 Awesome before we begin this morning looking into the message I want to just update you on something that we do every single year at about this time It's that time of year where we are beginning to prepare for big give How many of you have been a part of the big give before and years past most of you So big give if you're unaware of it is every year at the holiday seasons we give back locally and we give back globally To the different ministries that we support and locally we primarily partner with a underprivileged underserved public school and bless the kids in that public school. We've done this for many many years and At the end of November we always receive what's called the big give offering That's above and beyond our ties and our offerings that goes towards these big give endeavors This year we have three things that we are going to be giving to we just wanted to announce them to you One is the global partner that we are going to be partnering with this year is Brother Abraham in India once again, so we're very very excited about that. We are going to build another Christian school in India that is going to be used to reach Hindu students and introduce them to the gospel through Education and so I talked to Abraham on Wednesday needs the best early. I need India I need radiant to help India again. I said, we're your man. We're there. So we're gonna we're gonna do that. So that's global The other thing that we are doing is we are partnering locally with another school and this year It's a KPS Magnus school spring Valley elementary school in parchment Which busses kids in from Edison Northside kind of all over it is a school that has over 94% of its students are on government assistance or Government lunch programs and it's really really an underserved School and I went there Jane and I went there on the first day of school this year to welcome all the students in because we knew that We were gonna be serving that school and these kids are incredible. They're bright. They're sharp. They're beautiful The teachers are passionate. They have incredible leadership. Now what we have done over the last six years Is we've gotten into a pattern of providing cold weather gear coats hats boots and gloves We buy it all we go in and do a big thing in the school We let the kids pick out their own stuff and the reason why we did that is about seven years ago. We asked KPS Tell them the zoo public schools. How can we solve a problem? What's one major problem that you have and they said we have kids that don't have coats and stuff like that So we said we're gonna solve that problem. Well, guess what we did and this year The school that we're partnering with said look, we need some coats We need some gloves and some hats, but primarily our kids are good on that But we've got all kinds of other needs that are really gonna help these kids grow learn have a positive experience That radiant could really help us out now our first response was well, we do coats. That's what we do So if you don't like coats, I don't know. We got coats But then the Lord just reminded us the issue is not about what we want to give the issues what they need and So the school said what we really need is we need several things we need we do need some cold weather gear So we said check we're gonna take care of that. They said we need some sensory learning Tools for some of our kids who are really struggling And they're expensive and they're not in budgets now We I just want to say this it doesn't matter if you're a portage or you're if you're here If you are a teacher you are a rock star and we support you and champion you We love teachers and We know listen we know that teachers are paid on scale pretty close to what professional athletes are So when you have to go and buy things out of your own pocket, which most of you teachers do you do it? Selflessly and we're so grateful for that, but what we're talking about the school needs these sensory items. They need some kits of school supplies for these kids to be able to take home on weekends and actually do their homework they They have some reading incentive clubs and some programs that need funding and then like some awards some different things and Some tools for the teachers. We've got a whole list that they gave to us and so this year We said, you know what? We're gonna take care of all that and so we've got we've got a whole list of things that that school would Never be able to get that we're gonna take care of a hundred percent and so we're very excited about that and then and Then the other piece of the big give is we always get to go into the school and we get to do a big Day with the students, but because we're not doing the coats We're not doing that, but what we asked the school is hey How could we help in that way and they said you know most of these kids? Don't get field trips because that's one of the first thing that gets cut out of these budgets They don't get field trips educational field trips and we said what if we what if radiant we're to partner with you and After the first of the year we plan a really cool field trip for these kids and we'll come along and we'll be Chaperones and kind of integrate with them and they said oh, we'd love that. Where do you want to go? So here's what we've done. We just rented out the air zoo and we're gonna take all these kids to the air zoo and I'm just gonna bless them we just want to love them We just want them to know that Jesus loves them and we want to be the hands and the heart of God extent So that's local And then the third thing that you already know about is we're believing and part of the big give offering is Going to go towards helping us finish out our prayer room in downtown that we purchased and now we're renovating listen guys this last week We've already had a couple of miracles of things HVAC units that have been donated and I mean God's just already doing some cool things We're gonna need some help to finish it out though And so that we're ready to go after the first of the year downtown Praying and lifting up the name of Jesus from the heart of the city. So all of that's kind of the big gift On the weekend of November 23rd and 24th is gonna be our big give offering and we wanted you to know We want you to begin praying right now Many of you already have and on that day and then even after that you're gonna be able to give towards those those Initiatives turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians Chapter 6 Ephesians chapter 6 this is part 10 of the battle it's part 2 Teaching about the armor of God now next weekend is going to be the the culmination of this series called the battle and It's a message. You're not gonna want to miss. I've been waiting for this message I'm gonna talk about the return of the Lord as the culmination of the battle and You're not gonna want to miss it. It's it's something I've had written and prepared since August And I keep going Lord. Do I get to preach this? He's like no not yet No, not yet. No, not yet And so when I when I decided and figured out that next weekend is gonna be the culmination He's like now you get to preach that and so it's gonna be like drinking out of a fire hydrant I've got 57 scriptures that I've got to deliver in 31 minutes So it's a good thing that we believe in the supernatural and the miraculous around here So pray with me. Okay Ephesians chapter 6 look at verse number 13 Paul writes therefore take up the whole armor of God that you might be able to withstand in The evil day and having done all to stand firm stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and As shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace and all Circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God Praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication Now as I've said every single weekend. I'll say it again. The Christian life is not like a battle the Christian life It is a battle. This is not a cruise ship. This is a battleship. We are not on a Carnival grounds or fairgrounds. We are on a battlefield and The the enemy that we are squaring off against in the battle the battle The battle for God's will to be done in our life the battle for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven Verses the enemy having his way and he comes only to steal to kill and to destroy That battlefield Primarily is in the realm of our thinking. It's in the realm of our mind or will and our emotions and We're not facing off against flesh and blood people are not our enemy The Bible says that we do not war or battle against flesh and blood But we fight against principalities and powers and spiritual hosts of wickedness and heavenly places The the enemy of your soul is the liar the deceiver the tempter his name is Satan and his Angels his legions that are called demons It is a spiritual war But praise God that he is an inferior foe because we worship the great I am who is the one who was who is and who is to come and his holy angels and his saints that are praying By kingdom come that will be done on earth as it is in heaven and we are fighting in a battle not for victory But we are fighting from a position of victory already But we need to keep that in mind guys that people are not our enemy That even though that the enemy oftentimes will use people to get to us People represent what Jesus died on the cross to win most and so we've got to learn to see differently We've got to see the battlefield. We've got to identify who the enemy is and we have to know what our Weaponry is and as we've said over the last couple weekends, we have to put on the armor of God That's what Paul is communicating Put on the full armor of God in other words get dressed for battle and this armor that Paul Lists off for believers is indicative of what a Roman soldier would wear when he went into battle Now keep this in mind that when Paul is writing this he's most likely in prison And he's in prison for one reason. Did he steal somebody's car? No Did he cheat on his taxes? No Did he murder somebody? No He's in prison for one reason for preaching the gospel of Jesus in an environment and an empire that is hostile towards the gospel And he's imprisoned in he's imprisoned behind bars probably chained up He has a secretary who's writing for him this letter and he's trying to illustrate to Christians How we need to position ourselves to walk in God's will and God's victory in an environment where there's spiritual There's natural. There's relational implications that are causing difficulty And he looks up most likely and within close proximity to him. There is a Roman guard Who is dressed in the armor of a Roman centurion? Representing the most powerful military Force that the world is ever known when a Roman soldier or a legion of soldiers walked into a village or walked into a city They were the most intimidating thing that they had ever heard cobblestone roads with nails on the bottom of their boots Marching in formation clanging their sword into their shield Marching in perfect order with the authority of the most powerful person in the world behind them So Paul when he's trying to illustrate about you and I how we put on the armor of God He says put on the full armor of God put on the Belt of truth and we covered that ground the belt of truth that that Guards everything else the breastplate of righteousness Which is our position in Christ that he who knew no sin God the Father Made Jesus who knew no sin to be sinned for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ and we arm ourselves with that truth that In Christ Jesus I am perfectly right before God that I have right standing before God not because I've earned it But because Jesus freely has given it and it protects my heart it protects the most vulnerable part of me So that when the enemy attacks, I'm protected because of my position in Christ I am belted or girded up by the belt of truth Not by lies not by public opinion not by what other people think not what my what my past says not by the whispers of the enemy but I am Girded and strengthened by the truth the name talks about the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel and That's so important. He says put on the boots in other words the boots of the Let's just the ESV says it funny I like the King James how many know sometimes you got to go old school and the King James is the most old school Translation of the Bible that you can find in English, but I love how it expresses some things sometimes It says having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace Try that office next time you see somebody's shoes that you like don't I love those shoes You're wearing go boy. You are shod with some excellent shoes You are shod well look at my wife's shods That's just sounds good, doesn't it Paul says have your feet shod Or put on the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace see a remand soldier when he put on boots They were shin guards all the way up to their knees went all the way down But on the bottom of the shoes were spikes or cleats and they serve two purposes When you were engaged in a battle remember Paul says stand firm Stand firm when you're facing an enemy stand firm Don't get pushed back a Roman soldier could anchor himself into the ground so that when a huge Infantry group were coming at them in a huge line. They could stand their ground and not be pushed back The other purpose was just like a professional athlete has cleats on the bottom of their shoes it gives them The ability to navigate or to move quickly in very muddy or slippery terrain So if you've ever seen a professional athlete make cuts like a football player makes a cut You're just like how did they do this because they got a cleat They're able to move and if you've ever watched somebody who didn't have cleats Trying to play a sport and the ground is wet. They slide. They slip all over the place So what is Paul saying? He says put on your feet or Spiritually put on your feet a sense of urgency that comes because of The fact that you're ready or you are prepared in the gospel That the gospel the power of the gospel actually gives you the ability to stand like pulses and first Corinthians 15 verse 58 he says therefore my beloved brother and be steadfast and immovable Always bounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain So he says be steadfast be immovable So when the enemy comes the gospel gives us immovability it anchors us and then there needs to be a sense of Urgency in a way that we live our lives navigating slippery terrain and circumstances through life because we're moving and we're being Driven by a sense of urgency that the gospel is not just for us, but it's for others We need to be passionate about the gospel church Some of us don't even know what the gospel is. I mean the gospel literally means good news It's good news. How many like good news as opposed to fake news or bad news Everybody loves to get good news when you get a letter from the IRS and it just says internal revenue service How many know that can be bad news? Until you open it up and it says hey, we charge you too much on your taxes So we're giving you more money back. How many know in that moment? That's good news Good news bad news the gospel the word gospel means good news And that's what we're supposed to focus on That we're supposed to be ready with the gospel number one The gospel is the power of God into salvation for us the gospel has saved us that we are sinners God is holy God could have judged us but instead of judging us as Jesus said He came into the world not to condemn the world But to save the world to rescue and to redeem us back to the father and we didn't he didn't do it by Giving us a checklist of things that we needed to do to be right with God God Jesus paid it all so that anyone who by faith believes in Jesus can be reconciled and be made right with God nobody's off limits Anybody can be saved do we believe that the gospel is good news for everybody? The other half of the room Hey, we're gonna do an altar call at the end of the service the gospel can work for you, too Listen if you've been saved to the bone and you know what it is to have been in darkness and God brought you into the light You know that it gives you standing before God and that's our solid foundation. It's in the gospel It's in the power of the gospel But then it should also move us and motivate us to want to share that good news with other people because the gospel is not just Some good news it is the greatest news of all time and if it saved you it can save other people You know one of the things I love about the the fact that These shoes that he's talking about had cleats is if you go and read Romans chapter 16 verse 20 It says this and the God of peace Will soon crush Satan underneath your feet I love that verse the God of peace Think about that. That's not a very peaceful thing To crush somebody under their your feet And the gospel it says that it's the gospel of peace the peace that it's talking about is the peace that we have with God The peace that we have with God Do you know that when you are without Christ you are actually an enemy of God that you are under judgment and under the wrath of God? Because we're sinners Because we're broken because we deserve judgment But then he opens the door through Jesus and says if anyone will step through this door You can find forgiveness you can be reconciled to God and in that moment that single act of Surrendering our life to Jesus and finding peace with God actually becomes a military movement of destroying the enemy and putting a Cleated foot on the head of the serpent and destroying him God says and the God of peace Will soon crush Satan under your feet. You know where the devil belongs. He doesn't belong in your head. He belongs under your feet You are victorious in Jesus Okay, now I want to talk to you about The shield of faith real quickly and then the last two which are The helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit so the shield of faith Everybody knows a soldier when he goes out into battle. He takes a shield Roman soldier had a four foot by two foot shield It says so that you can extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy Arrows of the enemy if you've ever seen gladiator you notice from that era The way that a army would proceed against a foe Before they would send the infantry out they would Shoot catapult huge rocks bombs and then they would shoot fiery arrows From the archers ahead of time to take out as many of the soldiers as they could before it came down to hand-to-hand combat And so when Paul's using this reference of fiery darts It was a very powerful tool that especially the Germanic people used against Rome So they would take these arrows these archers and they could shoot them up to a half a mile in the air And when they came down they came down with a hundred pounds per square inch of force So you would hold your shield the shield was made of wood and hardened leather and sometimes even pieces of metal that were put on there in order to Block the fiery darts of the enemy and Paul says that the shield that you and I are to use against the fiery darts of the enemy is faith the shield of faith You ever thought about what the fiery darts are that come against you? I'll tell you what they are the devil by his very nature is an accuser and a slanderer That's what he does. He the Bible Jesus calls him a liar. He says he was a liar He's the father of lies in other words by saying the father of lies. It means that all lies originate in Satan every lie Has its root in its genesis. It says he's a father of lies and it says when he lies He draws out of his own resources one translation says out of his own character The devil is not just a liar. He is lies personified Just as much as Jesus doesn't know the truth. He is the truth So what does the enemy do his greatest tactic against the life of a believer is lies in accusations? So one of the things that he loves to do is remind Christians remember Paul's talking to Christians He loves to remind you of all the reasons why You're a failure You know you messed up pretty bad last week and he'll remind you of that guilt and shame associated with things that you've done or things that you've thought or your past or he'll remind you of You know, well if you were a better Christian You this would have been different in your life or you would have grown more by then or you know What do you do? He just attacks you and barrages you and they're lit on fire because the goal is is if he can Penetrate the shield of faith and actually get the flame to catch it will set on fire your entire being That's what James says that the tongue it is a fire set on fire by hell itself So the flames on the arrow that are the thoughts and the words and accusations Against you are actually set on fire by hell and their intentions are that they become a wildfire in your soul That actually consumed the good that God has done in you You see when God's fire Consumes you it actually produces growth when Satan's fire consumes you it actually destroys It's massively different So we've got to use the shield of faith to extinguish those fire. That's so faith. It's it's faith in God It's faith in what he has said, you know that there are some things listen that as a believer when you read God's word You're going to have to believe it even when it doesn't seem to be your experience The Bible says I'm forgiven. I don't feel forgiven by faith You know what the Bible says to be generous, so I don't want to be generous by faith The Bible says that I am the head and not the tail the above only and not beneath guess what? I don't feel above right now. I feel pretty below, but I'm gonna lift up the shield of faith It's what it's talking about extinguishing those flames of the enemy the other part of it that I think is so significant is a better Translation of shield of faith would be this faithfulness shield of faithfulness and It's not talking about your faithfulness. It's talking about God's faithfulness God's faithfulness church is like a shield for us Do you know that that second Timothy? I think it's chapter 2 or chapter 3. It says Something there it says that when we are faithless God remains faithful Anybody in this room ever been faithless before where you just it's like I'm having a hard time believing or I didn't keep my word Raise your hand if that's please then we'll shift into liars for all those If you've ever been faithless, how does the enemy remind you of your faithfulness He's like, oh, you really blew it there. How come you don't believe God? Come on. You should have done better But you know in that moment even when you're faithless when your arms feel tired in the middle of the battle It's when you can lift up the shield of his faithfulness His faithfulness listen to the the writer of the Psalm verse 28 verse 7 says the Lord is my strength and shield In him my heart trusts and I am helped It's his faithfulness Love the old him great is thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies. I see thou changes not thy compassions. They fail not as thou has been thou forever will be Great is thy faithfulness. We can rely on his faithfulness You see the world tells us if you if you want to be safe if you want to get by if you want to succeed You depend on yourself in the kingdom. We depend on him We depend on him. Okay now All that's introduction. So here we go. You ready for the real message? I'm kidding sort of okay So let me talk to you about the last two. These are I believe the most important of the pieces of armor It's all important, but these two last pieces a helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit are where the rubber really hits the red because when Peter in First Peter chapter 4 when he's talking about armor He says that we're supposed to arm ourselves with the same way of thinking in other words Christ went through the cross. He suffered as a good soldier to save us He had a long view and he armed himself with a certain way of thinking that brought about victory and salvation When we talk about the helmet of salvation We're talking about the most pivotal piece of equipment For a Roman soldier because it protected their head and contrary to popular belief if you lose your head you can't fight anymore I mean you can lose an arm maybe and still you know swing. It's like princess bride, you know, you just But if you lose your head game off, I mean it's over The helmet protects your mind your ability to see your ability to hear your ability to shout Your ability to communicate with the rest of your body the helmet is maybe the most significant piece of armor defensively when I was a kid My I'd spend weekends at my dad's and my dad was my hero when it came to sports My dad when he was 19 years old was a minor league baseball player Before he threw his arm out. He had huge prospects to go pro and then when I was probably up till 12 13 years old he played professional softball and so weekends that I would spend with my dad I would go on the road and kind of be the bat boy for his team He played for Budweiser he played for Miller High Life and a bunch of different teams played in the world series of softball slow pitch He was an amazing base baseball player or softball player and I wanted to be as good as dad My dad had this big equipment duffel bag and in that bag is where he carried all of his ball gloves his ball caps His bats his jackets. He had sanitary socks and he would have like his cleats in there And I'm talking politically incorrect cleats, you know those cleats that you sharpen So when you slid in the second base, you tore up the guy's legs or whatever. This is back in the old days and and so and my dad also had a bag of Redman chewing tobacco in there which by the way one day I decided that must just be like chewing gum And so I put a whole bunch of my mouth chewed it and swallowed all the juice and I'm still sick. That was uh, that's 42 years ago. So So what I used to love to do because I wanted to be like dad is I would go find his duffel bag Neighborhood kids wanted to all play baseball So I wanted to be a winner and my dad was a winner So I would go and I would find dad's bag and I would get his batting glove out and his ball glove Which was way too big for me and I would take his ball cap Because whenever dad wore and by the way, my dad had a big old afro And so it was way too big on me So I'd like click it down to the last little thing put it onto my head And when I went to play baseball with the neighbor kids I had this heightened level of confidence because I was dressed like dad in dad stuff I knew that when dad wore this stuff he won And if he wins wearing it then I'll win wearing it Do you know that? There's a certain level of confidence That a winner of somebody who knows their victorious has when they go into competition or into battle And what I know for a lot of us as christians as followers of jesus We've become trained more by defeat in slavery Than we have by victory in christ and royalty We've been trained in a pattern of defeat compromise We know that when the enemy comes oh, I know I always cave into this temptation I know I always see myself that way or I'm defined by how many times I've messed up And we just kind of have an assumption much like a slave has who's been beaten over and over and over again That we just kind of learned to survive instead of thrive But a couple of things I want to highlight about this helmet of salvation number one Is it's called a helmet of salvation another word for salvation is victory A helmet of victory and it's it's it's not just salvation that we're saved and someday we'll go to heaven But as long as we're here on earth, we're probably going to be defeated and just struggle along No, it's a helmet of salvation that we put on now And it's a helmet of victory now And we put it on it's not our helmet look at verse number 11 in Ephesians chapter 6 Paul says to put on the whole armor of Whose armor is it? It's god's armor We're like the little boys truffling through his dad's bag pulling out his armor and saying Every time dad goes to battle He wins and so i'm putting his helmet of victory and his helmet of salvation on because here's what I know The god that you and I serve is undefeated. He's never lost a battle When god rouses himself to go into victory. He doesn't hope he's going to win. He is victory personified Listen to this scripture. I love this isaia 59. This is what paul is drawing from when he's talking about this helmet of salvation It says this it says he put this is god. He put on righteousness as a breastplate And a helmet of salvation on his head The best Hebrew translations of the old testament say he put on a helmet of victory So here's the picture That when god's people are in trouble in the old testament when the enemy comes to destroy them When the accuser comes to accuse them when they are downtrodden And they begin to pray to god and ask god for help it says that god is so passionate about his people He rouses himself up like a man of war and he straps on his armor of holiness and truth And he puts on a helmet of victory. How many know you got to be pretty good and pretty successful to call your helmet a helmet of victory There are some helmets when you see them walk into the field you go. Oh, that's a winner And there's some helmets when they walk out of the field you're just like Hmm When the patriots walk out on the field, I don't like the patriots Come on, right? Come on brother. I don't like the patriots. I don't like tom brady, but I respect him Because he's a threat. He's 42 years old And a guy can still bomb the ball. He's never tasted sugar a day in his life. I don't think Guys, he's a winner When he walks on that field you respect that helmet When the lions walk out on the field It's like whoa Hey, now listen. I rip on the lions. I I am a diehard lions fan, but I'm bitter I've grown up cheering for them My entire life and having my hopes dashed Over and over and over by hell. Mary passes bad reffing calls terrible trades I mean they can change the uniforms all they want They can redesign the little line on the side of the helmet They can get a brand new football field, but what you can't change is the attitude of a winner I mean we all cringe in the fourth quarter, don't we? We will do it today. We will watch it and go. Yeah I know they're up by 79, but There's two minutes left and I just know that somehow somehow it's gonna happen We're gonna get 45 passenger fear is calls And something bad's gonna happen They're gonna replay it take about something bad's gonna it's just gonna happen. And then when we win, we're like, whoa That was close Thank you. Look and here's what we all know We know that the day that the lions go to the super bowl We need to lift up our heads for our redemption draw at nine The eastern sky is gonna crack open Jesus and his holy angels will return Because the greatest prophetic sign anywhere is the lions going to the super bowl when that happens I don't care what's happening in israel when the lions go to the super bowl. We will know It's the difference between A helmet of victory And a helmet of Now the bible says that the helmet Is god's helmet That it says in isaia is a helmet of victory So here's what I want you to know when you put on the armor of god What is a helmet of salvation helmet is a attitude a mindset of victory That is rooted not in some Self-help self motivational deepak chopra new age optimism We're talking about a attitude and a mentality of victory that is so overwhelmingly Confident in the power of the cross and the resurrection And that every step that you are taking you are walking in partnership with god That his angels have been given charge over you that the steps of a righteous person are ordered and that the one who formed the worlds Formed you and your purpose before he even established the foundations of the world And that he who began a good work and you will be faithful to complete it until the day of the lord jesus It's an attitude It's where we see when we see the enemy we see we see victory. We don't see fear When the enemy comes against us, we're not relying on our own strength. It's a it's a mentality And we're putting on dad's helmet. We're putting on dad's hat because dad's a winner and when we put it on Let me tell you the other piece of it when you have on the whole armor of god Daily when you put on you say today i'm walking in truth today I'm holy and righteous because of what jesus accomplished today I have the shield of god's faithfulness and i'm believing in him today I have the helmet of salvation my mindset my attitude are correct when you put on the armor of god Think of a soldier with all of his armor on You don't know the person under the armor. You're just able to identify the armor If you're six foot four And you're in relatively good shape and you put a tom brady jersey on all of his equipment his pads and a helmet on You walk out people are just going to read the back of the jersey and go that's tom brady When you put on the armor of god And you come out into the battlefield the enemy doesn't see you and all your weakness He sees god and all of his strength Because you're wearing his armor Okay, last thing and i'm glad i had musicians to make it more dramatic Sword of the spirit This church is called a gladius This is the same sword that a roman soldier would have carried I know john brought out a broad sword An inferior sword This is an actual Style of gladius that a roman soldier Would have been skilled in and just as paul or whoever wrote hebrus chapter 4 verse 12 said the word of god is living and active And sharper than any two-edged sword When paul says take up the sword of the spirit Which is the word of god. He's talking about the only offensive Part of our weaponry You'll notice that all the armor cover the front side of a soldier And that's because we're not meant to retreat There's nothing to protect our back because we stand firm and we engage the enemy And we've been given one Tool one weapon Which is the word of god the sword of the spirit two-edged sword And oftentimes we limit our understanding of a two-edged sword By thinking that it's just the bible It's interesting that there are two greek words In the new testament i'm about to get nerdy with you for a second New testament was written in greek. There's two greek words that are used for word of god The first one is the word logos John chapter 1 it says in the beginning was the word logos and the word was with god and the word was god That's talking about jesus is the living logos the living Expression of all that god is he's the living word There is the written word of scripture that you and i have that is the greatest gift that god's ever given to humanity Other than jesus the living word This is god's Will and god's thoughts and god's truth written down for us. This is the logos But the word that paul uses in Ephesians 6 when he says the sword of the spirit Which is the word of god he doesn't use the word logos. He uses the word reyma Which means a fitly Spoken word From god in a given moment or situation So paul says the reyma word of god Why is the word of god that he's referring to a two-edged sword because there's two edges To make the word of god The weapon that defeats the enemy every single time the first one is the written word. We need the written word the written word The logos plus the spoken word reyma equals victory See two-edged sword one side is the written word the other side is god's Spoken word in every circumstance and situation In matthew chapter 4 verse 4 jesus is tempted By the enemy he's been fasting for 40 days And satan appears at his moment of weakness and he challenges his identity says if you are the son of god Turn these stones into bread Right And you might notice something that when satan comes to tempt jesus he does it by quoting the bible to him The enemy knows the bible better than you do probably Better than i do He says come on if you are the son of god Turn these stones into bread and jesus's reply is this he says It is written man does not live by bread alone But by every word that proceeds new king james From the mouth of god that word proceeds Is more than just every word that god has ever spoken Proceeds as a continual Sense meaning that it's a word that he's speaking now and he continues to speak how many know that god is always speaking to us His holy spirit is always speaking to us And what jesus said is the way that we live the way that we survive Is on what god is speaking to us in any given moment We need that proceeding word of god. We need both. We need the written word And we need the spoken word. Here's my experience. Here's how we end up wielding the sword of the spirit, which is a two-edged sword One side is the written word. The other side is the spoken word But you can't have Effectively the sharpness of the spoken word If you don't have a history in the written word Let me tell you that In almost every battle i've ever faced The enemy has come at me And his tool of choice is lies Because lies produce fear Lies produce discouragement Lies paralyze us So he'll always bring a lie The way that you defeat a lie, which is a sword is with the spirit of truth He's always come at me with a lie and here's how i've defeated those lies Since i was 14 years old every single day minus maybe a couple i've read Same pattern through the bible that my grandfather taught me i read three old testament chapters Three Psalms one proverb three new testament chapters 10 chapters Takes me 40 minutes And most of the time when i read the bible I don't have angels that show up in my living room going I've come to make an announcement It is not spiritual other than i'm spending time with god and i'm reading his word There's been a few Moments of encounter in my life where i've encountered the lord really powerfully in the middle of those moments Most of the time though it's reading and i'm taking it in because it's renewing my mind and here's what i'm doing I'm creating a database of the word of god in my heart To where i know the bible the reason i can stand up here and quote verses Isn't because i crammed all week it's because i've read these things over and over and over i've read the bible through four times a year for I don't know how many years and that's not a i'm just saying this is this is not This is not rocket science I've gotten it into my heart just like david said how shall a young man keep his ways pure before the lord He said your word. Oh lord. Have i hidden in my heart that i might not sin against you How does faith come faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god Receive with meekness the implanted word of god which is able to save your soul Be a doer of the word not just a hearer of the word only so you get the word in you And then when the enemy comes at you with a lie You're able to wield the sword of the spirit because the holy spirit who dwells in you is able to go To the file cabinet of your heart in your mind and he's able to recall Hey, remember this verse remember this story remember this truth And then i go to the written word and i reread it and then the holy spirit breathes fresh new life into a revelation for that moment And i stand on that and i begin to tell the lie Chink nope. Sorry blocking that lie your blade of deception doesn't have permission to penetrate the breastplate of my righteousness Because i am holy in jesus and chink Sorry enemy you don't get to take my feet up because i'm standing firm And even when you want to discourage me i know that my labor is not in vain in the lord jesus and then Chink i'm able to block the blade of the lie when he comes and says well You're just a failure you've let god down and i say i'm all of those things But he is more than enough. He is faithful. He is steadfast. He loves me He is my father and i am forgiven and i'm able to wield the two-edged sword based on the written and The god breathed word of god And that's what we need to do the devil is not afraid of you owning a bible Just as long as you don't believe it and the devil's not afraid of bibles that sit on our nightstand But he's terrified of bibles in your heart You ever get the word of god on the inside of you listen. I already know too much Many of you know too much. You've gotten too much of it in you. You can't unknow what you know Now it's just a matter of letting that out and letting the armor of god completely envelop you I believe that god's called us to victory. He's called us to see like he sees He's called us to stand in his strength and in his mind and to put on the armor of god It's our responsibility and if we'll do that victory belongs to us Would you stand up with me this morning? Come on. That's good news. Isn't it church? It's good news I got fired up. I'm sorry. I'm I got swords and bibles up here. You just I mean that's a good day right there Would you just buy your heads with me this morning? Today, I want to ask you one question The question is this what Is the holy spirit speaking to you right now? What's he saying to you? You've heard what I've had to say you've heard what god's word says the written word But what's the rainbow? What's the holy spirit speaking to you today? For some of us it's courage Stand in the middle of the fight For some of us it's faith He's saying I'll be faithful to you No matter what For some of us it's provision. He's letting you know that Even though it seems like you're not going to have enough even though You're wondering where help is going to come from god is able he will provide Some of us he's speaking conviction He's trying to pick us up off the ground and saying it's time for you to stand It's time for you to be strong Some of us it's a conviction that we've taken off our armor laid aside and Taken the battle casually It's conviction some of us are here and we know we're not right with god You know how you begin to win the battle? First step in winning the battle Is surrendering to the lord You see in order to win you have to surrender When you surrender He comes in and forgives when he's when you surrender He becomes lord of all of your life when you surrender and wave the white flag He doesn't take you as a prisoner of war. He adopts you as a son or a daughter And today many of us in this room. We're on the borderline. Maybe you're here And you know you're not right with god Maybe you're here and you've never made jesus christ your personal lord and savior asked him to forgive your sins and you've Confessed and I said I repent god. I'm gonna turn my life around. I want to serve you And today the holy spirit's drawing you he's saying today's your day Today will you wave the white flag? Will you surrender to the lord or will you continue to battle on your own strength? Will you continue to even fight against god? Today he wants to forgive you cleanse you save you receive you So i'm gonna ask you today If you're here and you know you need to get your life right with god you need to make jesus the lord of your life Maybe one time you had a relationship with god, but you've Straight off and wandered away, and you're just like i don't know how to get home You may have walked 10,000 steps away from him, but he's only one step away from you You're like a prodigal son daughter, and you know you need to come home Right now i'm gonna ask you to surrender wave the white flag to god And if you're here, and you know you need to get right with god You want to make jesus the lord of your life? It's gonna ask you to raise your hand right where you're at. Just raise it high all over the room Say that's me. I see your hand Who else? Looking over the room who will surrender and find victory. Thank you. I see that hand Over here. I see your hands god bless. God bless. God bless. God bless. Yes you So this is the beginning of victory sir. I see your hand All the way on the far end I see your hand You can put your hands down Right now. I'm just gonna lead us in a prayer This prayer is an invitation And confession And I want everyone in the room to pray it out loud it with those who just raised their hands Let's say this together heavenly father I come in jesus name And I confess I've sinned I've lived for myself Today I repent and I come home I believe in jesus That he is the son of god Believe he died on the cross And rose from the dead To save me Today I surrender God you can have me Come into my heart Be my lord and savior I turn my back on the world I turn my back on my flesh And I turn my back on the devil From this day forward I set my eyes on jesus And i'm gonna follow you As a good soldier Of jesus christ Thank you for loving me Saving me in jesus name Amen and amen come on church. You just prayed that prayer