Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

Now again today we are looking at the church member or the member of God's family.

Larry is read the passage of scripture in Ephesians chapter 6. Paul has been discussing relationships for a while and he concludes that discussion with the fact that he says we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

That is important for us to know because we have a Tennessee as humans to get upset with people.

That's not who were arguing with and that's not who we wrestle with, it's where the adversary and he uses people, and uses us to get an argument with each other and get a disagreement with each other.

So it's important to know from this passage of scripture that they're not the problem, even though we perceive them as being the problem on the fact that they don't agree with us, is usually the first indication that we think they're a problem, but it's the adversary that causes this Discord.

And so, we have to have a prospective on the fact that we wrestle not with flesh and blood.

That's the most important part of this passage in my opinion that we know who were fighting, Because there's a tendency to think.

Well, if people just get along with us, everything would be fine.

Well, you know what?

As I've said before and will continue to say, you may not be aware of it, but you're not perfect.

I'm so people have a trouble getting along with you too, but as we are believers, we'd learned that we wrestle not with flesh and blood.

That is with other people.

We wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Now the Lord may take or the devil may take, I should say the attitude that we project and make it worse for my perception, the other person and cause us to argue and fight and so on and so forth, that's what the devil does.

And if we recognize that right off the bat, we have a whole lot less problems in the world today.

So it's important that we realize there were not resting against flesh and blood but I want to take a little bit of time and and this morning about the the Warriors that you see here in this passage of scripture.

First of all, you remember that?

there is it says we wrestle not We're told sometimes in centuries, past a community or a town or region would select a champion.

And they would fight the champion from the other town and whoever one would win the battle in effect.

We see that a little bit in the story of Goliath that he was the champion of the fellow and he would come out, he's doing challenges Israelites and nobody would take him on.

That was a concept of Greek wrestling.

Hand-to-hand combat.

They need to be strength.

They need to be skill and they need to be the, the ability to win a few times in order to be an effective as a great warrior and effective in hand-to-hand combat.

But also it's important to know that.

We also have the picture of the Roman soldier and the Roman soldier was armored for battle more conventional as we see it.

Although, in those days, it wasn't quite the same kind of a battle but it's important to understand that the Roman soldier was 1. Who was actually fighting as we think of it as an army and many times, the Roman soldiers were told were separated into what was called.

As you notice the, the account of the Lord, Jesus Christ, quaternions, those are a group of four Roman soldiers, who were trained to fight back to back in a square and fight to death.

That was their pledge that they would fight until either, they weren't left in the enemy wasn't left.

That was quaternions and that's why the Apostle.

Paul Frances was committed to take care of four quadrants of soldiers that's 16 and they would guard him to their death because that was their pledge, they would do that.

So the Roman soldiers were very skilled in battle but Paul uses that picture that makes an illustration about their armor and we want to look at that as the armor.

It would she says the armor of God.

And so will look at these elements of the armor first and see what they include.

And I have perhaps some pictures that I've it will help to illustrate that as we go along.

Yeah.

So I want to look at the the armor first of all in this process or second of all, if you will, if you're looking at Roman numerals has to be the second Roman numeral, the armor was first of all.

They were what we would call a belt.

That was used and today would probably be a back brace.

I met most of you don't think of it that way, but it was a belt or why not belt that went to ride around the lower waist on here to help strengthen the abdomen and the back, like, I say today, it would probably be a back brace that goes down to the bottom of the tailbone and up above the waist and strength, is that area?

Both the abdomen and the back that was important for the Roman soldier.

Justice is important for us today.

If you start lifting heavy things to do it without a back brace, you don't notice it.

The next morning,

You're a little bit sore.

That's because that part of your body is perhaps a little weak and you didn't have your loins girded up as the King James says, we truth.

Now I see important that we know that the Apostle Paul Conveys to us, what that bill was as far as scripture was concerned.

It was true.

It was true.

Did you hear that truth?

He doesn't say trying to figure out what this means.

He says the holy spirit will teach you the truth, as he promises another present proof, that's what keeps your loins Girt about.

That's what gives you the strength to fight the adversary, the truth of God's word.

That's what we need to know.

And that's why in this truth, we emphasized the scripture, we when someone ask a question, we tried as best we can do it, I can do the Scripture.

It doesn't matter what our opinion is.

Are some of you while I got an opinion about this and I think this is on the stove with that's fine.

And we respect that.

However, When push comes to shove, as they always say, you need to know what the scripture teaches what the truth of God's word is.

We can see that today in the theory of evolution noticed that the theory number one, it's not the truth, it's the fairy.

And someone has come up with this and denied the creation of God, which the truth of God's word, teaches, God, created heaven and earth in the beginning.

God created, heaven and earth.

That's the truth.

Now, you can listen to whatever argument you want to, and you can be swayed sometimes with it.

But ultimately God's word says God created the Heaven and the Earth.

That's what counts as the truth.

That's God's word.

So that's what we have have confidence in when, when we're in the middle of a battle and and are back beginning to hurt, what do we need the truth to go to self?

That's what account.

So, it's important.

We know that this is one of the basic pieces of armor, the, the belt of Truth.

And then in addition, we have the breastplate of righteousness.

Are the breastplate.

Do it guards, the heart.

Now, it's interesting when you come to different languages, that different languages and cultures have a have a different sheet of emotions, friends to the navajos, have the kidney, not the heart.

So if you were to be translating the Scripture, it was, I'm sorry, the liver.

They would say, Do not quit over in your liver rather than let not your heart be troubled.

Did you know that?

That's where the seat of their emotions is in the liver.

However, the thought is still the same.

Then we need to guard.

Our emotions or emotional response.

Needs to be directed to the truth.

Not swayed by arguments that come up and show the breastplate is meant to guard the heart.

So that we're not swayed by those emotions.

That's what the truth of God's word does.

And that's what the armor of God.

Does its guards, our heart now, it's an addition.

As we look at the picture of the shoulder, let me get the his nose so I can see what they are cuz I'm doing a little better today.

And by the way, I pray for Bruce and because he's got a difficult job ahead of him.

I have and have had for some time because Diane talk to me about it and her brother is Blind has one, I have and you seeing something and goes right on the side of my glasses here we found out the other day cuz Bruce could read the instructions for reasons.

Known only to the vine line.

They are in real fine print which is interesting since they're directed towards people who can't see how ever be that.

As it may he started reading it and said you know this will hook up the Bluetooth Which means am I hearing aids for my special earbud will read for me?

And it'll come in my ear where you won't hear it, and I'll be able to repeat anything boys, doing a good job of weeding know that little orcam is and we hope that'll work and we're going to work on that a little bit before brusco's this week.

So pray about that pray that it may be an aid to me and helping me see some of these notes and so on because it's an interesting thing, when you point the finger it starts to read and when you go like this and stops it, an amazing, only the Israelis could come up with that kind of Technology but the Lord has blessed them and use them in that area.

Anyway, that's the breastplate.

It's important also that it says your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

The Roman soldier or sandals?

I know sandals had cleats on the bottom of it.