1 00:00:01,720 --> 00:00:05,200 God has provided us three main spiritual weapons, the word of 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,640 God, the name of Jesus, and the blood of Jesus. 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,800 We launch these weapons by these means, prayer, praise, 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,480 preaching, and testimony. Let's look at these briefly. 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,320 In Ephesians, Paul lists the spiritual armor that the 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,960 Christian soldiers need for spiritual conflict. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,200 The first five items of armor are all defensive, girding our 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,119 waste with truth, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,960 seeing that our feet are shot with the preparation of the 10 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,960 gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith and the helmet 11 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,640 of salvation. These protect the believer. 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,080 There is no weapon of offense or attack until we come to the 6th 13 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,720 item, which is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,280 God. Here is the great weapon of 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,920 attack. If you do not use the word of 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,800 God, you may be able to protect yourself, but you have nothing 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,160 to attack Satan with. If you want to put Satan to 18 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,800 flight, if you want to get him out of your way, out of your 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,880 home, out of your family, out of your business, if you do not 20 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,000 want just to tolerate him and hold him off, the weapon you 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,000 must use is the weapon of attack, the sword of the Spirit, 22 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,800 which is the Word of God. Note 2 that it is the sword of 23 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,240 the Holy Spirit. We can take God's Word in our 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,560 mouths, but it only achieves its full effect when it is the Holy 25 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,080 Spirit within us who actually wields it. 26 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,800 The perfect pattern of how to use the sword of the Spirit is 27 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,520 provided by Jesus as an encounter with Satan at the time 28 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,360 of his temptation in the wilderness. 29 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,320 Three times Satan approached Jesus with a temptation, and 30 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,760 each time Jesus drove him back with the same phrase It is 31 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,920 written. Jesus used no other weapon but 32 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,280 the spoken word of the Lord. God has made the same weapon 33 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,680 available to each Christian. It is important, however, to 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,280 bear two things in mind. First, Jesus had already been 35 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,720 filled with the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit in Jesus 36 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,200 who directed him in the use of the sword. 37 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,840 And 2nd, Jesus, like every Jewish boy of his day, had 38 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:21,920 memorized long passages of Scripture. 39 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,920 When Satan confronted him, he did not need to consult the 40 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,080 concordance or go to a library. He had already stored up the 41 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,680 Scriptures in his memory. Surely we today need to do that 42 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:41,560 just as much as Jesus did. Another powerful weapon for us 43 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,920 to use is the name of Jesus. These two verses in Psalms 8 44 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:52,200 gives us a unique understanding. O Lord our Lord, how excellent 45 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,280 is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above 46 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,560 the heavens, out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants. 47 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,480 You have ordained strength because of your enemies, that 48 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,840 You may silence the enemy and the avenger. 49 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,720 The enemy and the avenger is Satan, and God has given us the 50 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,040 means to silence him. I hope you have connected the 51 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,480 name of the Avenger with the satanic institution. 52 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,040 Marvel. Your children are marveling over 53 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,640 The Avengers, the ones who come to earth to corrupt and destroy 54 00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:30,040 you. So take up your weapon. 55 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,600 What is the weapon? It is the name of the Lord. 56 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,800 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. 57 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,600 The channel that launches the name is the human mouth out of 58 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:46,880 the mouth of babes and nursing infants. 59 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,040 Spiritual things find expression out of the mouth. 60 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,160 This is true for both good and evil. 61 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,320 Look at Revelation 16 verse 13 for instance. 62 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,640 John saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth 63 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,800 of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the 64 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,880 mouth of the false prophet. Why does the psalmist refer to 65 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,000 the mouth of babes as nursing infants? 66 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,160 To show that we do not have to be spiritual giants, God has 67 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,279 chosen the weak, the foolish, the things that are despised, to 68 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,040 bring to naughty all Satan's Kingdom in the heavenlies. 69 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,800 The devil is so busy trying to keep you from praising the Lord 70 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,760 when you effectively, perfectly, with your whole heart in unison 71 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,000 with one accord, praise the name of Jesus, it shuts the devil's 72 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,760 mouth. And if ever there was a thing he 73 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,280 does not like, it is to have his mouth shut. 74 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,240 He will do everything he can, religious pressure, social 75 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,360 pressure, fear of man, to keep you from turning loose in your 76 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,400 prayers and praising the name of Jesus. 77 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:01,120 The land and air around us can be purified through perfect 78 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:11,430 praise, the blood of Jesus. Revelation 12, verse 11. 79 00:05:12,710 --> 00:05:16,110 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of 80 00:05:16,110 --> 00:05:17,990 their testimony. Who is they? 81 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,000 The believers on earth. Who is him? 82 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,520 Satan. What I want to emphasize is that 83 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,960 the final victory comes not to God's angels, but to the 84 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,680 believers. This passage describes war in 85 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,080 heaven. Michael and his angels are 86 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:38,840 fighting. Satan and his angels are 87 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,440 fighting. But the believers overcame him 88 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,880 by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. 89 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,200 When you want to praise Jesus, or utter the word of God, or 90 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,080 testify to what the Lord has done for you, Satan will put a 91 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,320 barrier in front of your lips. Why? 92 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:57,840 Because you are casting down a stronghold. 93 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,880 The blood of Jesus is the ultimate weapon. 94 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,560 The whole issue of our battle against evil centers in one 95 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,600 thing, righteousness. Because of Jesus's 96 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,960 righteousness, God has made it possible that the devil will 97 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:14,480 have nothing to bring against us in heaven. 98 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:20,760 God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might 99 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,040 become the righteousness of God in him. 100 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,080 You can proffer the best Baptist lifestyle, you have the best 101 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,520 Methodist principles, the best Roman Catholic piety, and he can 102 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,160 tear it to shreds. But when you bring in the 103 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,400 righteousness of Jesus Christ, he is silent. 104 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:42,360 He has nothing more to say. You will find that you can 105 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,240 almost measure your spiritual progress by the extent to which 106 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:50,040 you accept and appropriate by faith the righteousness of Jesus 107 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,640 Christ on your own behalf. This is the great lesson that we 108 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:56,280 have to learn as children of God. 109 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,880 We are accepted in the Beloved, not for what we are, but for 110 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,160 what Jesus is. The words of Jesus in Matthew 111 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:11,000 633 are often misunderstood. Seek first the heaven of God and 112 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,920 His righteousness, in other words, not your own 113 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:19,040 righteousness. In Romans 10/3, Paul wrote that 114 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,120 the Jewish nation was attempting to establish its own 115 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,840 righteousness. They had not submitted 116 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,200 themselves to the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ. 117 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,800 It takes humility to accept Jesus righteousness because it 118 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,240 means first of all we have renounced every shred of our old 119 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,720 self righteousness. All our righteousness are like 120 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,600 filthy rags. Notice not our sins, but our 121 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:51,600 righteousness are nothing more than filthy rags in God's sight. 122 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,240 As long as we flaunt the filthy rags of our church membership, 123 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:00,080 our good deeds, our godly living, the devil will tear us 124 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,000 to shreds in the presence of God. 125 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,200 But when we come to the place where we are relying on nothing 126 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,160 but the blood of Jesus Christ and His righteousness, there is 127 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,840 nothing in us that the devil can put his finger on and bring up 128 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:21,720 by way of accusation before God. You might want to commit these 129 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,120 verses to memory. Forgiven in Christ. 130 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,160 Ephesians 17 tells us two things that we have when we are in 131 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,960 Christ. In Christ we have redemption 132 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,039 through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to 133 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,720 the riches of His grace. Remember when we are outside of 134 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,360 Christ, the blood does not avail. 135 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,560 Redemption means bought back by a ransom price that had to be 136 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:50,840 paid. Psalm one O 7 verse two. 137 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,720 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from 138 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,640 the hand of the enemy. This by the way is one of the 139 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,320 most powerful scriptures for teaching us the value testimony. 140 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:07,840 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so means to take the Word and 141 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,000 use it. Here then is my testimony on the 142 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,080 basis of Ephesians 17. Through the blood of Jesus I am 143 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,400 redeemed out of the hand of the devil. 144 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,400 This same scripture tells me that all my sins are forgiven. 145 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,800 So my next testimony is this, Through the blood of Jesus all 146 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:31,080 my sins are forgiven. Next is first John chapter one, 147 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,680 verse 7. If we walk in the light as Jesus 148 00:09:34,680 --> 00:09:39,040 is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and 149 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,960 the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. 150 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,880 These verbs are all continuing present tenses indicating an 151 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,880 ongoing process. If we walk in the light 152 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:55,120 continuously, we will have fellowship continuously, and the 153 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,000 blood will cleanse us continuously. 154 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,400 The cleansing by the blood of Jesus is not a single isolated 155 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,040 experience. It is ever present. 156 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,280 This is why we pray without ceasing that fellowship, and 157 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,400 prayer keeps us cleansed. If I am meeting the conditions, 158 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,280 if I am walking in the light, if I am in fellowship with my 159 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,360 fellow believers, then my testimony is this. 160 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:24,240 The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, continually cleanses me 161 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:30,400 from all sin. Romans 59 tells us that we are 162 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:36,040 justified by His blood. The word justified is not 163 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,200 understood by many present day believers. 164 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:42,040 Just and righteousness are interchangeable terms both in 165 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,680 Hebrew and in Greek, in the Old Testament and in the New. 166 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,560 So to be justified means to be made righteous. 167 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,480 Here is our next testimony. Through the blood of Jesus I am 168 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,400 justified, made righteous, just as if I'd never sinned. 169 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,960 Hebrews 1312 tells us that through the blood of Jesus we 170 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,760 are sanctified, that he might sanctify the people with his own 171 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:12,640 blood suffered outside the gate. The word sanctify is similar in 172 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:17,480 form to the word justify. To justify means to make just or 173 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,680 righteous. To sanctify means to make 174 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:24,320 saintly or holy. Here is our next testimony. 175 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:30,160 Through the blood of Jesus, I am sanctified, made holy, set apart 176 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,200 to God. The climax of our testimony is 177 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,920 found in First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19 and 20. 178 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,760 I want to look first, however, at two other verses from this 179 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,640 chapter in First Corinthians. Here is one. 180 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,960 Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, 181 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:55,920 and the Lord for the body. And then we read, Do you not 182 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,880 know that your bodies are members of Christ? 183 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,200 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy 184 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,440 Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not 185 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,680 your own? For you were bought at a price. 186 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:16,800 Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which 187 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,240 are gods. The Lord wants you for Himself. 188 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:23,840 He has paid the price of His precious blood. 189 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,520 If you want to hold on to your own life, you can. 190 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,720 But remember, in that case you have not been bought. 191 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,840 You cannot have it both ways. If you belong to God, you do not 192 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,600 belong to yourself. If you belong to yourself, you 193 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,800 do not belong to God. This is our next testimony. 194 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,960 My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, 195 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,560 sanctified by the blood of Jesus. 196 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,920 Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the 197 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,680 blood of Jesus. Here then, is our testimony by 198 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,000 which we apply the blood to our lives. 199 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,000 The references precede each confession. 200 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,840 Through the blood of Jesus, I am redeemed out of the hand of the 201 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,760 devil. Through the blood of Jesus, all 202 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,480 my sins are forgiven. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's 203 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,400 Son, cleanses me continually from all sin. 204 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:27,000 Through the blood of Jesus, I am justified, made righteous, just 205 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,080 as if I'd never sinned. Through the blood of Jesus, I am 206 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,320 sanctified, made holy, and set apart. 207 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,560 My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, cleansed, 208 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,080 sanctified by the blood of Jesus. 209 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:48,440 Therefore, Satan has no place in me, no power over me through the 210 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,560 blood of Jesus. If you really believe those 211 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,520 words, the next thing to do is praise the Lord for it. 212 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,920 Here is a word of praise that you might use. 213 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,840 Thank you God for the precious blood of Jesus. 214 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:05,800 Thank you for the redemptive blood of Christ. 215 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,400 Thank you for the justifying, sanctifying, precious blood of 216 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,680 the Lamb of God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. 217 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,680 I praise you, Jesus, for you paid the price of my redemption. 218 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,920 You shed your precious blood on the cross. 219 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,040 You are the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 220 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:29,360 And now, Lord, I have taken the blood from the basin and 221 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:33,240 transferred it to my own personal needs by the word of my 222 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,040 testimony. Amen. 223 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,240 Let me direct your attention to one more passage of Scripture 224 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,320 that is relevant to this type of prayer, speaking about Jesus. 225 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,680 The Word says this. This is he who came by the water 226 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:53,040 and blood, Jesus Christ, not only by water, but by water and 227 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,960 blood. And it is the Spirit who bears 228 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,480 witness, because the Spirit is truth. 229 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,800 There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, 230 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,720 the water and the blood, and these three agree as one. 231 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:10,760 There is nothing in the Christian life that is just a 232 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,280 set of rules. Salvation is not a technique. 233 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:17,720 Healing is not a technique. Deliverance from evil spirits is 234 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,480 not a technique. Anybody who tries to reduce any 235 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,680 of these things to a set of rules misses the point. 236 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:30,240 The purpose of it all is this. When we use the water of the 237 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,800 Word, when we use the blood in our testimony, and when the 238 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,640 Spirit bears witness, then heaven's floor drops out and 239 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:43,240 heaven comes to earth. Wherever God's people fast and 240 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:47,080 come together and praise, there always will be prophetic 241 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,160 revelation. Pathetic ministry comes out of 242 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,960 the fellowship of God's people earnestly seeking Him. 243 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,240 No religious games, no parlor tricks, no spiritual cocktail 244 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,520 parties, Just desperate hearts before God. 245 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,240 You minister to the Lord. He ministers to your problems. 246 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,520 If God's people could only see this. 247 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,240 Our weapons are mighty through God. 248 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,760 We reach up to God and we split that mid heaven of darkness 249 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,360 between us. God reaches down and touches 250 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,960 whatever problems we face as nations and individuals when we 251 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,880 use the spiritual weapons that God has given us. 252 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,040 God will be just as faithful to us today. 253 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,080 Matthew chapter 18 verse 19 and 20. 254 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,800 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning 255 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:43,320 anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in 256 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,160 heaven. For where two or three are 257 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,080 gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.