In Christ - The Armor Of God

Mark Medley closes our eight‑month walk through Ephesians in the In Christ series with a message many know by name but often miss in practice: the armor of God. Walking slowly through Ephesians 6:10–20, Mark shows that Paul is not calling us to hype ourselves up, but to stand firm in the strength of the Lord and in a victory Jesus has already secured. The struggle is real, but it is not against flesh and blood. That framing matters, because it moves us away from blaming people and toward depending on Christ’s finished work, daily obedience, and persistent prayer.

To make that point vivid, Mark begins with Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese officer who kept fighting for decades because he didn’t know the war was over. It becomes a mirror: how often do we battle fear, shame, temptation, or anxiety as if Jesus hasn’t already triumphed over the powers? Ephesians opened with grace, adoption, forgiveness, and being raised with Christ; it ends with armor that is God’s own provision, purchased by our King, for living out what is already true.

Mark then turns to Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Gettysburg to show that victory rarely begins on the day of crisis. Habits formed over time determine who we are when the hour strikes. That insight matches the shape of Ephesians: grounded in the Father’s love and the Son’s work, strengthened in a Spirit‑filled community, and expressed through a disciplined “walk” in light, wisdom, unity, love, and good works. Those rhythms prepare us to withstand “the evil day.”

From there, the armor becomes clear in the light of the whole letter and the wider Scriptures: truth that holds everything together and unmasks lies; righteousness both given to us and walked out; the gospel of peace that steadies us with peace with God and peace with one another; faith that is God’s gift and our confidence in His faithfulness; salvation that guards the mind as we actively remember the finished work of Jesus; and the Word of God, both the settled Scriptures and the timely word the Spirit brings to heart as we stay in the Bible. None of this is random gear; it is the application of the gospel.

Finally, Mark lands where Paul lands: prayer. We need brothers and sisters in arms, perseverance, and boldness for gospel witness. If you’ve felt tired, attacked, or isolated, this message is a reset for your mind and a reminder that you do not fight alone. Share it with someone you’re praying for and take a fresh stand, in Christ.

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Transcript

Grace, Peace, Then A Battle

Mark Medley 0:02

So we have spent eight months studying Paul's letter to the Ephesians together, and we're going to conclude it today with a passage that has both inspired people and it confused people. Probably since the very first time it was read by those young Ephesian believers. So hopefully we're going to the Holy Spirit's going to give us some light on this. But Paul, it may have confused him because Paul opened this letter. Do you remember in September? Do you remember? We opened the letter. Paul opens the letter with these words, grace and peace be to you. He closes the letter also with grace and peace. And he talks about unity and he talks about kindness to one another. But then now today we're going to be reading where he is telling believers in Jesus to suit up for battle. You are in a war, he's telling them. And the enemy is greater than you can handle, and you need armor and you need weapons that are greater than your own wisdom and your own faith and your own ability. So we're going to read this this morning. We're going to see what God has given to us to be able to fight our spiritual battles. So would you mind standing with me in honor of the word of God? And just you can read with me, it's going to be on the screen behind me. This is Ephesians chapter 6, starting at verse 10. Finally, you don't have to read it out loud. It's okay. You can if you want to. That's fine with me. But finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may give into me, may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it bold as I ought to speak. Let's pray. And as we're praying, would you mind praying for me too? That I would be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak. I need your prayers. So, Father, thank you. We're grateful this morning for your word, which is forever settled in heaven. Lord, your word which endures, which is alive and powerful, and it goes down into our hearts, even to our thoughts and intents of our hearts, and it divides soul and spirit, and it is working, Lord, always working. Today we pray that you would work in us and you would, in the short time that we have

Ephesians 6 Read Aloud

Mark Medley 3:50

here, Lord, that you would do a long work in our hearts, that you would speak directly to the needs of every single person here in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, you can be seated. So, since we're talking about spiritual battle, spiritual warfare this morning, I want to tell you stories of three warriors and see if we can learn something from these three warriors. The first one, maybe I've told this story before, but maybe I haven't. I don't know. But uh, it's a great story. It's really applicable to what we're talking about this morning. So it's a man named Hiro. Yeah, his name is Hiro. Hiro Onoda. And Hiro Onoda was an Imperial Japanese army officer in the Second World War. He was one of Japan's most famous military legends, but for a kind of a strange reason, actually. And he belonged to a family of samurai warriors, and he was in that class of family. And like all Japanese soldiers, he his orders stated that there are two things he could never do. He could never surrender and he could never take his own life. This is this was his orders. This was his his life. This is the way he um he lived his life. And in 1944, he was sent to the Philippines and he was ordered to do everything he could with his men to disrupt and hamper the enemy attacks on the island. The enemy would be would be us and others and the Filipinos. And so that included destroying the airstrip, that included uh destroying the pier at the harbor, and he and his men did a lot of destroying. But in 1945, the island was liberated by the combined forces of the United States Armed Forces and the Philippine Commonwealth, and Hiro and three other men ran to the mountains and they hid in the mountains surrounding the city. And from their little hideout in the mountains, they carried out these guerrilla activities. They engaged in shootouts with the authorities, including dis uh

Fighting A War Already Over

Mark Medley 6:05

including uh uh um pouring um um their um weapons, uh pointing their weapons into the city and um barraging the city. And they were generally causing havoc for their Filipinos for almost, they did this for almost 30 years because Hero didn't know the war was over. Nobody told him that. And finally, in 1974, the Japanese government found Hero's commanding officer and sent him to the Philippines because they knew Hero would listen to his commanding officer as a good soldier, right? His commanding officer found Hero up in the hills, and he said, Hero, you've been so loyal. You've been you've been such a good soldier, but Hero, the war is over, and the war has been over for almost 30 years, and so Hero surrendered his sword and his rifle and over 500 rounds of ammunition and some grenades and the dagger that his mother gave him, and he went back to Japan, and he ended up being a military legend like a hero. Hero was a hero to the Japanese. What I want you to understand about this story, though, is that Hero Elnoda kept fighting a war that he didn't know was already over. It had already been won. Well, in his side, it's always been already been lost from his side, but it was over, and he kept his efforts up for 30 years, fighting a war that was not. So sometimes, when we're talking about spiritual warfare this morning, sometimes we are fighting in our own strength a war that has already been won. Today we read about these in these enemies, spiritual enemies, the principalities and powers. But Paul didn't start in chapter six talking about this, he talked about this in chapter one that Jesus himself was ascended, was raised up, and had authority over the principalities and powers. And that we also are raised up together with him over those principalities and powers. So, but some of us are living like we don't know the war is already won. And this is why Paul started the book of Ephesians with a chapter and a half of what God has done for us in Christ. And he prayed for us that God would open our eyes to what he has done, the riches that we have in Christ, and that the gospel would be the foundation of our life, and from that gospel foundation, rooted and grounded in the love of God, that we would be able to walk in righteousness and also, in the end, fight the spiritual battles. Paul was saying that in one sense the battle is already won. But there are others of us walking with Christ who aren't even aware there's a war.

unknown 9:17

Yeah.

Mark Medley 9:18

You don't even know. It's not, you haven't been told yet. You're living in it. Maybe you felt the effects of it, but you don't know what you're feeling the effects of. And this is why Paul ends the letter with this section about spiritual armor and how we're to stand in the freedom that we've been given. Because there is a war. And everything that he talks about here in this section, chapter six, he's already been talking about. He doesn't just introduce it here, he's wrapping it up here, but he started talking about it much earlier. And Kelly did such a great job last week. If you haven't heard Kelly's sermon, you should really look it up and listen to it because he introduced us to spiritual fighting last week and reminded us that there is a fight, but it's not the fight that we might think. It's a spiritual fight. It requires spiritual armor, spiritual power. We do have an enemy. These evil, powerful, deceptive, invisible powers are real, but also we have what's necessary to defeat them. And there are, as you know, as I know, there are seasons in our lives where the fight is fiercer. There are there are some intense battles sometimes. But we have the armor. We're able to withstand. And our passage this morning says, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his own might. It's really important. It's his strength, it's his armor, it's his truth, it's his righteousness, it's his gospel of peace, it's his faith, it's his salvation, it's his sword of the spirit, it's his word. The battle belongs to the Lord. It's his armor that we're putting on. And yet we are engaged. So this is the paradox we're gonna see all through today, because there's there is a paradox. It's like the the battle has already been won by Christ, but we are doing the daily work of in his power, applying his victory and enforcing his authority. That's what this is about. Paul's point is that Jesus is exalted above all powers, and we are raised up together with him in active resistance together with him against these evil forces. And here we have a list of what God has given us to fight with. Specific list. And Paul's readers would be familiar with this. They would they would understand Roman soldiers because all of this was Roman territory. So they had seen Roman soldiers, they had seen the armor that they wear, they understood that the armor was given to them, it was purchased by the wealth of an empire. It was given by the emperor to them for the purpose of protecting the interests of the empire. And our armor is given to us by our King. God, through the work of his son, Jesus Christ, who bought it and gives it to us so that we can help protect the interests of this kingdom. We're working together with God. We're co-laborers together with him. And we are to aggressively resist what God, what is resisting God's kingdom, what's resisting salvation, what's resisting righteous living, what's resisting unity in the body. We are to work with God to resist that. We stand against it. So each part of our armor is tied to the work of Christ and our faith in that work. So ultimately, spiritual warfare is the application of the gospel. It's applying what's already been done for us. So today I want us to see this list, though, in the big book, the context of the big book of Ephesians. Because we take things out of context, we get a little squirrely, right? We can get weird, we can even get heretical. We can we can be teaching things that are not taught here when we're adding our own thoughts into it. If we don't, if we just pull this out and say, yeah, warfare, and we make up our own rules of warfare or our own tools of warfare. But we got to look at the big picture. So we're gonna do that today. I want to see this in the in the context of the whole letter. Now, here's the good news this morning. I don't have to cover every piece of armor this morning. This is good because we have lunch waiting back here. We are having lunch today, y'all. This is good, but we can't have it until I'm done. So I but I promise you I will not hold you hostage. Because this is this is a pet peeve of mine personally, it's preachers that hold the congregation hostage. I hate that, so I will not do that to you. And the good news is that over the next 10 weeks, starting on June 10th, Wednesday nights, we're gonna have our Timothy team teaching on each piece of armor in depth so you can understand it better. So you don't want to miss that. It's really gonna be good. I don't have to do that this morning, so everybody breathe and say thank you, Jesus. But this section is echoing what Paul has already taught us in the rest of the letter. So if we look back over from the very beginning, over eight months we've been going through this, Paul says that the Christian life consists of a few things. Number one, it's grounded in the love of God, love of our Father, and the work of the Son. Okay, that's chapters one and one and part of chapter two, right? And number two, it's walking together in community. He over and over says we need each other. And number three, it's walking in our spiritual life. So it's developing habits from a brand new heart, a changed heart, and a disciplined life. He talks about walking in the light, walking in good works, walking in wisdom, walking in love and walking in unity and walking in the spirit, all of those things. He talks about walking a lot. Walking is daily decisions that we make as we follow Jesus. But it's empowered by being grounded in the love of the Father and the work of the Son. And then from that foundation, finally,

Habits That Prepare You To Stand

Mark Medley 16:10

brothers, be strong in the Lord. Finally, from there we fight, we battle. So we prepare by our lifestyle, and we fight out of that preparation, which brings us to the second warrior that I want to tell you about this morning. And it's a man named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. And all of you Civil War people said, Yeah. He was a colonel in the United States Army. And um in the middle, in the middle, uh, and I'd love to have a mustache like that. I can't make mine do that. I don't know why. In the in the the middle day, the second day of the turning point battle of the Civil War, Gettysburg, he was given command of a small mountain called Little Round Top. He was positioned at this extreme end of the Union line, and it was a very important position because if the Confederate Army flanked that line, they would come around the back, they would defeat the United States Army. They had been defeating the Army up to that point quite a lot. They were only 90 miles from Washington, D.C. They would sweep down through Philadelphia into Washington, and and uh probably we wouldn't be celebrating 250 years this year of our country. And the Confederate attack was fierce. And it came in wave after wave, after wave, after wave after wave. There were five attacks on that end of the line that day. And his men and his ammunition were exhausted. And Chamberlain led his men, commanded his men to perform this obscure maneuver, this attack that was right out of a military textbook, where they fixed their bayonets and they swung down the side and they ran toward the enemy and they defeated the enemy. It was extraordinary heroism. And that decision and his bravery that day saved the day, saved the battle, arguably saved, won the war eventually, after two more years of fighting, and eventually, arguably saved the United States. But here's what I want you to understand about his story is that the victory didn't begin the day of the battle. It began long before the day of the battle. It started many years before. Several years before the war, Chamberlain wrote this in his diary. I love this quote. I love it. I kind of live by this quote in some ways. We know not the future and cannot plan for it much. But we can hold our spirits and our bodies so pure and high, we may cherish such thoughts and ideals and dreams, such dreams of lofty purpose that we can determine and know what manner of men we will be. Whenever and wherever the hour strikes that calls to noble action. No man becomes suddenly different from his habit and cherished thought. We don't know exactly how to plan for it, but one thing we can know, we can know what kind of people we're gonna be when the future comes. When the hour comes that calls us up, when we're called to battle for our children or for our families or for our church, our neighborhoods, whatever you're battling for, when those moments come that we have to raise the bar, we can know what kind of people we're gonna be when those that time comes. So the gospel, chapters one and two of Ephesians, community, chapters two and three of Ephesians, and our disciplines, chapters four and five of Ephesians, make us spiritually strong people who are ready to fight when the battle comes. We put on the armor that's provided for us day by day, that we might withstand in the evil day. When the time comes, we'll be the kind of people that are ready for that time. It's really what Paul's been talking about the whole time. He doesn't start in chapter six, right? He starts preparing the whole time. Okay, so if we think about how he has spoken about these pieces of armor in the other parts of Ephesians, he actually is thinking about the Old Testament. His mind is filled with Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2, or chapter 10, rather, Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah 52 and 59. In some of the Psalms, he's pulling these pieces of armor out where God said he would wear this armor in fighting for his people. He's talking about God's armor that God gives to us. So there's a belt of truth. We see that in Isaiah 11. What is the truth he's talking about, though? Well, he's talking about the truth of what God has done for us in Christ. It's specifically that we're forgiven, that we're adopted, that we're sealed by the Spirit, that we're raised up with Christ, that we're joined together as a temple, a dwelling place for God, that we're filled with the Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness. That's the truth he's talking about, the truth of what God has already done for us. But also, he says in chapter four we're to speak this truth to one another. I need you to remind me of these truths. We need each other

Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation

Mark Medley 22:05

to speak this truth into our lives. Your words are powerful. Your words for your brothers and sisters could be the very thing that holds it all together for them, that gives them courage in that day, that that raises them up, that encourages them to where they are, but then lifts them up and gives them strength for the battle. Because our enemy, the nature of our enemy, is a liar. He's a father of lies. And what defeats him? Truth. Truth of what God has done for us already. And truth is not just knowledge, truth is actually a person. The truth is Jesus Christ. Okay, so there's also a breastplate of righteousness. This is a shadow of, or looking back to Isaiah chapter 59. But is this the righteousness that God gives us, or is this righteousness that we walk out, like our daily walk of righteousness? Which one is it? Yes. Both. It's both. Paul wrote in chapter 4 put on the new self, which is who is created in righteousness. God created you brand new with a new heart in righteousness. Then he said in chapter 5, walk in light, walk in righteousness, walk pleasing to the Lord. So it's both what's been given to us and how we live that out. Then there shows the gospel of peace. This is looking back to Isaiah 52. This is very strange, isn't it? That we go into war armed with peace. Isn't that strange? But it's beautiful. It's beautiful. We have a resting place from which we battle. But is this peace with God or is it peace with man? Yes. It is both. In chapter one and chapter two, he's talking about how we have peace with God. In chapter two, the latter part, he's talking about how he has made peace among us. Jesus is our peace. He's broken down the wall of separation between us and he's made us one body. He's reconciled us both to God and to one another. So it's peace, man to God, and it's peace, man to man. And then he talks about the shield of faith. This is a picture from Psalm chapter 5, where God is wearing this shield of faith. This faith. Is this faith from God or is this faith in God? You guys are so good. You get it, you get it. Man. Yeah, but grace for faith, saved through faith. This is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, right? That's chapter two. But also it says in chapter three that we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. It's faith from God as a gift, faith in God because He's faithful. My faith is not in my ability to have faith. My faith is in someone, it's in a faithful nature of that person and in the finished work of that person, and that's Jesus Christ. Then he says there's a helmet of salvation that we put on. It's important, it protects your head, right? This is from Isaiah 59. But is this a salvation that's given to us or a salvation that we put on? It's put on by us. Which one is it? Yeah, you're right. It is both. It is both. It's given to us, but we have to put it on. I have to remind myself of the gospel all the time. And we need to remind each other of the gospel all the time. Remind, it's not, you know, no, you don't feel too good today, you don't feel too victorious today, you don't feel like God could be pleased with you today. But it's not about your work, it's about a work that's finished, it's about Jesus' work. You are stable and steady. You are grounded in his love. You're okay, you're you're all right. We need to tell each other this things, and this is what protects our head. Because what because the battleground is the mind. It's the way, it's the way you're thinking. This is where this this is where this is the seed bed of your entire life. And so I am the thing that protects my head is the one thing I cannot provide for myself. Salvation is of the Lord, and I trust him for it. It's his armor. And then Paul says there's a sword, and the sword is the word of God. This is a picture of Isaiah 49 as well. And you know, he uses this word rhema there. There's two words for a word in the word, and the two words are logos and rhema. And you could think of it this way: logos is that that you're it's your Bible. It's what is settled, it's the canon of scripture, it's settled forever in heavens, it's the word of God that doesn't change. Heaven and earth pass away, but my words will not pass away, Jesus said. Okay, so it's the logos. But also, when you're reading that logos, sometimes God just breathes on a passage and speaks it directly to your situation. That's you could think of that as the Rhema. And this is what he's saying here. The word of the sword of the spirit is the word of God. We pull it out. It is that thing that God personally speaks to you from for your moment from the logos. But that means you have to have daily exposure to the logos in order to hear the rhema. You gotta be in the word of God in order to hear the word of God to you in this moment. And so he says in chapter one, we trusted in Christ after we heard the word. That's the logos, the word of truth. But then he says in chapter five that Jesus loves his bride and he washes his bride with the rhema, with the rhema of his word. It's beautiful. So you see, all this is an ongoing process. As we become spiritually strong people, strengthened by the gospel and by our community and by our disciplines, then we're ready to fight when the day of battle comes. That's what Ephesians is all about. You can't just pull the fight part out and say, Yeah, we're gonna fight. It's connected to all the rest of it. So I want to end the sermon and then this whole series where Paul ends it in chapter 6, verse 17 and 20 through 20. We read this, but let's read it again. Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication. That means pray for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in change, so that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Paul, this incredible man of God, who wrote the scripture, who saw Jesus, who knew the Old Testament, who had the great education from the rabbis of his day, who was filled with the Spirit, who planted churches, who did miracles, who saw things in heaven that he couldn't even speak. Paul is asking for prayer from the saints. Because we need each other. Doesn't matter who you are. You need you need the people around you. We gotta have brothers in arms around us who are fighting the battle with us and for us. Pray for me so the gospel message can get out. Pray for all the saints. My armor is not just for me, my armor is for you. I'm fighting for you too. And you're fighting for me. And here's what I've learned from this, and that is that there are battles I cannot win without your prayer. I need you. And the other thing is that God has called me to pray for you when you're in your own battles. So all that Paul's been saying in Ephesians is tied into community. He says things like, We're fellow

Prayer And Brothers In Arms

Mark Medley 30:55

citizens with the saints, we're members of God's household together. God has built us together as a dwelling place for him, that he's made us together a holy temple. It's all in the context of communion and community and relationships. So we learn how to rest in the gospel together, and we learn how to walk uprightly together, and we learn how to fight the enemy together. And that's why he ended the whole book like this in verse 21 and 22, so that you also may know how I am doing what I'm doing. Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I've sent him to you for this uh for this very purpose that you may know how we are and how that it may encourage your hearts. Paul ends the letter. See, he didn't just send a letter, he sent a person. He sent a person to communicate, he sent a person to encourage. Ain't that beautiful? It's one thing to send a card, it's another thing to knock on the door and say, Hey, I'm here to help you, I'm here to encourage you, I'm here to tell you some news. So we don't fight alone, we fight with each other. And that's how we're one of the ways that we're filled up and we're enabled for the battle. Okay, so I told you there was gonna be three warriors, right? And there's Hero and there's Joshua, right? But there's another one, and the third one, the last one, is you. Because I want to remind you that you are a warrior. Even though you may not feel like a warrior this morning. Maybe this is not a season where you have felt like you're a winner, you're victorious. Maybe you felt the battle, but you haven't felt the you haven't felt the victory. Maybe that's the case. But I want to remind you, you're a you're a warrior that's been outfitted for this thing. He's giving you, he's given you what you need for the battle. And as your elder team, we are active in praying for you. We realize each one of you have your own battles, and they're all unique to you. And each of one, each one of them is different in different seasons of your life. And some of us are in very intense battles right now, some of us are between heavy battles right now. But we realize that each one of you have battles, and each battle has needs support. So we're praying for you. I want you to know that we do pray for you. I have had so many battles in my walk with Jesus, and I've prayed about um relating some of my battles to you today, and I realize that some of them are so intense it's hard to put into words, and some of them involve other people, so it's not just my story to tell. And I just I just can't tell the stories. But I've had battles that have been very, very intense. You've had battles that are very, very intense. Maybe you're in the middle of one right now. I just want to encourage you that your shepherd is gonna lead you through a valley that's dark. He's gonna lead you. And you have a father, and maybe your your battles in the past have wounded you, but he will dress your wounds.

You Are A Warrior With Help

Mark Medley 34:38

He will dress your wounds, he'll give you courage. He knows exactly what to put on your wounds. He knows what piece of armor to help you put on at that moment. He knows which brother or sister in this body can speak the words that give comfort and courage to you, and he'll bring them to you. He's surrounded you with brothers in arms who will watch for you and fight with you. You're not fighting alone, and you're not fighting in your own strength. So I want to encourage you, I want to pray for you this morning. And as we're ending, I want to tell you, I maybe I thought, I just thought, how could we how could we apply this? And so I just thought, let's write some questions now. Maybe you can take these questions this week and pray for them, pray over them and see what you think. So, in terms of fighting for me, here's my questions. What are my personal enemies? I and notice I didn't say who. I said, I said, what are my because we don't battle against flesh and blood, right? Okay, they're spiritual. And what provision has been made for me in the gospel that I can fight these enemies? And how can I ground myself in what has already been done for me? What are the scriptures I can apply to effectively wield the sword of the spirit? The word of God. The word of God is a strong tower that you can run into. You can build yourself a place of safety with the scriptures. And then the other question is if I'm I'm also fighting for others in my life, who am I fighting for? Who am I responsible for? Maybe it's your children, maybe it's your spouse, maybe it's your coworkers, the people around you, people you feel a burden for, the people your heart weeps for. That's the people you're fighting for. What are the struggles they need me to cover in prayer? Who are my fellow warriors who will pray for me and with me? So this is Ephesians. God has given us everything we need in the gospel and in each other and with his army armor to guard us, to help us. So, Father, I pray for each of us here, Lord. We are in need. We understand this battle is bigger than us. We also understand that you're bigger than the battle. We believe, Jesus, you are raised above in the heavenlies, above all principality and power. We also believe that you have raised us together with you and seated us with you in those heavenly places. And you have given us what we need to fight, co-laborers with you and with our brothers and sisters to resist the enemy. We thank you, Lord, that you've already given us the victory. And as Kelly reminded us last week, it's Hooper and Nico, it's more than conquerors. You've made us more than conquerors. I don't even know what that means, Lord. I think I can get my mind around victory, but I don't know what it means to be more than victorious. And that the enemy is more than beat, is more than defeated. Lord, would you give us that faith and eyes to see that and help us, Lord, to fight together in your strength. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.