So please turn with me to chapter 6 of Ephesians, and we
will be looking at verses 10 through 20.
So give me one moment to turn there in my own Bible.
All right? This is the passage about the
whole armor of God, which is probably one of the most famous
passages in the Bible. And there's a reason for that,
because it is so important for a Christian to remember the
defense that God has given to him, to fight the battles that
will come to him every single day, and his walk with Christ.
I'm grateful to be able to share a message here at Mount Victory
once more, and I have been in prayer to the Lord that this
message will help all of us, including myself, arm ourselves
with everything we need for the spiritual battle, not only in
all of our lives, but also the battles that we face together as
a church. Let's read this passage
together. And then I want to focus down on
2 particular verses. So once again, it's Ephesians
chapter 6, verses 10 through 20. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the Wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to
stand. Stand therefore having your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace, above all taking the shield of faith,
wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints.
And for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open
my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel for
which I am an ambassador, and bonds, that therein I may speak
boldly as I ought to speak. The reason this passage is so
powerful is because it outlines everything we need to be
competent and ready soldiers of Jesus Christ, ready to serve Him
at a moment's notice. Verse 10 shows that we need the
Lord's might, not our own. Verse 11 shows that we need the
whole armor of God, not an armor we made or just pieces of His
armor, in order to stand against our ancient foe, the devil.
Verse 12 shows that we need to keep in mind our enemy is the
devil and his angels, not the flesh and blood men and women
that stand before us. Verse 13 shows that we need to
stand no matter how evil the day is and not back down.
For if we as Christians do not stand, who is?
Who is going to stand? Because we're the only ones that
have the truth in this world of lies.
As verse 14 shows, we need to gird ourselves with that truth
and make it a point to be truthful in all that we do.
This same verse teaches us that we need to be righteous with the
righteousness of Christ because this world has gone about to
make its own righteousness that falls woefully short of God's
standard. Verse 15 shows that we need to
be ready to share the gospel of peace at a moment's notice,
which is why it's the feet that are shod, because we need to
firmly stand on the gospel and be quick to share it with others
without compromise. Verse 17 shows that we need the
helmet of salvation because we can never forget the great
salvation the Lord gave to us when we put our faith in His Son
Jesus Christ and how much the Law centers all around us and
our family, our friend groups at work, how much they need it.
Then verses 1819 and 20 show us that we need to stay in prayer
with our fellow Saints, just as some of us did tonight our
fellow soldiers of Christ. Otherwise the gospel will be
hindered because it is the prayers of Saints filled with
the Holy Ghost that open up the mouths of our preachers and
evangelists that they may boldly share the gospel with others.
Now you may or may not have noticed that I skipped over 2
parts of the whole armor of God, the Shield of Faith and the
Sword of the Spirit because these two armaments, the shield
and the sword, are what I want to talk about tonight.
And thus my message is titled The Lord's Armaments.
This message came to me when I was listening to Pastor Simeon
Western's preaching when he was with us a week and a half ago.
Particularly his message during the Sunday morning service.
His message from Isaiah 6 and the vision that Isaiah had of
the Lord stirred the Spirit inside of me.
Especially his final point about Isaiah's Commission that he
received from the Lord and Isaiah 6.
It says this in verse 8. Also I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Then said I. Here am I send me.
This was a powerful question from the Lord, because it was
him asking who he was going to personally send to speak to his
people. And Isaiah answered the call
with a simple Here am I send me. And the Lord used Isaiah
mightily afterward to deliver all that he had to say to his
people, Judah and Jerusalem. But what stirred the Spirit in
me so much was when Brother Simeon spoke about why aren't we
seeing more people following this same call from the Lord.
He asked, did the Lord stop calling people?
Did he stop sending people to speak to the masses?
And of course, he answered his own questions.
It's not that the Lord stopped sending messengers, it's that
the people who are supposed to be His messengers of this age,
Christian men and women in the 21st century, are so full of sin
and unrighteousness that they cannot hear the voice of the
Lord any longer. Now that is a powerful rebuke
and is aimed toward all of us, including myself.
We live in an age of temptations with abominable sins that are a
few swipes away on our cell phones.
Simeon talked about that and sadly, the church has been taken
captive by these horrible sins. It is one thing if a lost Sinner
can't hear the voice of the Lord.
Their heart is hardened. They don't have the Spirit of
God. The devil keeps snatching the
seeds of the gospel out of his heart.
Now that makes us sad because this lost Sinner won't hear the
Lord's voice, but in a way we understand because of his
condition. You know, I was that lost Sinner
for 28 years and sometimes I feel conviction.
You know, there was one Christian in my life that did
try to share the gospel, my grandfather, Johnny.
But I got very uncomfortable sometimes talking to him because
I'd feel that conviction. I know that was the Lord
speaking to me through him. But at the same time, you
understand, I was lost. I didn't want to feel that
conviction. So you'd say it's sad, but we
get wise. Ignoring the Lord's voice.
Right, because he loves his. Sin more than he wants to turn
to the Lord, more than he wants the blood of Jesus Christ.
But when a saved child of God has been so beguiled and
hypnotized by the temptations of the world and holds out his
arms, begging the world to put the chains of sin back on his
wrist, we have a problem. That child of God is not going
to hear anything the Lord wants from him because he is too busy
listening to all the other voices of the world and all the
sin that is waiting for him to dive into now.
I believe the Lord gave Simeon a great message for us, a great
rebuke of how we need to reject the sins of the world and get
right with our Savior God again so that we can answer Him when
He calls us. But that part of the message
made me think about a Christian's defense against
temptation and against falling into sin.
What does a Christian have to fight back against the lies and
deceptions of this world, so that when the Lord calls, He is
not only ready to answer the call, but has already been
trained and equipped to fight the battle the Lord has called
him to. What a Christian has and needs
is the Lord's armaments. Understand, we must wear the
helmet of salvation on our head, the breastplate of righteousness
on our body, the truth on our loins, and the gospel on our
feet. If we reliably wear these pieces
of armor every day, it will help us stand against the enemy's
attacks and to resist giving in to the temptations that are
directed against our flesh. Then we can be sanctified and
walking properly with our Lord, so that when He does call us, we
can answer without our ears being stopped up with our sin.
But these pieces of the Lord's armor are passive.
They're worn on your body, but technically you don't use them
in combat. You don't swing around your head
as a weapon like that. You don't attack.
Someone with your breastplate. They are passive pieces of
armor, but a shield and a sword are attached to your arm and
your hand. Your arms are what you use
during a fight to do all the work.
In battle, you have to direct your shield in order to defend
yourself. It doesn't automatically block
an attack if it's hanging at your side like this.
If you have an attack coming from your right, this isn't
going to do anything to help you.
You're going to take that the brunt of that attack head on.
The same is true for the sword. You can't do anything with the
sword if it's attached to your hip.
Now if an enemy sees that sword in the sheath on your side,
maybe they'll be intimidated, Maybe they'll stop from
attacking. But the second your enemy
decides he might be able to defeat you, he's not really
going to pull out that sword and he decides to launch an attack.
That sword can do nothing for you unless it comes out of the
scabbard and you use it to counter attack.
And the sword is even more set apart from the shield and the
rest of the armor of God because it is the only piece that can be
used truly offensively. You can't attack someone with a
helmet or a pair of shoes. You can try to throw the shoes
of the gospel at somebody and it might hit them on the head and
sting. For a bit.
But it's not an effective weapon.
It's the gospel of peace. You can tackle someone with the
shield of faith, but that's just going to knock them down for a
few seconds. They might be astounded by your
faith for a few seconds, but the only way to truly defeat your
enemy for good is with the. Sword.
It is your exclusive offensive weapon in the fight against
darkness, and it requires you to actively attack the darkness
back. All this said, I want to speak
on the Shield of Faith 1st and then we will discuss more about
the Sword of the Spirit. Let's pray together and then we
will look more closely at this pair of armaments the Lord has
given to us. Heavenly Father, I pray to thee
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, I'm so thankful for the message you've given me tonight,
Lord, and I pray that through the power of your Holy Spirit, I
preach it effectively. Lord.
You've given us these weapons, Lord, these armaments, the sword
of the Spirit and the shield of faith.
O Lord, please help us. Help your children, O Lord, in
this dark age that we're living in.
Use these armaments effectively, O Lord, to attack and to defend,
O Lord. To attack and to defend, Lord,
if we don't use these weapons, O Lord, the enemy wins without
having to fire a shot, Lord, without having to fire a shot,
Lord. So please help us, O Lord, to
use the the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith, O Lord,
So all these things I ask in your wonderful name, my Lord
Jesus Christ, please be with us tonight, Amen.
Now let's read again about the shield of faith from this
passage in verse 16. So once again Ephesians chapter
6 verse 16, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Now when it comes to the shield of faith, the strength of this
first armament is directly proportional to our faith for
which it is named. With how important faith is to
God, we need to make sure we are constantly taking stock of the
condition of our shield. How can we make sure it is
tempered and strong and it won't crack the second we come into
battle? We can start by asking the Lord
the same simple prayer the apostles did in the gospel of
Luke. And if you want to turn over to
Luke 17 verses 5 and 6, we can do that all together.
So give me one moment while I turn to my own Bible.
So once again, that's Luke 17 verses 5 and 6.
So I'll start at verse 5. And the apostles said under the
Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if he had
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say, under this
sick of mine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be
thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.
The Lord's people asked him to increase their faith.
And he did exactly that. He told them just how powerful
that true faith is, even if it's just a small bit of true faith.
We need to come to our God in the name of Jesus and ask Him to
increase our faith as well. We need to put aside our fear of
asking the Lord because we know that many times when we ask the
Lord to increase our faith, He will likely do it through a
trial or a test. It's just as James said.
You receive not because you ask not.
We need to ask to increase our faith.
We need to ask the. Lord, to put something in our
way that's going to make us rely on Him and increase our faith in
Him and His promises from His Word, and we need that to make
our shield stronger. 2 verses from Hebrews illustrate the
importance of strengthening the shield of faith when it comes to
us personally and toward God. They are both in Hebrews Chapter
11, if you would like to turn there.
So let's turn there together. It's going to be in Hebrews
Chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. All right, so Hebrews Chapter
11, and we'll start at the very beginning with verses 1 and 2.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a
good report. This is what sets apart the
shield of faith from the Shields made by mortal men.
You cannot see it with your mortal eyes, but it's completely
based on your hope and trust and God and His promises towards
you. Many times you won't even know
how strong your faith truly is until it is tested.
Imagine having a shield on your arm that you've been asking the
Lord to make stronger, but you can't see how big it is, how
thick it is, and what material it's made out of.
But you still have to hold it up when the attack comes and trust
that is going to stop that attack.
That is faith. You can't take a measuring cup
and pour your faith in it to see how much you have.
Many times the only reason we know we have any faith at all is
because someone else sees our faith and tells us the condition
of it. But we can have confidence even
though we can't see our faith because of verse 2, for by it
the elders obtained a good report.
Now the rest of Chapter 11, as many of you know, is called the
Hall of Faith because of the many Saints like Enoch and Noah
that are named here for their mighty acts of faith.
But we don't need to go that far back in history to see the
reward of faith. If you want to know the power of
faith, just look around at the elders in this very church.
There are men and women in here who have walked with the Lord
for decades, some of them since they were children.
You want the Lord to increase your faith.
You want your field, your shield of faith to be stronger, Then
look to the faith of these men and women that sit around you.
They are your fellow soldiers in Christ, and you can see just how
strong faith can be if you looked at them as an example.
You see, we are soldiers, and any soldier worth his salt knows
that the only way he is going to be effective is to learn from
soldiers with much more experience in the field of
battle than he has. When your General Jesus Christ
assigned you to this church, He gave you experienced men and
women you can turn to in order to increase your faith and give
you a stronger shield than the one you have.
If you're a young Christian, your shield is not going to be
able to handle the biggest attacks this world assaults you
with. And when I say young Christian,
I mean age or since you were born again.
You need older Christians who have been through the battles
before to share their experiences, the miracles the
Lord has done in their life, the trials that the Lord has brought
them through, and the mighty answers to prayer that God has
given them. This is how you.
Increase your shield of faith to resist the temptations that the
devil sends against you. We know that the elders received
a good report from God by their faith.
We'll look around at the elders that God has given you to fight
side by side with and see the report of their faith.
They prove that the shield of faith is not like Saul's armor
he tried to give to David. That was not tested or proven in
spiritual battle. But there is a real shield that
can stand the test of every battle that comes against you.
I know that's one of the biggest ways to strengthen my own faith.
You know, especially when you feel weak in your faith.
Talk to your brothers and sisters, talk to them and say,
hey, I'm going through a tough time.
I I just need to something to remind me that the Lord's hear
from you and many times it's hearing a dark time in your life
when maybe you didn't even think the.
Lord was there. Until you got on the other side
of the trial, until you got on the other side of the temptation
and the Lord saw you through it. And that's exactly what you need
to hear. I mean, it helps me so much.
I mean, I remember when I first got saved, the one thing that
helped me realize just how amazing and wonderful what
happened to me was, was I was, I was so addicted to watching
testimonies online of how people got saved.
It just made me marvel and it made me want to share the gospel
some more, much more with other people.
I'm like, I know people in my life.
I want that to be them with tears in their eyes, talking
about how the Lord plucked them out of.
Darkness. Now let's read verse 6 together
in Hebrews Chapter 11. So we're going to skip down a
few verses to Hebrews chapter. Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 6.
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he
that cometh to God must believe that He is and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
So This is why it is so important to strengthen your
shield of faith because you cannot please God without faith.
It is not pleasing to God if the only time you exhibit any faith
is when you're sitting here in church.
If you're like Solomon and you make these golden, beautiful
Shields and you hang them up in your house and you walk outside
without it, then you are useless in battle.
That shield does you no good if you only put it on while you're
in the House of God and then take it off before you step
outside. That means your shield is just a
decoration, like the glittering Shields of gold of Solomon.
It is not meant for the battle only to make your fellow
soldiers think you're one of them.
There is the phrase stolen valor that we use when someone
pretends to be in the military or pretends that they saw a live
combat when really they were just a civilian or they worked
on a military base and here in America and never saw a live
combat. That's what having a golden
shield of faith that you never use is.
You can show it off, claim that you have a great faith in God
and his promises, and maybe you can impress all of us.
We're just flesh and blood people, and we can't see with
their two eyes if the faith you have that you're wearing on your
arm is even there. But God knows.
He knows the difference between a real thick steel shield and a
golden shield that's just meant for decoration.
And I will warn you that if you do not seek after God.
As this verse states. If we do not ask our Lord Jesus
to increase our faith, our faith as his disciples did, that your
faith will be weak and your shield of faith will crack clean
in half when the battle comes. When that atheist asks you why
do you even believe in God and your mouth is stopped up, you
can't think of a single reason why you even have faith.
That's your shield cracking in half.
Your shield wasn't ready for the battle.
When monetary issues come and you panic and your first
solution is to find any way you can solve them, Putting it on a
credit card, taking a second job and asking other people for
money rather than coming to God and prayer and continuing and
hoping His deliverance and waiting for His answer.
That's your shield cracking in half.
Your shield wasn't ready for the battle.
And that's just two examples. But why was your shield not
ready for those battles? Why didn't you have a good
answer for that atheist when he tested your faith?
Why did you have zero trust in God to save you from that
terrible financial situation? It's because you have not asked
God to increase your faith. You didn't seek after that faith
that you see in your brothers and sisters around you, nor did
you seek after the faith that the men and women the Bible
speaks of had, like Abraham and Sarah realize.
That when you read the amazing promises that God gave to people
like Abraham and Sarah, when he gave them Isaac, that happened.
That was a literal miracle that happened.
It's an amazing miracle. And if God can give Abraham and
Sarah and a child at that age, he can deliver you in whatever.
Situation you're in, whether it is a personal issue, it's a
personal battle. It's it's, it's a trial.
It's a test the Lord is giving you.
If he can do that for them, he can do it for you.
He can deliver you out of that situation, saying when you face
the atheist or the Mormon or the Muslim, whoever it is that's
questioning your faith and saying why do you believe this?
Why do you think Jesus died on that cross?
Is there any historical evidence of that?
When you get asked that, just immediately think God, you can
give me the answer because a lot of times they're testing your
faith. And if you give that answer, you
might just plant that seed of the gospel in their heart.
But when you're too scared to answer, when your shield of
faith falls off, think about it. Now that's a soul that's going
to stay in that darkness. They're going to keep believing
there's no God. They're going to keep believing
in a false God. We have to be ready with the
real shield of faith to withstand that attack.
You let your faith be nothing more than a decoration for
others to see, but had no real faith of your own.
And not. I'm not only talking about
saving faith here. Obviously, if you don't even
have saving faith, that if you don't really believe that the
Lord Jesus Christ died a terrible death on the cross for
your miserable sins so that you could be saved from the death
and how you deserve, then you're definitely not going to be able
to have a real shield of faith because you're still a member of
the Kingdom of darkness and the Lord does not give his shield of
faith to his enemy. But there are countless,
countless Christians who have saving faith, yet do not have
the faith to stand in any of the battles that the Lord allows
them to participate in. Why is that?
Is it because you have just that shield of gold on your arm that
sparkles in the light but snaps in the fight?
When the enemy comes, will he take that shield away and show
everyone that it was pretty but worthless, Just as when Shishak
came and took away the Shields of gold from the King's house?
And you don't have to turn here, but here's the verses from First
Kings chapter 14, verses 25 and 26.
And it came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that
Sheshak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, and he took
away the treasures of the House of the Lord, and the treasures
of the King's house. He even took away all, and he
took away all the Shields of gold which Solomon had.
Made he proved that they were just Shields of gold.
They weren't made for the battle.
You need to strengthen your faith in God and to temper your
shield of faith. Ask God to increase your faith.
If you find that you can't remember all the good things
that God has done for you and it's making your faith weak,
then write them down. I keep a note on my phone called
Holy Spirit Moments with a long list of answers to prayer or
times when I got filled with the Holy Ghost of God and was able
to witness to someone. If you feel weak, look at that
list and remind yourself that you serve a real God, a real
Savior, and then he is present with you and that.
You have a real shield of faith. You just, maybe you forgot to
put it on that day and you just need to put it on.
Or maybe you forgot it was your arm.
Or maybe your arm fell asleep. It's there.
This will keep your shield of faith strong, and it will help
you to resist the temptations of this evil world that threatened
to swallow you up if you fall to every temptation.
To get wrathful. To get envious.
To gossip, to drink alcohol, to look at pornography, to lust
after a woman. To lie at your job, To get money
dishonestly. To tell a dirty joke, To spew
curse words, to smoke cigarettes, to watch dirty
movies, to play violent video games, and to worship the idols
of this world with your time and energy.
Then, my friend, I don't believe you have a very strong shield of
faith. No, it seems like you're not
even wearing the rest of the armor of God either, because
those temptations are the attacks of the enemy and if you
fall to any one of them. Or to every.
Single one of them, then you have been defeated in the battle
and you have proven that. Either your shield was weak or
just a decoration and you were not a real soldier of Jesus
Christ. And we all lose battles.
I lose battles too. But if you're losing every
single battle and every time the Lord gives you an opportunity to
fight in the battle to raise that shield of faith and show,
hey, I'm a Christian, I'm going to stand on the word of God.
And many times there's attacks come and a place we're not
comfortable with defending against them.
I'll tell you, at my job, I see them.
Somebody says something very unbiblical and I just have the
perfect answer and I don't say it.
And we're alone. It's not like there's anybody
around to hear us except for that man myself and God.
But he just gave me an opportunity to block that attack
and be a witness for him. He even gave me the words to
speak. And if I don't?
Speak them then. I just lost the battle.
The enemy came and I wasn't strong enough.
Beg God to strengthen your faith.
If you had even a little bit of faith, then you have a very.
Large shield. You can resist the tempters call
to return to the filth of this world.
You don't have to listen to that garbage music in your car.
You don't have to put those disgusting videos from the
Internet in front of your eyes. You don't have to speak lies
because you think it's the only way to protect your job.
You will lift your shield and block the fiery darts of the
wicked, as it says in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17, and take
the helmet of salvation. Oh, sorry, above all, sorry.
It's verse 16 of Ephesians chapter 6.
Excuse me. Above all, taking the shield of
faith, where with ye shall ye? Shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked. Not only are God's promises
sure, but His shield of faith. Is sure it says shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Now I quickly want to talk about the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God. So you don't have to turn back
to Ephesians chapter 6. I'm going to go ahead and read
it. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 and
take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God. Now a sword is an amazing
armament because it can be used defensively and offensively as
well. You can parry and block attacks
with it, but still it is the only armament of the Lord's
armor that can be used offensively.
To fully understand the offensive power of this weapon,
we must return to the book of Hebrews, this time to chapter 4
and verses 12 and 13. So go ahead and turn over there.
Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12 and 13.
So I'm going to start with verse 12.
For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any 2
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of
the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His
sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him
with whom we have to do. These two verses demonstrate why
the sword of the spirit is the most feared weapon in the world.
A gun can't Pierce your soul and spirit, neither can a bomb see
the very intent of your heart. This weapon, the sword of the
spirit, is spiritually razor sharp and the two edged swords
that men make are like butter knives next to it.
This is a weapon we have to respect and learn to wield and
to do it with discipline and safety, because this weapon can
not only cut open our enemy, but cut open ourselves if we do not
use it properly. Above all, notice in verse 13
that it says neither is there any creature that is not
manifest in His sight. That is the power of the Word of
God, which is the sword of the Spirit.
There is no creature, no, not man, woman, nor Angel that is
not manifest in His sight. That is the power of the Bible
of the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, that even
the fallen angels of Satan can be defeated and battled by this
weapon. They're not scared of a nuclear
weapon they're scared of. This They want this to stay on
your dashboard, they want it to stay on your shelf, they want it
to stay open in your house. But you never.
Read it. They are terrified that you will
pick up this weapon and use it against them.
There is a reason why James wrote this in his epistle and
you don't have to turn to James. But this is from James chapter 2
verse 19. Thou believest, there is one
God. Thou doest well.
The devil's believe also and tremble.
The devil's tremble not only before the one true God, but
they tremble before the. Might of His word I believe
someone recently said I think it's from Psalm, Psalm 138 verse
2 that the Lord has said He has exalted his word above.
His own name. Now think about it.
If at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue
shall confess, if Jesus has been given a name above every name,
God's word is exalted above everything above His.
Own name. There's a reason.
Why the devil? Fears this, this, this word,
because God says it's above everything in this world.
Remember that when Christ was tempted in the wilderness by
Satan, and actually I love it because Brian mentioned this in
his own message this past Sunday.
Remember that when Christ was tempted in the wilderness by
Satan, he unsheathed the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God at every temptation of Satan.
And remember, Satan is the commander of the armies of hell
that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Almighty commander that
leads the armies of heaven that Jesus met.
This foe with the Bible, the Bible is the sword of the spear
and our Lord Jesus Christ this was his weapon of.
Choice against the devil. And in fact, he quoted it in
Matthew chapter 4, verse four. And this is what he said to
Satan. But he answered and said, it is
written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceeded out of the mouth of God.
This powerful verse of Scripture packed a double punch because
not only is it a verse from the Bible that he used, but it's a
verse that commands us to live by every other verse of the
Bible. And notice Satan had no answer.
What did he do instead? He just moved on to the next
temptation, the next attack, because he could not withstand
the assault from the sword of the Spirit.
Learning to use this powerful weapon the same way our Lord
Jesus Christ did is key if we are going to answer the Lord's
call. You have the shield of faith and
you can have the armor of God, and you can survive temptations.
You can get through trials and you can resist lies because your
faith is grounded in the Lord and in His prominence, promises,
and in His Word. But we know the goal of a
soldier is not just to survive a battle.
When the Lord Jesus Christ made us all soldiers in His army, He
doesn't expect us to just sit here in our castle and defend
ourselves. No, just like any king, his
armies are used for both defense and offense.
We have to leave. The castle eventually, and I'm
not just talking about physically, I'm talking about
spiritually. We can't just let our armor and
our sword and our shield stay here in church and then we walk
out there. People don't even know we know
the Lord. We've got to carry it with us so
that everyone, when they see us coming, when the devil see us
coming, they say that's a soldier of Jesus Christ.
We got to be ready. Eventually we have to attack the
enemy. We have to leave the castle and
launch our own assaults. The fortresses and strongholds
of the enemy eventually turn to 2nd Corinthians.
Chapter. 10 and look at verses 3 through 6.
So once again, that Second Corinthians.
Chapter 10 and we're looking at verses 3 through 6.
So I'm going to start at verse 3.
In chapter 10 of Second Corinthians.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ, and having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your
obedience is fulfilled. We do not war after the flesh,
but we war against all the high things in this world that exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God as revealed in the Holy
Scriptures. We see those.
Things every day What? Exalts itself against the
knowledge of God. The entertainment industry, they
make no mention of God. In fact, most of those actors
and actresses, they live lives contrary to God.
We know they live wicked lives, and yet many of us continue to
go watch their movies. And even though they exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God, their movies make no
mention of them. It's like in those movies, it's
a reality where God doesn't exist.
And if they do make mention of them, it's to blasphemy His
name. Or what about soap science,
falsely so-called today we talked about it in this church.
You know, I know no one in this church would profess to believe
in The Big Bang and evolution. But think about the entire world
is beguiled by those things. The entire world.
There are whole nations that believe that That's fact, even
though we know it's not. The evidence doesn't bear it
out. We can see the hand of our
Creator and everything, and yet that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God. And it's our job to take this
mighty. Spiritual weapon that.
God has given us and cast down that stronghold of the enemy,
this sword. Of the Spirit is mighty to the
pulling down of strongholds, and this sword is a revenger against
all disobedience to the Word of God.
What are the? Strongholds of the.
Enemy What and. Where are we supposed to be
attacking? Well before we.
Run off to the war. We have to make sure our sword
is sharp. So I'm going to answer those
questions, but let's sharpen our sword a bit.
You have to make sure you know how to use your sword too.
So Second Timothy 2 verse 15 says this study to show thyself
approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
You, you have to study the word of God.
You have to understand salvation by faith in Jesus Christ and by
the grace of God. You have to understand the need
to be born again. You can't share half the gospel
with somebody. You have to understand the
difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation
and the baptism by water that shows publicly you are a
follower of Christ. Because that's another law
that's going around today that baptism saves that.
Oh look, that's what washes away your sins.
You have to study these verses that people come against you
with. And that's one that I saw just
today. I meant I go online, I get an
Internet arguments with people because it sharpens my sword of
faith. So I know how to counter these
things. And that's something someone
said today. Acts chapter 22, verse 16, when
Paul was recounting his salvation, you know, I believe
it was before some other believers and he was, he was
talking about how Ananias, he was recurring what Ananias said
about how he put his hands upon the Apostle Paul and how and,
and the and the person only quoted part of it where it where
it said and wash your sins away. And the person was saying, see
Paul's sins were washed away after he got baptized, but they
didn't read the whole verse where it said calling upon the
name of the Lord. That's what Wash just sends
away. He called upon the name of the
Lord and the and then he felt as it were scales fall from his
eyes, the blindness he was under.
He was saved. He was now a man of God born
again. And that's just one of the many
lies that we're up against. That's a stronghold of the
enemy. And maybe you can.
Withstand it, but if you don't. Attack it back.
Guess what? It's going to fool other people.
And the more and more confused that someone is about how they
can come to the Lord Jesus Christ, that it's by faith and
that's by the grace of God, the less and less likely they are to
come to the Lord. They're going to get baptized
and think that that was salvation, even though they
never really had a true faith in the Lord.
We've got to stand against those things, those.
Are the strongholds of the enemy and we have to study the Word of
God to understand that. You have to understand the deity
of Christ, that He is God, manifest in the flesh, and is
one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
You have to understand the difference between the holy and
the profane and know what the Lord considers to be sin.
So you can avoid, that's another example.
A lot of people are falling into a lot of sins because people are
going around and saying, well, that specific sin is not
mentioned in the Bible. The Bible never mentions
marijuana in it, right? I mean, that's the Lord's
healing herb. He, he, he sent it here to heal
us of our diseases, right? Someone could say that.
And you, and what are you going to do?
How are you going to fight them with the Bible?
What verse are you going to use against that to show them what
you're mistaken? That is not how we're supposed
to abuse God's creation. Right, And I can think of one
verse off the top of my head. That's one I've been memorizing
recently. Second Thessalonians from
chapter 5 to prove all things. Hold fast to that which.
Is good, right? Well, we can see the effects.
Of that drug on society. I can use that one verse.
The Lord commands me to prove all things.
The Lord also. Commanded me to.
Test fruits, you shall know them by their fruits.
What all something does is bear horrible fruit and turn people
into drug addicts and get them addicted to more drugs and tear
apart their families and cost them their jobs.
No, that's not something sent by the Lord.
OK, that's you're using it the wrong way.
That plant, whatever it is, you're using it the wrong way
and you have to be ready to stand against these things.
And the only way you can do it is to study the Word of God.
That is how you sharpen your sword.
You memorize verses about all these subjects.
Not just memorizing them, by the way, but understanding them.
Not just so you can explain them to others, but so that you can
use them to attack the lives of the enemy that in this day and
age are practically everywhere. Another way to sharpen your.
Sword, and make sure you know how to use it, is to study with
your brothers and sisters in Christ.
As it says in Proverbs 2717, iron sharpeneth iron, so a man
sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
You have to discuss the scriptures with your fellow
soldiers. You have to sharpen each other
and encourage each other not just to memorize, but to
understand the verses you are memorizing.
And this is funny because I think once again, Brian
mentioned Johnny Junior, but I have him here too.
This is why aspiring Marines like Johnny Junior, he went to
boot camp and and it's why. He trained with his fellow.
Soldiers. It's to strengthen his skills
for combat. It is the.
Same for those of us in the Lord's Army.
And I'm happy that Johnny Junior is not only a Marine, but more
importantly, A fellow soldier. In the Lord's Army, the same
principles apply. If you do not train and sharpen
your swords together with your friends and the Lord, with your
fellow soldiers and the Lord, then you are going to falter
when you go to attack the enemy and fight.
In fact, you might walk into an enemy stronghold thinking it's a
safe castle to hide in. You have to study the Word of
God and keep your sword sharp to identify the strongholds of the
enemy and to attack them. And you must attack them.
You can't just walk, watch from a distance and hope one day that
that stronghold is going to fall.
Oh, Lord, I'm just watching from a distance.
You know, you can send them. They can attack that stronghold.
I'm going to stand back here. I'll just watch the battle you
have. To attack using the weapon that
God gave you, his sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God. Ephesians states this in chapter
5 and verses 10 through 12, so you can turn there if you like.
I've got the verses here. So it's Ephesians chapter 5,
verses 10 through 12. Actually, I'm going to turn
there in my Bible as well. So once more, I'm going to start
at Ephesians. Chapter 5, verse 10 proving what
is acceptable unto the Lord. And there it is once more, by
the way. Proving what is acceptable under
the Lord. We have to.
Prove things according to the Word of God, verse 11 and have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret.
We have to know the Word of God to prove what is acceptable to
the Lord, and this is how we identify these unfruitful works
of darkness, that we are commanded to reprove these
shameful things that are done. By wicked men.
And day by day more and more of those things come to light.
We are commanded to. Reprove.
That means expose. Them it's a command.
The Lord's not. Just suggesting we do it.
We have. To attack the enemy.
And remember our verses from Hebrews chapter 4 and I'll read
them again. It's Hebrews chapter 4, verses
12 and 13. For the Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any 2 edged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and
Morrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked
and opened under the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
It is the Word of God that slices so sharp through these
works of darkness and makes them manifest in our sight.
We have to fight as soldiers against these works of darkness
and the Word of God will reveal what those works of darkness are
to you, but only if you stay in His Word.
You pray to the Lord to give you understanding by the power of
His Holy Spirit, and if you resist that sin, that is
stopping up your ears from hearing the Lord's call to
battle. Now I am almost done, and I wish
I could expand much more about these works of darkness that the
Lord has given us the shield of faith to resist.
And the sword of the Spirit to. Attack.
But I will briefly speak on them.
These works of darkness that you must actively attack.
And these and, and keep in mind, these works of darkness are
everywhere today in our country. America feels like a madhouse.
There's so many lies, so many false ways, so much evil.
These works of darkness that you must actively attack are
apostate religions that claim the name of Christ, like
Catholicism, Mormonism, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and even
Islam that claims Christ was a prophet of Allah.
We have all that here in America.
And we're meeting more. And more of those people every
day. I know the Mormons are very
active in this area. I've talked to them before, I've
gotten in little debates with them and tried to share the Word
of God. And I'm grateful that sometimes
they do take a gospel tract. I just have to pray that the
Lord has them look at it and they don't just throw it away.
But you have to have your sword. Of the Spirit.
Ready. Because remember those people
who's really behind them, that Mormon that's standing there?
He's standing outside of Wawa. Or he approached you at a
shopping mall and he starts asking you, hey, do you want to
come to church with me? You have an opportunity.
It's being served up on a platter, but you got to have a
strong shield of faith. You can't give into fear and
think my faith is not strong enough.
What if he says something I can't counteract from the word?
You know what the Lord will give you the words to speak.
If you've been in the word of God, He'll bring those things to
your remembrance. I've seen it with my own eyes.
It happened to me. I, I, I've seen, I remember this
was two years ago. I had a Mormon walk up to me on
the East End and at that very moment was the fight or flight.
Am I just going to let him talk to me for a few seconds and say
I'm not interested to walk away? No, I was able to witness to him
and his partner that was out there.
Now, they weren't happy with me, but I know the true gospel of
Jesus Christ was planted and he gave me the words to speak.
I didn't have to worry about it. Everything that Mormon said, he
gave me a verse of scripture to say, and I wasn't doing it to
score points against that Mormon.
I was doing it because he's a captive of the devil and he
doesn't know the real Jesus Christ.
These works of darkness that you must attack are evil
entertainment like vile rock songs, sexual pop songs, rap
songs that celebrate criminality, wicked movies
filled with all sorts of vices, and video games full of
witchcraft, demonology, necromancy, violence and
sensuality. And I know all about those
before I was saved. I was a video game addict.
I loved escaping into those fantasy worlds all the time.
I spent so much of my week doing that.
And then when the Lord freed me, when he opened my eyes, I
realized it's not just that it was a waste of time.
It was much worse than that. It was putting a lot of evil
things into my head. When I realized that in some of
those video games, I'm summoning demonic entities.
I'm casting witchcraft spells. I remember when I first read the
Word of God and I read Deuteronomy 18 where it talks
about and have to avoid Wizards and witches and necromancers and
diviners and and don't don't be defiled with them that have
familiar spirits. I'm thinking I did all those
things on those video games. I was doing all of them.
I was defiling myself with them and I had even met one face to
face. I was doing it in this virtual
reality. We have to tell the truth about
that. We have to stand against it.
And yes, we're going to be mocked and shamed.
When Paul was in Athens and he was grieved because of all the
idolatry around him, when he saw the statues, no doubt he saw
statues to Athena, to Zeus, to these other Greek gods.
And these people were worshipping them as if they were
real gods and goddesses, as if they had any power to help them
in their life. They were living in a fantasy
land, just like I was. And what did Paul do?
He got up even though he was mocked.
When he was done preaching and they heard about the
resurrection, most of them mocked, but a few followed him.
And that's who we're out there to save.
People are going to mock you when you say these things.
Decades ago, when you had things like Dungeons and Dragons coming
out, and I played that, by the way, I played Dungeons and
Dragons. People mocked Christians.
Why? Because they said it was evil.
Oh, it's got witchcraft in it. Oh, it's from Satan.
And you know what's crazy? I used to mock that stuff going
up. I used to play Dungeons and
Dragons. I said, you know, it's just a
game. They don't get it.
It's just little figures. The spells aren't real.
But then now that I'm saved and I've been walking with the Lord
for four years and I stay in his word and I pray to him, I say,
you know what? Those Christians may not have
had the best way of explaining it, but they were absolutely
right. And that's why you have to be
able to know the works of darkness without defiling
yourself with them. We have to pure ourselves,
purify ourselves with the blood of Jesus Christ, but we've got
to expose these things. There are people my age and
younger that are addicted to all of these things.
I've got them in my family and I see what it does to their life.
The depression, the confusion. They don't understand anything.
They've been completely blinded by these things.
And it's not just the video games.
I'm harping on about that because it was a big part of my
life. But it's all the horrible movies
they watch. It's all the horrific songs they
listen to. We need to stand up against
those things and we need to do it wisely.
We do need to do it wisely. We need to have compassion on
people. I know I do.
I used to be one of them.
I used to listen to those songs. I used to waste my time with
those games to fill my head and my heart and my soul with all
that evil garbage. So I love those people and I
know what they're under and I know that it's not really them.
I know they're accountable for their sins.
I know that. I know it's the devil and his
angels that are behind that, that are putting these
sensations, these things in front of them.
I know that. And that's why we have to be
witnesses and fight. Against it.
And I'm going to tell you these works of darkness that you must
expose are societal ills like the mass murder of babies in the
abortion industry, wholesale addiction to pornography that is
fueling international sex. Trafficking the celebrated use
of drugs like marijuana. Or opioids and the perversion of
the sodomite LGBT. Movement that is now
brainwashing our children in public schools and that is some
harsh language I'm using. And that stuff when I was in
school was not as bad as it is now.
It is so terrible now, and I know many of the children in
here. I thank the Lord that you don't
have to go to public school. You don't have to deal with
those things. I did.
I was exposed to all of it, all of those things.
And I know it's even worse now, 15 years after I graduated.
It's even worse now in the schools.
And so that's why I'm just so thankful and I pray for the
children and the young people in our church because it is so much
better that you never know what it what it's like to be enslaved
to those things. You need to appreciate what your
parents are doing for you. It's one of those things.
Gary's message the other night really touched me.
That's why none of this is written in my notes.
I'm, I'm just saying it because when he was talking about being
lost, you know, I'm thankful that so many of you were saved
when you were young. I'm grateful.
I, I, maybe I'm hoping it's a godly envy that I'm so thankful
that so many were saved when they were young.
I think of, of pastor and his wife saved at five years old and
four years, four years old, Praise the Lord, because I know
they face temptations. They're in this world, but they
had the Holy Spirit helping them the whole time to resist and
fight those temptations. For 28 years of my life, many of
the things on this list I've named, I was a slave to them.
And it is so much more evil and dark than you can imagine when
those things are the gods of your life.
They're false gods, but they are the gods of your life.
And that's why we have to attack it.
Be compassionate. We have to attack these things.
They're not going to go away. And one problem with the church
today, and I'm a young Christian, I am, so I don't want
to speak out of turn, but one problem I see with the church
today, as someone who was saved from those things, is people are
too scared to expose them. They're too scared because a big
part of it is, you know what people are going to say.
I've got it for myself. I've talked about these things
with my family, especially entertainment, and they do not
like to hear it. They do not like to hear me
attack the idols that they have. And I try to do it in a loving
and compassionate way. But I'm trying to tell them
because I know those things are destroying their lives and not
just their lives. Because sin doesn't just stop at
that. One Sinner in the book of
Ecclesiastes says 1 Sinner destroyeth much good.
That's sin. That's why things are so bad
today, because it's not just one center, it's a lot of people
falling prey to all of these things, and this is just a taste
of the works. Of darkness, that the word of
God not only commands us to have no fellowship with, but to
reprove you have to rebuke it and expose it with the word of
God. This is one reason why the
strongholds of darkness, the fortresses of Satan, seem to be
everywhere in our country. It is.
Because Christians not only indulge in many of these same
sins themselves, but because they are too cowardly to oppose
these works of darkness, they are afraid to face Satan.
And their fellow. Man.
And so instead Christians hide in their castles with their
Shields raised up and their sword sheathed and hanging off
their hips. We have to learn the word of God
and use it to attack the enemy. Please pray that I would do it.
Please pray that your husbands and your sons would do it.
We can't shrink back from the battle now because know this,
nothing I've sent in this. Message is to discourage you, or
even to discourage myself. It's to encourage you.
David brought down Goliath, the walls of Jericho.
Fell, and the mighty armies of the Canaanites were scattered
before the children of Israel, who seemed weaker and fewer in
number. Even when the day seemed dark
during the time of the Judges, over and over again God raised
up deliverers. I mean, some of their oppressors
like the Philistines even forbade them from making weapons
of war. All they had was farming
instruments and they defeated the enemy.
And the same applies to us with our spiritual weapons.
And we've got something better than a farming instrument.
We've got the most powerful weapon in the world.
This is why the world mocks us when we try to expose these
things, because it stings. I remember I used to be one of
those lost people when I would talk to my granddad.
And believe me, he was very compassionate toward me.
His stung when the sword even brushed against me, grazed me.
I could feel that sting. It's why Hebrews chapter 4 says
it slices even to the joints and marrow is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.
That's real. It's not just words, That's real
life. God's.
People of today. Might be covered in sins, we
might have a weak shield of faith and a sword of the Spirit
that we don't really know how to use anymore.
But God is almighty, He is omnipotent, and He is stronger
than every man, woman and Angel combined.
We have to trust that God is going to give us His church, the
victory, not only at His coming, when He returns.
Returns for us, but right now that we are still in the world,
and I know pastor has said this and many other great preachers,
we're all looking forward to the return of the Lord.
I know I am. That's when finally the battle's
over for us, at least this battle in this flesh, right?
But the Lord said occupy till I come.
We're not supposed to just think we're going to escape this
battle if we just keep waiting. The Lord's going to return.
And that's The thing is maybe it's all by design that the Lord
has not returned yet. He's expecting us to fight this
battle. I think of Steven right before
he was martyred. I mean, the Lord knew that he
was. Soon, Steven was going to see
him face to face. That's amazing.
But I think of when Stephen, Stephen stood up in the
spiritual battle and when he looked up to heaven and saw it
open, what did he see? Did he see Jesus sitting down at
the right hand of God? No, he saw Jesus standing at the
right hand of God. Jesus was standing.
He loved what Stephen was doing. He was answering the Lord's
call, and Jesus couldn't wait to receive him into his glory.
That's how I want to see Jesus when he returns.
I don't want to have to look away in shame because I'm hiding
somewhere when he returns. I want Him to, when he returns
to see me in the thick of the battle.
That I didn't put down the sword of the Spirit, That I didn't
hang up my shield of faith. That I was in the battle.
That I was fighting for souls. And not only fighting for souls,
but fighting for my brothers and sisters too.
I think of Pastor Simeon's message, you know, about how we
are covered in sins. We need to fight for each other
too. The enemy has some of us
captive. The enemy captures people
sometime and he leads them away. We need to have compassion on
those people. They're not our enemy.
We need to lead them back to the Lord and get them back in the
fight. So.
Please. Ask the Lord to strengthen your
shield of faith and to sharpen your sword of the Spirit, these
armaments that the Lord has given you to use.
And remember that no matter how great the darkness is in front
of us, no matter how numerous the armies of Satan are, that
our great commander Jesus Christ spoke these words to his people
of all ages. And Mark 1027 and Jesus looking
upon them, saith with men. It is impossible.
But not with God, for with God all things are possible.
I want to end there. Please join.
Me in prayer to the Lord Heavenly Father, I pray to thee
in. The name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, thank you so much for your
word this evening. Lord, we all needed it.
I need it. Lord, this battle gets so hard
sometimes. Sometimes we feel so full of
your Holy Spirit. One day and we wake up and it
feels like we're at square 1 again, like we can't even.
Bear to face that anyway. We can't.
We're not. Ready for the battle?
We don't want to come before you and ask.
Lord, give me someone to share the gospel with because we know
it might be a battle. We're scared to even ask that
Lord. No, don't let us fear anymore.
I. Know we're stronger.
Than the enemy, not because of anything we have, not because of
our flesh and blood, Lord, because of the sword of the
Spirit, because of the Holy Spirit you've given us and the
faith in your name that we have. We know the devils tremble
before your name, Lord, Your disciples could cast out the
demons with your name alone. So please fill us with the same
faith you gave to your disciples to your apostles.
Lord, let us remember that all we need is the smallest grain of
faith and we can throw down the strongholds of the enemy, Lord,
not only out there in the world, but even in our own families.
So Lord, please let us go home tonight.
Lord, let us go home tonight. Thankful Lord, that you're with
us, that you're with us in this battle.
Lord, please let this message work in all of our hearts.
This I pray, in your holy name, our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Thank you everyone. If you will, please stand with
your. Heads bowed and your eyes
closed. And I'm not going to add
anything to his message, but that's, you know, man speaking
from his heart. And I hope that it touched yours
and it excites you to increase your faith.
Ask God to increase your faith and also to sharpen your sharpen
the sword that's God has given us.
So she plays the piano couple verses.
God spoke to you how you come forward.