Know. Fight. Win.

Take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to John chapter 15.

John chapter 15. I'd like to give you one word as the answer for spiritual warfare. Yes, we'll be in Ephesians after I give you this one word, but most of you are looking up and thinking, "I thought we were in Ephesians." We are. I just want to give you one word. What is the answer to how to fight spiritually? The title for today's message is "Know, Fight, Win." We'll be back in Ephesians chapter 6 just after I give you this one word in John chapter 15, verse 4.

John chapter 15, verse 4 is the singular concept that we need to know in regards to spiritual warfighting. You've got the forces of evil against you all around — in this world, in the heavens, and on earth, and everywhere — trying to penetrate your marriage, your parenting, your work, all over the place. Now, what is this one word? How do you win in spiritual warfighting? Well, it's a concept of abiding — abiding in the vine. If you abide in Christ and He in you, then you have the idea of what it means to be one who is simply walking with Christ. If you would do that, then you will be speaking forth the Word of God and what the Word has to say about situations. You will be resisting the devil. You will simply be walking with Christ.

So this idea of abiding in the vine — in verse 4, John chapter 15, verse 4 says, "Abide in Me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." Verse 5: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." And we need to remember that we can do a whole lot of nothing without Christ. And so I beg and plead for you to look at your life as abiding in the vine, abiding in Christ, walking with Christ, capitalizing on the union that you have in Christ as your primary means of life and godliness — and especially spiritual warfighting. And if you would do this, in verse 11, the Bible says, "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." There's something very special about Christians who walk closely to Christ — no matter how deep the trial is, you will still see that glimmer of hope and joy in their eyes as they talk about Jesus, even while they're suffering. And so, Christians, if you have this concept at the forefront of your heart and mind — you just simply continue to walk with Christ, abide in the Word of God and abide in Him — you'll be just fine.

Now, over to Ephesians chapter 6 as we continue to study what it is to be a spiritual warfighter in the spiritual warfare series. I mentioned already that today's title is "Know, Fight, Win." The Air Force has a creed and a mantra that states "Fly, Fight, Win." But a Christian's mantra would be to know — know the Word of God — and then you will be able to fight correctly, and then you'll win in these battles. And so "Know, Fight, Win" — the Christian soldier's creed — would be the Bible, everything the Bible has to say. We've got many confessions and different creeds that we are able to read and see what the Bible says. It's articulated in sound doctrine — it's wonderful — but the whole Bible is basically your creed. And the Christian's mantra or mission statement could be this: "Know, fight, win — again and again until the end." Know, fight, win — again and again until the end. Just make up your mind that you're a Christian soldier, and you're going to endure hardship as a Christian soldier.

There's an evil one out there, and he has a legion of demons. They just hate you, and they want to destroy everything that's pure and holy about you and your life — not because you're anything at all, but because you belong to God. Satan hates God. And so he's coming after you and your life, and we know this. We see it all throughout the Bible. And I hate this part of life — as you look through history, there's just not a lot of really good, solid men as examples. You really have to search hard to find men who are faithful and abiding in the vine, men who are faithful to the Word of God, men who, after being whittled down through the trials in this life — perhaps they have suffered some financial failure, perhaps they have suffered a strain in their marriage, perhaps they have suffered wayward children, perhaps they have suffered getting fired, losing their home, maybe a fire, maybe a car accident, maybe tragedies have just compounded in their life — and when they've been whittled down, like Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 after He'd been fasting for forty days and forty nights when He was at a weak physical state, that's when Satan came and pounced on Him. There's just not a whole lot of men who stand until the end.

But if you would just make up your mind right now: "I will not shrink back. No matter how I feel, no matter what's going on, God is God. He's in control. He's supreme. The Word is true. I'm going to be faithful to Him till the end." And maybe this can become your Christian mission statement: "Know, fight, win — again and again until the end." I've made up my mind. I'm going to finish strong. I know that we're not here for very long, right? Our lives are wrapping up quickly. Most of us are on the latter half of our lives — it comes so fast. And as you have the finish line in mind, just finish faithfully. How do you do that? Abide in the vine.

And more than that, you need to know how to be a spiritual warfighter. And so let's read in Ephesians chapter 6, starting in verse 10. "Finally, be strong in the Lord." This statement — "Be strong in the Lord" — is an imperative command, and it literally means "be strengthened." And so you are commanded to be strengthened by Christ. You are not strong in yourself. The commandment is to be strong in the Lord — literally in the Greek, it means to be strengthened by the Lord.

Now, we know that the Word of God perfectly expresses who Christ is. And as you are in need of strength, you go to the Word of God and you are strengthened by Christ through His Word. And so weak Christians need to spend more time in the Word of God and submit themselves to the Word of God, so that they can receive this. This idea of "finally, be strong in the Lord" has a receiving aspect. Verse 10, "Put on the full armor of God" is something that you do. And so God's part is to strengthen you. Your part is to put on the full armor of God.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength." Verse 11: "Put on the full armor of God." So that's your part. You are the one who is putting on the armor of God, and all of the armor of God has different aspects for which we are to be.

So the truth holds everything together like a belt — and so we are to be of the truth. "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life" — John 14:6. And then, righteousness guards the heart like a breastplate — so we are to be righteous, to be holy. 1 Peter 1:16 says, "Be holy, for I am holy." And then, the gospel marches forward like a soldier ready with shoes on — and so the armor of God that we're putting on here is not only the belt and the breastplate of righteousness, but also the shoes that are ready to spread the gospel. You put shoes on every day, most of you. And so every single day, be ready to spread the gospel, to advance the gospel, to be part of its movement.

And so then again, we have not only a belt and a breastplate and shoes, but we also have a shield. And so the shield is metaphorical for the faith — the sound doctrine, the truth of God's Word. And so our faith defends us against Satan's schemes like a soldier holding a thick shield. In the time of the Ephesian church, the Romans had shields — many different layers to the shield — and they were able to stop a piercing arrow. And so we don't have thin shields; we have thick shields. Our faith needs to be thick. Our faith needs to be strong. What we know about God needs to be layered upon layered. What we know about the Word of God needs to be our protective agent. We need to be able to shield our hearts against false doctrine. There's a lot of false doctrine out there.

In fact, Solomon should have taken his own best advice in Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23, where he said, "Above all else, guard your heart." But he didn't do that. He let many different wives get to his heart, and he became one who practiced many different false religions.

Now, for you to take up a shield and guard yourself — this is your part to put on the armor, to put on truth, to learn truth. Be in Bible study. Be in personal Bible study. Be here on Theological Wednesdays. If at all possible, be a part of everything you possibly can be a part of when it comes to strengthening your faith. Otherwise, you may have a thin shield, a thin faith, a shallow faith. You may not have a thick, robust, protective faith. You may be rattled by the simple things of this world. You may be rattled by things that should not rattle you. You may get shaken. Arrows may get to your heart too quickly. You may not know how to protect your life through knowing sound doctrine. You may not be able to respond with truth in a time when Satan is assaulting you with errors. That happens all the time — while you're driving down the road in the middle of the night, while you're on the phone. All of these different assaults come your way. Do you know how to counteract this? Do you know how to be a spiritual warfighter? That's what I'm asking you. Do you know how to abide in the vine? Do you know the truth? Do you know Jesus?

And then, salvation secures us like a helmet. So the next piece of armor that you put on in the text is a helmet, and this helmet helps to secure us. Our security is in Christ. And then the Word of God protects us like a sword — being able to wield your sword, to know the Scriptures, to simply have the discipline to pull it out and read it when you need an answer, to be able to wield the sword, to get used to using the sword.

There are a lot of different training programs for soldiers, and they train and train and train — whether with a gun or with a knife — and there is far more training time for a soldier than actual battle time. And that should characterize your life: your time in the Word, training yourself, memorizing Scripture, learning sound doctrine, sitting at the feet of Jesus and being underneath the power of the Holy Spirit who is illuminating truth to you. You should have more time in the Word of God than you have fighting battles. The battles are short-lived. When Jesus was attacked by Satan in Matthew chapter 4, that was a day. And in the text there is a "day of evil" — in verse 13, it says, "Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day." So that's not just the fact that the days are evil — there is a day, oftentimes, where Satan will just bombard you, one thing after another. He's aiming to completely destroy your life. He wants to get you into sin and separated from the church and away from fellowship with Christ. He wants to obliterate. He wants to destroy your testimony. He wants to take you out of ministry. He wants to take you out of your marriage. He wants to take you out totally. And that's his aim. And so there is a day, oftentimes, where we are in a fierce battle.

Do you know how to get through a battle when that day comes? Well, just as boxers know that the battle is won before the fight actually starts, you should know that your spiritual battles are won before they even begin.

What do I mean by this? Well, in 1 Corinthians 9:26, Paul uses this spiritual metaphor of boxing. I'll read it to you. 1 Corinthians 9:26 and following: "Therefore I run in such a way as not to be without aim. I box in such a way as not just beating the air. But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." And so just as these metaphors are set before us — Olympians and boxers — all Olympians and all boxers know that you can't just show up for the competition and win.

If you're going to win, then it shows that you have been practicing and you have been training. So the ones who are practicing and the ones who are training — those are the ones who are going to win in the end. Know, fight, win. Part of this spiritual warfighting is your preparing. It's your training.

On the day of battle — and perhaps the day of battle for yourself would be a season — it may be a season of discouragement, a season of depression, a season of hardship in marriage, a season of financial hardship, or whatever. Maybe you, like the Christians whom the Apostle Peter was addressing in his two epistles, have been scattered by a tyrannical government. Who knows? Maybe a bunch of Christian-hating people have bought houses around your house and it's just terrible to live in your neighborhood. I don't know. But maybe there's a season or a day of battle. You will win if you are prepared and if you are abiding in the vine, if you're abiding in Christ.

And so boxers know that they must train and train and train and train in order to win when they get into the ring. This is a strategy that we must have, because there are strategies that Satan has. He has equipped his demons to come after you. They can poke and prod and pester you until they get a reaction. And when they see they've gotten to you, they know where to pounce. You know, the strategy of Dennis Rodman, a basketball player, was to disrupt and antagonize his opponents. He'd slap them, he'd poke them, he'd pinch them, he'd whisper disgusting things to them. He would do all kinds of things — paint his hair pink and orange, just all kinds of crazy things to try and throw his opponent off. He would even do crazy things like fly over to North Korea and befriend Kim Jong-un. And that's just crazy — and now you're going to be face to face with this guy in a competition. So he was a master of disruption. He mastered the trade of antagonizing and getting the next guy off his game. And you think Satan doesn't know how to do that better?

He knows how to poke around and slap and prod and say things to get a reaction. And if he finds a way to get into your life, then he's coming in with fangs and with claws and with fierceness. And we see throughout the Scriptures that this is true in how Satan's game plan is getting more and more fierce. In the beginning we see Satan in Genesis chapter 3 as a snake. And then we see him in 1 Peter as a lion. And then in Revelation we see him as a dragon. And so as Satan's approach is getting more and more intense, more and more fierce as the days go by — just read Matthew chapter 24 and see how it's really going to get — you'll see that you should be training, because these battles are going to be like birth pangs, becoming more and more frequent.

And so God is going to allow these things so that you wake up and recognize, "Oh, I need to be very committed to my faith. I need to train. I need to get better. I need to be a spiritual warfighter." You see, the Ephesian battleground for which they were fighting is not like what we look at when we think of wars. We think of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II — wars fought on battlegrounds, in the fields and in the jungles. But that's not this Ephesian battleground. The Ephesian battleground is much more terrible. It's waged not on the fields or in the jungles.

This war is waged in your home. This war is waged between your children and you and your parents. And children — Satan wants to turn you against your parents. There is an entire education system — the public school system — that will try to turn you against your parents. You've got to be careful not to go to school without your shield. You've got to be careful not to allow that kind of false information to come into your heart and pervert your heart and mind and turn you against your parents.

So the conflict zone is in these most precious places. The snake — he's going to slither into cracked windows. The lion — he's going to wait and pounce on you in a weak moment. The dragon — he's going to terrify you into spiritual retreat. The battle zone is within our ordinary lives. Satan aims to steal, kill, and destroy. So you need to know how to know, fight, and win.

So here's a point that you can bank on: wherever you are advancing in Christ, that is where you'll be attacked. You can bank on that. Satan hates what God is doing. And so wherever you're advancing in Christ, that's exactly where you're going to be attacked. If you are doing well in Bible study, if you are able to come on Theological Wednesday nights, if you are evangelizing and discipling, if you're homeschooling, if you're doing well in your marriage — you can bank on the fact that Satan sees that. He's scheming, developing a plan, and he's not going to execute his plan until he's sure he can succeed.

And so when that battle shows up, you can bank on the fact that you have a real battle on your hands. Take it seriously. Go to the Lord in prayer. Get in the Word of God. Treat it for what it truly is. Satan's going to assail you. But the good news is he's not going to prevail, because Matthew chapter 16, verse 18 says, "I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." And that word "build" in the Greek means to embolden and to build up. And so in the end, as Satan assails you, God uses what Satan is intending to harm you with to help you. And so the trials of our faith essentially are more precious than gold, as Peter said, because Satan actually does the dirty work of exposing where our weaknesses are. And when we see those weaknesses, we can resist, we can look to the Scriptures and see what we need to do, we can respond by abiding. We can stand. We can remain in Christ. We can be strengthened by the Lord.

And so where Christ is working, Satan is going to be attacking. The Ephesians were advancing in Christ and enjoying God's blessings. Look back in chapter 1 and you'll see just what they were enjoying. They were enjoying the blessings of Christ in verse 3. I'll read Ephesians 1:1–3. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." And so the blessings that the Ephesian church were enjoying — those of Christ — were from the heavenly places, as the text says.

Isn't it ironic that the source of attacks upon the Ephesian church was also from the heavenly places? Back in chapter 6, verse 12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and against the authorities and against the world forces of this darkness and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." And so these invisible enemies are in the heavenly places, but our blessings also come from Christ in these heavenly places. And we see from the book of Job that Satan has access to these areas and can even approach God.

And now, as we are fighting against Satan and his schemes, just recognize that wherever there is a blessing, wherever you are enjoying advancement in Christ, you can guarantee that is where Satan is going to attack. That's one of his strategies.

So we have an adversary. Satan is an adversary. The word "Satan" means adversary — it's used as a noun and is transliterated as "adversary." In Genesis chapter 27, verse 41, it reveals that Satan is an adversary, an accuser, and a murderer, and he murders through people. Esau said, "I will kill my brother." Satan tried not only to ruin that family, but he tried to ruin Job's family as well — to trick and trap and torture Job, and to transform Job into a God-hater instead of a God-worshiper.

In Job chapter 1, verses 9 to 12, it's something we need to know — "Does Job fear God without a cause?" That's what Satan is accusing here: is Job a reverent, worshiping servant of God, or is his devotion only because of the blessings? Well, the answer is that, yes, God had richly blessed Job. He was a wealthy man. He had a wonderful family. And he would personally worship God and offer sacrifices to the Lord — any type of sacrifice to try and cover the sins of his family so that they would remain in a godly way. And so Satan tried to disrupt this. Satan accused Job before God, and then Satan attacked Job. But now this is simply part of what would be a normal Christian life.

Oftentimes we as Christians look at the book of Job and think, "I don't even want to read it. I don't even want to get close to the trials that Job went through." But the trials that Job went through are simply what Christians experience. Now, there's greater heat, there are greater trials obviously, but as you see the strategies, as you see the tactics, you can also know how to protect your life.

Well, Job endured all of this as a righteous man — it's wonderful to see that story. But as a contrasting example, a pastor named Joshua Harris did not endure like Job. He departed and defected from the faith and even divorced his wife after twenty years. And now he is a coach, coaching people in an affirming way toward the LGBTQ community. He is affirming — doing all these different affirming things. Basically, whatever you want to do, he's going to use Scripture to support what you want to do, as if you are the god of your own life. This is Joshua Harris' theology, still active in what would be called ministry — but it's a pseudo-ministry, a false ministry, at clearandloud.com. And so this once dynamic man who wrote a best-selling book has now become a defector.

And the Bible says in 1 John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us." And we need to know this, because Satan is able to disguise himself as an angel of light, and people — even those who may be Satan's instruments — can be fooled into acting like Christians without really being Christians. And then in the end, they can defect.

Now for us, what this means is that you cannot have your hope and trust completely wrapped up in another person. If anything happens to someone who is close to you, you must have already had resolve in your heart and mind: "I am a Christian. I'm going to finish faithfully. I'm going to continue till the end. Know, fight, win — again and again until the end. I'm going to continue in the Word of God no matter what this world throws at me. I'm committed." There are crazy things that happen, and I don't understand everything, but I am resolved inside of my heart and soul that I'm going to be faithful — even when a Joshua Harris arises. And even with guys like Steven Lawson and Josh Bice — it breaks our hearts to see unfaithfulness. I'm not saying these men are Satan incarnate; I'm just saying their failures hurt. But you cannot shrink back. You've got to continue in the Word. This is real. The spiritual war is real. And these once-strong men succumbed to sin somewhere along the way and did not hate it. They flirted with it and allowed it.

And sin is never satisfied. Sin will always encroach. Sin will always sneak in and get more and more ground. And it's silent — it's a silent killer. It will not only embarrass you; it'll destroy you. The Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." And this is one of Satan's schemes — to convince you and me that we can flirt with just a little bit of sin because we are big enough to keep it under control. "I can tolerate a little bit of sin over here in this category of my life, because I'm able. In my pride, I can handle it." And it is foolishness.

Especially in Hebrew thought in the Old Testament, because in Hebrew thought God is the center of all things. And around the center — which they would think of as circular — you have layers of life. At the center of your home is God, Yahweh. And from there you have family and children and work — a life. Everything is centered upon God. But in our Western culture, we don't think like that. We think in compartments. We want everything to fit in a nice little box. Even in our theology, we want to make a theology that has a crystal-clear box, because we need it to make perfect sense. But that's not God — you can't put God in a box. In our culture, we think in a linear and compartmentalized way: "I do this Monday through Friday. I do this on Sunday. I do this in the evenings. I'm a good husband when I'm in front of my wife. I'm faithful to watch the right things when people are looking at me." You see how, if you compartmentalize Christianity or your life, you start to tolerate sin — and once it creeps in, it'll destroy your life.

Satan has many different titles, and they help us to understand his strategies. He is first of all a tempter — Matthew 4:3. He's also the ruler of demons — Matthew 9:34. He's known as the evil one — Matthew 13:38. He's known as the enemy — Matthew 13:39. He's known as the father of lies — John 8:44. He's a murderer — John 8:44. He's the ruler of this world — what I would call a fake ruler of this world — because Ephesians 1:21 says Christ is far above all rule and power. So don't think that Satan is the literal God of this world. God is God, and He owns the heavens and the earth, and Satan is a counterfeit ruler. He tried to tempt Christ in Matthew chapter 4 by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world. Could he actually give them? No — Christ already owns everything. He directs all of the rulers. Satan will lie to you. And then as well, Satan is known as a false god, and as the prince and power of the air — Ephesians 2:2. He's known as the ruler of darkness — Ephesians 6:12. He's an angel of light — 2 Corinthians 11:14. He's an adversary — 1 Peter 5:8. He's the evil one — 1 John 5:19. He's one who deceives — Revelation 12:9. He's the accuser of the brethren — Revelation 12:10. He's a serpent — Genesis 3:1 and Revelation 12:9. He's a dragon — Revelation 12:3. He's a roaring lion — 1 Peter 5:8.

And so we should give thanks to God for rescuing us from Satan's domain of darkness. We are now able to live in victory, though all of these adjectives describe who he is and what he does. We can live out from underneath the darkness of Satan.

And so I think that we not only should be wise about what Satan is able to do and who he is, but often we should also know that our struggle is from within. Oftentimes our struggle is from within. And in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22 — turn with me there if you would, Ephesians 4:22 — I want you to see the inner battle of our lust and deceit and confusion, falsehood, anger, theft, and unwholesome words that all grieve the Holy Spirit and all give the devil opportunity when it comes to spiritual warfighting.

And against the evil that still resides within us to a certain extent — in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22, it says, "Lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man." So as I read this, you need to know that you have the spiritual warfighting ability to lay all of these pre-converted character traits aside and be a Christian. You have the strength to abide. You can resist. You can stand. You can be a Christian. You can control what you say. You can control your actions. You don't have to be reactionary. You can walk with the Lord. You can walk in a worthy way. And Ephesians 4:22 says to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, "which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man." See that displacement principle there? The displacement principle means to put off the bad character and put on the Christ-like character. So you displace the bad character with good character. It's kind of like blessing your enemies rather than cursing them — which is a tall order. It's hard to do. But you displace what you normally would say or do with a blessing.

Now, in verse 25: "Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." When we give in to our fleshly character, we are giving the devil an opportunity to throw gas on that fire. In verse 28: "He who steals must steal no longer, but rather must labor, performing with his own hands what is good so that he will have something to share with the one who is in need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

So how are you going to fight back? Well, you're going to mortify the flesh. You're going to crucify lies and anger and all of the grievous words that could possibly come out of your mouth. Crucify those. Kill them. Root them out. Don't do them. Simply be Christians. Abide. And in doing so you're going to act like Christ. From verse 31 all the way to chapter 5, verse 2, this is how you are going to remove the sin and replace it with scriptural living.

Verse 31: "Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Instead — you see this displacement principle here — now you're going to put on these things. Verse 32: "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." This back and forth — put off, put on — continues in this book. It's wonderful to see how we can do these things.

And in our Christian life, as we've already been talking about, there simply are no safe zones, because Satan wants to enter into what is private. He wants to enter into what is pure, and he wants to disrupt it.

Let's take a look throughout the Bible and give you a spiritual warfare test. All right — we're going to come up and see our active war zones in regards to our inner being and our marriages and our children and our work. And know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but we deal with that struggle in the flesh and blood, because these spiritual forces — though they may be invisible — we deal with them in the visible.

And in order for you to take this test, all you need to do is respond to the scenario I'm going to give you with either one of two words: "stand" or "skedaddle." Let me define skedaddle for you. Skedaddle — you've got me laughing — means to flee. Okay, it's an English word, not a Greek word found in the Bible. "Skedaddle" here is just something I put in to make this test work. It means to depart quickly. So when I give you a biblical scenario, you're either going to stand or skedaddle. And that's a discernment technique that you need to know how to use in a fight. Are you going to skedaddle — run away hurriedly — or are you going to stand and fight, which means to rely on Christ, be strengthened by Him, say what the Scriptures say, and not shrink back but hold your godly ground?

Okay, are you ready? Here's your spiritual warfare test. Answer out loud if you dare — stand or skedaddle.

I'm Esau, looking at Jacob with murder on my mind. What do I do?

I'm Joseph, being tempted and seduced by Potiphar's wife. Do I stand or skedaddle?

I'm Moses, representing God's will to Pharaoh.

I'm King David, looking at Bathsheba.

I'm Daniel, faced with an order not to pray.

I'm Ezra and Nehemiah, trying to build a wall.

I'm Ezekiel, faced with warning rebellious Israelites.

I'm the depressed Jeremiah, lamenting the sins of Israel and calling for repentance.

I'm Mary, facing scrutiny from my pregnancy.

I'm Joseph, facing public humiliation.

I'm John the Baptist, faced with telling the truth to Herod.

I'm Paul, being tried before Caesar.

I'm Timothy, being allured by the workers of Diana's temple.

All through the Bible you see that we need spiritual discernment to be able to know whether we stand or skedaddle. And oftentimes it's a bit of both — but nevertheless, standing is saying what the Scriptures say. As you are faced with temptations and allurements and schemes of the devil, you need to know how to say what the Scriptures say and to be able to stand upon the Word of God. And when we take a stand, we are simply, humbly saying, "I am a Christian, and I'm owned and operated by God. I can do no other" — as Martin Luther said. "I have to do what's right."

Psalm 119:89 says, "Forever, O Yahweh, Your Word stands in heaven." And so our law — the law to which we yield — is the highest law above the law of the land. The law that we have is settled in heaven; it's not for negotiation here on earth. And so our law — the one we are subject to — keeps us. It tells us what to do. It helps us. We are supported by this law. We are upheld by this law. We are sustained and kept safe by this law.

I beg and plead for you today to make sure that every area of your life is centered upon the Word of Christ. If it's not biblical, don't do it. And if you are doing something that is unbiblical, repent and run to Jesus as fast as you can. Do not leave that door cracked open, because Satan is going to rip it off the hinges and come in like a snake, or like a lion, or like a dragon, and metaphorically rip you to shreds. When everything that you have and hold precious to you is torn to pieces, everything changes. It's just terrible. And so I beg and I plead for you to do what's most important: to know the Word of God, to fight the good fight of faith through the Scriptures with Christ. And you will win the battles that God has foreordained for you to win.

God hates divorce — He doesn't want to see any of the wonderful marriages in this room end in divorce. God loves children — He doesn't want to see any children fall away from the faith. God loves families — He doesn't want to see any families broken up. And God loves orderliness — He doesn't want any business to fall apart because of lawlessness or sin. So in all of these areas, we've got to stand for righteousness.

And you can stand — and this is important — you can stand if you are being empowered by Christ, because at the beginning of the spiritual warfare passage, "be strong in the Lord" means to be strengthened by Christ. He strengthens those who are His. And so the unregenerate ones do not know what it means to be emboldened or strengthened by Christ. You see, Paul prayed at the end of this passage — he asked the Ephesian church to pray that he would be bold in his faith, to be able to say the mystery of the gospel confidently and clearly. And so I ask you today: are you ones who know what it feels like and what it means to be corrected by the Word of God and to be strengthened by His power?

Have you been in a desperate situation and gone to the Lord in prayer? Have you gone to the Word of God? Have you seen the answer, and has the Holy Spirit illuminated that truth to your mind? And has your heart been encouraged, and have you overcome issues and trials and temptations and schemes? Because Christians do. Christians are overcomers. They don't stay in the slumps of sin. They don't stay in the swamps of sin. They feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They're prompted to repent. And then not only do they confess, but they are cleansed. True Christians know how good it is to confess their sin and be cleansed of the guilt and the shame. Christ bore all of that on the cross for those who would repent and believe. Christians know what it is to regularly repent, regularly confess.

So if you are not a Christian, if you have never repented of your sin, turned away from the wickedness of this world, if you've never confessed that to Christ, if you've never been truly saved — God does not want you to be unregenerate. He wants you to be regenerated. And so confess Him as Lord and Savior. Believe in your heart that He died on the cross and rose again, and you shall be saved. Come to Jesus. Turn from your own strength.

You see in the passage that this is something that you not only are strengthened by Christ to do, but that you put on. There is a unification between the two of you as you fight in this world — a partnership between you and Him: your effort, His empowerment. But if you're not a Christian, you don't know what it means to be strengthened. And so come to Jesus. Repent of your sin. Sin will only destroy, destroy, destroy, and keep you from Christ and keep you from Him eternally. And I pray that as you come to Jesus and confess in prayer and call out to His name, that He would save you and bring you into a right relationship with Him. You would escape the wrath of God upon the sin that you have committed and the punishment that you have deserved. So if you're not saved, be saved today.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You so much for the opportunity to come and feast upon Your Word. And as we go through Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 and following, in regards to spiritual warfighting, I pray, Father, that the saints have been encouraged today in how to fight correctly and how to abide in Your Word and walk with You, to be strengthened by You, and that they know a little bit more about the evil one's agenda and his strategies. I pray, Lord, that You empower us to be able to stand on the day of evil and to be able to resist the temptations of the devil. Let no man here give in to lust, to pornography, to adultery. God, I pray that You let no woman here give in to lust and adultery and even pornography. I pray, dear Jesus, that You would keep us all underneath the shelter of Your wing. Keep us safe. Give us the strength. Make that way of escape on the day of temptation very clear. Help us, dear Jesus, to flee from our youthful lusts. Help us, dear Jesus, to be ones who are found faithful in Your sight. Keep us as we finish this race of faith here on earth — help us to finish strong. Help us, dear God, I pray, to know how to do this — to fight and win, again and again until the end. We love You. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.