Speaker 1: Normally when I start a sermon, I, especially in the middle of a service sermon series like we are right now, I do a lot of recap to catch everybody up, but I'm going to encourage you to go back through the sermons that you may have missed and to get caught up because we're talking about something called spiritual warfare, and I want to get right into some of our new material today.
Speaker 1: A spiritual warfare is not found that phrase is not found specifically in scripture, but the concept is absolutely there.
Speaker 1: It talks about the war that believers are in, and it's about intentionally engaging in that war.
Speaker 1: That existed before we were born while we are here.
Speaker 1: And if the Lord does not return within our lifetime, then ultimately the war will continue after we are gone.
Speaker 1: And week number one, we said spiritual warfare is intentionally engaging in the war that believers are in.
Speaker 1: So it's being very intentional about it.
Speaker 1: Week.
Speaker 1: Number two, we said, knowing who you fight informs how you fight.
Speaker 1: And then week number three, last week, we said, believers are strengthened by angels loyal to God.
Speaker 1: And so that's, that's where we have gone.
Speaker 1: And that's where, what has brought us to where we are right now.
Speaker 1: We've discovered throughout that war is always about power.
Speaker 1: That when, when we hear that religion has started more wars, more wars have been fought over religion than anything else.
Speaker 1: That is true.
Speaker 1: Ish.
Speaker 1: That's partially true.
Speaker 1: That religion has in fact been the excuse for many wars, but I would absolutely disagree with the idea that it was the reason for the war.
Speaker 1: Power was always the reason for the war.
Speaker 1: And we connect to God through faith.
Speaker 1: That's how we access the power of God, the power of God to save the power of God, to work in our life in any, and every way we connect with him by faith.
Speaker 1: That is our tether.
Speaker 1: If you will, to our heavenly father, war is all about power.
Speaker 1: All power comes from God.
Speaker 1: Satan tried to take the power and he failed.
Speaker 1: Our faith, connects us to God and faith is built and sustained by the word of God.
Speaker 1: This is, I know this is a bit of recap, but it's not nearly as in-depth as I typically do.
Speaker 1: So every expression of spiritual warfare and here's where we're going.
Speaker 1: Every expression of spiritual warfare is designed to do one thing.
Speaker 1: And that is to doubt in the heart of the believer concerning what God has said.
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because our faith, the thing connecting us to God is both built and sustained by the word of God.
Speaker 1: So every expression of spiritual warfare is, and to create doubt in the heart of the believer, concerning what God has said, the reason why, the reason why Satan fights against that faith leaf.
Speaker 1: So diligently is our big idea today.
Speaker 1: And our big idea is this.
Speaker 1: You win by applying what God has spoken.
Speaker 1: I want you to recognize that we didn't say you win by knowing what God has said.
Speaker 1: It says you win by applying what God has spoken.
Speaker 1: And that's why the enemy always fights against our faith.
Speaker 1: In what God has said.
Speaker 1: He wants to create doubt in your heart, in your mind, over what God has said, because if he can do that, then it will reduce your application of what God has said in your life.
Speaker 1: You might know it.
Speaker 1: You might have read it.
Speaker 1: You might see it, but you only will apply the things that you truly believe in your life.
Speaker 1: The things that are lived outside of the things that are expressed outside of you are things that are first believed within you.
Speaker 1: Here's what the scripture has to say about that.
Speaker 1: Second Corinthians chapter 10 reads.
Speaker 1: It says this.
Speaker 1: It says for though we live in the body, which is a physical thing.
Speaker 1: See that it's physical.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: We live in the body.
Speaker 1: We do not wage war in an unspiritual way.
Speaker 1: So every kind of spiritual, every kind of war we wage that is that is directed by God is a spiritual war.
Speaker 1: We live in a physical body, in a physical world.
Speaker 1: This is why I can do this right here.
Speaker 1: I can interact with this keyboard like this and a physical world because I live in a physical body and I, I engage in a physical world, but the warfare that we fight, the God focused warfare, that we fight is always a spiritual war.
Speaker 1: It's one of the reasons why the enemy is so, so wanting us to focus on physical things, on things of this earth, because if he can get us focused on the physical thing and get us distracted from the spiritual thing, then we will not engage in the war that God is actually interested in.
Speaker 1: And if I asked people today, Hey, what's the biggest problem in our world right now, some people are gonna say, well, Democrats are the biggest problem in our world right now.
Speaker 1: And somebody else is going to say, well, Republicans have the biggest issue that we face right now.
Speaker 1: And some people are going to say, well, it's racial tensions that are going on, that are the issue.
Speaker 1: And it's lack of equality.
Speaker 1: That's the issue.
Speaker 1: And it's financial inequalities.
Speaker 1: That's the issue and, and all of these things and all of these things matter.
Speaker 1: And all of these things have parts and roles to play and so on.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, what God has said is that that none of those are the ultimate focus of the believers life.
Speaker 1: It is the spiritual battle that we are fighting.
Speaker 1: That is the focus of your life and mine as believers in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: That is the focus.
Speaker 1: How do we know that?
Speaker 1: That's the focus?
Speaker 1: How do we know that?
Speaker 1: For sure?
Speaker 1: Well, verse four says sense
Speaker 2: Or because those things are true.
Speaker 1: The way since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly.
Speaker 1: When God puts set up the weapons that we would use when he gave us the armor of God, whenever he, whenever he gave us the things that we would use to fight the battle that he was focused on, he did not give us ways to create more votes for that person versus this person.
Speaker 1: He did not say that he, in fact, all of the stuff that I already mentioned are, are talked about in scripture in one way or another, but they're talked about in a way that does not bring the vision.
Speaker 1: It brings unity in the family of God, in the, in the world, the, the weapons of the world always work to make a difference in the world, around us.
Speaker 1: And in the weapons that we have from God are always designed to connect us closer with him and to refuse the spiritual attacks of the enemy.
Speaker 1: In fact, it says, but are powerful
Speaker 2: Through God for the demolition
Speaker 1: Of strongholds.
Speaker 1: So the weapons that God has given us are powerful through God.
Speaker 1: They're powerful because God empowers them.
Speaker 1: He allows them to do the work that they were designed to do.
Speaker 1: They're not designed for war on an earthly plane or a physical plane.
Speaker 1: They're designed for a war in the spiritual elements of life.
Speaker 1: And so what are these things that, uh, that our weapons are meant to demolish or destroy?
Speaker 1: First?
Speaker 1: We demolish arguments.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess we
Speaker 1: Don't need that today.
Speaker 1: Cause there's no arguments going on in our world right now.
Speaker 1: Just scroll Twitter for 15 seconds, Facebook, anywhere.
Speaker 1: You're going to find an argument to be had.
Speaker 1: In fact, you could just say, it's a good day and the next thing will be well, it's a good day for you.
Speaker 1: And you're just not sensitive to the fact that I'm having a bad day just making stuff up.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's believable because of it because that's what our world does right now.
Speaker 1: It takes even an innocuous statement and turns it into an argument.
Speaker 1: How about verse five in every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God?
Speaker 1: Is there anything in our world today that's rising up against the knowledge of God.
Speaker 1: How about taking every thought captive to obey Christ?
Speaker 1: These are the strongholds that the weapons of our warfare are meant to demolish.
Speaker 1: How about verse five?
Speaker 1: We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God, and we capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Speaker 1: So this aligns very closely with the idea that we live in the body, a physical body, a physical world, but we do not war in the physical.
Speaker 1: We do our war in the spiritual, the spiritual realm.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: We might fight physical battles.
Speaker 1: We may get into physical conflicts.
Speaker 1: And I know people that have, and I know people that do, most of us have had one or two fights in our life, but the reality is most of our fights are not physical.
Speaker 1: They're there in our minds.
Speaker 1: They're there within our, with our mouths.
Speaker 1: They are with our ideas and, and, and the things of, of well internal things that are be exciting externally, we're fighting a spiritual war.
Speaker 1: It might shock you to know that I have three thoughts for you today and thought, number one, that was funny to me.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: Three thought number one was this strong holes are areas of fought in disagreement with what God says.
Speaker 1: Strongholds are areas of thought and disagreement with what God says strong there, the word there means areas of resistance areas that refuse God's authority.
Speaker 1: They're there, their arguments, another word for it would be computations or, or calculations that could be made by humanity and understood by humanity.
Speaker 1: Today.
Speaker 1: We have more, we have access to more knowledge than we've ever had access to before we can make more calculations than we've ever been able to make.
Speaker 1: We can, we can calculate things that historically in a lifetime, a person could not calculate either, even if they had the knowledge, but today we're able to put it into super computers and be able to calculate stuff that that brings other levels of knowledge and new levels of understanding that are just mind-boggling in nature.
Speaker 1: And that's why humanity is so awesome.
Speaker 1: Today has no problems.
Speaker 1: And everything's worked out.
Speaker 1: That's fine said no one ever, because that's not how it's worked.
Speaker 1: Even though we have all these knowledge, this knowledge, and we can calculate all these things and we can predict all of these interesting stuff.
Speaker 1: It's all great.
Speaker 1: It's all wonderful.
Speaker 1: It all adds value to our world and to our lives.
Speaker 1: But the fact is it has not made us everything that we were supposed to be.
Speaker 1: And it has not allowed us to live in peace and harmony and grace and love for one another and so on and so forth that it has not resulted in that even though that it exists.
Speaker 1: And so humanity does not have the ability to calculate ourselves
Speaker 2: Out of the war that we're in.
Speaker 2: How about high-minded things, thoughts,
Speaker 1: Or arguments that cast doubt on the knowledge of God, the first that God is.
Speaker 1: And the second that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Speaker 2: Him.
Speaker 2: So he's constantly
Speaker 1: Casting doubt on who God is and how God works.
Speaker 1: How about proud obstacles, barriers that build
Speaker 2: Pride,
Speaker 1: Causing us to block ourselves off from all that God has for us, block ourselves off from a knowledge of who he is and operating within his word, thinking like, oh, I can do that.
Speaker 1: I can do it my way.
Speaker 1: I don't need to do it his way.
Speaker 1: I can do it my way.
Speaker 1: I don't need to do what the scripture says.
Speaker 1: I can do what I say.
Speaker 1: I'm a full grown man.
Speaker 1: I can make my own path.
Speaker 1: I can do my own thing.
Speaker 1: And so a proud obstacle is stronghold.
Speaker 1: That needs to be brought down.
Speaker 1: How about rebellious, thoughts, thoughts that are in opposition to what the creator declares your creator says, this is how I've made you.
Speaker 1: This is what I've made you.
Speaker 1: This is why I've made you.
Speaker 1: And we say, Nope, I don't believe that.
Speaker 1: I don't believe this is what you made me.
Speaker 1: I don't believe this is why you made me.
Speaker 1: And I don't believe this is how you've made me.
Speaker 1: In fact, I'm going to, I'm going to make up my own Genesis.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make up my own purpose.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make up my own plan.
Speaker 1: I'm going to make up my own me.
Speaker 1: And he says, these are rebellious thoughts.
Speaker 1: And the language here is clearly adversarial.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, how do you figure this out?
Speaker 1: And how can you work with your own personal thoughts?
Speaker 1: And, and, you know, maybe if you take kind of what you think about it and kind of what God thinks about it, and then kind of mush that all together, then you can get the best of both worlds.
Speaker 1: He doesn't say that, no.
Speaker 1: He says, demolish these things, capture these things, destroy these things.
Speaker 1: There is no consideration.
Speaker 1: There is no compromise with these enemies of God.
Speaker 1: He doesn't give any room for that whatsoever.
Speaker 2: And, and
Speaker 1: Well we do is we take a thought either a thought that we think, or a thought that's submitted by somebody else.
Speaker 1: And we align it with the word of God.
Speaker 1: If it does not align with the word, God scripture says, demolish it.
Speaker 1: Scripture says destroy it.
Speaker 1: Or scripture says capture it.
Speaker 1: And what is it?
Speaker 1: Capture it.
Speaker 1: What it means is do not give it free reign in your life.
Speaker 1: If, if a mouse comes in your house and mice are an expression of demonic forces in your life, I'm kidding.
Speaker 1: That's a joke, but I hate mice.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: So it really is a joke.
Speaker 1: Just take that for a joke.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: So somebody's going to see a mouse and that'd be reducing hell right there in the house.
Speaker 1: It won't help you just capture the mouse.
Speaker 1: But when you capture the mouse, what it's doing is it's not allowing the mouse free reign of your home.
Speaker 1: The mouse doesn't get to go where it wants it.
Speaker 1: Doesn't get to take what it wants.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get to eat what it wants to get.
Speaker 1: Doesn't get to do what it wants, because you're capturing that mouse.
Speaker 1: And then if you're smart, you're going to take it out and destroy it.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, so I'm going to get over it in a minute, but, uh, but yeah, when we capture something, it's brought into submission of something greater than itself.
Speaker 1: And so when we capture the thought, we say, okay, I'm thinking that right now, but that is not a right thought.
Speaker 1: That is not a good thought.
Speaker 1: That is not a God thought.
Speaker 1: And so I'm capturing it and I'm bringing it under submission.
Speaker 1: So what I'm going to do is if it will not align with God's word, then I destroy it.
Speaker 1: It's gone.
Speaker 1: If it can align with God's word, then I will morph the thought to fit God's word versus morphing.
Speaker 1: God's word, to fit my fault.
Speaker 2: And that's the struggle
Speaker 1: That we have consistently.
Speaker 1: In fact, in September of 2020 Lifeway research did a survey in the United States specifically.
Speaker 1: And, and it wasn't specifically for Christian people or non-Christian people.
Speaker 1: It was a, it was a blanket and a mixture of both.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: But they, but it reveals kind of this convoluted relationship that Americans have with scripture.
Speaker 1: And this is, this is what it showed.
Speaker 1: It said most believe.
Speaker 1: Most people that they surveyed believe that it's, that the Bible is important that the Bible is God's word.
Speaker 1: And that the Bible is valuable to informing life choices.
Speaker 1: So everybody didn't believe that, but the majority overall did believe that to be true.
Speaker 1: They also said that the Bible is not literal, that the Bible must be interpreted and, and some of the Bible is not applicable today.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: So they were saying both of those things
Speaker 2: True.
Speaker 2: And then the,
Speaker 1: From an outcome is this is a revelation as to why 54% of Americans in this survey said that beliefs about God are subjective.
Speaker 1: They are personal, there are opinions.
Speaker 1: And they are, they are, they are subjective truth versus objective truth will, Paul would say, that's a stronghold.
Speaker 1: And here's why, because if God's word is subjective, meaning that your personal feelings and my personal feelings come into play as to whether it is right or wrong.
Speaker 1: Then ultimately what we have is a choose your own adventure situation.
Speaker 1: What we're basically saying is if I agree that it's right and that it's true than it is.
Speaker 1: And if I don't agree that it's right in that it's true, then it's not.
Speaker 1: If it's objective fact God's word is objective fact, then that means of what I personally feel or think about it.
Speaker 1: It remains true.
Speaker 1: And, or do I have a choose your own adventure situation?
Speaker 2: I can't just
Speaker 1: Decide what I want to accept and leave the
Speaker 2: Rest.
Speaker 2: And this is the convoluted relationship
Speaker 1: That many people, including Christians have with scripture.
Speaker 1: Now, I want to be clear on something.
Speaker 1: I do believe 100% that for the Bible to be the word of God, it has to be interpreted correctly.
Speaker 1: And this was one of the reasons I think it's important to know the difference between translations and the know the difference between a translation and a paraphrase.
Speaker 1: In fact, you have translation transliteration and paraphrase, but translation transliteration will say that that's good, but, and then say paraphrase.
Speaker 1: So for instance, the staff, the team here knows that if they say that something came from the message version, they know that I'm not going to be okay with that.
Speaker 1: It's not that I think everything in the message version is bad.
Speaker 1: No, there's some really cool things about the message, the message offering of, of scripture, but it is a paraphrase of scripture.
Speaker 1: It is not the scripture.
Speaker 1: And that's important to know because what you're getting is how somebody personally interprets the scripture verses what the scripture actually said.
Speaker 1: Whereas the translation or transliteration would be more specifically what the scripture has said and there's differences there too.
Speaker 1: I'm a very aware of that, but how we understand the word of God and how we accept the word of God is critical to this thing called spiritual warfare.
Speaker 1: And that's thought number two, it's because spiritual weapons or a product of faith, there are product of faith.
Speaker 1: How we fight in spiritual warfare is a direct reflection on what we believe about what God has said.
Speaker 1: Faith is belief.
Speaker 1: Faith.
Speaker 1: It is is, is a belief enough within me to cause me to act in a certain way outside of me.
Speaker 1: It's heart-based, it's the spiritual side of things,
Speaker 2: But the expression
Speaker 1: Of that faith, the expression of that faith is physical.
Speaker 2: Let me, let me
Speaker 1: Explain what I mean.
Speaker 1: Using scripture here, Luke chapter six, verse 45 says a good person.
Speaker 2: We know a lot of good people,
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 1: So a good person produces good things.
Speaker 1: That means that the good person externally produces good things in their life.
Speaker 1: Good stuff happens around good people.
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 1: But it's from a treasury of a good heart.
Speaker 1: Well, that's the internal well side of things and youthful person.
Speaker 1: So somebody that's evil, okay.
Speaker 1: Produces evil things, external things from the treasury of an evil heart internal.
Speaker 1: So the internal reality, the internal belief, internal faith, if you will, is producing external results.
Speaker 1: Good inside, good outside, bad inside, bad outside.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: What you say, external flows from what is in your heart?
Speaker 1: Internal.
Speaker 1: The reason why, you know, what I'm saying right now is not because I'm thinking it very diligently and you happen to be picking up my brain waves.
Speaker 1: It's because I'm externally expressing what I'm internally processing.
Speaker 1: So an internal thing is becoming an external reality and your internal faith, how you utilize the weapons of your warfare, has everything to do with what you believe on the inside.
Speaker 1: That's how you express on the outside.
Speaker 1: Romans 10, 10 is a great example of this.
Speaker 1: It says for, with the heart inside, one believes unto righteousness.
Speaker 1: So with our heart, we believe enough to align our life and our word align our life, our path, our plan, align it with the word of God.
Speaker 1: We are, we are now righteousness righteous rather made right with God.
Speaker 1: That's an internal reality.
Speaker 1: And with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation confession.
Speaker 1: You can't confess it and leave it inside.
Speaker 1: If it's confessed, it means that it transcends it.
Speaker 1: The words not transcends.
Speaker 1: It's not even translates it transitions.
Speaker 1: That's the word I'm looking for.
Speaker 1: It transitions from an inside reality to an external reality.
Speaker 1: I believe it on the inside.
Speaker 1: So now I'm trans.
Speaker 1: I'm transferring it from inside to outside.
Speaker 1: When I internally want my kids to clean their room, I don't think about it hard from the living room.
Speaker 1: I yell loudly,
Speaker 3: Clean your room, not so much anymore, but I did when they were smaller,
Speaker 1: Internal becoming expressed externally heart believes it has faith in and it results in righteousness.
Speaker 1: But you confess and speak the word from your mouth that is in your heart.
Speaker 1: And in our first lesson, we talked about the scripture and I told you that the word confession there is the Greek word, homo logia and homologeo means home old, same loggia word.
Speaker 1: It's a derivative of the word word.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 1: So same word.
Speaker 1: When we S when we believe in our heart, what Christ has said, what God has said, we align ourself with him.
Speaker 1: And then we begin to speak out of our mouth.
Speaker 1: The same word that Christ said about us, that we are his children, that he is the savior that we can by faith accept his salvation.
Speaker 1: And we can walk in it today.
Speaker 1: That that's what he has said.
Speaker 1: And when we do that today, we align with him and it results in salvation of our heart, of our soul, of our life, of our mind.
Speaker 1: And I praise the Lord for that.
Speaker 1: But salvation isn't needed just for the day.
Speaker 1: I transitioned from time into eternity.
Speaker 2: I need,
Speaker 1: I need my finances to be saved.
Speaker 1: Anybody recognize that I need my relationships to be saved.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: I mean, my marriage to be saved that I needed my kids to be saved.
Speaker 1: I need my workplace to be saved.
Speaker 1: I need the, the people around me to be saved.
Speaker 1: I need my interactions to be safe.
Speaker 1: I need my thoughts to be saved.
Speaker 1: Present yourself, still living sacrifice.
Speaker 1: Holy unto God, let your, let your mind be renewed.
Speaker 1: Let, let the eternal thing be saved in you, let it be renewed so that it can then externally express all that God has said, all that God has done.
Speaker 1: And so ultimately we discovered that spiritual warfare is not confessing what I want, but confessing what God said.
Speaker 1: Isaiah tells us that the word of God will not return again, void or pointless.
Speaker 1: So, so when the word of God has spoken, it's spoken in order to achieve a result, it's going to do stuff that means it's supposed to be used to do stuff.
Speaker 1: It's not, it's not just a mantra that we repeat.
Speaker 1: It's meant for purpose.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 1: For point, his word has always directed his power.
Speaker 1: Not all the way at the beginning, Genesis chapter one, and God said, let there be light.
Speaker 1: And there was light his word directed his power.
Speaker 1: How about all the way in the new Testament?
Speaker 1: When Jesus stands there next to the bed of the little girl that had died.
Speaker 1: And he says, Tabitha arise and Tabitha arise.
Speaker 1: He says his power was there.
Speaker 1: He could have thought heavily Tabitha arise, but he didn't his words directed as power.
Speaker 1: How, how, how about he stood outside the tomb of Lazarus, his friend who had died.
Speaker 1: And he did not just, no.
Speaker 1: He said, Lazarus come forth and Lazarus came forth.
Speaker 1: Here's the reality for you?
Speaker 1: And for me, confessing your desire, engages your power confessing.
Speaker 1: God's word, engages God's power.
Speaker 1: His word always directs his power.
Speaker 1: So if what God has said
Speaker 2: Is subjective.
Speaker 2: If it's
Speaker 1: Dependent and on what you think and what I think, then my internal faith is inevitably placed in my own understanding.
Speaker 1: My ability to know this is right, this is wrong.
Speaker 1: This is good.
Speaker 1: This is bad.
Speaker 1: This is the part of what God said.
Speaker 1: That is.
Speaker 1: And this is the part of God's word that is not so true.
Speaker 1: This is the part of God's word that is to be applied.
Speaker 1: And this is the part of God.
Speaker 1: The word that's not to be applied.
Speaker 1: The only person that gets to make that choice, if it's subjective
Speaker 2: Is me.
Speaker 2: I get to make that choice in my own life.
Speaker 1: Ultimately, I'm leaning upon my own understanding.
Speaker 1: So what is produced from my life becomes a mixture of my power and God's power, but that's not good enough for me because I need God's power far more than I need
Speaker 2: My power.
Speaker 1: And this impacts our ability to be effective in the fight.
Speaker 1: Why does it affect our fight?
Speaker 1: Because the weapons of our warfare are all external expressions of internal faith.
Speaker 1: The fruit of the spirit love joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Speaker 1: Sorry.
Speaker 1: I learned it all in the king, James, but those are external expressions of internal faith.
Speaker 1: How about the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Speaker 1: The gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: The word was made flesh.
Speaker 1: The gospel of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ and the expression of Christ in the world.
Speaker 1: The expression of the word of God in the world, according to mark six, 16 has the power to change lives.
Speaker 1: Not because we know it, but because we express it.
Speaker 1: How about the sword of the spirit, which is the only offensive weapon that we have.
Speaker 1: We have, we have the helmet of salvation, the feet shod with the gospel of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, et cetera.
Speaker 1: We have all of these things, but these are all defensive weapons.
Speaker 1: The only weapon that we have to go make a difference to the enemy is the sword of the spirit.
Speaker 1: Ephesians six 17 says, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
Speaker 1: So if I was your enemy and the only weapon that you had to go cut me with
Speaker 2: Was the word of God.
Speaker 1: And wouldn't it make sense for me to try to get you to doubt the word of God over and over and over to doubt the sword that you have been given to doubt the thing that has allows you to make an impact in your enemies life versus your enemy, only making an impact in yours.
Speaker 1: So we have, we have the sword of the spirit.
Speaker 1: We also have the effect in the prayer and something that we use like this to the enemy, but it is something that we used like this to God and allow God to fight our battles.
Speaker 1: First, John five says, now this is the confidence that we have in him.
Speaker 1: That if we ask anything, according to his will, if we ask anything, according to his, will he hears us.
Speaker 1: And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we will have the petitions that we have asked of him.
Speaker 1: If we ask according to his will, how do we know what the will of God is?
Speaker 1: We know what the will of God is based upon what God has
Speaker 2: Said.
Speaker 2: The
Speaker 1: Reason why my kids always do when I was in, when I was suggesting that they clean their room is because of what I said.
Speaker 1: There wasn't a doubt because I said it.
Speaker 1: And if we say what he has said, if we pray what he has said, then what he tells us is that it will be done.
Speaker 1: We just sang it a moment ago, that the battle is the Lord's.
Speaker 1: But oftentimes we say, Lord, the battle is yours.
Speaker 1: And the plan is mine.
Speaker 2: Hm.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do it my way, but you're responsible for the outcome.
Speaker 1: And what God says is no, no, no, no, no, you do it my way.
Speaker 1: You say it, like I said, it, you follow my will.
Speaker 1: And my plan and the battle is mine.
Speaker 1: I'll take care of the outcome.
Speaker 1: So here's the reality for you and I?
Speaker 1: The persistent, holy spirit led prayer of the believer aligned with God is a powerful weapon.
Speaker 1: So when we align our life with his, when we align our prayer with his word and his will, when we align ourself with who he is and what he is and what he has already shared with us, that's when we know we will be affective, it's a powerful weapon.
Speaker 1: And that brings us to thought number three, speak.
Speaker 1: What you know
Speaker 2: Is true.
Speaker 1: We, we already know that he says, if we confess with our mouth, that it is that salvation is a product of that.
Speaker 1: But second Corinthians four says, and since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, so he's, he's, he's quoting back what was written.
Speaker 1: I believe in Psalms and in Psalms that said, I believe in therefore I spoke now, Paul says we also believe and therefore speak.
Speaker 2: He said, we believe it.
Speaker 2: So we speak it
Speaker 1: Just like the profits of old, believed it and spoke it.
Speaker 1: We believe it.
Speaker 1: And we speak
Speaker 2: It.
Speaker 1: What in your life is needing to happen?
Speaker 1: And yet is also waiting to be said, what are you holding back, speaking out.
Speaker 1: If you know it to be true, you know, what is the Willem word of God?
Speaker 1: And yet you're holding back on it.
Speaker 1: How many things are undone in your life?
Speaker 1: How many times have you fallen in life?
Speaker 1: Backed up, laid down, lost relationships.
Speaker 1: Had had situations with loved ones that didn't go the way they should.
Speaker 1: Business situations.
Speaker 1: That cause stress beyond your ability to, to bear all of these things, being the reality of, and you may be you're speaking your own will and your own word into the situation.
Speaker 1: But what if you spoke his will and his word into the situation?
Speaker 1: Paul said this in Romans one, he said for, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for
Speaker 2: It is the power of God unto salvation.
Speaker 2: The
Speaker 1: Gospel spoken, the gospel, preached the gospel, shared the gospel is everything in scripture.
Speaker 1: It's not just, I know we've, we've regulated, regulated the gospel to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: And that is true.
Speaker 1: That is the gospel, but it goes so much further than that.
Speaker 1: If we apply all of what God has said to all of our life, then our whole life, it's the power of God unto salvation.
Speaker 1: It saves all of us
Speaker 2: For everyone who believes that we're power there for it is the power of God.
Speaker 1: It's the Greek word Dunamus, which is where we get the English word dynamite from it.
Speaker 1: It's, it's made to impact something to make a difference in the world.
Speaker 1: And faith that is unexpressed is like unlit, dynamite.
Speaker 1: It's sitting there.
Speaker 1: It has all the potential in the world.
Speaker 1: It's just not doing anything for you right now.
Speaker 1: So here's the question that I have for you today in closing, what does God actually say?
Speaker 1: You have to know what God has said in order to be able to say what God has said.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of things in Christianity today that, well, God said this, and God said that.
Speaker 1: And God said the other things that God did not actually say.
Speaker 1: And so if I am quoting pastor David and I quote pastor David, but I make up words that pastor David didn't say, pastor David is going to write me a$5,000 check today.
Speaker 1: I just unbelieve in that.
Speaker 1: I'm expecting that I'm going to, but if pastor David never said that, if he said he was going to give me a Hardy hello today.
Speaker 1: And I just said, well, what that means is you're going to write me a$5,000 check.
Speaker 1: Well, my assumption doesn't become his directive.
Speaker 1: My assumption or desire from God does not become God's directive from me.
Speaker 1: Here's a clue.
Speaker 1: I'm not his boss.
Speaker 1: So what does God actually say?
Speaker 1: So here's one, God did not say that you will be rich.
Speaker 1: There are people who preach a doctrine that say, well, if you, if you just have enough faith and you just do enough of this and, and you just give enough that, then you will be rich.
Speaker 1: That is not the gospel.
Speaker 1: I wish I could say it nicer than that, but it's just not true.
Speaker 1: So what is true?
Speaker 1: Philippians chapter four, verse 19.
Speaker 1: Here's what Jesus, what God did say.
Speaker 1: And my God shall supply all your need.
Speaker 1: According to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1: So what I can pray, I can't pray God, you're going to make me a millionaire.
Speaker 1: God, you're gonna make me a millionaire.
Speaker 1: I may become a millionaire that may, that's not the problem.
Speaker 1: I'm not taking it off the table, but that's not the promise that I have from God.
Speaker 1: What I have from God, the promise is that God, you're going to provide my need.
Speaker 1: I don't see how it's going to happen right now.
Speaker 1: I didn't even, I mean, as far as I can tell, it's not even a possibility, but your word says you will supply all my needs.
Speaker 1: So I'm feeling overwhelmed by the need or I'm feeling overwhelmed by the lack.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling overwhelmed by the situation.
Speaker 1: Then my prayer is, and this is spiritual warfare in its essence.
Speaker 1: God, you are providing my need.
Speaker 1: You said that you'll provide my needs.
Speaker 1: Not based upon what I have been on what you have.
Speaker 1: So I'm believing you for right now.
Speaker 1: I'm going to sleep tonight in peace.
Speaker 1: I'm going to get up tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I have no idea how I'm going to meet the need of tomorrow, but I'm going to walk into it because you are providing my need.
Speaker 1: And I believe it right now in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: That's the essence of spiritual warfare.
Speaker 1: How about this?
Speaker 1: God never said there would not be lies in your life.
Speaker 1: Anybody ever been lied to?
Speaker 1: Here's a better question.
Speaker 1: Anybody never had a lie told to them, you'd be unique.
Speaker 1: Here's what the Bible does say, God did say John eight, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
Speaker 1: So when I'm confused by all the lies that are coming my way, I don't sit there and say, well, God, you said they'd never be alive.
Speaker 1: Nope.
Speaker 1: I say, God, you said that you would show me truth that you would review of truth.
Speaker 1: In fact, Jesus said the holy spirit would reveal all truth.
Speaker 1: And so I stand in your truth today.
Speaker 1: Jesus, I'm going to know it.
Speaker 1: It's going to be there.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to walk confidently, knowing that you're going to tell me what is true versus what is lie?
Speaker 1: How about this?
Speaker 1: God did not say temptations would not come.
Speaker 1: He didn't say it.
Speaker 1: This is what he did say, God is faithful.
Speaker 1: And he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.
Speaker 1: But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
Speaker 1: So some people apply that and say, well, God will never put anything on me more than I can bear.
Speaker 1: That's not true.
Speaker 1: That's not what God said.
Speaker 1: What he did say is that if you are being tempted by the enemy, that he will not allow the enemy to tempt you beyond what you can bear and therefore fall into sin.
Speaker 1: Without giving you a wave escape.
Speaker 1: You see that in Joseph, Joseph life with Potiphar's wife, she came to him and said sleep with me.
Speaker 1: And, and he didn't say, well, here's the 15 reasons why I'm not going to sleep with you.
Speaker 1: He said, no, I'm not going to send us against God and not going to sit against your husband.
Speaker 1: And he literally ran away from her and sometimes the best way of escape that God has provided you run, run Forrest, run this.
Speaker 1: God did not say that your children would not ever walk away from God.
Speaker 1: Didn't say it.
Speaker 1: But he did say this, train up a child in the way he should go.
Speaker 1: And even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Speaker 1: He said, if you'll train up the child, I'm not saying that the child will never walk away.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying when that child gets to some level of maturity, they're coming back and you and I can pray, Lord, I don't know where he's gone.
Speaker 1: I don't know where she's been.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're doing.
Speaker 1: And I don't know why they've left, but I can tell you this Lord, I thank you that they're coming back and I stand in.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Jesus.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord.
Speaker 1: I've got to hurry, but God didn't say all of his promises would be fulfilled immediately, but he did say all the promises of God in him are yes.
Speaker 1: And in him, amen to the glory of God through us.
Speaker 1: Oh God, I don't see how it's even possible.
Speaker 1: But you said your promise would not fail.
Speaker 1: And I believe you today.
Speaker 1: God did not say that those saved by grace through faith would never, but he did say if we confess our sins, he is beautiful.
Speaker 1: And just to forgive us, our sins and to cleanse us from all of them, right?
Speaker 1: Justice, God did not say that the enemy would be a weekend.
Speaker 1: I mean, but he did say submit yourselves, therefore to God resist the devil.
Speaker 1: And he will.
Speaker 1: It.
Speaker 1: That is true every day of the week.
Speaker 1: God did not say that the world would be easy, but he did say this forever.
Speaker 1: Everyone who has been born of God, overcomes the world.
Speaker 1: If you are saved, if you've been born again in Christ, Jesus, you have overcome the world.
Speaker 1: And this is the victory that has overcome the world.
Speaker 1: What is it?
Speaker 1: It's our faith.
Speaker 1: The same thing that allows us to connect with God.
Speaker 1: The same thing that allows us to fight with the weapons that he's given us.
Speaker 1: The fame thing that allows us to say what God has said is what overcomes the world?
Speaker 1: Who is that?
Speaker 1: Who is it rather that overcomes the world, accept, meaning these are the only ones that overcome the world.
Speaker 1: The one who believes that Jesus, this is the son of God.
Speaker 1: So ultimately in all of this will not discover that God has said, everything's that everything that we want him to say, but over and over, we will discover that he has said everything that we need him to say for us to live a successful life, filled with life on this earth and a heavenly home in heaven.
Speaker 1: So today I ask you to close your eyes about your heads with me.
Speaker 1: Prayer partners.
Speaker 1: Come on forward right now.
Speaker 1: Praise team, come on out, but ask the question.
Speaker 1: Holy spirit.
Speaker 1: What are you saying to me?
Speaker 1: The service right now is it time for you to align your life and your, your verbiage with the word of God, allow him to fight your battle for you, but you don't get the fight.
Speaker 1: You don't have him fight the battle with your plan.
Speaker 1: You speak his plan in order for him to fight the battle for you father in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1: I thank you for your people.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your word today.
Speaker 1: Give us the humility to submit ourselves to you and watch the enemy fleet from us.
Speaker 1: Give us the strength to speak your word even in difficult times and watch you fight our battle in times where we feel like we're being defeated.
Speaker 1: Allow us, give us the courage to speak your victory over our circumstance in every situation.
Speaker 1: Let us follow you in all our ways and watch you direct our paths in Jesus name.
Speaker 1: We pray and let everybody say amen.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Let's stand to our feet.
Speaker 1: If you need prayer, come forward.
Speaker 1: The prayer partners are here for you.
Speaker 1: Let's sing this song and worship to the king.