To Equip the Saints: To Defend the Faith

By Bill Royal

Learn to unlock life's mysteries as you walk through life with God leading the way. It's a worthy walk full of wonder, surprise, and amazement. 

This book is for you if:

• you need help teaching your children to face the raging spiritual war e

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887381367

Bill Royal

Bill Royal is an author, speaker, and respected Bible teacher. For six decades, Bill served the local church in multiple service and leadership roles. Bill is a retired veteran, having served over twenty-six years in the Marine Corps, active Army Reserves, and National Guard. After earning a B.B.A. degree from Georgia State University, he advanced from Sales to Director of Sales and Marketing in the medical diagnostic equipment and information systems fields. At age fifty-eight, God called him to full-time service as Director of Accounting and Administrative Services for FCCI and later EQUIP Foundation before he retired. Bill and Diane have five children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, and they live in Peachtree Corner, Georgia.

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INTRODUCTION

Everyone has a reason for being. We have a God-ordained purpose. It may be a significant or insignificant purpose in our eyes, but our purpose is necessary and significant in God’s eyes. God sees the big picture and knows the essential and minor details of our lives. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses, too. Still, He loves us with a love that is beyond our comprehension.

The first step in God’s purpose for our lives is to bring us to a point of God-consciousness so He can rescue us, but it will be our choice; we are free to accept or reject His invitation.

I wrote To Equip the Saints to provide information that will help you better understand:

What you believe and why you believe it, effectively equipping you to defend your faith.

Who God is and who we are in Christ.

That you have been equipped with God’s personal promises, talents and gifts, and operating assets so you can accomplish God’s purpose and plan for your life.

That you are not alone; God is in you, so you can trust Him and rest.

Knowing these things, you will no longer say, I don’t know enough about Jesus or what He means to me, so I can’t explain why others should know Him. You will discover your call and will stand tall in defense of the faith.

Evangelism is no one’s gift. It is a command! To Equip the Saints will encourage and equip you to give an account of the hope you exhibit.

To Equip the Saints was written for you if:

you think all roads lead to heaven.

you aren’t 100 percent sure you’re going to heaven.

you want to know all you have to do to go to heaven.

you think humans will destroy the earth.

you believe Christianity is just showing up at church with the children.

you don’t know what God expects from you.

you’re trying to earn your way to heaven.

you are searching for happiness.

 your feelings control your life.

you’re afraid to be known as a Christian.

you don’t know there’s a purpose for your life.

every truth you know is being rejected everywhere.

your greatest desire is for our world to return to normal.

you’re being told the Bible is obsolete, confusing, full of contradictions, and unreliable.

you want a closer walk with God.

you want to prepare your children to enter college or the world

you think God cannot or will not intervene in your life 

To Equip the Saints began for me on a cold drizzly day in the fall as I climbed the steps to the main floor of our home. Whatever I was thinking about, I was not thinking about writing a book. 

You want me to do what, Lord?

Write a book! I don’t think I can do that; I don’t know how.

I haven’t been schooled in writing; I don’t have any letters behind my name. I’m not qualified. No one will read it.

I love You, Lord, but that’s just too much. I don’t understand anything about writing a book. I’m eighty-five years old!

Yes, I recognize You’re not through with me yet; I’m still alive. Yes, you’ve blessed me abundantly above and beyond anything I could imagine or think.

You have always been right beside me. Okay, yes, in front and all around me too.

Oh…You’re right. I’ve never had to face anything that was not common to man, nor have I ever found myself in a place where You didn’t provide an escape.

Yes. You’ve always been there for me, even when I didn’t realize it.

You say I’m prepared enough, and You want me to write this book. Okay, Okay, Lord, I’ll do it. But You sure have a sense of humor.

I did hear Him! I may have only heard Him in my mind, but I don’t think so. It was as real as if He were walking right next to me, and I am convinced that He wanted me to write this book for you and, just as importantly, for me.

There was no discussion or second thoughts about what to write. I understood I was to write about the things I’d learned. Like how much God loves you and me and the plans He has for each of us and all He has done to prepare the way for us. God, having done everything to prepare the way for us, isn’t passively waiting but rather is actively pursuing each one of us as a lover pursues his bride, and that God is always with us and wants to be our closest friend. I’d write of some of the provisions He’s made available to us. I’ll tell how He provided an owner’s manual to help us navigate our lives through the mind fields of life and about the arrangements He’s made so we can be together with Him forever. He comes to all of us, individually, bearing a gift that is more precious than silver or gold—salvation.

When I began to write, I wanted to start at the beginning. But there are so many beginnings! As I struggled to try to find the best beginning, I heard that small still voice say, Just start; it doesn’t matter where. Wherever you begin will not be the beginning anyway. So, I did, and He was right. He’s always right!

Many voices are speaking to us today, but just like sheep know their master’s voice, we can and do know our Master’s voice. One fantastic benefit of being a Christian is that we are equipped to hear God’s voice no matter how He speaks to us. Sometimes we can hear Him speak in the quiet moments and as we read His Word. Sometimes He speaks to us through our parents and friends, sometimes in that small soft voice, or perhaps a shout. He may speak as we wrestle with a situation that has enveloped us. We may hear His voice in the quiet trickle of a stream or the rush of the mighty river. Sometimes it’s the chirping of the birds early in the morning. 

This morning, while my wife and I were walking, the birds sang clearly, Pretty girl, pretty girl. Giggling, Diane responded, Thank you, thank you. The birds looked at her, nodded their heads, turned, and flew off. I think God was telling her how beautiful her spirit is. 

A wonderful way to hear God speak is to start talking to Him. Thank Him for waking up this morning and for the opportunities and challenges you will face. When you are puzzled by what action to take, ask Him what to do. Talk to God about any and everything that’s going on in your life.

Part 1: God Is Always the Starting Place

CHAPTER 1: God Loves to Walk and Talk with Us

Reading the accounts of the life of Jesus and the things He said and did, we can surmise that Jesus was a very upbeat, happy person. I love the picture of Him laughing and can all but hear Him laughing out loud. He was personable and always helped people by solving their unsolvable problems. He didn’t worry but instead carried His concerns and petitions to His heavenly Father. That’s an action we should emulate. Jesus was consistently communicating and teaching. As He healed the helpless, He commented on their faith and used the events as teaching moments. He enjoyed being with people and the conversations they had. What enabled Jesus to be a people person was His relationship with His Father and knowing that His life had purpose and meaning. Our heavenly Father had a divine plan for His Son, and He has one for you and me. Jesus knew the plan and lived His life in the center of His Father’s will. We can too. This is written to help you find His purpose for your life and to help you become proficient in utilizing the operating assets God has provided so you can realize your purposes.

The pre-incarnate Son of God and Enoch had such a wonderful time enjoying each other’s company that one day they just kept walking right into Paradise. Enoch didn’t die; he just was no more. Abram was seventy-five when Jesus said, Come, Abram. We’re going for a long walk to a place I will lead you. Abram demonstrated his faith by gathering what he could, and off they went. Twenty-four years later, they were still walking to that place. Jesus loved that show of faithfulness so much that He changed Abram’s name to Abraham. God was blessing Abraham and promised that his children would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. That seemed impossible; Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was ninety and had not been able to bear children. Abraham was ninety-nine, and yet, the following year, she gave birth to Isaac. Nothing is impossible with God! Not then and not now! God and Abraham were constant companions; Abraham died at the age of 175. A key thing we need to know is that Abraham was not perfect; God loved him anyway, and he loved God.

We are not perfect either, and God loves us anyway. In fact, God loved us so much that He created a complete plan that provides a way for us to become more than friends. We can become God’s adopted children, which is far better than being a friend. We are family. How wonderful is that? Think about that for a moment. I’m still amazed. We are joint-heirs with Christ of everything God has. Remember, God owns everything. While we were still His enemy, He prepared the plan that would set us free. You say, Wait a minute, I am free, and I’m not God’s enemy. I don’t have anything against God. Ahh, but He has something against those who have rejected His exquisite gift, one He prepared for every person in the Universe—one of unimaginable high cost—the gift of salvation. John 3:16 promises, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The whosoever is you and me. This may astonish you, but if you are not His child, you are not free. You are a slave to your sin nature and Satan.

It seems to me that God’s greatest desire is to walk and talk with His children at every opportunity. He longs for our friendship and our acknowledgment that He exists.

Long ago, at another time, when interest rates on home loans soared to over 27 percent, I was trapped in a project building a house that was to be our dream home. I wasn’t a builder and knew very little about the building trades. I found myself in a place where I had to take on a massive project that I was utterly unprepared to handle. I was given some excellent advice from my brother. He had created the plans from our dreams, and it all came together. I became the general contractor, was the cleanup man for the carpenters, the electrician’s helper, the plumber’s helper, the insulation installer, the cabinet maker’s helper, the landscape architect, and the crew. When the sub-contractors were working, I was there with a clipboard in hand. Looking like I knew what was going on and was the ultimate authority when a problem arose. Most of the time, I asked how would you solve this problem.

I was on-site alone many times, just Jesus and me. My fondest memories of those days are of the fellowship Jesus and I had talking, singing, and working. I can relate a little to the task before Noah. God was ever-present with Noah as he built the Ark. What’s rain? Noah hadn’t ever seen rain. Had Noah ever even seen a boat? If he had, he certainly had not seen one like the one God was having him build. God was there to tell Noah how to design and build that escape module, known simply as the Ark. During the building process, Noah was preaching to his friends and neighbors, but they didn’t listen. Instead, they mocked and laughed at him. That project took 100 years to complete, and there was no quit and no loss of faith, just a continual willingness to follow God’s leadership. And, God was there to comfort, fellowship, and direct. The point is, God is the same today. He enjoys a good conversation and the friendship of those who love Him. He is always available to us. You will never get a busy signal or answering machine when you call on God. Asking God for His leadership before reacting to a situation is the best action to take.

CHAPTER 2: God Is the Starting Place

The God of the Universe, our spiritual Daddy, wants to bless us. He loves to bless His children, and He does, abundantly above anything we can imagine or dream! Some of us, though, are not in a position to see and recognize His blessings. If that’s so in your life, you need to change your position. God is God, and we are not. There may be a vast difference between what we experience in life and what we learned in Sunday school. This happens when the child-like faith doesn’t mature as the Christ-follower matures physically. For some of us adults, our faith is still child-sized. Life was so simple then, and it seems so difficult now. We can be so easily distracted. How can we shed all the details of life that rob us of the joy and happiness that we yearn for and that God wants for us?

The problem seems very complex because we express our problems as situations. And there are too many situations to address in this one book. For example, a circumstance might be the death of a loved one, loss of a job, stress, sickness, loss of self-control, etc., but the answer for the Christian is easy for me to say, but hard to do.

Perhaps, the best thing to do is to review some of the basic Christian doctrines that all Christians should have learned. However, before you learn about some of the operating assets God has provided for His children, we need to begin with a description of God. God has personality and essence. This is not an attempt to put God in a box but will be my understanding of who God is based on how He has revealed Himself in the Bible. I’ve been told you can lose your mind trying to explain God, yet I will try.

God Has Revealed Himself

Some may be confused when we talk about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and then we say that God is One. Which is it? Is God One, or is He (They) three? I want to be emphatic with my answer. God is one, not three!

There are not three Gods! We do not worship three Gods! God is one, and He functions as three in personalities. All three personalities are the same in essence. It’s as simple and complex as that. The three members of the Godhead are coequal but are different in function. We should not be confused. All of our praise, adoration, and prayers should be directed to our heavenly Father, which is evident in the scriptures. We should pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I am aware that some Christians pray to Jesus and some pray to the Holy Spirit and they may say what’s the big deal, they are all One. I want to be as correct as possible. God has revealed Himself as our heavenly Father, the planner, and provider, as Jesus, who executed the Father’s plan of salvation, and as the Holy Spirit, the believer’s God force while here on earth. But the Holy Spirit is more than a force. He puts us under conviction, points us to Jesus, and is a permanent resident in every believer while we are on earth. He convicts us when we have wandered away from God’s presence. That’s the way God chose for us to relate to Him. Jesus said, I and the Father are one. I must go so the Spirit can come.

THE TRINITY

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the Trinity—always capitalized, just as we typically capitalize all holy references of His name. As a side note, I capitalize the pronouns He, Him, and His when referring to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This capitalization may or may not appear in some translations of the Bible I quote, but will appear in my writing in deference and respect. God reflects the Trinity.

God is truly indescribable, exceptional perfection. Our words cannot come close to describing Him. However, He wants us to know Him on the deepest level within our realm of human understanding. Therefore, God manifests Himself in three separate and distinct personalities but remains one in essence. At first glance, this may seem difficult to understand, but it’s not. It helps us know Him better and to relate to Him with ease.

Some practical examples of worldly trinities exist, but none are perfect examples of God.

The egg is a trinity. It has a shell, a yoke, and a white. All three parts are different, but it is one egg. The shell by itself is not an egg; neither is the yoke nor the white. While the simple egg is a trinity, it isn’t a perfect example of God because it would indicate there are three separate and distant parts of God, which is not the case. God is revealed in three separate and distinct personalities. Each one is complete, and each one is God, but they are one in essence.

2. Light is a better example. It is one in essence and has three properties. We don’t have to understand light to use it, and we don’t completely understand God either. But we can be saved by Him, and we can serve Him without fully understanding.

Actinic: The ability to cause photochemical reactions, as in photography. It has a significant short wave or UV component. It is neither seen nor felt and illustrates the Father.

Luminosity: Is the light; it is both seen and felt and illustrates the Son.

Calorific: The production of light generates heat. Heat is felt but not seen and illustrates the Holy Spirit.

3. Water is sometimes used to illustrate the Trinity. Water has three parts but is one. There can be a lot of it or just a drop of it, but it is still water, and it is one. We can change its form to a solid (ice), gas (steam), or liquid. Regardless of its formation, it is still water. It is composed of two parts of hydrogen, and one part of oxygen, H2O. This is not the best example; sure, it’s available in three forms and consists of three parts, but the two parts of hydrogen are identical. H20, by any name, is still and always will be water.

4. I can use myself as an example. I am a son, a father, and a husband, but I am one. Ask my parents, children, and wife who I am, and you’ll get three different answers. I fill a different need and have a different purpose for each of them, but I am still just one.

You get the idea. There are many examples of trinities that are seldom thought of in this way. Have fun thinking of some.

CHAPTER 3: The Three Personalities and Functions of God

GOD THE FATHER

God the Father is the planner, the head. He is the architect of our salvation and our life after being born again. Western society is obsessed with the idea of becoming a matriarchal or even an asexual society, thus eliminating the father’s lead and the patriarchal role. So many earthly fathers have failed to function to society’s expectations. But our failures as fathers and men, or how the world reacts to our failures in their pride, do not alter what God thinks or what God expects of us. Our heavenly Father holds us responsible for the spiritual well-being of our families.

Jesus taught us to pray to the Father, not to Him or the Holy Spirit. He addressed God as Father, followed by Abba (meaning Daddy, a term of endearment). The father figure in society has the God-assigned responsibilities of protecting, providing for, and planning for his family. God also holds the father responsible for training the children in the way they should go, specifically the spiritual instructions and discipline.

Our earthly fathers are supposed to be living pictures of our heavenly Father. But, unfortunately, many of us have failed, and our children and mates have a distorted or even harmful mental image of God the Father. I, for one, have fallen short of displaying this image too often. But remember, God is not a man, and man’s failures must not be attributed to God.

Try to think of what a perfect earthly father would be like, and that may begin to give you just an inkling of our heavenly Father, but not really. He is far more than we can imagine. While you’re running through this exercise, know that our heavenly Father has none of the shortcomings of our earthly fathers, and He knows what we need, exactly. Trust that He is continually working to your benefit so that you can be the best you can be.

Today, many families and homes have no father present; he has died, divorced, or abandoned his family. He may be present physically but has refused to accept the responsibility of being the home’s spiritual leader. However, God has not relieved him of this responsibility. An old adage says, Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Many wives and moms yearn for their husbands to be the leader, but if he will not fill this most critical and sacred responsibility, the mom willingly takes on one more caregiving role. This was beautifully displayed on the island of Grenada. Shortly after a hurricane had ravaged the island on a Sunday morning, Mama, dressed in her finest, including white gloves and a hat, led her children to church. They were also wearing the very best they had while the father was absent, hopefully cleaning up after the storm. God bless the moms who understand what is truly important and act accordingly.

GOD THE SON

The Son is the executor of the Father’s plan. He is the unique person of the Universe, 100 percent God and 100 percent man. He has always been God; He was involved in the creation of the Universe. Jesus is the Son of God with flesh. He became a man via the virgin birth. Sin infected the human race through Adam’s seed. Jesus, through the virgin birth, escaped that infection and is without the sin nature. Joseph was Jesus’s stepfather, not His natural Father. In His humanness, a feat that is just as amazing is that Jesus lived a sinless life without calling on His divine capabilities. These two facts made Him the perfect sacrificial lamb for our sins. The justice and righteousness of God’s essence were satisfied with Jesus’s sacrificial death because He had neither committed sins of His own nor inherited the sin nature from Adam! He was the spotless lamb. Therefore, His death was the perfect payment in full for all of humanity’s sins. If we confess our sins (agree with God that we have sinned), repent (turn to God and away from our sin), and ask Jesus to come into our hearts, He becomes our Lord and Savior. Our salvation is a free gift to us only because Jesus has paid the price for every sin we will ever commit. He had to—because we couldn’t. If God the Father continued to hold us accountable after accepting the payment Jesus made, it would be double jeopardy, and Jesus would have died for nothing. However, when God looks at us, He doesn’t see our sins. He sees us without sin. What a marvelous gift! All we need to do is accept it. Now Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, which is the most honored position. He is our advocate. Satan says, Would you just look at what Bill has done! and Jesus responds, Yes, we see it, but I’ve already paid for that, so he cannot be found guilty.

Some say Jesus cannot be God. They may be basing that assumption on their interpretation of biblical scriptures when the man Jesus is speaking to humanity.

My rebuttal is simple. They fail to recognize the uniqueness of Jesus. They see only His humanity, but Jesus is entirely God and fully human at the same time. No one else could qualify to fill this unique position. Jesus is the unique person of the Universe, but He divested Himself of His divine authority and became a man. He was tested far beyond how a man can be tested. Because He was God and could have exercised His divine power at any time, however, doing so would have destroyed the Father’s plan for our salvation.

He was tempted to turn stones into bread when He was starving, which was a real temptation for Him. After all, He could easily turn stones into bread and completely satisfy His hunger. That test would not have tempted us because we absolutely cannot turn stones into bread. He submitted His will to the Father’s will 100 percent of the time.

Wait a minute, you say, Jesus did do many miracles while He was on this Earth. Yes, He did, but never for His own advantage. Every miracle Jesus performed was to draw attention to His message. For example, He turned water into wine only because His mother asked Him. The host received the credit and glory for saving the best until the last. Every time Jesus was tempted for His own comfort or glory, the temptation was rejected. What was His purpose in healing the lame, the blind, and casting out the demons? If it was to heal the sick, He failed because He didn’t heal all the sickness… No, it was to draw attention to the lesson He was teaching. I can’t think of a time when He healed someone who didn’t first illustrate their faith by asking to be healed, can you? And Jesus commented on that faith.

Some remain confused about another issue that needs to be addressed. Jesus did not become God after dying on the cross, as some say. He didn’t earn His position in Heaven, as others surmise. He has always been God and was in heaven before He came to Earth; Jesus did not earn His place in heaven, and neither can we earn our place in heaven. Salvation is by faith, not by works; therefore, no man can boast.

When He is quoted in the Bible, He was speaking to humans in His humanity, using terms, words, and examples that the people would understand. He, after all, is the master communicator.

The world sees only the humanity of Jesus and says that Jesus was a great moral teacher. Some even say He was a prophet. Peter had been with Jesus from the beginning and still didn’t fully understand who Jesus was. Jesus asked him, Who do you say I am? and Peter replied, You are the Messiah sent by God. Peter didn’t observe something that the others hadn’t seen. He hadn’t pondered the subject. His answer just rolled out of his mouth, as smooth as silk. It was revealed to Peter by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the one who revealed the source of Peter’s wisdom. Peter still didn’t understand completely, and neither do we. Today, people recognize who Jesus is precisely the same way. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.

The Book of James can be misunderstood. The Holy Spirit inspired the stepbrother of Jesus (James) to write to us, saying if we have Jesus, our works will prove that we are Christ-followers. James is not saying we must or can work to earn our way into heaven. We were saved to serve and evangelize. We don’t serve to be saved. James says that without good (divine) works, there will be no rewards or crowns given at the judgment (Bema) seat of Christ. These rewards will be presented in heaven, on a raised platform, after the church’s rapture, in the presence of all the saints and God the Father.

In Scripture, the Bema seat picture is likened to an Olympic athlete who has won his event and is receiving the winner’s wreath (crown).

We humans see the word judgment and say, Uh-oh. We automatically think that bad things are going to happen. That is not the case at the Bema seat of Christ. Only good things happen there. There will be no sadness, no tears, no grinding of teeth. Even the human goods we have done during our lifetime will be destroyed as filthy rags during our ascension to Jesus. Only the good deeds we have done in God’s love will withstand the trip. Please, if you don’t get anything else out of this whole book, understand this: the human race will not be judged for any sins it has committed. Jesus has already been judged and found guilty and paid the penalty for every sin that will ever be committed—past, present, and future. The judgment (Bema) seat of Christ and the Great White Throne judgment are two very different events for two very different groups of people. Still, there will be no judgment for sins at either.

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit indwells the believer at the moment of salvation. At that wonderful moment, you have all of the Holy Spirit there is (100 percent). There are no second blessings, return visits, or additional blessings.

In the Old Testament days, the Holy Spirit did indwell the believer for an unspecified amount of time to accomplish a specific deed. Then, when that supernatural work was complete, He would depart. The Day of Pentecost changed that scenario.

Jesus said He had to leave so the Comforter (Holy Spirit) could come. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and permanently indwelled the believers. He is the Seal, guaranteeing we are saved. The Holy Spirit manifests God’s presence (Psalms 51:11, Matthew 20:29–34, Psalms 139:7, and Haggai 2:4:5). The Holy Spirit is God. He is not an it. He is not a ghost, nor is He a mystical concept. He is God and has the same essence as the Son and the Father. His purpose is to motivate, direct, and train the believer to become Christ-like.

You, a born-again believer, alone have the power to quench the Holy Spirit—that is, to put out the fire within you and extinguish the fire. The Holy Spirit was and still is often pictured as a fire. We Christians have the Holy Spirit’s fire within us, so we should feed the fire, not throw water on it. Don’t close Him off. Give Him full access to your life. How much of you will you grant access to the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit Turns Weaklings into Mighty Witnesses!

Our goal should be to submit our human will to our heavenly Father’s will 100 percent of the time. Unfortunately, because we lack training and strength and have a sin nature, too often, we fail. We can do much better; it requires only desire, discipline, and putting God first in everything we do. When we submit totally to His will, we’ll have a fantastic journey because God is