The Armor Of God 2 Of 8

Every time we see this show of force, we can’t help but to stand in amazement of the weapons of mass destruction that this nation has at its disposal!

But as we see some of the force of our military power, we know that much of it can never be shown to the American people because the power of these weapons is so great that they would destroy spectators who are watching them displayed.

Illus: This reminds us of a cartoon in one of the newspapers when the terrorist Osama Ben Laden was being pounded in Afghanistan by the American military. These terrorists are known for suicide, and they were being trained by a terrorist leader who had explosives all over his body. And he said to them, “Watch closely, because I am only going to do this once!”

If we were to see some of the military weapons that this country has, we would only be able to see them once because it would blow the viewers to smithereens. Some of these weapons of mass destruction can only be seen on cameras from a great distance.

But as citizens of this great country, when we see this military power, we can’t help but feel good about ourselves as citizens, knowing that we have been blessed to have such powerful weapons to defend ourselves with. Of all the nations that have ever existed, no other nation had such powerful weapons as we have today to defend our nation from our enemies who would like to do us harm. The only reason we are alive and doing well today in this country is because of the military power this country possesses.

Make no mistake about it. There are countries today who would like to removes us from the face of the earth, but they know if they raise a hand against this great nation, the punishment would far outweigh what they would gain.

We ought to thank the Lord every day for blessing this country with the military power that we possess as a nation.

But what is more amazing than Uncle Sam’s show of power, is GOD’S POWER that is available to His children to protect them from the devil who would like to do them harm. This power is not only to protect Americans, but every child of God on the face of this earth. And make no mistake about it, the devil would like to wipe us from the face of this earth, but he can’t do a thing unless God allows it.

Illus: Look how he raised his hand up against that godly man in the Old Testament called Job. But he could not do a thing to Job until God allowed him to do it.

The only reason we are alive today is because of the POWER OF GOD that protects us from Satan each day.

Look at Jude 1:24-25, “Now unto him that is able to KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory WITH EXCEEDING JOY, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.”

This verse of scripture teaches the saints of God many wonderful things. The Bible teaches that God:

(1) KEEPS US - Look what the scripture says; “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling…”

The grace that SAVES US is the same grace that KEEPS US! This verse teaches us that Christ KEEPS US FROM SIN, and He does such a thorough job, we are going to be presented to the Father-

(2) FAULTLESS

How can WE MORTALS BE PRESENTED FAULTLESS BEFORE THE FATHER, when we have so MUCH FAULT IN OUR LIVES?

• WE WHO ARE SO CARELESS

• WE WHO WANDER FROM HIS WILL SO OFTEN

• WE WHO FAIL TO OBEY HIS COMMANDS

• WE WHO MUST REPEATEDLY CONFESS OUR SIN AND RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS

If this is the case, and it is, HOW CAN WE BE PRESENTED FAULTLESS BEFORE GOD? We can be presented FAULTLESS before the Father because the Lord Jesus took our sins on the cross and we received His righteousness.

Now we can stand before the Holy God of heaven faultless. When God sees us, He does not see our sins, He now sees the precious blood of Christ that washed away all of our sins.

That is, the Lord Jesus is going to be able to stand us before the Holy God of heaven and say, “See these sinners? They were covered with sin.” and WITH EXCEEDING JOY He will say, “I cleansed them from their sins.”

We ought to thank the Lord every day for the LORD’S POWER that KEEPS US FROM SIN, and make it possible for us to stand before the Holy God of heaven FAULTLESS!