1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,200 Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church Podcast. 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,880 Riverbend Church exists to lead all people to know, love, and 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,320 live new life in Jesus Christ. We hope that you enjoy this 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:18,600 message. Welcome to church, everybody. 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:22,120 We OK? Doing OK, Mr. I haven't been 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,920 called Mr. I don't know. You just hear him call me Mr. 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,360 Jared Kegel. I'm like, not old enough for 8 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,320 mystery, am I? I mean, I got three kids, my 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,640 oldest is 10, but I need, I need probably 10 more years before 10 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,440 they could call me Mr. Maybe. So don't feel like you have to 11 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:37,920 do that. Hey, I'm grateful to be here. 12 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,920 Honored that I've been invited back for those of you, I don't 13 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,960 know, I was here a couple of years ago for about 8 months, I 14 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,360 guess, and honored to, to be back with you. 15 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,080 So excited to see all that God is doing and has done. 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,600 I mean, we, we're basically a movie theater now with the 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:56,840 screen behind me. I walked in. 18 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,880 I'm like, what is happening? I can't there used to be a choir 19 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,000 back there last time I was here. Now we got now we got a big 20 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,200 scream, but no it it's it's really incredible to see see 21 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,960 what God is doing and I'm honored to to get to open up the 22 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:12,040 word with you today as we're in this series called the unseen 23 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:13,760 world. Mark told me right here at the 24 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,920 hot corner. He's like you're a brave 1 25 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,200 coming up here talking about spiritual warfare, jumping into 26 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:20,960 a series and I said I wasn't given much of A choice. 27 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:24,200 So here, here we are. We're just being obedient to the 28 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,240 call. But as we as we do dig into this 29 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,800 series, I think it's an important topic for the days 30 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,080 that we're in to consider the unseen world. 31 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,160 And Pastor Ben did a great job of kind of kicking us off last 32 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,400 week and giving us a fly over of what we're going to see over the 33 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,920 next several weeks. And the reason I think it's 34 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,520 important to talk about this topic is because if you're like 35 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,960 me, you kind of sit back and you watch the news or you, you watch 36 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,760 social media or you go to dinner with friends and you're 37 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,120 listening to what's happening in the world around us. 38 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,280 And it's like, what in the world is going on? 39 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,840 How in the world did we get here to where we are? 40 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,960 And my task today is to kind of go all the way back to where it 41 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,600 all started and, and where it all went wrong. 42 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,560 And, and talk about the war that happened in, in, in heaven with 43 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:22,600 Satan and his angels against Michael and his angels. 44 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,520 And how this cosmic war began and how it's going to come back 45 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,800 to fruition as well with Jesus ultimately victorious. 46 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,240 Spoiler alert. But we're going to talk about 47 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,200 the fact that there is a war behind every war. 48 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,320 We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. 49 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,760 Remember our verse that kind of encapsulates our series, right? 50 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,920 Ephesians chapter 6. Maybe we'll, we'll throw that on 51 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:50,000 the screen really quickly here. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 52 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,880 for we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the 53 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,080 rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over 54 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,840 this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in 55 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,960 the heavenly places. Our fight is not against one 56 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,440 another. Our fight is a deeper fight that 57 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,680 there's a war behind every war. And that's what I want to talk 58 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,120 about today. I wonder if you've ever had a 59 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,160 autocorrect moment that went wrong, like you know what I'm 60 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,280 talking about on your phone where you're you're trying to 61 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,560 send a text and what you meant to send isn't what actually 62 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,520 sent. Anybody know what autocorrect 63 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:26,960 is? I'm looking for some nods. 64 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,080 OK, let let. I've looked up a few I wanted to 65 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,120 show you today. The first one's kind of between 66 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:37,800 a boss and his employee. That's Tony and me apparently, 67 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,320 because Coach Chris Guthrie has a sense of humor. 68 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,960 So this this, you know, just pretend that I work for Tony for 69 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,240 a second. And I sent Tony a text and I 70 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,920 said, hey, I'll be re signing this Friday the project 71 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,600 agreement. But the autocorrect changed my 72 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,880 words and said, hey, I'll be resigning this Friday. 73 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,720 Do we have agreement? And this is the kind of thing 74 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,680 that you really don't want to just miss by this much. 75 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,480 You know what I'm saying? We so close yet so far. 76 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,880 There's another one here. I think this one is between 77 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,080 friends. I really appreciate your help 78 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,240 today. Auto corrected to. 79 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,160 I barely appreciate your help today. 80 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,360 That's a tough one as well. What about one between husband 81 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,320 and wife? No, I'm not married to Tony. 82 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,720 I believe Lynn is so no worries there. 83 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:26,640 Hey Hun, just picked up dinner. You're amazing. 84 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,720 Auto corrected to Hey honey, just picked up dinner and you're 85 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,400 annoying. That's and not what you want, 86 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,600 certainly not what you want. Sometimes I think that Satan's 87 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,160 the one who invented autocorrect. 88 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,880 You know, he's, he's manipulating it all behind the 89 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,760 scenes. And when we think about this, 90 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:50,440 you know, Satan, his mission is to divide. 91 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,240 It's to steal, kill, and destroy as Jesus said it. 92 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:01,760 It's it's to ultimately destroy the people who follow God. 93 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,720 Why? Because Satan wants to be God. 94 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,440 He, he wants everyone that follows God to be destroyed so 95 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,280 that everyone will follow him instead of God and he can be the 96 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,040 one that ultimately everyone follows. 97 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,240 His mission is to destroy everyone who serves God because 98 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,360 his ultimate goal is to rule instead of God. 99 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:27,720 We see this in Isaiah chapter 14 where we see Satan's original 100 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:32,000 rebellion starting in verse 12. How are how you are falling from 101 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,560 heaven, O day star son of dawn. This is talking about Satan 102 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:37,880 here, how you're cut down to the ground. 103 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,480 You're you, you who are laid the nation's low you you said in 104 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,640 your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. 105 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:48,080 I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of 106 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,400 assembly in the far reaches of the north and look at this verse 107 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,680 14. I will ascend above the heights 108 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,520 of in the clouds. I will make myself like the Most 109 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,680 High. This is what the Bible says was 110 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,120 in Satan's heart from the beginning, that that I would be 111 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:10,560 like the Most High. But you're brought down to 112 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,520 Sheol, to the far reaches, the pit. 113 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:19,480 Isaiah 14 goes on to talk about the casting down of Satan 114 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,760 because in the original rebellion he was created as one 115 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,760 of the angels, but he rebelled because he wanted to be like the 116 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,720 Most High and therefore he was cast down. 117 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,320 But I don't want you to miss this thread because it's a very 118 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:41,400 similar thread to what we see in Genesis chapter 3 when Satan LED 119 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,680 humankind into rebellion right in the beginning, right here in 120 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,880 Genesis 3 verse one. Now the serpent who is Satan was 121 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,360 more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God 122 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,240 had made. And he said to the woman, did 123 00:06:54,480 --> 00:07:00,160 God actually say, did God really say? 124 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,960 Are you sure that that's what he said? 125 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,480 Just just a little bit of a seed of doubt that he plants right? 126 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:10,640 And we'll come back to that as we go today. 127 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,520 But I think it's important for us to see this seed that Satan 128 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,320 continues to use. Does did God actually say that? 129 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,160 Did he actually say you shouldn't eat from that tree in 130 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,720 the garden? And the woman said to the 131 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:29,040 serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but 132 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,560 God said that you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree in the 133 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,600 midst of the garden. That's the tree we can't touch. 134 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:41,520 If we do we will die. But the serpent said to the 135 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,480 woman, you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat 136 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:52,040 of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing 137 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:57,240 good and evil. Isaiah 14 Satan was cast down 138 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,040 because he in his heart he wanted to be like the most high 139 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,240 God. Genesis 3, he led mankind into 140 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:16,230 rebellion by saying you can be like God to be like him, to be 141 00:08:16,230 --> 00:08:18,350 like the Most High. That was at the root of Satan's 142 00:08:18,350 --> 00:08:20,390 rebellion. It was at the root of mankind's 143 00:08:20,390 --> 00:08:22,630 rebellion, and I believe it's still at the root of our 144 00:08:22,630 --> 00:08:26,310 rebellion today, that this is the highest form of idolatry to 145 00:08:26,310 --> 00:08:34,120 be God. Little G We're in a period of 146 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,760 history now where we have more access to information, more 147 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,000 access to resources, more access to knowledge, more access to 148 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,520 power, more access to comfort than ever before. 149 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,440 And I think we're most well positioned now to actually be 150 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:56,120 our own God, independent without him. 151 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:01,840 This is a dangerous reality that you don't have to leave your 152 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,480 house. You can get anything and 153 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,440 everything you want from your house. 154 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:15,200 Uber Eats, Kroger, Kroger, Dash, I don't know what it's called, 155 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,600 but you, you just order it. Amazon. 156 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,920 I saw a commercial the other day on Amazon's got medical now. 157 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,480 Like you could just talk to a medical professional on Amazon. 158 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:27,520 They send you the medicine you need. 159 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,280 We have so much access. We have the ability to, to be so 160 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,040 independent. We, we have the ability to be 161 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,280 our own provider. And I think Satan knows that 162 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,720 very, very well. And he's working as hard as he 163 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,160 can to ruin us. Remember, the bottom line for 164 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,960 our whole series over the next several weeks is that the unseen 165 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:57,960 world that's around us is it is just as real as the one I can 166 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,520 see. And it's shaping my life every 167 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,760 single day. And if we sit in this for just a 168 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,040 moment, it gets a little bit hopeless. 169 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:10,840 It gets a little bit scary. It's, it's like, what do we do 170 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:12,520 with that? But, but I want to come today 171 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,520 with some hope. I want to come with a victorious 172 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:20,360 path because I believe that the Bible shows us a victorious path 173 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:25,280 and ultimately A victorious model in Jesus to follow. 174 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,400 So let's walk slowly through Revelation 12 together. 175 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,880 If you have your Bible, I want to invite you to go ahead and 176 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:33,920 turn there. If you don't have your Bible, 177 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,280 that's OK. It'll be on the screen and we're 178 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:41,160 going to go all the way to the end, almost Revelation 12, the 179 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,080 last book of the Bible. And about halfway through that 180 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:52,000 book, remember, the apostle John is the one who wrote the Book of 181 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,840 Revelation, and he wrote it from an island called Patmos where he 182 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,600 was exiled there to spend the rest of his days. 183 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:01,880 And while he was there by himself, God was giving him 184 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:07,560 vision and the in these visions, he was then writing the letter 185 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,240 in the Book of Revelation so that we could see today visions 186 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,160 of heaven and, and what's coming. 187 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,120 And, and, and there's so much here and some of it's really 188 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,520 hard to interpret. So we're just going to spend 189 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,720 some time in just a few verses as we're looking at this war 190 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,560 that's taking place and that ultimately will take place and 191 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:36,040 ultimately will be won by Jesus. Revelation 12, verses 7 through 192 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,920 12 really shows us this epic prophecy about the tribulation 193 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:42,840 that's to come. Let's pick it up in verse 7. 194 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,520 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against 195 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,280 the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he 196 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,320 was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in 197 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,080 heaven. And the great dragon was thrown 198 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,040 down, and that ancient serpent who is called the devil and 199 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:03,840 Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the 200 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,600 earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 201 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:13,040 And then I heard John says with a loud voice in heaven, saying, 202 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:18,760 Now the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and 203 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,200 the authority of his Christ have come. 204 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:25,040 For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down. 205 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:30,240 He who accuses them day and night before God, he's been 206 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,400 thrown down, and they have conquered him. 207 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,440 Don't miss this by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of 208 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,960 their testimony. For they, they love not their 209 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,680 lives, even unto death. That's a beautiful verse of 210 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,000 Scripture. Revelation 12/11. 211 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,840 I don't have a tattoo, but that might be a good one. 212 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:54,160 I don't know, maybe not. Wow, never mind on that one. 213 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,320 I mean, I'm trying not to mention Georgia and Auburn up 214 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,920 here, but you guys, soon as I say tattoos, it's quieter than a 215 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:06,760 church mouse, OK? They love not their lives, even 216 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:14,400 unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, 217 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,640 and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, 218 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,400 for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he 219 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,000 knows that his time is short. I want to leave this up just for 220 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,040 a moment right here, Taylor, because this is important. 221 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,480 I want you to see three quick things from this part of 222 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,160 Scripture. The first one I want you to see 223 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,240 is right there in verse 12 at the end. 224 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,960 It's the urgency of Satan that he knows his time is short. 225 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,480 He knows his time is running out and so he is in a hurry. 226 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,360 He is looking at the Bible says in first Peter 5 that he's 227 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,240 prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to 228 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,400 devour. He's not patient in that 229 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,120 posture. He is aggressive in that posture 230 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,000 because he knows that his time is short. 231 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,280 The second thing I want you to see right here is the victory 232 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,720 that we have in Jesus that's found in verse 11. 233 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,640 Because they who conquered, conquered by the blood of the 234 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,880 Lamb and the word of their testimony, the blood of the 235 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,400 Lamb, the blood of the spotless perfect Lamb, the sacrifice that 236 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:35,640 was final and complete, we can stake our hope always in this 237 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,760 truth, which becomes the word of our testimony. 238 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,240 And we know from Romans chapter 10 that faith comes through 239 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,720 hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. 240 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,200 So this is how we conquer. We remember and we rest in the 241 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,120 blood of the Lamb and we share the word of our testimony. 242 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,200 And then the third thing I want you to see right here really 243 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,040 quick is that this is not our home. 244 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,960 And that's the promise of paradise right there in verse 245 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:06,280 11. That's how they could love not 246 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,760 their lives, even unto death, because they knew that this was 247 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,160 not their home. They knew that there's a greater 248 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,320 place being prepared for them. Jesus said, I'm going to prepare 249 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:21,520 a place for you in perfection in heaven. 250 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,160 We can never forget these three things. 251 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:32,120 That time is running out. If Satan's going to be urgent, 252 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:39,360 we better be urgent. The second thing we can't forget 253 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,440 is that the end is already written. 254 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:50,120 Victory has been accomplished by the blood of the Lamb and the 255 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,680 word of our testimony. And the third thing right there 256 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,280 that we need to remember that is that this is not our home. 257 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,560 We can't treat this like it's our home. 258 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,400 And I know I'm preaching to myself right here because that's 259 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,880 hard. It's never been easier to be 260 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,520 comfortable. It's never been easier to make 261 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:14,240 this place our home. We got to hold on like this. 262 00:16:22,110 --> 00:16:26,750 There's power right there in verse 11, because what would it 263 00:16:26,750 --> 00:16:31,710 look like if we truly loved God more than we loved our life? 264 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,680 What would it look like if we truly love not our lives, even 265 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,080 unto death? I know that's some interesting 266 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,840 English language right there, but I just take that to mean 267 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,080 like they, they didn't love their life more than they love 268 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,720 the promise of heaven. What would it look like? 269 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,640 What would it change the way we live? 270 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,880 Would it change the way we talk? Would it change the way we obey? 271 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,880 Would we be a little more bold? Would we be a little less 272 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:06,359 afraid? Would we be worried about less? 273 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,880 If we love not our lives even unto death, wouldn't it change 274 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:11,599 it? Like what would it look like? 275 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,720 And the beautiful thing is that God gives us a model of what it 276 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:20,160 would look like, because Jesus is that model. 277 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:25,160 He He loved not his life, even unto death. 278 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:31,440 Philippians chapter 2 tells us that he was in the form of God, 279 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:37,440 but did not find equality with God a thing to be grasped. 280 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:43,640 So he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant. 281 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:52,880 And being found in human form, in the likeness of men, fully 282 00:17:52,880 --> 00:18:00,200 God and fully man, he humbled himself and became obedient to 283 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,840 the point of death, even death on a cross. 284 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:12,560 And in that sacrifice, as he rose again on the third day, God 285 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,160 highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every 286 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,240 name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, every 287 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,440 tongue will confess in heaven, under heaven, and on earth, that 288 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,200 Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 289 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:35,200 And we see in this model what it looks like to walk through life, 290 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:47,840 holding it loosely, loving it, loving it not even unto death. 291 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,240 I want to look at, like I said earlier, this there's a war 292 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,280 behind every war. And I just want to look at four 293 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,040 of those wars today. 4 There's I think there's four really 294 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,760 important wars that we're fighting and there's a war 295 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,320 behind each of those wars. And so I want to look at them 296 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,360 kind of one at a time for the rest of our time together. 297 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:15,440 The first one is the war in your home. 298 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:21,000 There's a war in your home. This is an important war in your 299 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:26,200 home, maybe one of the most important wars that you're 300 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,440 fighting. We can't forget that we don't 301 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:33,280 wrestle against flesh and blood. I have this ritual at night 302 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,640 where I've got I, I y'all going to make fun of me after this. 303 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,480 So just, I'm just going to be OK with that. 304 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,360 But like I, I have this neck warmer, you know that you put in 305 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,360 the microwave and you put it around your neck and I don't 306 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,480 know what's in it. It's crazy, but it gets hot and 307 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:50,440 it warms my neck up. I think it's rice or something. 308 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:52,160 But I'm like, how does rice get that hot? 309 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:53,720 I don't know, maybe something else is in there. 310 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:55,960 Anybody have one of those? Anybody know? 311 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:57,000 I'm talking about? OK, a few of them. 312 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,760 I got my tea, I got my comfy sweats. 313 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,360 I'm going to bed. I'm just, I'm not going to sleep 314 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:05,440 yet, but I'm just winding down. All right? 315 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:10,760 This is kind of my routine. And I know when I've done that 316 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,760 way too early, When I hear the plates and the dishes clanging 317 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,680 in the other room in the sink, you know what I'm talking about. 318 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,920 And it never fails. I'm sitting back and I'm like, 319 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:27,920 Oh no, you've done it now. And if she's really on edge, 320 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,520 she'll kind of fire off a shot from the other room. 321 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,560 You know, like, nice if you could help me tonight with the 322 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:39,520 dishes, Like, oh, but I got my neck warmer and I got my tea. 323 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:45,080 This is my moment, you know? And if I'm in the flesh, I kind 324 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,520 of get up out of bed slowly. I go in there with a bad 325 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,600 attitude and I start helping. And then that bad attitude steam 326 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,960 rolls into more cutting remarks from her. 327 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,080 And we're in this moment. And it's like all of a sudden 328 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:05,880 one thing leads to another and the fight is now like a mile 329 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,160 down the road from where it started. 330 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,120 Like, we, we were talk. We, we, it was just simply that 331 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:15,200 I wasn't helping with the dishes at first, but now we're fighting 332 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,040 about like, something that happened four years ago, you 333 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,560 know, and I'm so disoriented in this moment. 334 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,160 And so now I'm fighting with her about how she didn't forgive me. 335 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,040 Like she told me she forgave me four years ago. 336 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,040 So now the argument is about forgiveness, which means she's 337 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,560 not following God closely. And now it becomes a real big 338 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:37,960 thing because I'm preaching to her. 339 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:44,040 And that never works, OK? Never but the the fight, like, 340 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,080 do you think there's probably 100 other examples we could use? 341 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,880 But you know how it just it just stacks and compounds and 342 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,440 compounds and all of a sudden this thing is way blown out of 343 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:59,120 proportion. But it was never a fight about 344 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:06,120 dishes, right? And the war, the fight that's 345 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,560 really underneath that fight, is the devil trying to distract us, 346 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,240 trying to take us and pull us apart, trying to get us to think 347 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,040 about all the bad negative things about each other. 348 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,360 And before long, we can't handle the snowball effect in the 349 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:27,120 kitchen. Because if he can get us to 350 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:31,440 fight each other, we'll stop fighting him. 351 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:39,800 And if he's urgent with the times, we better be urgent with 352 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,880 the time. And so often we lose sight of 353 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:48,400 the fact that there's a war behind every war. 354 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:52,600 The enemy is not your spouse. The enemy is the darkness that 355 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:57,720 wants to destroy your unity, that wants to pull you apart. 356 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,200 The second war that I want to look at today is the war in your 357 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,760 mind. This is an important war too. 358 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,320 One of the only things that we can control is our mind what, 359 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,280 what's going on inside of us. And, and, and this is, this is a 360 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,400 big topic and I'm not going to get into medical conversations 361 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,920 with this because I know for, for some of us, when it comes to 362 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,880 needing to be regulated with medication. 363 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,880 And I, I understand that this is a much bigger topic and I'm not 364 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,080 going to stand up here like a psychologist today. 365 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,320 I'm just going to really get to the top of the waves about what 366 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:39,160 it looks like day-to-day to have a thought life that is managed 367 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:47,440 because the war in your mind if if the devil can't make you sin, 368 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,280 I think he'll start by making you distracted and getting you 369 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,960 thinking about all the other things and getting you getting 370 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,840 you confused and with a lack of clarity that that he'll make you 371 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,840 distracted, that he'll make you worry, that he'll make you 372 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:08,320 fearful, which leads to anxiousness and, and he just, he 373 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,680 just wants you to spiral in distraction. 374 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,080 How prevalent is depression and anxiety in our day? 375 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:25,200 How easy is it to spiral out of control and fear and self doubt 376 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,720 and hopelessness? And how often does Satan whisper 377 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:36,240 to us you're not enough or what's the point of praying God? 378 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,200 God's not even listening. How could God be worried about 379 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,360 you? He's got way bigger things going 380 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:46,080 on. He's not listening, he's not 381 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:51,960 near or his favorite. Did did, did he really say that? 382 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,440 Did God really say that? These are the things that the 383 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,200 devil whispers into our ear to try to get us distracted from 384 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,640 the truth. But in these moments, you have 385 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,640 to remember you're not fighting against your emotions. 386 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,400 You're fighting an enemy who manipulates your emotions. 387 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,880 And that's very important because it's not that we need to 388 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,840 have less emotions, but sometimes we think that we have 389 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,280 to push them back or we have to fight against them. 390 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,680 When in reality, what's going on is Satan is really crafty at 391 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,720 manipulating our emotions and getting us consumed and 392 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:39,120 distracted by them when God has given us truth to stand on and 393 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:43,760 he's given us how to fight. 2nd Corinthians 10 is a beautiful 394 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,960 part of Scripture where Paul teaches us this. 395 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,080 He says we don't wrestle, Sorry, He says we don't. 396 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,520 We walk in the flesh, but we're not waging war according to the 397 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,080 flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, 398 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,480 but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 399 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,920 And then Second Corinthians 10, verse 5 says this. 400 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,200 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the 401 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:13,920 knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. 402 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,880 Take every thought captive. When I was younger, my mom used 403 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,840 to say that Jared, take every thought captive today. 404 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,080 Take every thought captive today. 405 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,320 I'm like, what are you talking about? 406 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:24,720 I don't know what that means. What does that mean to take 407 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,720 every thought captive? Take every thought captive. 408 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,080 She never explained it. Take every thought captive 409 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:31,400 today, Jared, Take every thought captive. 410 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,480 And over time, the more I grew up, the more I realized, like, 411 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,200 that's one of the most important truths I could ever have 412 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,320 day-to-day. Take every thought captive. 413 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,320 And so I was thinking about what's a picture I could give 414 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,960 you of what that looks like? And, and for whatever reason, my 415 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:48,920 crazy mind went back to the full Nelson. 416 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,680 Anybody remember the full Nelson? 417 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:52,560 Anybody know? I'm talking about the move, the 418 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,080 wrestling move where they put your arms behind and they get 419 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,880 you like this and your arms are out like this. 420 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,280 Just put them things in a full Nelson. 421 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,040 All right, I know it's corny, but just get, just go with me 422 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,400 for a second. Take every thought captive. 423 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,720 When it comes in, take it captive. 424 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,800 OK. Is that true? 425 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,000 Before you let it run wild in your mind, is that true? 426 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:23,120 Is that good? Is that pure? 427 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:28,800 Is that right? Is that Holy Scripture says 428 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,640 whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is pure, 429 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,600 whatever is worthy of praise. Think about these things. 430 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,200 Take it captive, and if it is true, let it go. 431 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,000 And if it's not true, throw it out. 432 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:49,080 And how you throw it out is by focusing on something better, 433 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,320 focusing on something greater, focusing on truth that you could 434 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,040 stand on. Take every thought captive. 435 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,760 There's a war going on in our minds. 436 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,960 We have to be ready to fight. It's one of the hardest ones to 437 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,080 fight. The third war I want to talk 438 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:17,520 about today is the war on your screens, phone, iPad, not really 439 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,800 TV as much anymore because we got ATV right here. 440 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,920 Now, you know, we got full control of what we see, what we 441 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,600 hear. But then as we're controlling 442 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,760 that, it's like, oh wow, it's controlling me. 443 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:33,840 It's telling me what to like. It's telling me what I like. 444 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,200 I would like to have those shoes. 445 00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:40,960 I would like to own that house. I would like to remodel my 446 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:48,000 kitchen. And the devil is so savvy with 447 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:53,640 that algorithm. There's a war going on, on your 448 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,400 screens. And we could talk about the 449 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:57,360 temptation that's happening on your screens. 450 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,320 We could talk about the way that you're getting not only 451 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,240 misinformation, but just inappropriate material if you're 452 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,240 not careful on those screens. We could talk about that. 453 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,040 But what I really want to talk about today as it relates to the 454 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,560 war on your screens is the fact that the devil is trying to get 455 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,520 us to be against each other on those screens. 456 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,920 There is nothing like the anonymity of a screen that 457 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,080 causes people and even Christians to start throwing 458 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,400 stones against other Christians and against other people. 459 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:30,560 I've never seen anything like it. 460 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:40,920 Comment sections just going off. I remember back in COVID, 461 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,720 remember when we shut, like we had to shut everything down for 462 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,480 a little bit and then churches started opening back up. 463 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,760 And the churches that didn't open back up, we're all mad at 464 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,160 the ones that we're opening back up. 465 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,320 And the ones that we're opening back up, we're all mad because 466 00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:58,840 they were mad that they were opening back up. 467 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,760 And everybody's mad. And we're just aggressively 468 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,440 attacking each other. And I'm like, guys, the world is 469 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:13,110 watching us. And you got to remember, we 470 00:30:13,110 --> 00:30:15,830 don't wrestle against people with different opinions. 471 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,440 That's that's on the surface. But what's behind that, the war 472 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,680 behind that war is that we wrestle against powers that 473 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:34,440 profit from our division. Kohl's is on your feed because 474 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,840 they profit from you. Satan wants you to look at 475 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,200 certain things because he profits from your disunity. 476 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,240 And when we're feeding into this war, when we're feeding into 477 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:53,960 this battle and letting it consume us, we're letting him 478 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:00,000 weaponize the algorithm against US, turning up the volume of 479 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:10,360 outrage and pride, because if he can't possess us, then he's just 480 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,360 going to settle for dividing us. Sometimes the best thing that he 481 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:20,640 can do is keep us offended. Just keep us offended and 482 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:29,910 offendable, easily offendable. The 4th war that I want to look 483 00:31:29,910 --> 00:31:31,470 at, this is the final one for today. 484 00:31:31,470 --> 00:31:34,670 We could talk about so many, but the 4th 1's a very important one 485 00:31:34,670 --> 00:31:38,510 as well. It's the war for your kids, kids 486 00:31:38,510 --> 00:31:41,230 of all ages too. Like I know there's grandparents 487 00:31:41,230 --> 00:31:42,830 in here, there's new parents in here. 488 00:31:42,830 --> 00:31:47,120 There's everything in between and there's a war for the next 489 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:53,600 generation and that that war for the next generation. 490 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,800 What, what is our place in this war? 491 00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:01,560 How, how do we contend for our kids and for the next 492 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:03,800 generation? They're under attack. 493 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,000 They don't have to go far before they start falling down a 494 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,720 slippery slope of temptation and misinformation and confusion 495 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,360 about what is true. Confusion about identity, 496 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:23,040 confusion about purpose of life. It there's it's confusion, it 497 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,640 still really does all begin with that same line that the serpent 498 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:32,280 used in the garden. Did God really say God is not 499 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:37,600 the author of confusion? Satan is the author of 500 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,520 confusion. God has given us his word, and 501 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,160 the word of God says about itself that it's living and 502 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,200 active, that it's profitable for teaching, for reproof. 503 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,120 Everything you need to live a life of godliness is found in 504 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,320 the living Word of God. That that what that means to me 505 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:04,880 is we have clarity in a world full of confusion, where the 506 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:08,360 author of confusion, the deceiver himself, our adversary, 507 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,600 is trying to get us confused. We know where to go for clarity. 508 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:20,280 We know where to go for truth. But are we filling ourselves up 509 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:27,920 with truth, the bread of life, the fountain of living water? 510 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:29,880 Jesus described himself as these things. 511 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,040 And remember, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 512 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,920 with God, and the Word was God. The Word is Jesus. 513 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:43,200 And now we have the Word of God showing us Jesus and bringing to 514 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:46,760 our attention everything that is true and right and holy for 515 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,520 godly living. Are we filling ourselves up with 516 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:57,520 this daily or, or, or do we find ourselves empty? 517 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,720 And, and when the urgency of Satan comes against you and your 518 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:08,480 family, if you're found empty, it's going to be very hard to 519 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:10,920 fight against his lies and his deceptions. 520 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:18,600 And if he can't make you and your kids evil, he'll settle for 521 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,800 making you empty. Empty. 522 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,239 There's a war behind every war. We don't wrestle against flesh 523 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:40,639 and blood. Every act of evil on earth is a 524 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:46,679 ripple from this unseen war around us. 525 00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:52,080 But the beautiful news is that we don't fight for victory. 526 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:59,080 We fight from victory because Jesus has already won. 527 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,520 The enemy is still fighting even though he's already lost. 528 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,120 The Scripture that we started with this morning in Ephesians 529 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:13,160 6, verse 12, that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, 530 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,120 but against this spiritual darkness and the evil forces, 531 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,080 this cosmic war that we're talking about. 532 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,520 That's right in the middle of a broader passage of Scripture 533 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:29,040 that talks about the whole armor of God and how we fight in this 534 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,200 battle. I want to look at it on the 535 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,280 screen right here. This is Ephesians 6, starting in 536 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,640 verse 13. Therefore, take up the whole 537 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:41,560 armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil 538 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,080 day. We are in the evil day. 539 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:55,880 We need spiritual armor to withstand, to stand firm, and 540 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,640 the Bible says stand. Therefore, having fastened on 541 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,200 the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of 542 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:06,280 righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the 543 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,640 readiness given by the gospel of peace. 544 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,280 And in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which 545 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,440 you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil. 1 And 546 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:20,000 take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which 547 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,000 is the word of God. Six elements of the armor that 548 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,840 Paul gives us right here, all defensive except for one 549 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:34,320 offensive, which is the word of God, because we conquer by the 550 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:39,680 blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, because we 551 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,320 conquer him when he says, did God really say that? 552 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,520 We conquer him the same way Jesus did in the wilderness by 553 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,840 pouring out a fountain of truth, the word of God. 554 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:58,560 We can't, we can't be empty in this battle and God's given us 555 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:04,640 spiritual armor for us to wear every day in this fight. 556 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:14,400 Perfect example of this is Job from the Old Testament and Job 557 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,360 if you know the story. Job lost everything. 558 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,000 Job was a man of God, an honourable man and and God 559 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,360 allowed Satan to attack him and he lost everything. 560 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:27,680 He lost his wealth, he lost his ten children, he lost his 561 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,920 health, he started to get some awful things happening to him 562 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:37,000 and his health. And right after all this 563 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,400 happened, he he just this awful scenario that is unbelievable 564 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,680 circumstances with Satan attacking him. 565 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:53,840 He says in in Job 120 and 21, he says the Lord gives and the Lord 566 00:37:53,840 --> 00:38:00,360 takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. 567 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,320 Blessed be the name of the Lord. In that moment, what poured out 568 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:16,000 of him was truth and praise. It is well with my soul, 569 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:22,240 whatever my lot you you've taught me to say, it's well with 570 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:24,760 my soul that that you give you take away. 571 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,080 But but blessed be the name of the Lord. 572 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:36,080 This has to be our posture. This has to be our expectation. 573 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,400 This has to be what our heart is full of. 574 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:44,600 And in just a moment, I'm going to pray, we're going to worship 575 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:50,120 with another song and I want to open up this altar kind of like 576 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,760 last week when we had this altar full of people just contending 577 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:55,560 for the faith. Just just coming down here as a 578 00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:01,560 church family asking God to to cover you with his armor because 579 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:06,240 the days we're numbered and our time is short. 580 00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:12,480 And the only way to go through this battle and fight is to 581 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,640 follow Jesus through it with his armor on us. 582 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,840 And I want to encourage you with everything I have in me to come 583 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,480 to this altar this morning and cry out to him to give you what 584 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:28,440 you need for the, for the fight that you're in, to give you what 585 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,120 you need so that you can withstand the war in your home, 586 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:38,360 the war in your mind, the war on your screens, the war for your 587 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,080 kids that these wars that you're in, there's a war behind that. 588 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:50,060 We got to be prepared for it. And as we're praying in just a 589 00:39:50,060 --> 00:39:54,060 moment, I want to put the list of the, of the spiritual armor, 590 00:39:54,060 --> 00:39:56,580 the whole armor of God right here on the screen and maybe 591 00:39:56,580 --> 00:39:58,900 just jot them down. Maybe, maybe just look at them 592 00:39:58,900 --> 00:39:59,980 as you're praying. I don't know. 593 00:39:59,980 --> 00:40:03,020 But remember what God has given us. 594 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:09,760 To fight in this battle, if you need prayer from a pastor today, 595 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:11,240 if you want to talk about something, if you have 596 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:15,280 questions, maybe if you're coming today and you're hearing 597 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,720 the truth about Jesus and you're hearing about how we're in a 598 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,400 fight and, and you need the whole armor of God, but you 599 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:22,520 don't even have a relationship with Jesus yet. 600 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:27,360 I want to tell you that this is the this is the perfect day for 601 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,600 you to be saved. And I want to talk to you about 602 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:31,680 that. If you have questions about 603 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:33,720 that, come find me, Come find Pastor Todd. 604 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,120 Someone will be up here to pray with you as we, as we do 605 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:42,320 continue to worship. And for the rest of us, let's 606 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:44,040 come down here and fight this morning. 607 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,800 Let's get in the fight. Let's ask God to cover us with 608 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:52,120 his armor. Father God in heaven, we're here 609 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:56,800 for you. God, we thank you that you've 610 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:59,440 given us truth to stand on. We thank you that you've given 611 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:03,080 us hope to trust in. We thank you that you are enough 612 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:07,000 for us. God, I pray that you would fill 613 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:09,680 us with that hope today. You, you would fill us with 614 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:18,960 that, that reminder that you have prepared a place for us 615 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,720 that's far greater than anything that we can imagine. 616 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:29,120 Praise you and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen. 617 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,360 Want to invite you to come forward today and pray as we 618 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:36,360 prepare to worship together. Praise be to God. 619 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:43,960 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 620 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,600 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 621 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,320 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 622 00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:53,320 We hope that you enjoy this message.