Lock In and Win

Take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Verses 13 to 17 are our text. And the title is "Lock In and Win." Lock in and win. We've got to stick together as Christians in a culture that is designed for Christian compromise. And so I want you to see in the text today where we can lock in together and win. The title is "Lock In and Win — for a Purpose," and you'll see that as the message unfolds today.

But first, I'd like to give you some points from the belt of truth, and we'll read from the top in verse 10. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength and His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God." This is a picture of sharing. God is sharing His armor, His precepts, His concepts, His truths, His Word with you. The armor is of God. The word "of" means belonging. It belongs to God. He's sharing this with you. So put on what He is sharing with you. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm. Remember, standing is winning. We must be ones who respond to this call for Christians to fight the good fight, to engage in spiritual battle and spiritual warfare. And so you are to put on this full armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Remember — this NAR, this false religious push around the world — it makes you think as if you were fighting the devil person to person. But you do not want to get in the ring with the devil himself. Remember, he's an angel. We're here to fight against the schemes of the devil. And Satan often works through people. People are not the enemy. It's the schemes of the devil through people. We want to fight the schemes, not the people. So we love the people and give them the gospel and see that they would be transformed. And so remember that the schemes are what we are to work against — the schemes of the devil.

This is also a posture shift. We need to turn our posture as ones who are marching forward. Here in verse 11: "Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." The armor is all frontal. There's no armor for the back. And so we are against the schemes of Satan. How can you do that except to aggressively march forward, step by step by step? We're not retreating. We're keeping our ground. We're keeping our church a godly church. We're keeping our homes a godly home. We are sharing the gospel and making disciples. Everything that you see in regards to Christianity is "Onward Christian soldiers." And so your posture is to be against the schemes of the devil.

And then in verse 12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood." It's a reminder that your struggle is not against visible things, visible people. The struggle is invisible. It's not against flesh and blood — which is a reference to humanity — but it's against the rulers and against the authorities and against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.

"Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day." And so resisting is very purposeful — we are not reactive, but we are actively resisting evil. "And having done everything to stand firm, stand firm, therefore."

In verse 14: "Having girded your loins with truth." And herein, if you would lock into truth — lock in, be uncompromising when it comes to truth, hold tightly to truth. Truth is what we are uncompromising about. We need to get to know Jesus more in His truth. Jesus is truth. "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life." And the Word of God is truth. In John 17:17 it says, "Your word is truth. Sanctify them by the word." And so if you would lock into truth, then you can stand with truth. But if you fall into a lie, then obviously you are falling away from Jesus Christ, because He is the way, the truth, and the life.

And so if you would lock into truth and just make a resolve inside of your heart and mind — "I will not back away from the truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth of who I am in Christ, the truth that the church is God's number one plan" — and He has no secondary backup plan. Through the church, through the equipping of the saints, we go and make disciples and baptize them and teach. So be committed to the ordinary means of grace through the local church. Be uncompromising in this. Christ has set up the local church, and we know what that is according to Acts chapter 2.

Do not shrink back from the preaching of the Word of God, studying the Word of God, being immersed in the Word of God. More Bible than books, people — listen: more Bible than books. Books are good. Books about the Bible are not the Bible. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. So be careful that your daily intake is more Scripture than it is what others say about the Scriptures. Okay, don't shrink back from the apostles' teaching.

And also, how crucial it is to have biblical fellowship. And this is the core element of today's message — locking in together. Biblical fellowship has a strengthening and overcoming aspect to it. As we go into the world in war against evil, we are wounded oftentimes. When you come back to the local church together, you're strengthened through the fellowship that is in Christ. And we pray together. Those who pray together and study together stay together. And so these are strengthening aspects in the local church.

And then also you're called to be one who is giving and serving and participating. And so as you give and as you serve and as you participate, there is a strengthening aspect to that. And that inward being strengthened by the Holy Spirit is what the Apostle Paul prayed for for the Ephesian church in his wonderful prayer in Ephesians chapter 3.

And so if you would lock into truth, you wouldn't fall for the lies. Look with me in chapter 4, verses 24 and 25, in regards to how we need to be putting off lies and putting on the truth. Ephesians 4:24–25 says to put on the new man. Now remember, this is speaking to believers. And so you are to be putting on your newness in Christ regularly. This is how you walk. This is how you live. This is your regular life in Christ.

"Put on the new man, the one who has been saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, put on the new man, which is in the likeness of God and has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." So we put on righteousness, we put on holiness, and we put on truth. This is important. This illustration is like putting on clothes. Every single day you're putting on righteousness, you're putting on holiness, and you're putting on truth. You're reminding yourself, because you know that we have a really good forgetter. Oftentimes the most important things that we intend to do, we forget to do. And a lot of times we have good intentions in our heart, but our heart just lets us down. And so we need the regular habit of putting on — like clothing every single day — righteousness and holiness and truth. Lock into these things.

And then verse 25: "Therefore, laying aside falsehood." So as you put on truth, you're laying aside the lies. The lies are like arrows coming from Satan — lies attacking your identity in Christ, lies attacking your sufficiency in Christ, lies attacking your self-worth in Christ, lies attacking the fact that you'll never be able to share the gospel and make disciples. Lies, lies, lies. Lay aside these lies and speak truth each one of you. Do you see how you combat lies? You speak. Do you see how you do spiritual warfighting? You say what the Bible says.

And so we're hiding God's Word in our hearts that we might not sin against God. And at the same time, as we are hiding God's Word in our hearts by memorizing Scripture and by studying the Bible, we are actually able to then regurgitate what we have put in. We're able to pull back out of our memory, out of our hearts, what we have hidden there — the Word of God. Because arrows are coming at you every single day. It's your job then to be able to prayerfully combat those things by speaking the truth.

In Titus chapter 2, verse 1, it says, "Speak sound doctrine." So you need to be able to say these things. Don't just think them. Don't just know them. Be one who is actively engaged in spiritual warfighting. You can pray against these things silently — I grant that, yes. But I'm telling you, you need to speak up.

When the moral law of God is spoken, it does three things, and you see this all throughout Scripture. When you speak what the Bible says, three things happen. Number one, it pushes back evil. That's just the power of the Word of God. It's God. You're not speaking anything into existence, like the New Apostolic Reformation would claim or like the prosperity and faith-healing false movements would say. But when you speak God's Word — when you are saying to children in a classroom, "Don't lie," you're pushing back the lies. When you're telling people in your community what's right and what's wrong according to God's moral law, you're pushing back on evil. So number one, evil is pushed back.

Number two, Christians are guided. God's law, His moral code, guides Christians on how to live. And that's important to realize. And so not only do we push back on evil and we guide Christians, but also God's law is revelatory to lost people in that they have sinned and they need a Savior. So God's law helps to convert the lost. And so it pushes back on evil, it guides Christians, and it converts the lost.

And so as you are proclaiming what the Bible says, those things are going to be happening. But if you do not speak up, none of those things are happening. One of the greatest lies out of the pit of hell is this phrase: "Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words." Do you see how that phrase is telling you that you don't have to proclaim God's Word, or to be preachy, or to say anything? But I'm telling you, Romans chapter 10, verse 17 says that faith comes by hearing. So does that not require you to be able to speak? So if someone's going to be saved, you've got to tell them the gospel. We have to speak these things. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So say what the Bible says. Get used to studying God's Word — the truth of God's Word — and thinking and dwelling and chewing on it in such a way that you're able to regurgitate it when you need it.

Encapsulate these truths so that you can remember them. They'll guide your life. They'll help convert the lost. They'll push back on evil.

And so I want to ask you a question: how can Satan sink you in regards to truth, and in your being locked in and winning? Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4. I want you to see Satan's two-step strategy to sink you. How can he do this? In 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 and 2, you'll see a two-step strategy for Satan to sink you. And you need to be aware of the wiles of the devil — that's a good King James Version phrase. Be aware of his schemes. Be aware of his strategies. Be aware of how he gets to you. More importantly, be aware of how he gets to our children.

So 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 and 2: "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away." Now in this phrase — "some will fall away" — I'll remind you that 1 John 2:19 says, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us." There's going to be a lot of people who will continuously fall away from the faith. And if you're paying any attention abroad, you see tons of people whom you have perhaps loved over decades in the faith falling away from the faith today. It's so sad. Don't be one of those Christian casualties.

So verse 1 says, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." And so in verse 1 you have spirits and demons. Step one of Satan's strategy is that he's going to use spirits and demons to get to you. I don't think any of us are important enough to be attacked by Satan himself, but he does have a whole lot of demonic angels. And so step one of this two-step strategy is through these deceitful spirits and demons who preach. They preach doctrine. Demons wrapped in angelic clothing who sound really good. And they appeal to your flesh and make you feel really empowered on the inside — as if you can do it without God. Demons can preach really, really well. You must be able to discern.

Verse 2: "By the hypocrisy of liars." And so step two is through liars, to you. Through demons, by liars, to you. Satan is able to get to you through this two-step strategy. His evil spirits are everywhere. He's got demons everywhere. And those who are susceptible to these doctrines of demons or these lies can be used to get to you. And it's always done in an incremental way. It sounds great on the surface. There's hardly any compromise that can be detected. But over time it's subtle and gradual, and it's going to be working you away.

For example, we talked about earlier in our Scripture reading in Amos chapter 7, verse 7, that God has given us a plumb line — the Word of God, a standard. And that plumb line, a carpenter's tool, is a string with a weight to be put up against a wall that has been built, to be able to see if it's straight or not — if it's crooked, or leaning to the left or to the right, or got a bow in it. And we use our plumb line, the Word of God, to be able to detect if we are on point with Christ, if we're in alignment with His Word. And if you can see just a little bit of a bow in your life, or a leaning to the left or to the right, the distance between your life and that plumb line is your responsibility to repent and return to the Word of God and align your life with it. God is revealing that to you so that you can see where you need to be in better alignment — in your thinking, in your worship, in continuing in the Word.

It's so vital for us as Christians to know Satan's strategies, because he's going to use evil spirits through liars to be able to get you just a step or two off. And unless you are holding a plumb line to that, will you actually see it? You can look at a wall and it looks straight, but in actuality it's not straight. Go to California — with all the earthquakes, the houses are tilted one way. You look at it and it seems okay, but when you get inside, the doors — seriously, since houses have leaned with the shifting ground, they've had to take the doors off, cut them, and reinstall them. So you've got a door that used to be square, but now it's been cut at an angle. They've had to cut it to fit the crooked frame. I say that just to say that we need to keep our lives true to the gospel, true to the Word of God. It's so important.

So demons will get to you through others. Unfortunately, Satan is a master at his trade and he can get to your closest friends, even family, and even ones whom you love and trust within the local church. Demons can get to people within the local church. We see that in Acts chapter 20. But I want you to know that even Jesus dealt with this in Matthew chapter 26, verse 14: "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot."

I'm so glad that Jesus did not give us a perfect, sanitized example in the area of making disciples. He gave us a real example for real life on how it actually works. And so there will be Judases throughout our ministry and throughout church life. It's just a fact. And so as we are discerning ones, we just know that. Don't get thrown off in your Christian walk when something like that happens. That is what's called spiritual warfighting.

Now, Satan is not particularly attacking those who are not of Christ — they're already on his side. But he wants to get inside the walls of the church. He wants to work his way into the leadership. He wants to get to the pulpit of churches. And he's done that in many ways. So even Judas was one of the twelve.

In Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 39, I'd like for you to turn there, because this is a kind of hard truth for us to really comprehend. But I want you to see just how faithful you are called to be to the truth. I want you to lock into the truth and win. This is important, because Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 39 help us to see that this is a real personal battle, and our commitment to Christ cannot be usurped by even our own family members. And so in Matthew 10:34: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be the members of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."

Now this whole illustration is simply saying that your love for Christ should be so grand, so beautiful, and so high that it overshadows even your love for your spouse and your love for your children and your love for your parents. That's how much you revere and honor Christ. Christ would not contradict His Word and say to you not to love your mother, or not to love your spouse, or not to love your children. We see that all the way through the Word of God. The illustration is about how much more you should love Christ. And if you would do that — you're locked into truth — you won't compromise. And a family member who perhaps is not as close to the truth as perhaps you are will not be able to lead you astray. 1 John 2:1 says, "My little children, I write this to you so that you will not sin." Do not be led astray.

And so demons get to you through others. Now then we must be lie detectors. We truly must be ones who are detecting lies. And so to detect the first lie is to be able to keep your life safe in Christ. And a lot of times these lies come to us in all kinds of different forms and fashions.

Have you ever had an appeal to tradition come to you? "Oh, come on. We've always done this. This is the way we are. This is what we do." An appeal to tradition is not an appeal to truth. And so if you can detect that and be a lie detector, you can stay in alignment with the Word of God.

And then as well, statistical fallacies — if you're just quoting a whole bunch of statistics and facts, that's not Scripture. You know, I don't care what you say. You can interpret numbers in all kinds of different ways. The Word of God is our standard. So be a lie detector.

Have you ever had someone emotionally pleading with you? Just using emotions — not standing upon the solid Word of God, but appealing to your heart and trying to move and sway you through emotion. And they are putting their relationship on the line and saying, "You are going to cost our relationship if you do not do what I tell you." That's manipulation. And so we need to make sure that we are not succumbing to emotional pleading.

What about false guilt? False guilt. There's a very real thing called false guilt. If you have believed something in times past that is part of your makeup — and those ways of thinking have not yet been conformed and refined to the Word of God — a lot of times someone casting all kinds of false guilt on you can sway you away from the faithfulness that you ought to be walking in. Even family members.

And so as well, what about a faulty appeal to authority? The authority is the Word of God. And if the appeal is from any other type of authority — you can quote presidents, you can quote history all you want — until you talk about Scripture, do you really truly have my attention? That's how we are to be lie detectors. And so just because someone else said it or did it, and was proven through history or results — being results-driven — that makes no never mind to us as Christians, because we are driven by the Word of God.

What about a straw man maneuver? What about circular reasoning? What about changing definitions? The list goes on and on and on. We must truly be lie detectors. And if something smells funny, I would pause and study it out to see if it truly is of the Word of God.

Here's a hard truth for you: our weaknesses get exploited by Satan. Where you are weak — nobody's perfect, okay? Nobody here can stand on their own and not be overcome by evil temptations and evil strategies and all that kind of stuff. We all have weaknesses. But isn't that the brilliance of the local church, and the brotherhood and the sisterhood, and the congregating together, the praying together, staying together, and guarding each other's backs, and working with each other and helping each other?

Our weaknesses will get exploited by Satan, but it takes a good, strong brother or sister in Christ to come along lovingly and say, "Brother, sister — this is what I detect, and I want to help encourage you in Christ. And if this is an area where perhaps you can repent and return to a closer walk with Christ, I would like to be a prayerful partner with you to help see you forward, and we can walk together in this." You can be gentle and kind and loving as you walk and guide each other — like a mother, like a father, like a spiritual mother, like a spiritual father. You can be there for each other. That's what we're here for, truly. Not only to worship God, but we're here to help serve one another.

Another hard truth: sincerity and honesty don't mean that you've interpreted God's Word correctly. Someone can be sincere — boy, they can be so genuine. They can be honest with you. They can be telling you what they believe is true, but it might not be true. That's a hard truth, because you have to truly discern, when you're in conversation with people, whether or not what has been said is actually truth. And so truth is objective. Truth is separate from us. It's not found internally.

The public school system has all kinds of books that will tell you to crawl into your turtle-like shell and find your inner self and see what is true for you. That's hogwash. Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful and wicked and you can't trust it. And so listen — we need to be people of the truth. Lock into truth. Lock into this objectivity. Psalm 119:89 says, "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven." So this is objective, separate, holy truth. We subscribe to a holy God who has settled, banked, and kept His Word preserved forever in heaven — before the foundations of the world, and after this world His Word is settled. We subscribe to that.

And so if you would be ones who study yourselves approved and rightly divide the Word of God, then 2 Timothy 2:15 is your best friend — rightly dividing the Word of God, handling it correctly and aligning your life with it.

You know, in ministry, missions, and life, wherever you are, there are all kinds of liars. And so we must be lie detectors. When Paul sent Titus to the island of Crete, a prophet of their own even said that this place is filled with lazy gluttons and liars. That's what they do, that's how they speak. And so what do you do with liars? If you want to turn to Titus chapter 1, verse 13, you'll see exactly what we do with liars. Verse 12 says, "One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons.'" And so the question is, what do we do with a lie? Well, verse 13 is very clear. "This testimony is true" — so there are liars, there are evil beasts, there are lazy gluttons out there — "for this reason, reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith."

You know, my two favorite words side by side are "so that." My favorite phrase in the Bible is "continue in the Word." But these two words together — "so that" — and in this passage you see that your end goal in reproving someone is "so that." Look: they'll be sound in the faith. You are for people, not against them. Even though evil schemes may be coming through their life, harpooning you and attacking you and making you feel uncomfortable — they are not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy. And so you are to reprove them so that they can be sound in the faith. Expose the lie. Lead them to the Lord. Show them the error of their way. Help them to see the way, the truth, and the life. It's exactly what the Word of God is for.

In 2 Timothy 3:16, it tells us to reprove and correct and train in righteousness. You have to reprove. You know, it's popular today just to preach and teach, "Believe in Christ, believe in Christ." And they are leaving off the very first word that Jesus used in His public preaching, in Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, when He said, "Repent." It's "repent and believe." Mark 1:15 says, "Repent and believe the gospel." And so when you're sharing the gospel, it's "repent." That's reproving them. That's exposing their sin. Show them God's holy law where they don't measure up. Show them where you — be transparent — where you have not measured up. Love on them. Reach them. Do everything you can. Plead with them. Do everything that you possibly can to reach people for Christ. You care about their eternal destination. You're not trying to win an argument. You're not getting in a debate so that you can walk away and say, "I'm smarter." That's not the goal. The goal is pure love and grace and truth.

And so what do you do with a lie? Well, you correct it. In verse 14, it talks about a breastplate. Back to Ephesians chapter 6 as we're moving through: "Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness." And by way of just a brief review with these elements — I want you to know that as you're studying the Bible, you will continue to extract more and more out of it. And that's what I'm doing as I'm going through Ephesians 6:10–20 in this spiritual warfare series. I'm simply giving you all that we can possibly get so that we can live in this reality with a sense of what is right and what is actual.

So many walk around with a lack of understanding of what is real. And so reality is that we're called to be spiritual warfare fighters. And how do you fight? Well, verse 14 mentions the breastplate of righteousness: "Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness."

In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 5, it is so fascinating that Christ Himself is described as one who has on the belt of truth and righteousness. Isaiah 11:5 says, "Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins and faithfulness the belt about His waist." In Isaiah chapter 11, it's a picture of the coming Messiah who will judge. And He will judge righteously. He owns and is righteousness and holiness. And He calls us to be holy in 1 Peter 1:16. The opposite of holiness is wickedness. And in Isaiah chapter 11, verse 4, Jesus will put the wicked to death.

And so if you would rightly judge yourself, then you would not be judged by the Judge of all righteousness. 1 Corinthians 11:31 says, "For if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged." So it's imperative that we value and lock into the truth — so much so that we are able, like looking into a mirror with the Word of God, to expose who we are in Christ and who we are not, and to do the best that we can to lock in and win. And you do that by latching on to truth and righteousness.

So how do you know what is right and what is wrong? How do you truly discern and know righteousness from wickedness? Well, like I've mentioned already, just as the prophet Amos gave us a standard in Amos 7:7 — a plumb line — we compare our life to the Word of God and make the necessary adaptations.

Not only that, your life will produce fruit that is of the truth. Back to Ephesians chapter 5, verses 6 to 11. Listen to this language and how much it ties in with what we've been talking about. In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 6 through 11, it says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of that light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth, trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead even expose them." We just talked about reproving, right? Instead, expose them. Verse 12: "For it is disgraceful even to speak of these things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you. Therefore, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.'"

Verse 15 — this is all wonderful encouragement to walk in the light and do what's right, and I promise you it'll be all right.

In verse 15 of chapter 6, it's mentioning the gospel: "Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." And we must be as ones who are gospel-ready — like a person who could be called to war at any moment. Just picture another evil country surrounding Florida, with all our coastline having ships waiting to attack and invade. You would need to be ready to defend your family at a moment's notice. And so would you not, as you go to bed, have boots ready to put on? Would you not have clothes ready? Would you not have the necessary items to skedaddle or hold firm in your home — whatever you'd need to defend your family? You would have them ready. And that's the picture of having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. So we are regularly reminding ourselves what the gospel is.

We repent and believe the gospel. The gospel is the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ — in your place, to pay for your punishment, the punishment that you're due. The wrath of God was abiding upon you. Christ died for you. We learn in Genesis that sin equals death. And so we have all sinned — Romans 3:23, right? — so we have a death sentence. We've all sinned. Sin equals death because we've broken God's holy law, His holy Word. We're sinners. And now sin equals death. We have a death sentence. We're going to die apart from Christ and spend eternity in hell forever. However, Jesus died for you.

Well, praise God for that. The gospel is the death of Jesus Christ. He was beaten, battered, and bruised — Isaiah 53 — for you, for your sin's punishment. And so you repent and believe in His substitutionary death on your behalf and are saved by the grace of God. Believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for your sin, and be saved, and tell everybody that you possibly can. Be gospel ready.

So 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 through 4, is the gospel in a nutshell. And everybody should have the words "death," "burial," and "resurrection" circled in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 through 4, so that you're gospel ready. When somebody has a question for you about the gospel, pull out your Bible to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and show them the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you're ready to share the gospel. And then you can call them to repentance and faith and quote Mark chapter 1, verse 15 — "Repent and believe the gospel." You know, Proverbs 11:30 says, "He who is wise wins souls." It takes the wisdom of God to win souls. You can't do it in your own ability.

And Ephesians chapter 6, verse 16 now — we're moving on to the shield of faith. And this is so intriguing, and this is where I have derived today's message title: "Lock In and Win." Ephesians 6:16 introduces the shield of faith. Read it with me: "In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

And so this piece of armor is defensive and protective — the shield. Roman soldiers carried these long shields, and they were shaped like a door. And these door-like shields could interlock together. They had clasps on each side. And as soldiers marched with this big door-like shield — with these clasps — and they were fixing to go to battle, they could interlock these shields side by side by side. And this was a protective wall in front of that army. And then as well, they could take their shields and put them over their heads. And they could interlock these shields above their heads, and they would be protected from the front and from the top. And these shields and their interlocking strength were so strong that even an enemy's horse could jump on top of these shields and walk across the top of this protective roof. And the soldiers underneath could be safe from the spears. Obviously it's not foolproof — hot boiling oil and water can get in between the shields — but these shields were protective for the soldiers.

Paul likens the attack from evil as flaming arrows. And this imagery shows that the lies from Satan are real, like flaming arrows. So how do you protect yourself against the lies of the devil? You raise your shield. Raise your shield and block these things. Lock in together with your sisters and your brothers in the church. Form a front, form a roof, and protect yourselves from the lies.

Now this is not retreat, because essentially when you lock these shields together and you have a front — a prayer front, a warrior front, a gospel front — then the commander could not only give a command such as "Testudo maneuver, now!" That was the command — the testudo maneuver was to lock in. "Testudo maneuver, now!" — they make that command, they lock in. But as well, when they had locked in, the commander could also say, "One, two, three — go!" Every time he would say "go," they would gain six inches. Do you see how this is offensive? Do you see how this is still moving forward even while you're under attack? You lock in and win.

And so you are marching to that tune. You're locked in with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And you're praying and you're warring and you're quoting Scripture. And as soon as the opportunity comes to make a huge advancement, the commander can make another call — they would separate, bring one of the evil enemies inside the wall, and deal with him. This is so wonderful. Now, obviously, we're not going to bring somebody into church and harm them — we're going to kill the sin and lead them to Christ. But I just love the war imagery here, because it helps us to see that we're not doormats. We're not weaklings. We're not going to be pushed around forever and mope and cry and retreat. We have shields. We have a way to stop these silent, fast, lethal arrows from Satan.

These arrows can be fired from afar but they can pierce right inside of your heart. And so now not only do you have a shield, but you also have a helmet of salvation. Look with me back in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17: "Also receive the helmet of salvation." And so this helmet, according to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, is describing the hope of the gospel — the hope of salvation. When you put on this helmet, you are protecting the hope that you have in your secured, sealed salvation.

Does not Satan want to attack your hope and get you discouraged and down? He does. In Isaiah chapter 59, verse 17: "The Lord who is mighty in battle is pictured as wearing both the helmet and the breastplate in battle." And so when we see this rich imagery, we know that we too can be like Christ and do spiritual warfighting with this helmet and breastplate.

And I want you to remember that we too are to put on the armor. And as you are putting on the armor — this armor that is of God — you are expressing your union in Christ. As one who puts on the armor — the armor that belongs to God — you are borrowing His truths, you are applying His truths, you're wearing His truths, you are sharing in what He has. And so now you are expressing your dependence upon Christ and not your independence. How many times have you lost in spiritual warfighting because of being independent? "I can handle this on my own, my own way. I'm going to figure this out on my own." And you isolate yourself away from the church, away from your brothers and sisters, away from your prayer team — whatever the case might be. And then the attacks set in on the mind, and then you lose hope, you settle into hopelessness.

But by having the certainty of salvation — that you've been saved, and that those who are God's elect will be saved, you're confident in that — it produces hope and soundness of mind. And so our security in salvation is sealed according to Ephesians 1:13. The Holy Spirit has His seal upon you, and that cannot be undone. And so remember to put on your helmet, and to wear and utilize your shield, and be sound in mind.

Did you know that even the best and the brightest of pastors and theologians have succumbed to — have been attacked by — these flaming arrows of the evil one? In verse 16 it says, "In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." The best, the brightest, the toughest of Christians who have gone before us through Christian history have been hit by these flaming arrows.

Listen to this. John Bunyan and Charles Spurgeon both describe an onslaught of Satan's arrows — as though they were unworthy — right before they preached. So right before they preach, an onslaught of flaming arrows pierces them and they feel deeply unworthy. And then as well, crazy thoughts of blasphemy — both of these wonderful men of God testify to having thoughts of blasphemy coming into their minds suddenly before they preach. And then thoughts of past sins — sins that would cause them to be ashamed — would come like a force-fire of memories across the forefront of their minds. And then as well, they both testify to panic and guilt that overwhelms them, and then even doubts of even being saved. These flaming arrows are extremely debilitating and they can cause depression to set in.

When these arrows are launched, I want to encourage you: raise your shields, lock in, and win. Put on your helmet — lock in and win. Put on the belt of truth — lock in and win. Block those flaming arrows. Resist the lies with truth. Proclaim that you are saved by grace and it's not of yourself. You understand that. Call your fellowship. Pray together. Christian friends, the church — raise your shields together and go into what the Roman soldiers would call the testudo maneuver. You can call it the prayer maneuver if you'd like. You can call it the Bible study maneuver if you'd like. It's the fellowship of the brethren. It's the faithfulness to Christ. Roman soldiers knew it as the testudo maneuver, but we need to join shields and have our prayer maneuvers. We need to have our support of one another, bearing one another's burdens — like Galatians chapter 6, verses 1 through 3, testifies as to how it ought to be done. And as we do this, we're putting our heads together and we can weather any storm together. So remind each other what God's Word says. Build each other up and stand and fight and win.

If you're in a mental death valley, you can march out together — lock in and win. If you're in a heartache city, dust off your feet and leave. We ought not to be ashamed to be able to share with trusted brothers and sisters where we actually are and are not, and that we need help. So we're here to help each other, right? Serve each other, pray for each other, march together.

This whole persona — "Have you got it all together? As if your life is perfect" — kick it to the curb. In fact, the best thing a pastor can do when he first comes to a church is to knock the perfect pedestal over. He isn't perfect. Nobody's perfect. We all need Christ. Well, we've got that in common. And if we would admit that we're not perfect and have grace and love with each other and not be ready to pounce on each other, then I think that we could truly help one another — by this testudo maneuver, by locking in and winning. Everybody needs to be able to pull together and not give the devil an opportunity in your life, because he wins by isolating us from each other.

And so the belt of truth combats lies. The breastplate of righteousness combats wickedness. The shoes prepared to share the gospel combat eternal death. The shield of faith blocks the evil arrows. And the helmet guards your hope. Come back next week and we'll discuss how the sword is protecting and helpful for progressing forward in our walk with Christ.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You for the opportunity to march through Your Word, to study Your Word, and to digest it together. I pray that You would give us a continual sense of authenticity before You and before others. And I pray, dear Jesus, that You would help this local congregation, myself included, to continue to learn what it is to spiritual warfight correctly according to Your Word. Help us not to be influenced by the crazy YouTube videos and the false religious approaches to spiritual warfare. Help us to be ones who value verse by verse, line by line, precept by precept, concept by concept, learning and continuing in Your Word, and practicing that and teaching others.

Lord, I pray that if anyone here is not saved, they've heard the gospel through the message today. I pray that Your good Holy Spirit would draw them into an inner position of sorrowfulness. And that deep and lowly sorrowfulness, Lord, would be a prompter for them to repent. You say this happens through 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 10 — that godly sorrow leads to repentance, unto salvation. And so, God, I pray that You continue to save souls through the preaching and teaching and the witness of the saints here at Beulah Baptist Church.

I thank You, dear God, for the opportunity to have fellowship with one of our own missionary families. And I pray Your continual blessings upon Clay and Meg and the whole Dale family. I pray, dear Jesus, that You would bless them immensely. I pray that You would inwardly strengthen them on a difficult mission field. I pray that You would give them a sustaining grace. Help them, according to Your Word in 1 Corinthians 15:58, to be strong and steadfast and always abounding in the work of the Lord. I pray, Lord, that You would not only give them a steadfastness of spirit and a soundness of soul and mind, but also a continued zeal to share the gospel and make disciples as much as they can while they can. God, give them joy in just being faithful. Help them to continually know that the results are in Your court.

We see that by demonstration through the faithful life of Noah, a preacher of righteousness who won just his family to You, Christ. We see that as well through the ministry of Isaiah and Jeremiah — many prophets of old who preached and preached and preached in a difficult land, and yet this was glorifying to You. Your remnant will be reached. We know this. Give them sustaining grace, dear God, I pray.

And thank You for those who are visiting with us today. May You give them a sense of a church home that they can come to and develop a church family, to where they can lock in and win against the evil schemes that are constantly being fired at us like flaming arrows. I pray to You, give them a sense of unity among the brothers and sisters here, and You cause them to want to be a part of and to continue with us, Lord. Thank You, Father, for them. May Your blessings and grace be upon us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.