Shabbat Shalom. Open our Bibles today. We are going to turn to Ephesians chapter 6. We are going to deal with the last verses in the will of the Lord of this last chapter of the letter that Shaul Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly at Ephesus. And he wrote them many, many exhortations, especially in the last three chapters of this letter, chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6. And now, at the end of this letter, I want you to notice what he is saying to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus, beginning with verse 10. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10. Ephesians chapter 6 and 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 ye 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 darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loin girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. That therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Titicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things. Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that ye might comfort your hearts.

Peace be to the brethren. In love with faith, form God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with you, grace be with you, grace be with all them, that love our Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity. Amen. Brothers and sisters, these verses, 10 to 24, are the final words that Shaul Paul wrote to the brothers and sisters, the church, the local assembly at Ephesus. And it is so important to read this text, because it really speaks to us as well today, especially as we live in these days of evil days, in which we live in today. We will say clearly, that you and I are living in the Laodicean age, in the period of time which is drawing towards the conclusion of the church age, and the rapture of those that belong to Yeshua, and ultimately the tribulation period, in which ultimately Israel will be restored, and finally there will be a peace in this sad world.

Well, those final words of Shaul, of Paul, to the Ephesians, are very important, because it really shows us how a believer is going to be able to stand in a world that is so much opposed to those that belong to Yeshua. We have, as we have mentioned this already, three enemies in this world. Every one of us that have trusted in Yeshua, the Messiah, immediately realize that when we have accepted Him, we discover immediately that we have entered into a battleground. The battle is won for us already by Yeshua, the Messiah, positionally, but we have entered into a battle that is day by day, we as believers experience this in our life.

We have an enemy that is constantly seeking to stop us, or to slow us down from spiritual growth. The first enemy we know very well, it is our own flesh. The second enemy, which is the world around which we live, the enemy of God, which is headed up by the third enemy, namely Satan himself. So we have entered into a battle the moment we have accepted the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, as our Mashiach, and our Lord. If you just go back to chapter 2, notice the three enemies are presented before us in the first three verses. You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time passed he walked according to the course of this world.

Here is the world. According to the prince of the power of the air. This is Satan. That's the second enemy. The spirit that is now working in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of our flesh. Here is the three enemies are presented before us already in chapter 2. The world, Satan, and the flesh. Mentioned in Ephesians chapter 2 in verses 1, 2, and 3. So, he had already talked about it. He had said, listen, in the past, before you became believers in Yeshua, you were living for the world, you were living for the flesh, and you were under the influence of Satan.

But now that you became children of God, your life ought to be different. And that's why you remember chapter 4, chapter 5, and chapter 6 deals with the believer walking in a way that is pleasing to the Lord in this world. So, he already talked about the importance of walking worthily of our calling. He has already talked to us about walking in light and walking in love. But now in the last verses, he's now wanting us, the believers, to walk in a way that is a victorious life. You know how many times, unfortunately, believers, and sometimes we, live a defeated life. Instead of living a victorious, messianic, Christian life, we live a time in a defeat.

Not positional defeat, but practical defeat. Why? Because we do things in our own strength, in our own power, instead of leaning on the Lord, instead of leaning on Yeshua, we lean on our own self. We became the captains of our own lives. We became the pilots of our own lives, instead of allowing Yeshua, the Messiah, to take over and to lead us to victory, day by day victory. Now again, I would like just to emphasize, we are not talking about positional truth, we are talking about practical truth. Positionally, nothing will separate us from the love of the Messiah. We belong to Him. The victory has been won by the Lord on the tree.

But we are talking about practical victorious life. And here, what Yeshua, through the Apostle Paul, is telling the brothers and sisters at Ephesus, and we have to apply this to ourselves. Notice that, Paul does here three things. In verses 10 to 12, Paul reminds the Ephesians that they have enemies. In verses 13 to 17, Paul presents before the Ephesians the armor of God that is necessary to live a victorious life. And thirdly, in verses 18, all the way to the end, he is mentioning the importance of prayer and some words of encouragement to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus. So let's begin, really, with, first of all, verse 10. And here is Paul appealing to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus, and he's saying to them, Brethren, he said, Finally, I'm drawing the letter to the end.

I'm going to stop here, but just final words, brothers and sisters of the Ephesians, Finally, my brethren. I love the way Paul is appealing to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus. He's calling them my brethren. You belong to me, just as I belong to you. We are brothers and sisters. We are achim in the family of God. Brethren, my brethren, final words of encouragement for you. Be strong. But notice what he's saying. Don't be strong in yourself. Don't be strong in what you are capable to do for God. But notice he says, Be strong in the Lord, in Ha'adon, and in the power of his might.

In other words, don't you think that because you are saved, and you are a child of God, and you are Christian, you are a meshichi, you belong to the Lord. Don't think that you can walk the Christian life, or the messianic life in your own strength. Because every time we are trying to live the life of the believer in our own strength, we find ourselves very much defeated, unable to live the life of the believer in a suitable way. Because we are weak. We have no power. Not against the flesh. Not against the world. And not against Satan. We are powerless without the strength of the Lord.

And so he is saying to them, and notice how beautiful, Be strong in the Lord, and be strong in the power of his might. He is the one that is strong. He is the one that is able to equip us, to help us to live a victorious life here in this world. You know, as I mentioned in the introduction of the book of Ephesians, Ephesians of the New Testament is the Joshua of the Old Testament. What God said to our people Israel through Joshua in the book of Joshua, he is saying to the church, to the believers, through Paul in the book of Ephesians. Every time you read the book of Joshua, think Ephesians.

Every time you read the book of Ephesians, think Joshua. In Joshua's time, Israel, our people were going to conquer the land. But they could not conquer the land unless the Lord had given them the strength, and the might, and the power to conquer the land. So they needed the strength of the Lord. Just the same like you and I. If we are to live a victorious life as a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, we must have the strength that comes from the Lord. To Joshua, God said in Joshua chapter 1 verse 5, if you notice that he said, therefore, there shall not any man be able to stand before you, Joshua, all the days of your life.

As I was with Moses, I will be with thee, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. He promised Joshua that he will be his strength. Notice verse 6. Be strong and of good courage. Look at Joshua 1 verse 7. Be thou strong and very courageous. Notice verse 9. Have not I command thee, be strong and of good courage, Joshua. Joshua, you have to be strong, but be strong in the strength that I will give to you, because I will not fail thee, I will not forsake thee. We need the Lord's strength to be able to live in this world in a way that is pleasing to him. Because otherwise, we find ourselves very much defeated practically, not positionally, as I have already mentioned before.

Yeshua positionally have already looking at us as seated in the heavenlies with the Messiah. But here he is talking about a victorious walk here in this world. So he began with verse 10. He reminds and appeals to the Ephesians to be strong in the Lord. How much we need the Lord's strength. And you know, brothers and sisters, every time we allow our flesh to take over, we are so weak, because spiritually we haven't gained anything. We're only lost. We will be defeated every time. You remember what Paul said? When I'm weak, 2 Corinthians, then I'm strong. Yeshua said to Paul, who wanted to remove from his life certain problems that Paul must have had.

And he beseeched the Lord three times to remove that thorn that he had in the flesh. And the Lord said to him, no, he said, I'm not going to remove. You will receive my strength. And it comes through weakness, through allowing us to realize that we are weak in ourselves and we cannot trust ourselves. So very clearly from those verses that we read here in verse 10 where he says, Be strong, my brethren, but don't be strong in your own strength, but be strong in the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, and in the power of his might. He is able to help us to live a life of victory here in this world.

So if we are going to be strong in the Lord, we are going to a battle just the same like a military man here in this world have to go to a battle. Well, he has to put on him an armor. And that's why the Lord, through Paul, is telling to the Ephesians in verse 11a to put on the whole armor of God. The Greek word for armor is panoplia, panopoli, which simply means an armor, all that which is needed to go forward to a battle. So to put on the whole panopoli, the whole armor of God. Notice the word the whole. You know, we sometimes put part of an armor on ourselves.

We don't put the whole armor. And we'll give us the list here in a moment of what is needed to win a victory here in this world. But notice he's mentioning in verse 11a, put on the whole armor, not part of the armor, but the whole armor. And it is not the human armor, but it is the armor that belongs to God. And now he reminding the reason why do we need to put an armor? You know, years ago when I was younger, I was in the Israeli military for three years. And right from the beginning, when we began the military service, immediately they gave us, first of all, the clothes.

And then later on, the various armors, the head to cover the head, the gun in our hands and all the belts that we had to wear with the bullets and so on and all what is needed in order to go and to begin to protect our people Israel from our enemies. And every Israeli soldier have to do that. Well, it's the same thing for us as believers. We became part of the body of Yeshua the Messiah and we have entered into a battle and in this battle in order for us to be able to live a victorious life, we are to put on the armor that belongs to God.

Not our human armor but the armor of God. We are to arm ourselves with the armor of God. Unfortunately, when believers fight and when we have friction and problems in this world, instead of putting upon ourselves the Lord's armor, God's armor, we begin to defend ourselves and to put the human armor and we end up not winning any spiritual victory, we might won some victory in the flesh but not spiritual victory. And the reason that we need to put the armor of God, he lists for us in verse 11b and in verse 12, because we have enemy. Not only the flesh that he has emphasized before, not only the world but here he specifically present before us Satan as the great enemy of the people of God in verse 11b and verse 12.

First of all, notice, he presents the leader, Satan himself. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against whom? Against the wiles of the devil. The word in Hebrew for the devil is coming from the word the accuser. The devil accuses us constantly. He's accused Israel all the time through Israel history. He's called the accuser of the brethren in Revelation chapter 12. This devil has already accused, he accused Job and he's constantly accusing the people of God and he's called the devil here as it's mentioned in verse 11 and he is very tricky. He's able to trick us into assuming that we are going in the right way but really ultimately he's tricking us in order to cause us to stumble that spiritually we will not live a victorious life as believers.

How sin have entered into this world. It was when Satan came to Eve in the garden of Eden and he said to her has God said is it really what God had said that you will not eat of the fruit of the trees he's sowing doubts in the mind of man just the same like he's sowing doubts in our minds today. So we will doubt what God had said. So we will doubt what the word of God is teaching us. So we will doubt whether we should pray or whether we should walk with Yeshua or whether we could continue share the gospel in this world.

He's sowing doubts in the mind of man. And that's why he says he's very wild, he's very tricky like the serpent in the garden of Eden. And this Satan is doing the same thing today. He's causing people to doubt God's word. He's causing believers to sometimes ask questions and many believers, many Christians, those who belong to the Lord are so discouraged because of the wiles of the devil and he often calls us to make alliance with the world and its ways and many times we find ourselves defeated by him because we are not careful. You remember again talking about the book of Joshua, the Givonite, we call him Givonim in Joshua chapter 9.

They came to Joshua and to the people of Israel. There were people who were very near to Joshua and they said we came from far away. They brought old bread, they brought sacks, clothes that were torn, their shoes did look like they had been walking for miles and miles and they made ellens with the people of Israel. They said we will serve you. Let's make an agreement and they make an agreement with Israel and Israel were wily tricked by the Givonim and they end up to have the Givonim among them. Their whole history and all the problems occurred because of this to the people of Israel.

So the wiles of the devil have been evident throughout scripture and here is what Paul is saying to the Ephesians he says to them finally my brethren listen put the whole arm of God why so you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

You know how we will be able to stand if we are not going to put the armor of God because Satan is constantly attacking us shooting darts against us to cause us to stumble and to fall and not to grow spiritually and Paul is concerned and he's saying to the brothers and sisters listen in order for you to be able to stand and I want you to notice he used the word stand many times here in this passage verse 11 he used the word to stand notice verse 12 and he is now leading from the leader Satan to those that follow him and those who serve him the following angels the principalities the powers as

it's mentioned in verse 12 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places now we don't only have Satan as the prince of the power of the air but we also have his followers namely the fallen angels the demonic company that follows after him and that he uses them in order to cause the people of God to be discouraged and not to be able to stand and walk with the Lord you notice that and again I want to emphasize in verse 12 where he says we wrestle not against flesh and blood and every time when there is

trials in our lives and friction and problems we often time look at the face of the other person that we have trouble with and we say oh boy this person I don't like him I don't like her I don't like them and look what they do to me and what I do to them and we often think that we wrestle only against flesh and blood and Paul reminding the Ephesians my brethren we are not wrestling against flesh and blood what we really see is not really what the issue but we wrestle verse 12 against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world and notice he added the end against spiritual wickedness not

flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness you notice by the word the word principalities in plural the word in Greek is which really has to do with the English word arch the one that is the first one the one that are the leaders as it says here principalities those that are leaders over the wickedness over the fallen angels all those enemies of God the angelic realm that have followed Satan against the people of God and we are wrestling day by day as we walk with the Lord there are those enemies who seek to defeat the believers as they seek to walk for the Lord let me show you just a verse in Revelation chapter 12

notice the amount of angelic beings that had followed after Satan look at it it says in Revelation chapter 12 verses 3 and 4 at the time when Satan himself going to be cast to this earth during the middle of the tribulation and hell on earth is going to break loose we read in verse 3 and there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and it cast them to this earth and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour the child as

soon as he was born now this is in the middle of tribulation where Satan going to be cast to this earth and he will seek to devour the woman namely Israel who gave birth to the Messiah through whom the Messiah came to this world well Satan notice it says in verse 4 with his tail he drew a third part of the stars of heaven that has to do with the angels that God had created for his own pleasure that ended up to follow after Satan and to become those what we read here in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 12 the principalities the powers the ruler of darkness of this world this spiritual wickedness you know

no wonder that when Yeshua the Messiah was born into this world we have read from the four gospels how much angelic work have happened at that time how many demonic activities have been shown to us in the gospels when Yeshua entered into this world well what's going to happen in the tribulation period after the church is gone and the tribulation began the demonic activity on the face of this world will increase as the end of the days are coming for Satan and his angels but in the meanwhile in this present day dispensation for us who are already believers in Yeshua the Messiah during the church age we also have to realize though we don't necessarily

aware of it that really our warfare or our wrestling is really not only against flesh and blood but it is against principalities princes of the spiritual world that are against the people of God their powers their rulers of darkness of this world they are wicked leaders of the spiritual world behind the scene which you and I don't even see you remember we read Daniel chapter 10 and when Daniel prayed for the restoration of our own nation Israel he longed for the restoration of Israel and he was waiting for an answer and it seems to be that it doesn't come and when the angel came to him he had to say to Daniel in verse 12

of Daniel 10 he said unto me fear no Daniel for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand and chasing yourself before thy God thy words were heard and I am coming to give you or I am coming to answer your words verse 12 but then he said but on the way when the angel were coming to give an answer to Daniel for his prayer he says in verse 13 but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for 21 days but lo Michael one of the chief princes came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia in other words what he is really saying Daniel

behind the scene while you were praying and desiring to understand the purposes of God for the people of Israel I was coming but I withstood by the prince of Persia this is a demonic fallen angel that fought the angels of God who came to answer Daniel's prayer you know sometimes we are praying ourselves and we ask Lord help me in this situation and Lord I have entered into a problem in my life whether it is my job or my family or my children or my wife or my husband or my friends or my brothers and sisters the friction that occur in our life and we are wondering why is it happening Lord answer my prayer

but we don't realize that we really wrestle not against flesh and blood but against as it said here against principalities against power against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in the high places the wicked one is shooting darts at each and every one of us seeking to see us not living and not walking a victorious Christian walk here in this world that is exactly what happened and no wonder brothers and sisters we find ourselves often allowing him to shoot those darts at us and we often find ourselves not living a victorious believing life defeated because we have not put upon ourselves the whole armor that God intended for us to put

on and so we have to realize that we not only have the flesh as our enemy we not only have the world as our enemy but we also have Satan and the principalities and power that are against the people of God and how he must feel so happy when he causes us to stumble and to fall any sin that come into our lives come either because of the flesh that allowed the world to influence us because Satan tempted us and caused us to fall into sin and we cannot blame God we only can blame ourselves because we did not submit to the word of God and Paul says finally my brethren listen don't be strong

in your own strength don't think that you can do on your own to walk the life of the believer but be strong in the Lord and in his power so you will be able to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord don't forget Paul saying to them in verse 11 and 12 you have enemies and the arch enemy is Satan himself he's called the devil because he's accuser he's called Satan because he's our adversary he's called a serpent because he's liar he's called a lion because he's vicious and he's sick to cause the people of God to be defeated you know the only one that he could not defeat is our Lord Yeshua

he says the prince of this world came against me and he found nothing in me because Yeshua our Lord the Messiah was that perfect man who totally submitted himself to his father the prince of the world came against him and he found nothing Yeshua have defeated him in his life here in this world in John chapter 8 and verse 44 we have an interesting verse when Yeshua himself says about Satan speaking about the devil he was a murderer from the beginning he is a liar and the father of liars he is lying and cheating and causing the people of God causing you and I to stumble when he attract us and causing us to fall

into his own hands well brothers and sisters this is reality and that is why Paul is appealing to the brothers and sisters at Ephesus and saying brethren don't be strong in yourself be strong in the Lord recognize that you have an enemy and his followers his servants Satan's servants and their job is to try to seek to cause the people of God to stumble let me remind you one more time Satan can never take us outside of our eternal relationship with the Lord that have been done once and for all my sheep hear my voice Yeshua said and I know them and they follow me and I'll give unto them eternal life and they shall

never perish John chapter 10 but what he can do Satan is cause us to stumble and often time trick us like the give on him have done to our people of Israel some 3500 years ago when they tricked him into alliance with them well now he's continuing in verses 13 to 17 Paul is pointing to the armor of God which will enable us to stand in an evil day and look at the list there is a list of six things that he's pointing in verse 13 to 17 and adding number 7 in verses 18 to 20 it's very interesting he culminating with number 7 which speaks of completeness and so he began first of all

and you notice in verse 13 all all all of God's armor must be put on in order for us to be able to withstand satan and his wild attack and I begin to read of course verse 13 he repeating what he said in verse 11 wherefore wherefore what wherefore in light of the enemy that you have because of the fact that you have this enemy called satan and those angelic realm that follow after him take unto you the whole armor of God again I want you to notice he doesn't say take unto you some of the armor of God twice he's emphasizing the whole armor that belongs to God and notice how he's saying in

verse 13 why do we need to take the whole armor of God verse 13 be that he may be able to withstand in an evil day and having done all to stand notice how interesting you notice he used the word to stand he doesn't say now in order to go and march or fight but to stand we have a word in Exodus chapter 14 and verse 13 stand still and see the salvation of the Lord when he said stand still the Hebrew word hit yetzvu mean focus and stand position yourself and not move don't be movable stand I don't know I don't know about you but I feel about myself many times we are not

standing still we often we are not quite sure we go there we try this preacher if it doesn't work we're going to try this preacher and we're going to try this leader if it doesn't work we try this leader we try to go to this friend we are not standing firm and still and carrying on like a pillar immovable and that's a problem with us we are so shaky because all the things that going around we are swayed by every wind of doctrine as if we don't have the Bible in our hands this is the problem that exists throughout this church age new teacher come new message come and we are immediately being swayed by

that and all sort of things we are allowing ourselves to be swayed that's why the apostle Paul said in chapter 4 that the gifts were given for the benefit of the people of God that we will be no more tossed with every wind of doctrine in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 he says be strong be immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord 1st Corinthians chapter 15 but we are not where we should be and that's why we need this so much in our own life he's saying to them listen in verse 13b put on the whole armor of God why that ye may be able to withstand to withstand when in an evil day

and having done all to stand to position ourselves to be firm in what we believe in what we do to be firm steady standing firm you know it is hard for us because there is so much influence around us think of the young people going to school and they coming from a Christian home from a believing home that their parents taught them that Yeshua is the Messiah and the best thing is to follow Yeshua the Messiah but the professor said what do you need him the friend said well you know what after all you don't need to follow after him and then we swayed so quickly God I was watching God is not dead very

interesting this young man came to the university and his professor said the first thing if you want to be in our class you have to deny the fact that there is a God and this young man says no and the professor challenged him he said you prove that there is a God and I'm going to give you three sessions to talk to the whole class to prove that there is a God all the philosophers said there is no God and this young man he lost his girlfriend who wanted him to say why do you have to say that there is a God don't worry about it and he says no I need to prove I

need to show to this professor and to the classmate that there is a living God and he studied and gave them a presentation and the whole class eventually according to the movie it's only a movie but I trust that the Lord can use this in reality in our life he proved that simply in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth there is a living God and a Messiah has come and Yeshua is the Messiah and the world around us cannot sway us and draw us away from him that's the beautiful thing that our pastor Paul is trying to challenge the Ephesians brethren he said my brethren be strong in the Lord and in

the power of his mind put on the whole armor of God because you have an enemy that's seeking to destroy your testimony here in this world and then he began to give them he said if you are going to stand to put yourself firm on that ground and just stand even though difficulty is coming into your life here is the way in which you are able to do so and here he gave them a list of six things plus one seven in order to be able to withstand in an evil day and he began and I want you just to notice that I will list them from verse 14 to verse 17 there are six

parts of the armor of God which the believer needs in order to be able to stand in an evil day and you notice he is talking about belt of truth he is talking about breastplate of righteousness he is talking about shoes of the gospel he is talking about shield of faith he is talking about helmet of salvation and he is talking about the sword of the spirit which is the word of God he gives them a list of those six parts of the armor of God in which it is necessary for the believer to be able to stand in an evil day and so notice that I just want to highlight those things because he

began with verse 14 the first part notice he used the word stand you notice four times he used the word stand again verse 11 that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil verse 13 wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in an evil day then the third time he said and having done all stand in verse 13 at the end and then verse 14 a stand four times he used the word to stand if I will read it in Hebrew it says hit yatzvu position yourself firm in what you believe in what you trust and in whom you trust and carry

on as you walk in this world when the enemy is seeking to attack every one of us and so he began now with the list and the first one in verse 14a is the belt of truth stand therefore having your loin girt about with truth you know the word truth is very important how many times Paul said to the believers at Ephesus speak the truth you know how easy it is for us to lie you see what he's saying the first thing is that the loyans to gird around our stomach to gird about put this belt on the belt of truth John 8 44 he said about Satan he's a liar from the beginning and

how important it is for us to walk in truth truth doctrinally truth practically how important it is for the believers to speak the truth in love he already mentioned that in earlier part of this chapter of this book in Ephesians chapter 4 he said to them in verse 25 and I'm reading wherefore putting away lying speak every man the truth with his neighbor how important it is to speak with each other the word of God and to speak the truth with each other how important it is to gird about ourselves in truth often time it's so easy for us not to speak the truth and that's why he's saying you know listen put around you

this belt of truth because Satan is a liar and he's influencing us to lie and not to speak the truth not to believe the truth not to walk in truth then notice in verse 14b not only that we are to put the belt of truth around us but also before us this breastplate of righteousness and I'm reading verse 14b and having on the breastplate of righteousness positionally we have the righteousness of the Messiah but practically we are to work in a righteous way in a way that it is pleasing to the Lord this is very important again go back to chapter 4 of Ephesians and verse 24 and Paul is saying there and that ye

put on the new man which is after God is created in righteousness and true holiness see why sometimes we are being defeated because this part of the army of God of righteous living is not upon us we don't put it upon us and Satan find a way in which he can get us and defeat us just the same like when we don't speak the truth and live the truth we end up to be defeated by Satan because he is able to shoot a dart into the very area where we are not covered and protected thirdly he is talking about the shoes that we put on our feet in sharing the message of the gospel and

he says in verse 15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace in other words we are to wear these shoes in which we share the gospel of shalom the gospel the great news of the gospel of peace the gospel of shalom you remember what we read in chapter 52 Isaiah said how beautiful are the feet of them that bring the gospel of the glad tidings of good news you know our feet are to wear these shoes these boots that will carry us in sharing the simple message of the gospel of shalom the gospel that give peace with God to a world that is defeated and we have to wear this

because we have to share the message of the gospel just recently some of us talked about some who do not believe that we should share the gospel with our Jewish people we should help them we should love them but not share the gospel now how can you love our own Jewish people to such an extent that you don't tell them that the Messiah is Yeshua and the way of salvation is through the blood that was shed by the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah you might love them temporarily but if they don't know the Messiah how will they ever go into the presence of God and be forgiven and so we are to put upon ourselves

these shoes of the sharing of the message of the peace of the shalom the message of the gospel we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah Romans chapter 5 and verse 1 so this is to be put on not only the belt of truth not only the breastplate of righteousness but also these shoes that we put upon our feet as we walk here in this world letting others know what the gospel is the glad tidings the good news of Yeshua coming to this world to redeem us and to pay the price for our salvation this is also beloved brothers and sisters very very important Isaiah 52 7 point to the beautiful feet

of them that bring the glad tidings of good news then fourthly notice the next thing that we need is a shield of faith notice again verse 16 above all in other words above all what you already talked about the belt the breastplate the shoes above all he said taking the shield of faith without faith it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is but in addition that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6 if we want to please the Lord and be able to withstand the wiles of the devil who shoot those darts against us we need to

believe and trust God now it's easy to say it's easy to challenge it's another thing every one of us have things in our lives that we somehow don't trust God for there was one man who said many years ago he says we trust God for our soul our eternal soul but we don't trust God for a piece of bread isn't it amazing we all can say it Lord you know we are like the man who came to Yeshua and said Lord I believe but help my unbelief and you remember what the proverb King Solomon Shlomo HaMelech said to our people of Israel trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine

own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path Proverbs chapter 3 trust in the Lord believe on the Lord we believed on him for salvation but we also now we have to have faith on him in our day by day life it's not easy brothers and sisters again as I mentioned the Lord deal with each one of us but what I'm saying what Paul is saying what the spirit of God is saying to us if you want to be able to stand you have to believe if you want to be able to stand in an evil day you will have to trust God he knows better than you and I

know he knows why he allow us to be where we are today we are going and you and I might go through problems right now in your own life in my life and we don't understand Lord why is it that you allow me to go through this problem he knows but he says trust me them that love God to them who are they called according to his purpose he has a purpose in our lives and he wants us to trust him he wants us to believe on him and that's like a shield you notice it says in verse 16 above all taking the shield of faith why because with the shield of faith you shall

be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked here's another name for satan not only accuser satan the devil not only satan not only the serpent and lion he is called he wicked he is a wicked one and he is shooting those darts and every time he is pointing to an area where we are not covered whether it is with truth whether it is with righteousness whether it is the feet of gospel of peace or lack of trust in God lack of faith and that's why we need to pray Lord we believe but help our unbelief then fifthly you notice the fifth part of this armor is the helmet of salvation and it is

amazing what you cover notice I'm reading verse 17a and take the helmet of salvation now what does he mean you know the helmet I know that as a soldier that I used to have this helmet was too heavy and to put it on you have to tie it hard and the helmet is very hard why because if a bullet come or a portion of a bomb fall on you or if you fall on the ground you don't hurt your head and if you hurt your head it affects your whole body and for us spiritually speaking it speaks about the mind we have to have the helmet of salvation to realize that our mind have to

be protected by the assurance of the salvation that we have through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and we have to have our mind filled with that which is good and healthy you remember what Paul said elsewhere in the book of Philippians chapter 2 where it says in verse 5 let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus or the Messiah Yeshua in other words our mind you know how Satan is playing with our mind just like I mentioned earlier in the garden of Eden to Chava to Eve has God said cause us to doubt cause our mind to be filled with all that which is not good for us it is amazing how

the television world the movie world the sign of tide world they know very well if we will fill their mind we will influence them and we will get them that's what Satan does to us he fills our mind with evil thoughts with evil desires and that's why we are prey to him we have allowed him to influence us and therefore it is so important to put upon our head the helmet of salvation just a verse here I'm going to read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 it says in verse 1 would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed bear with me verse 2 for I am jealous over you

with godly jealousy for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to the Messiah but I fear by any means as the serpent have beguiled Eve through the subtility so your mind listen to this should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ in the Messiah you see what he is saying to the brothers and sisters in the local assembly at Corinth just the same like Satan beguiled Eve I'm concerned about you Corinthian because Satan is capable to beguile you or corrupt your mind from the simplicity which is in the Messiah 2nd Corinthians 11 verses 1 2 and 3 Paul shall challenge the Corinthians and he's

saying to the Ephesians and to you and I put upon you also verse 17 a the helmet of salvation and finally in verse 17 b in connection with those six fold portions of the army of God he's talking about the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and notice what he says verse 17 and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God now you notice that the previous five seems to be for protection belt breastplate shoes shield helmet and then finally he's talking about a sword but what does he mean when he talks about a sword he doesn't intend for us to go and start to cut people and

to use the sword of the spirit which is the word of people the opposite the word of God and let me read you a verse quickly here in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 this is a very important verse he said for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper that any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intent of the heart the word of God the sword of the spirit has two edged sword it's a sword that is enabled not only necessarily to attack someone but to deal with our own self

the two edged sword that speak about the discerner of the truth a discerner of that which is right and that which is wrong and so we are to have the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and to use the word of God to apply it not only to someone else but to ourselves to have that knife that sword not only cut someone else but also deal with our self judgment speak to our heart you you know it's very quickly we can use the word of God to apply to someone else while we neglect to apply it to our own self the word of God was given for me for you for

us we can share it but we are to apply it to ourselves you look at the history of our people David says oh how I love thy law it is my meditation the and 19 and what about Nehemiah what about Ezra what about all the men and women of God historically among people of Israel as well as the believers in the church age they apply the word of God to themselves therefore that is an important part of the armor of God which every one of us need in our life and brothers and sisters really all these sixfold is really speaking to us of Yeshua the Messiah he is the belt he is the breastplate he

is the shoes he is the shield he is the helmet he is the word of God he is the one that we can place upon ourselves to make ourselves living a life of victory here in this world Romans chapter 13 Paul says in verse 12 13 and 14 the night is far spent the day is at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light he continues in verse 13 and he says let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and in drunkenness not in chambering and in wantedness not in strife and envy but listen to verse 14 but put ye on

the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof what he's really saying the armor of God is the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah as he mentioned it in Romans 13 and verse 14 but put on the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and do not make provision for the flesh or for the devil and that is so important for us to remember and may the Lord help us with this because it's easily spoken about it's another thing to be able to do so and may the Lord help us to do so now quickly the last verses verse 18 on in verse 18 to

20 the importance of prayer before he conclude with an encouraging remarks at the end of the book verses 21 to 24 Paul first in verse 18 to 20 emphasize the importance of prayer and I would suggest that you and I if we are honest can say Lord I know if there's anything that I'm weak in is a time of prayer with you if there's anything that I fail in is to take the time to pray it says in verse 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints again just the same like he mentioned four times the word stand in the previous

verses 11 on he mentioning in verse 18 four times the word all and I want you to notice that prayer has to be done as it's mentioned first in verse 18 pray always when should I pray always you pray when you get up you pray when you drive just don't close your eyes you pray when you are going to school you pray when you are going to work pray without ceasing first Thessalonians 5 17 Daniel of old opened the windows in his own house prayed toward the city of Jerusalem three times a day publicly you might say with an open window towards the city of Jerusalem if he prayed like this three times I can

assure you he prayed so much more throughout the day when he got up and when he went to sleep when he was eating when he was speaking with his friend when he was concerned for our people Israel he prayed always and notice the first time he's saying pray always first Thessalonians 5 17 praying all the time always our father is ready to listen to the prayers of the saints other passages like Romans 12 12 Colossians 4 2 always tells us again and again always to pray constantly to speak to God because prayer is speaking with God telling him what we need and giving thanks to God glorifying the name of Yeshua the Messiah giving thanks

secondly to pray with all prayers notice and I'm really praying always with all prayers what does that mean with all prayers we can pray for our children we can pray for the bread for the food we can pray for the job we need all types of prayers we can give thanks we can supplicate prayer on behalf of somebody else we can beseech God we can give thanks all kind of prayers that one can pray there is a verse that I want to read 1st Timothy 2 and verse 1 I exhort Paul said to Timothy that first of all supplications prayers intercession and giving thanks be made for all men notice the four types of prayers

supplications prayers intercessions and giving thanks 1st Timothy 2 and verse 1 we have to pray all the time but not only all the time to pray with all types of prayers giving thanks supplications intercessions whatever is needed to simply talk with God and share with him the things that we have concern about and I can tell you you and I am sure have so many things that we can share with God you know unfortunately instead of lifting up the phone and talking to Yaakov or to Herzl or to Benjamin on the other side it's better to pick up your heart you might say and talk to God let him know your problem it's better to

trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men it is better to share with him our own problems look at the third thing that he mentioned here in verse 18 not only praying always not praying with all prayers and supplication but praying in the spirit look at this that means that when we pray we are to pray in light of the spirit of God guiding us do you do you do you know one time a man by the name of Elijah Eliyahu prayed against Israel made intercession against Israel he says God he says look what they've done this they've killed the prophets they've done this but only I left alone he's actually interceding against

God's people instead of for them against them and God told Elijah Elijah listen Eliyahu there are 7000 men they did not bow their knees to Baal you are not the only one and this is a great reminder for us that we are not to pray against people to harm them but we are to pray for them that the Lord will change their hearts we are to pray as it's mentioned in the power of the spirit of God guided by the spirit of God that the spirit of God will lead us Romans 8 tells us that the whole creation groans but not only they even we are groaning within ourselves not knowing what to pray so

the spirit of God interceding the spirit groans on our behalf telling God the needs that we have so to pray always to pray with all prayers and supplication but to pray in light in the guidance of the spirit of God in the spirit not in the flesh but in the spirit also notice that in the next thing praying with all perseverance perseverance again you notice in verse 18 he's saying praying with perseverance continually watching and observing as he says here pray with all perseverance don't quit in other word persevere continue on with patience continue on praying because it is important God delight to hear the prayers of his saints we are to knock on God's

door all the time and finally in verse 18 Paul is saying to pray for all saints notice at the end with all perseverance and supplication but the end this verse 18 praying for all saints now there are some saints that you would like to call them ains right you don't necessarily walk with them and they are not likable to you and you don't like to them and you will say I will not pray for them but the Bible said to pray for all saints even the saints that don't agree with you or don't agree with me we have to pray for them in fact Yeshua said to pray for our enemies bless them that persecute

now this is difficult but at least to pray for the saints that you don't agree with yet but still to pray for them that the Lord will touch them that the Lord will speak to them just the same like they are to pray for us that the Lord will touch us and speak to us and help us in our walk with the Lord so beautiful brothers and sisters and look at this here we are towards the end here of this book in verse 19 and 20 Paul is saying listen you are praying always to pray with all prayer pray in the power of the spirit of God pray as you are watching with perseverance pray

for all the saints but don't forget to pray for me Paul what Paul do you want us to pray for you the Ephesians might ask Paul and he says listen that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak you know you would think you and I if we look at Paul we would think this man is a bold man he has boldness but you see apparently there is no natural boldness that God needs he needs divine boldness boldness that come from the Lord because

we don't have it on our own we have fears often the opposition is so great the enemies are so many and the opposition against the things of the Lord is so great no one humanly speaking can have enough boldness and that's why Paul is saying pray for me years ago one brother told me don't be ashamed to ask the believers to pray for you don't be afraid to pray for you because you need prayers we need prayers every one of us pray for me pray for the work of the Lord among our Jewish people pray for our people Israel pray because there are opposition so much and we have weaknesses in us we have no

power Paul is saying listen pray for me why Paul that I will be able to speak boldly that I may speak may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel he already talked about this mystery in chapter three Jew and Gentile united together in the body of Messiah composition of Jew and Gentile in the church age the mystery of this present day dispensation of the church age the ecclesia the heavenly company the body of Messiah Paul wanted to be bold to share simply share not by force but just to share it the mystery of the gospel in verse 20 he says for which I am an ambassador I am in bond

that therein I may speak boldly as I are to speak listen I am an ambassador ambassador is one that has been sent by the king or the prince to be a representative you and I are ambassadors in this world heaven is our home we are messengers here and we are to present the message to the world around us and to speak boldly with the grace of God who is going to give us the boldness to speak and so brothers and sisters the book of Ephesians is concluded by those remarks of encouragement that Paul is giving to the Ephesians and he says in verse 21 to verse 24 but that he also may know my affairs

and how I do Tychicus a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord shall make known to you all things whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose that he might know our affairs and that he might comfort your hearts peace be unto the brethren in love with faith from God our Father and our Lord Yeshua the Messiah grace be with all them that love our Lord Yeshua our Lord Jesus the Messiah in sincerity and he closed the book with the word Amen so Paul is saying listen I want you to know how I am doing so I send to you Tychicus he is a faithful minister he is a beloved brother I

am sending him to you and he will give you comfort by knowing how I am doing notice he said at the end of verse 22 that he might comfort your hearts you know how we need people like Tychicus I hope all of us can be a little bit like Tychicus that will comfort the hearts of the brothers and sisters not criticizing them not judging them all the time not always against them but comforting them and encouraging them and giving them support and keeping them continuing on by following the things of the Lord that's what Tychicus was a beloved brother but also a faithful servant is it a challenge for us are we faithful servants like

Tychicus well the closing remark is he used the word peace shalom peace be to the brethren he wanted that the brother will have shalom among themselves he wanted them to enjoy that and then secondly love with faith he wanted them to have love among each other not hatred not friction but love of the brethren thirdly saying to them that it will be from God the father and our Lord Yeshua the Messiah what do you think God will do he want to send peace he want to send love among the people of God those divisions and friction and all what happened among us it's our own fault God God God will send our way shalom and

love and not the opposite and he concludes and he says grace if we are going to have love and and if we are going to have shalom and peace we need the grace of God the conclusion in verse 24 grace be with all them that love our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in sincerity and he says amen we are to love our Lord Yeshua the Messiah sincerely in sincerity we are to love him and if we love him we will submit to him and if we will submit to him there will be blessing among the people of God and we will be able to be a testimony to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in this sad

world in evil days so until he come may he help us to love him and to follow after him God's word from a Hebrew messianic perspective