. Is this part. Of the text. Telling us. The completeness.
[12:54] Of the armor. What among. Other things. Is this. Telling us. I think. Is telling us this. That the. Wholeness. Of the assaults. Against us. Can only be met.
[13:06] By the armor. That's on us. And by the wholeness. Of the assaults. I mean. Their comprehensiveness. Their totality. They come at us.
[13:19] From every angle. The assaults. Of the evil one. Come to our mind. To our reason. To our argument. To our common sense. To our psychology.
[13:30] To our willpower. To our emotions. The whole front. Is exposed. To the wiles of the devil. And to satanic assaults. Satanic assaults.
[13:41] So the whole armor. Is needed. To protect. The whole person. From the whole. Of the devil's assaults. That's how the armor.
[13:54] Then is described. God. In its divineness. And in its. Completeness. And how we. Ought to thank. The most high God. For both.
[14:05] Of these facts. That it's of God. For us. And all of it. Is for us. To our. To our. Now.
[14:16] We go on. And notice. This. Point. And a very. Proper one. It is. We might well ask. What is this armor. Made of. What's it composed of. And we haven't far.
[14:26] To go in order to see. It's detailed. For us here. The armor. Is made up of. Truth. Righteousness. Peace. Faith. Salvation.
[14:38] And the sword. Of the spirit. And we look at these. When the time comes. God willing. In other words. Every part. Of the armor.
[14:48] Is spiritual. Through and through. There are no. Carnal weapons. In God. Carnal weapons. Or armor. In God's armory. They are rather.
[14:59] Spiritual. To the pulling down. Of Satan's. Strongholds. And strangleholds. So if we wanted. To state. The composition.
[15:11] Of the armor. In one phrase. And we do. Then how do we do it. Well perhaps like this. That this armor. Looking at it. In its general sense.
[15:22] Without going into. Its individual parts. This spiritual armor. Is Christ. In his complete. Sufficiency. Or.
[15:33] Christ. In the. Totality. Of his ability. And that's the armor. That in the wondrous. Grace of God. Is provided for us.
[15:43] And this again. Highlights. And emphasizes. The divineness. Of the. Of the. Of the armor itself. It is. Christ. In his soul.
[15:54] And complete. Sufficiency. May we know. What we're talking about. Every one of us. Tonight. That we have such a. A hold upon Christ. And he upon us.
[16:04] That we know. What it is to be. Clothed. With that armor. Which leads us now. To this last thing. In this first. Part of the text. And it is that. How does this armor. Become ours.
[16:15] Since we do not have it on. From birth. It has to be put on. In some way. And the fact is.
[16:27] That it will never be put on. Unless. It is put on. By ourselves. Twice. In these verses. Paul stresses. Our responsibility.
[16:39] In this matter. While we have no responsibility. For the fashioning. Or the forging. Of the armor. We have every responsibility.
[16:50] For putting it on. And wearing it. As the Lord requires. This armor. Is not. This armor. Is not for looking at. It's not for stowing away.
[17:02] For a rainy day. It's for wearing. For the rainy day. It's with us now. The evil day. If you like. And that day. Will never fully go away. So it's for the present. How then.
[17:13] Do we put it on. Since. The rainy day is with us. How do we wear it. Well. Since the armor itself. Is Christ. In his complete sufficiency.
[17:25] How do we put that on. As Paul says in Romans 13. We. Put on. The Lord Jesus Christ. Clothe yourself. With Christ. That's what the verse means.
[17:36] In Romans 13. Clothe yourself. With Christ. And you do so by faith. By the prayer of faith. And by the obedience of faith.
[17:49] And when we clothe ourselves. With Christ. We have upon us. The whole. Armor. Of God. In its completeness.
[18:01] And in its divineness. And by that means. We are able to stand. And having done all to stand. Now before we leave this part of the verse.
[18:13] I want just to make this observation. That there is nothing. Here. In this passage. Or in any other part of scripture. That speaks. In any way.
[18:23] About putting the armor off. Half. The references to the armor. Are all. About putting it on. And wearing it. And keeping it on.
[18:36] Unlike. What we do with our. Everyday clothing. We do not. Put the armor off at night. And put it on. In the morning. In other words.
[18:47] It's the whole armor. For the whole man. For the whole time. That's what the Bible says. However.
[18:59] There is a time. When we'll have to put it off. And that is the moment of death. And at the moment of death. We will exchange the armor. For robes.
[19:12] For there's no need for the armor in heaven. Because there's no warfare there. And there's no devil there. But the robes. Are the righteousness.
[19:23] Of the saints. Well. We haven't reached that stage yet. One day. We will. But not yet. And so. Here we have this first thing.
[19:35] Brought before us. In our verse. The command. To take. That is clearly given. Take. Take. Up. The whole armor.
[19:48] Of God. That's the first thing. And may we give obedience. To that command. That apostolic command. For our destiny. Depends on it.
[19:59] Our perseverance. Depends on it. That we take up. The whole armor of God. The command. To take. That is clearly given.
[20:10] Now we come to the second thing. In this verse. Which is. The need to stand. That is repeatedly made. The need to stand. That you may be able to stand.
[20:22] To withstand. And having done all. To stand. I want us first of all. To notice. The importance. That is. Is made. Of this. Business.
[20:32] Of standing. And the importance of it. I think. Is seen. In its repetitiveness. In three verses. The. The question of standing.
[20:44] Is brought before us. Four times. Now that must mean something. Surely. In verse 11. We are to stand against. In verse 13. We are to withstand.
[20:55] And to. Stand. Finally. Having done everything else. And then in verse 14. We are to stand. Therefore. Now this repetition. Surely. Cannot be for nothing.
[21:06] Of course it's not. It's for emphasis. It emphasizes. This most important fact. That standing. Is at the very heart. Of our Christian living.
[21:17] It's the very cracks. Of our Christian living. That we live our lives. As those. Who are on their feet. And not on their backs.
[21:31] Why do we. Why are we to be strong. In the Lord. And in the power of his might. In order that we might stand. Why are we to wrestle.
[21:44] Against principalities. And powers. In order that we might stand. And why are we to. Put on the whole armor of God. For the same reason.
[21:55] That we might. Stand. Against the wiles. Of the devil. That's what's brought before us here. That's the importance of it.
[22:06] That we might stand. And it's the crux. Of our Christian living. The great objective. Is that. By faith. We stand.
[22:16] That's what faith is for. That we might stand. And the alternative to that. Is that we are on our backs. But what kind of Christianity is that? The call of the gospel.
[22:27] Is not to put us on our backs. But first. To our knees. And then on our feet. The one speaks of defeat. And the other of victory. That's what faith does.
[22:38] By faith we stand. That's what the gospel does. It calls us to stand. What does the grace of God do? Well. Peter tells us. In that chapter we read. Near the end of chapter 5. Peter tells us.
[22:49] That this is the true grace of God. Wherein you stand. Grace is for standing in. It's by grace we stand. That's the purpose of it. That we might stand. And having done all to stand.
[23:00] That's the objective. And the crux. Of our Christian living. That we stand. That we're on our feet. Well now. How does the world.
[23:11] In view of this. See us. What impression. Do we give to the world around. About our most holy faith. Are we upright. Usable. More than conquerors.
[23:23] Through him who loved us. This is the importance of standing. It's there as a witness. It's the very heart.
[23:35] Of our Christian profession. That we're on our feet. And not on our backs. But now we go on and notice this.
[23:46] How we are meant to understand. This business of standing. How are we meant to understand it. Paul says we've got to stand. But I'm quite certain of this.
[23:58] That Paul does not mean. That we are to be like standing stones. It's good to see such stones. And how they've weathered the years. But such stones are passive.
[24:11] They are immobile. They are there to be admired. By sightseers. Or to be researched by historians. But that's not the kind of standing. That's required. Of the Christian believer.
[24:22] And of the soldier of Christ. Let us put it this way. For one thing. We are to stand. In order to fight. We are to stand.
[24:33] In order to begin the fight. It's part of the preparation. For the battle. We are to stand. In order to begin the fight. You can't wrestle. If you're on your back. You must be on your feet.
[24:44] And then the next thing is this. That we stand. Not only to begin the fight. But to continue in the fight. And to stand during the fight. Believing this.
[24:55] That the best form of defense. Is attack. And so as Peter says. We resist the devil. We repulse the devil. We wrestle.
[25:07] With principalities. And powers. In other words. We are not to be like. Goliath. Who waited for David. To come to him.
[25:18] But rather to be like David. Who moved in. On Goliath. With the only equipment. He had. Just a few stones. But God gave him. The victory.
[25:30] Now. That's. What is brought before us here. That's how we're meant to understand. Our standing. In grace. Our standing. Our soldiers.
[25:41] Not like standing stones. But those who are ready. To. Serve the Lord. And to. Enter. In. And.
[25:51] Resist the devil. In order that he might flee. From us. And that's the promise. Of us. But now we have something else to notice here.
[26:02] In this part of the verse. And it is. The time that is specified. For our standing. There's a special time. In which we need to stand very specially. And it's called here.
[26:12] The evil day. That you may be able to withstand. To stand firmly. To stand over against.
[26:23] In the evil day. Now in its widest sense. The evil day. Is this present age. Right up to the return of Christ.
[26:34] It is. An evil day. It's the time of Satan's universal activity. It's the time of Jacob's trouble. It's the time of the churches waiting.
[26:46] For the coming of the king. But when the king comes. He will find every true soldier. And believer of his. Standing. Perfect.
[26:56] And complete. In all the will of God. When the Lord comes. That will bring to an end. The evil day. In its widest sense. But here I believe.
[27:08] That the evil day. Is more localized. It's got a narrower sense. And here the evil day. Is in fact. The time of any particular. Crisis. In our own lives.
[27:20] The time. When Satan's attacks. Are particularly strong. And when we are more than ever. Conscious. Of his. Of his power. And his presence. And his nearness.
[27:31] When we are conscious. Of his renewed power. After perhaps. Some time of respite. The evil day. Therefore refers to some.
[27:43] Specific. Putting forth. Of. Satanic power. Against us. That could lay us low. If we are not clothed. With the armor.
[27:56] And of course. With the cunning. And wiles. Associated. With the devil. He knows when. And how to attack. And he knows. How to make. Any particular day.
[28:06] An evil day. For us. Let me give you one illustration. So often. The devil can get. Can get. Genuine.
[28:18] Christian people. To become. Unduly. Worried. And anxious. And he can get them. To turn in. Upon themselves.
[28:28] And to be so. Absorbed. With themselves. And their problems. That they are plunged. Into a vortex. In which they go round and round. And of course.
[28:40] They are of no service. At that point. To the kingdom of God. And it's no use. Saying to people. Who are bowed. Down with anxiety. And worry. And sorrow. Shake yourselves.
[28:52] Pull yourselves together. It never happened. Don't worry. We couldn't do that. If when. When sorrow and trouble. Come to ourselves. And we can't expect. To ask. We can't expect.
[29:02] Other people. To give. To listen to that kind of advice. Which we give to them. So glibly. Don't worry. It will never happen. Rather let us. See this. As a satanic assault.
[29:14] For which there is. A bible. Remedy. And answer. The whole. The whole. Armor of God. We cannot fight.
[29:27] The enemy. With our own. Arguments. And reasonings. He's far too clever. For that. But we can. Use the armor.
[29:38] Which has been. Specially forged. And designed. To protect us. From his wiles. Which come to our minds. And to our. Reasonings. And to.
[29:48] Every part of us. As I mentioned already. And where we put the armor on. Then we can say with David. In the words of Psalm 49. Which we were singing. Why should I fear.
[30:01] When evil days come. And when wicked deceivers. Surround me. Why should I fear. And then he goes on to say. Why he shouldn't fear. So the evil day.
[30:11] Is a day when. There's special need. Of the armor. We need it all the time. But there are times. When we need it. Very specially. In order. To stand.
[30:22] Stand. In the evil day. Now I. The last point I want to make is this. To notice the place. That is given.
[30:32] In this verse. To standing. The place that is given to it. That. Having. Done. Everything. You stand.
[30:43] It. We not only stand. In order to begin the fight. And in order to continue the fight. But we are to stand. After the fight. That's another matter.
[30:55] We not only stand. Against. The enemy. We are to stand. Over. The enemy. As David did with Goliath. That's the test.
[31:08] And again. You see. This is shown. To be the crux. Of the matter. Whatever happens. The apostles seem to be saying. To us here. Whatever happens. At whatever point. In the fight. You falter.
[31:18] See to it. That at the end. Of the fight. You are on your feet. But you will never be. Unless you wear the armor. The whole armor of God.
[31:33] So Paul says. First of all. Take it up. And then. Put it on. So having done. All that you are required to do. In the strength of God.
[31:45] At the end. You stand. Now we end with. Trying to answer this one question. Why should so much be made.
[31:56] About standing. Four times. In three verses. Why? Well of course. For one reason. And we mentioned this.
[32:07] On the way through. For our own good. For our own comfort. For our own peace of mind. And. For the. For the. And for the fact.
[32:18] That our eternal destiny. Depends on this very thing. That we are clothed. With the armor. Of God. And because of that. We stand.
[32:29] And if we stand. Here in this world. To the end of the day. We shall stand. Throughout the endless day. Throughout the endless ages of eternity. For our own good we stand.
[32:39] Our eternal destiny. Depends on it. But then we stand to. Not only for our own sake. But for the sake of others. Because. It's always an encouragement.
[32:51] To others. Who are facing. Difficulties and trouble. To see someone else. Surviving. And standing against it. The opposite of course.
[33:01] Is true also. That when someone. Goes to pieces. In the evil day. That is theirs. Then this can be a cause. Of dismay to us. And can weaken.
[33:11] Our own incentive. To overcome. And so we want to stand. Not only for our own sake. But for the sake of. Encouraging our brother. Christians. Our sisters.
[33:22] Whatever they are. Whatever their problems are. If we stand. That will encourage them. To do the same. And when. We are facing. Our difficulties.
[33:33] And our problems. And our sorrows. Every help we can get. Is welcome. And here is one. That we see our brother. Standing. In the face of problems.
[33:43] Far greater. Perhaps on our own. But then again. We are to stand. And this is the most important thing. Because. When we do. It's always.
[33:54] To the glory of God. It's always. To the glory of God. Any standing we have. And any standing we do. Is a memorial. To his strength.
[34:08] His power. His might. His armor. For without him. It could never happen. By our standing.
[34:22] And having done all to stand. We glorify the Lord. And my dear friends. We know nothing. Of the Lord. Of his strength. Of his might. Of his armor. If that is not our great objective.
[34:33] To glorify the Lord. Even before supporting some. Some other Christian. Even before our own comfort. That we glorify the Lord. That's the first. And great thing. And for this reason.
[34:47] Therefore. More than for any other reason. Paul's words. Come forcefully to us. Wherefore.
[34:59] Take unto you. The whole armor of God. That you may withstand. In the evil day. And having done all. To stand.
[35:09] My what a blessing it is. That God has given to us. This armor. That he has made it available. And it's ours.
[35:21] Let me say it again. When we clothe ourselves. With Christ. By faith. And by faith.
[35:31] And by faith. And by faith. And by faith. And by faith. We shall stand. Let us pray. O Lord.
[35:45] O God. For these words. In the scriptures. We give thanks to thee. And we pray. That the words. That have been uttered.
[35:56] In expounding the scriptures. May have been in line. With the scriptures. And with thy will. We thank thee. O Lord. For the encouragement.
[36:08] Of thy word. In the face. Of known. Satanic power. Around us. In the face. Of recognized. Spiritual forces.
[36:20] That encompass us. If left to ourselves. We are in this vortex. Defenseless. Going round and round.
[36:32] Having no sure footing. And certainly no abiding hope. But we thank thee tonight. For the provision thou hast made. In thy grace.
[36:43] This sure grace. Wherein we stand. And may our standing. O Lord. Be in grace. And may our clothing.
[36:54] Be spiritual clothing. As we take upon ourselves. The Lord Jesus Christ. And although we find it difficult. To put into words. Precisely what we mean.
[37:05] By being clothed. By thy son. Yet. We know. What it is. By experience. When we embrace him. As our saviour. By faith. Grant to each one of us.
[37:16] That gift of faith. That unites us to Christ. That puts Christ over us. So that we are. We have put on. The Lord Jesus Christ.
[37:28] And if so then. We have upon us. The means of our protection. And our defence. So that when the enemy. Comes in like a flood.
[37:38] We have that with which. To contend. Against him. And to. Wrestle. With him. Give us. O Lord. A greater. Desire.
[37:49] To be. Found. Wrestling. To the extent. That he. Flees. From us. As the promise is given.
[38:01] May we. Be on our feet. More often than we are. And may we see him. Flee from us. More often than he does.
[38:12] And we pray to this end. That thou wilt. Help each one of us. To be strong in the Lord. And in the power of his might.
[38:24] And now we give thanks to thee. For the opportunity. We have had today. Of meeting. Morning and evening. In this place. We thank thee for the. Comfort of thy word.
[38:35] For the challenge of thy word. Lord. We thank thee for any discomfort. It may have given us. Pricking our conscience. Giving us a sense of our need.
[38:47] The shortness of the time. The greatness of the opposition. And our need of salvation. Send us away. O Lord. As those who have not been.
[38:59] Who are not the same. Because of what thou hast said. Today. And may the messages. Of this day. From thy word. Bring every one of us. A little nearer to thyself.
[39:12] Nearer thy kingdom. Or giving us a greater hold. Upon thy kingdom. And possessing. More and more of our possessions. In Christ. We ask.
[39:23] O Lord. That thou would bless each one of us. As we enter into the duties of this week. That lie before us. We may expect. To meet. With the wiles of the devil.
[39:34] In some shape or form. In some shape or form.