Greg Laurie - The Fight We Must Win! (09/15/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie wraps up the Ephesians series with "The Fight We Must Win," unpacking the full armor of God from Ephesians 6. He stresses that spiritual warfare is real and ongoing, but believers aren't defenseless—we stand strong by putting on God's armor, especially using faith as a shield against attacks and the Word as our sword to advance and defend. The message ends urging us to suit up daily and take ground for Christ.
Announcements and Upcoming Series
Hello, everybody. How are you? Good to see you. So a couple of quick announcements that I want to just sort of add. As Jonathan was saying a little bit earlier, August 2nd is going to be our first Sunday in our new church. So do not come here August 2nd. Go to the new building over on Gillette Street. That is where we are going to be. Now, listen. That is great. You know, we are still getting some of the bugs out. Some of the things are going to be finished, but it is going to be pretty much functional. No roof. No, there is a roof. You are going to love it. If you come to the car meet, you are going to get a glimpse. But I will tell you what, it is going to be the coolest sanctuary ever. And you will just have to come and see for yourself. Lots of room. Lots of room to grow. Lots of room for fellowship. Lots of room for your kids and everything else. So we are calling that our soft opening. I do not know why. But that is just our first time out. And then our grand opening, but really it is just the next Sunday there, is going to be the following Sunday. And that is when we are going to have Phil Wickham out. So that is going to be a great way to kick it off. And then that is our new home from then on. So do not come back here. Another church is going to take this over eventually, called the Newport Church. And so they are going to take this facility and this will be there. So I am glad that it is still going to be used for the glory of God. So we are thankful for that.
Launching the "Tell Someone" Series
But with the crusade approaching, excuse me, with the crusade approaching, I thought I would launch a new series. And it is going to be starting this coming Sunday if I have a voice. And the, excuse me, the title of this series is Tell Someone. And the subtitle is You Can Bring Others to Jesus. Listen to this. I believe that every Christian can and should be leading other people to Christ. I think it can happen for you. I think the reason it doesn't happen is we don't understand some very simple biblical principles that I want to sort of unveil for you. It is nothing new really. But it may be new to some people.
The Challenge of Writing on Evangelism
I have been asked by Lifeway Publishing to write a book and to do a film series on this topic. Lifeway is this huge organization that has distribution around the world. And so when this film series is done these films will be shown in churches all over the place. And the book will be distributed as well. But it was a great challenge because they came to me and said, okay, we want you to write a book on evangelism. But it can be 30,000 words or less. Now that is not a very big book. And so it is much harder for a preacher to say less than it is for a preacher to say more. Okay. So it was a great challenge. And instead of sort of transcribing a sermon and editing it, I wrote it from scratch. And I wrote it sort of conversationally as I was sitting with someone having coffee, just sharing what I have learned about evangelism in the past 40 years. I share some of my mistakes, some of the victories that I have had, principles I have learned from Scripture. It is like sort of a brain dump on the topic of evangelism in a book and a film series.
Upcoming Film Series Schedule
So as I am going to be speaking for four consecutive services, it will be this coming Sunday, the following Thursday, the following Sunday, and the following Thursday. That will be the film series. But that is just church for you guys. But that is what I am going to be doing. I am going to be capturing this and showing it to other people later.
Entering the Final Message: The Fight We Must Win
So I have used up all my time. God bless and good night. All right. Let us grab our Bibles. We are doing the last message in our Ephesians series. And we are in the last chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 6. And the title of the message is, The Fight We Must Win. I thought we would start with prayer here. Father, as we talk about a very important topic, we know the enemy, the devil, the God of this world does not want us to hear these things. He does not want us to know these things. He wants us to be His captive. He does not want us to gain ground. He wants us to lose ground. So Lord, we call Him out for what He is. He is a liar. He is the accuser of the brethren. And You, Father, will give us truth now from Scripture. So help us give our attention with intention. Help us to look carefully at what You say to us from Your Word. We commit this time of Bible study to You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.
Understanding Spiritual Warfare Attacks
Okay. Let's start with a question. Have you ever just been going about in your life and walked with God? Everything seemed to be going pretty well. When all of a sudden you were just barraged with all kinds of spiritual attack. Trials, temptations, doubts. And you wondered, what's with that? You might have even wondered, have I done some horrible sin? Have I committed some horrible sin to bring this onslaught from the enemy? Here is the answer. Not necessarily. In fact, it may be because you are doing really well at the onslaught from the enemy has come. Folks, this is called spiritual warfare. And it is very real. And we engage in it every single day. I know sometimes we would like the battle to stop. And we would like to just go home and say, victory is not won by evacuation. But listen to this. You do not need to be some sitting duck or mere dartboard for the devil. There are clear steps you can take as a Christian to move forward and spiritually attack in this battle. And the operative word here is attack. Not just sit around and wring your hands over what the devil is doing.
Shifting from Defense to Offense in Battle
And I think there has been a lot of that lately. You know, we look at a lot of things that have happened in our culture. And we say, oh man, we are losing the battle. This is horrible. Okay. What is our strategy now? I think we need a definite biblical strategy to take ground back that we have lost over the last few years. How do we do that? We are going to find out here in Ephesians chapter 6.
There is a book I read some time ago called The Civil War, written by Jeffrey C. Ward. And it tells the story of General Grant and his adversary, General Robert E. Lee. Now, of course, the Union Army was large and well organized. But General Lee, with his rebels, put up a strong fight. And Lee was a formidable foe. In fact, so much so that many of the Union troops, the Yankees, if you will, feared General Lee, Robert E. Lee, or Bobby Lee, as he was sometimes called. So the story in this book says, right in the middle of the Battle of the Wilderness, all the staff men kept talking about General Lee, saying, Bobby Lee, Bobby Lee, he will do this, that, or the other. And General Grant interrupts him and says, I am tired of hearing about Bobby Lee. You think he was going to do a double somersault and land in our rear. And then he said this, it is time to stop thinking about what he is going to do to you and start thinking about what you are going to do to him.
Taking the Fight to the Enemy
Now you know where I am going with this? So sometimes we can stand around and wring our hands, oh the devil is doing this and the devil is doing that. Hey, it is time to stop talking about what the devil is doing and let him worry about what we are going to do next as followers of Jesus Christ. We have marked advantages in this spiritual battle. For one thing, we know that our adversary moves in relatively predictable patterns. You may be surprised to know that the devil hasn't really changed his approach over the years. I guess he operates by the old adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And these tactics work generation after generation, decade after decade, and on it goes.
The Armor of God: Ephesians 6:10-18
So that is the way he works. So we can know about his tactics. It was Victor Hugo, the author of Les Miserables, the actual book that was of course made into a Broadway show and a movie later. But Victor Hugo made this statement, and I quote, a good general must penetrate the brain of his enemy, end quote. So Scripture says we are not ignorant of his devices. So that means that we need to kind of know the devil's strategies so we will know how to defeat him on the spiritual battlefield. Because there are the wiles of the devil that Scripture speaks of. So we need to be armed for battle.
And Jesus began his ministry with a battle against Satan. As you recall, he went into the wilderness to be tempted. And as his earthly ministry came to a close, it ended with a battle. You remember there in the Garden of Gethsemane, Dr. Luke says, he sweat as it were great drops of blood. So the battle never stopped for Jesus. And guess what? The battle never stops for us either. It doesn't get easier as you get older and as you grow spiritually. In fact, in some ways the battle will intensify toward the end for those serving God. But I don't want that to discourage you because God has not left us defenseless. He has given us equipment, armor to wear. So we need to know how the armor works.
So let's read now Ephesians 6. We are going to read verses 10 to 18. And this is the final message in our Live, Love, Fight series. Ephesians 6:10. And finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand.
Breaking Down the Pieces of Armor
Now Paul breaks the armor out. Having girded your waist with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I'll stop there. So there are six pieces mentioned here. The first three, the belt, the breastplate, and the shoes, were attached to the body, and they were never removed. The second three, shield, helmet, and sword, were for specific purposes and methods of attack.
The Belt of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness
So let's quickly review what we already looked at. First we talked about the utility belt of truth. The Roman soldier would have this heavy duty belt. And on it he would have this sheath for his sword. His breastplate would be attached to the belt. So it wasn't just like a belt that you hold your pants up with, but more like a belt that you hang stuff off of. So it was very important. And when the soldier went into battle, he would sort of hike up his toga, his gown, above his knees, cinch in his belt, giving him freedom of movement. So the belt was very important. And it's called the belt of truth. What is that speaking of? Well it talks about the fact that as followers of Jesus we need to be living truthfully before God. No duplicity. No compromise. We are living a real godly life. Not a perfect life. But we are honest to God and walking right with God. We live truthfully before the Lord. No hypocrisy or falsehood. Because if you don't have that down, you are going to be quickly defeated on the field of battle.
Then there is the breastplate of righteousness. Now this armor protects the vital organs for the Roman soldier. And you see I have a few things here. These are actual reproductions of Roman armor. This is the shield of faith here. The shield that the soldier would use. But what Paul calls the shield of faith. Then here is a smaller little shield that the Roman soldier would use in close combat.
Demonstrating the Armor with a Mannequin
And I actually have a Roman soldier here to come out. Well it is a mannequin. So let us bring out the mannequin. Here he comes. Let us welcome him. Why are you clapping for a dummy? I am not talking about you Luke. Okay. Okay. So here we have a Roman soldier. First of all, this guy is just, you know, he just, he doesn't look. We are going to give this guy some stubble here. A scar. Let us give him a scar. Band-Aid. Another scar. A fly. More stubble. Wrinkles under his eyes. It is a little better. It is hard to believe I used to be an artist before I was a preacher, isn't it? So here is his helmet. Okay. So here we have basically the breastplate, as you can see. And this, this is essential because this protects the vital organs of a soldier.
Feet Shod with the Gospel of Peace
I mean, when you go into battle against the soldier, here is the sword and the sheath. Okay. So, you know, you are going to have two targets when you go against a soldier in the first century. You are going to hit him here. Boom. You know. Dropped the sheep. So you should keep your belt on. And then you are going to hit him here in the helmet. You know. Boom. You know. So these are the two areas that you hit. And so here is Paul telling us that this is what we need to be thinking about when we are in this spiritual battle. You have to have the breastplate of righteousness. Now what does that mean exactly? Well a breastplate protects obviously vital organs. What does it mean when it says breastplate of righteousness? It means that we stand positionally righteous before God. We learned that in the beginning of Ephesians. What does that mean positionally? It means that I stand before you right now as a righteous man.
Now you might say, No, Greg. I saw you drive earlier. You are not that righteous. I didn't say I am always practically righteous. I said I am positionally righteous. And there is a difference. Positionally righteous means because of the death of Christ and His blood that was shed for me, I stand right before God. It is not based on what I have done. It is not based on how many verses I read from the Bible that particular day or if I prayed as much as I should have. I stand righteous before God. However, as I stand in this positional righteousness it should cause me to want to live righteously as well.
Advancing with Gospel Proclamation
So how does this work? Well the enemy comes and he hits you in this area of vulnerability. Now maybe you will sin and he will tell you, you know, you can't talk to God. You can't go to church. And you will say, No, I stand righteous in Christ. He hits us with his accusations. But we have this breastplate of righteousness that we wear.
Now we also looked at having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now see this guy here. He has little sandals on. But soldiers would also wear boots all the way up to their knees sometimes past them. They would have cleats in them. And that would protect them down here. Sometimes they would wear guards on their legs too to protect them from a blow there. But the boot would effectively just give them firm footedness as they are walking along.
I mean, you know, we have different kinds of shoes for different occasions. You have, you know, dress shoes. And you have workout shoes. And you have high heels. I don't know why any girl would wear them. They look good, but the most impractical shoe on earth, of course. But I used to love to buy Nike Airs. I just love the way they felt. And I noticed that I was getting kind of back aches and stuff. So I went to this shoe store and they said, You get on the treadmill and we'll tell you what kind of shoes you should wear. So I got on the treadmill and ran for about one minute and had to be taken to the hospital. They resuscitated me, brought me back. And the guy told me, You're pronating. And I said, What? Pronating? What does that mean? Well, it means when you pronate that your foot is sort of rolling. It's sort of rolling toward the center. So I need a firmer shoe. So I found out that the Nike Air was the worst shoe for me. I needed a firmer shoe, which I wear when I run, which is never.
The Shield of Faith Against Fiery Darts
And so you need the right shoe for the right occasion. And what does this mean? Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That means that that is how we advance. What do we do with our feet? We walk forward with our feet and our shoes. And the way that we gain ground in the spiritual battle is through the proclamation of the gospel. Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Romans 10 says, How will they call on Him to be saved unless they believe in Him? How will they believe in Him if they have not heard about Him? And how will they hear unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scripture says, How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.
So look at your feet right now. Are they beautiful? Say, Well, after my Manny and Peddy they will be. Well listen, I don't mean that kind of beauty. I mean if you are using your life to bring the gospel to others, that means you have beautiful feet. But know this. As you seek to gain ground in the spiritual battle, don't expect a standing ovation from hell. Expect opposition. Satan hates evangelism. And that is why maybe so many Christians are immobilized in this area because the devil defeats them before they ever get started. So we need to have these pieces in place.
But now we come to another piece. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Now the shield, as I said, this shield here, this is for close combat. You know, when the soldier is going to get up close and personal. But this shield is what the soldiers would march with. These were obviously very large shields that could cover most of the person. And what is interesting about these shields is they would be coated with something that was fire repellent. Because one of the tactics of first century warfare was a barrage of flaming arrows that would be fired. And so the arrows would come. And so the soldier would put up his shield to protect himself.
Deflecting the Enemy's Attacks with Faith
And so this is what Scripture is saying to us. We need to take up this shield of faith in the spiritual battle. And these arrows are going to come. Now King James calls them fiery darts. I remember one of the first times I ever preached. I preached on Ephesians 6. And I was very nervous. because Chuck Smith was sitting in the audience. And I had never preached in front of him before. And I really wanted to get this right. And so I was talking about the fiery darts. And instead they turned into the diary farts of the wicked one. One of my big bloopers. I have more. And they get worse. One time I gave an evangelistic message. And I was getting ready to invite people to Christ. And I said, let's pee. I mean, I actually said that. And I just prayed so fast. Oh God, please don't let anyone do what I just said. I could tell you even more. But I will stop there. Diary farts of the wicked one. So like 20 years later, 30 years later, people would come up and say, I remember when you said diary fart. You weren't even there. It has become a legend. Now I just made it worse again.
But these are really speaking of flaming arrows. Or maybe to put it in contemporary verbiage. Smart bombs. Guided missiles. That the enemy will direct in our direction. And these arrows are swift and silent. Rarely do we receive advance warning of their arrival. You can just wake up in the morning and the enemy will hit you with a fiery dart. Has that ever happened to you? You are waking up. What is this? It could be an impure thought. Just really out of left field. It could be a thought of complete despair. You might find yourself gripped with intense fear or terror. Thinking, what if this happens? What if that happens? It could be a thought of hatred towards somebody. It could even be a blasphemous thought against God. And you are thinking, where is that coming from?
Standing Together as Fellow Soldiers
And the devil is so clever. Because then the accuser of the brethren says, what is wrong with you to think that first thing in the morning? You did not come up with that. That was a flaming arrow directed at you. So what do you need to do? You need to get out the shield of faith. You need to hold it up and defend yourself and deflect these arrows when they come your way. But what does that mean to put up the shield of faith? Well it means that you stand in the promises of God. Stand in what God has told us in His Word. Because He has made specific promises that will help me when I am being attacked. And that requires a working knowledge of Scripture. Understanding what the Bible says. Because the Bible does not tell us to be strong in our feeling. It tells us to be strong in our faith. 1 Peter 5:9.
So put up that shield of faith. Now someone has estimated that there are 8,000 promises for the believer in the Bible. I have never counted them. If one of you wants to do that, report back to me and I will use your number for a while. But we take hold of those promises of God. Maybe the devil will say to you, you are not going to make it. You are not going to survive as a Christian. And you go back and quote the passage that says that what you have committed to Him, He will complete under the day of Jesus Christ. Hebrews tells us He is the author and finisher of our faith. God finishes what He starts.
When you are in need financially or in some other way, the devil says you are never going to get through this. And you lay hold of Philippians 4:19. And my God will provide all of my needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. The devil says you are going to be destroyed. No. God will protect me. Read all of Psalm 91. So when those lies come, the shield goes up.
Here is another cool thing about these shields that the Romans used. I mean, they had an amazing army. An amazing military. And they would lock their shields together. So they would march forward, each soldier with his shield. He would have a spear here, or maybe his sword. And then as they would get closer, and if there was a barrage of arrows, they would put their shields together next to each other, on the top, on the sides, and they would effectively become a big box. And so all these arrows would just hit. Then the soldiers would break and attack again. So that was one of the tactics they used very effectively.
And I think it is very important for us to know that in this spiritual battle we are not alone. And we have fellow soldiers. It is all of us together, marching together. And we can do a lot more together than we can apart. And that is one of the reasons the devil tries to divide us. So we want to stand together, and pray together, and march together. Because that is going to help us when the attacks come.
The Power of Unity in Spiritual Battle
The story is told of a man named Chennault back in World War II. In China, in Burma, he had a group of flyers. They were called the Flying Tigers. Ever heard of them? They weren't a large force. But they were a very efficient force. Together, the Flying Tigers downed 217 enemy planes. Their secret? Cooperation. Even if they were outnumbered 10 to 1, the Flying Tigers always attacked two at a time. Two at a time. And there is no principle there for us. Does not the Scripture says from Jesus Himself, saying, If two of you agree on earth as touching anything, it shall be done of My Father in Heaven. There in Matthew 18. And Jesus, remember, sent His disciples out by two. He called His twelve disciples together and sent them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits. We are stronger together than we are alone. And so we need to remember that. You are not going to make it as a solo Christian.
Now one of the first things that was said to me as a young Christian was, you know, being in fellowship is a lot like a lot of burning coals. And if you take one coal from the others, it will soon cool down. But if you keep it next to the other burning coals, we will all help one another. And that is true. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, Hebrews tells us. But exhorting one another, and so much more as we see the day of the Lord approaching. And we should stop fighting with each other. We spend so much time arguing or dividing over theological minutia. When we should try to find what we have in common and march together and love one another. Because this is a global fight for Christians.
In 1 Peter 5, Peter writes, Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him. Standing firm in the faith. Listen to this. Because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. Now the church all around the world faces these attacks. And some of our brothers and sisters right now in places like the Middle East are suffering greatly under the hands of Muslim extremists. And others under communist rule. And they are suffering all around the world. So we need to pray one for another. And not try to do this on our own.
Protecting the Mind with the Helmet of Salvation
And that brings us to the helmet of salvation. Now coming back to the vulnerable targets, of course, it is the breastplate. But sometimes in battle, the objective of the enemy was to decapitate the soldier. Dare I try that with this mannequin? How many of you want to see me decapitate? You are weird. What is wrong with you? But you know, a helmet like this can take a crushing blow. And this could protect him in the field of battle. So you know, if the helmet is damaged, he can still march forward. But if that helmet is off, he is very vulnerable.
Now what does it mean to us, the helmet of salvation? Well basically, this is talking about the fact that we need to protect our minds. This is command central. Whenever you have given in to a temptation, if you retrace your steps, you will probably find it started right here. Right? It is kind of like the free sample. You know when you are offered the free Krispy Kreme donut. And you walk in and you think, they are so loving there. Just giving me a free donut. No, they know if you have a hot, fresh donut. Doesn't it make you want a Krispy Kreme right now? If you have a, makes me, I don't know, I am just, I want one right now. I am leaving to get one. Bye. God bless.
But when you have one, you want another. So the devil comes like this. He says, I know you would never do this because you are so wonderful and righteous and holy and love Jesus so much, but just for fun. Why don't you take this little thought for a test drive? Why don't you just have a little nibble of this? Just play with it a little and we'll say, well, yeah, I would never do it. But, you know, for research I will go ahead and check out that website. You know, to know more about the tactics of the enemy, I will go ahead and go to that movie or whatever it is that maybe would feed that sort of thing.
Because Satan recognizes the value of first getting a foothold in the realm of our thoughts and imagination, because that will prepare the way for that thought to translate into action. See the Pharisees smugly thought because they did not technically commit adultery, they were sin free. But Jesus said to them, if you look on a woman to lust after her, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart. So He is pointing out, you know, just because you don't do it doesn't mean you are not doing it in your mind. And that too is a sin. So we want to nip it in the bud. It is not enough to just not do the thing outwardly. You do not want to do it in your mind, in your heart, and in your imagination either.
Winning the Battle in Our Thoughts
And here is why this is important. Because there may come a moment in your life when you feel as though you might get away with that sin. You might take a stab at it. You might try to do it. I mean, what stops you from doing that horrible thing. A fear of being found out. I read in the paper this week about some website. I won't give the name because I don't want anyone to go Google it. But it was in all the major press. It's a website that's used for adultery. And if you go to this website, they promise that they'll keep your information. You'll be anonymous. No one will know. And so people go onto this website and they put in all their fantasies and their desires and they hook people up with other people that want to have affairs. Well, what happened was someone hacked the website and has threatened to release all this confidential information if they don't shut the website down.
Now, I don't know that I am a big fan of hacking and that sort of thing. But in this particular instance, I may make an exception. And I am thinking of all those terrified people out there. You know, they put that information in there. See, they are living in that fantasy world. And you don't want to go there. You want to stop. And this is why the enemy will hit us in our minds first of all. Because maybe we will think, well, I could get away with it. And when the day comes that I can get away with it, then you will do it. But if you don't want to do it, if you win the battle here, then the opportunity may come and you still won't do it. Because it is not just fear of being caught. It is fear of offending God.
Remember when Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife? This weird foxy old broad that was hitting on him. Probably wearing leopard print. Anyway, all the girls are going, well, I like leopard. And I love how he responded to her. She basically said, have sex with me. And he said, how can I do this great sin against God? See, there was nobody in the house to see. He could have technically gotten away with it. And in a way, he could have justified it by saying, it will advance my career. But he said, no, God is watching. And that is why I won't do it. That is the best deterrent of all. So nip it in the bud. The helmet of salvation.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but mighty and spiritual through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that sets itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Replacing Evil Thoughts with God's Truth
You know, have you ever noticed you can't think two thoughts at the same time? In other words, you can't have a pure thought and an impure thought simultaneously. If I'm having a pure thought, reflecting on a scripture, I'm worshiping the Lord, I'm not going to be having an impure thought at the same moment. And if I'm having an impure thought, I'm not going to have that pure thought. So you can only have one at a time. So what you want to do is when the evil thoughts come, you reject them and replace them with a pure thought.
Tomorrow marks seven years since our son Christopher died. It was the worst day of our life. People ask me, does it get better? Yes and no. It's not as bad as it was the day I heard it, of course. I didn't even know if I could survive that particular day. But now seven years later, do we stop missing him? Absolutely not. The pain is still very strong. But yet, you know, you're not in the same pain you were in the beginning. But I'll be very honest with you, right after he died, it was very hard for me to sleep. I was just barraged with all these horrible thoughts. And I would have the thought, it's your fault. It's your fault. How can it be my fault? It's your fault. I should have done this. I should have done that. And I couldn't even sleep. I'd go to sleep for like six minutes and wake up again. It was just horrible.
The devil would whisper in my ear, your life is over. You'll never be happy again. You're not going to survive this. And so what I had to do is I had to take a disciplined approach to what I thought about. And I had to take every one of those thoughts and either accept or reject it. And I sort of set up like this biblical grid in my life. And I ran everything through. You know, the Bible tells us, whatsoever things are pure and lovely. And let me find the actual passage. Philippians 4. Whatever is noble and right and pure and lovely, what is admirable, if it is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.
So a thought would come that would frighten me. And I would replace it with a biblical thought. For instance, the devil would say, you'll never see him again. You'll never hear his voice again. I said, ah, that's a lie. Because Jesus said, he's the resurrection and the life. And if I will believe in him, I'll never die. My son will never die. And I'll be reunited because David said, of his son who died, he cannot come to me, but I will go to him. And 1 Thessalonians says, that we'll be caught up together with our loved ones in the air to meet the Lord. See, I'm bringing the Bible into play. That's why theology matters. This is where sentimental thoughts won't do it.
Training the Mind with Scripture
And my heart goes out to people who've lost loved ones and they don't have a biblical foundation. And they try to comfort themselves with things that actually are not biblical. A lot of people come and say, well, I know my loved one is still with me. And wherever I go, I sense their presence with me. And sometimes they speak to me. No, I'm sorry. That's not true. Your loved one is not with you. And will I talk to them all the time? Oh, they can't hear you. I'm sorry. They can't. But here's the more important thing. God is with you. And if your loved one died in faith, you'll be reunited with them. Again, I want theology, not sappy, sentimental mysticism, because it isn't true. And you'll find that the Scripture, the Word of God, is the best thing to go back to. And so this is why we need to think about what we think.
You know, experts tell us for every action you take, your brain creates a neurological pathway that paves the way for familiarity for the next time. And you take that action and your mind will know what to do. In other words, as you repeat behaviors over and over, those pathways become more stable. A simple behavior maps out a dirt road in your brain. But as you repeat that behavior, your brain creates sort of a concrete highway. Now that can be good or bad. It can be evil thoughts. It can be good thoughts. But you are sort of training yourself to think properly. You are training your mind to think biblically. It is like a conditioned reflex.
There is natural reflex and there is conditioned reflex. Natural reflex. I touch a hot stove and I pull my hand away. Why? Because it hurts. I do not need an explanation. I feel pain. That is a natural reflex. Condition reflex is more something I have learned to do. Like work on a keyboard. That takes time to learn. Or perhaps operate a cell phone. That takes time for some, a lot more time for some than others. Or driving a car. Do you remember how hard it was to drive at first? You thought consciously about everything? Uh, key and ignition. Turn. Look over right shoulder. You know, put it into gear. Drive. Look in the rearview mirror. Drive. Turn it in. You know, you did all those things, you know. Then if it was a stick shift, it was even more complex. Oh wait, that is the gas. That is the clutch. No, the brake, the clutch. Oh wait, no. Is it the brake? Or is that the clutch? You know. But then after a while, it is easier. And before you know it, you are shifting. You are moving. And you drive. You see, you have taught yourself a conditioned reflex.
And so this is what we need to learn as Christians. When those bad thoughts, those evil thoughts, those impure thoughts come, we turn them into something else. When worry comes, we turn it into a prayer. Philippians says, don't worry about anything. Pray about everything. And the peace of God will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So that is the helmet of salvation.
The Sword of the Spirit: Our Offensive Weapon
Now we have one last weapon in our spiritual arsenal. And that is the sword. This is the only weapon that is offensive. If I am going to go into battle against my enemy, I am not going to throw my helmet at him. That is not going to work very well. And I am not going to beat him to death with my utility belt or rip off my breastplate and try to throw it at him. No. Now I am going to use the only offensive weapon in my armor. And that is the sword. And what is the sword? Paul says it is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Now there is a lot of Christians that have their armor in place. They have got their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. They have got their breastplate of righteousness, their helmet of salvation. They have got their shield of faith. Everything is good. But the problem is, this sword is in the sheath still. And that is not going to do you any good. You have got to get this sword out. And you need to start using it.
And the devil doesn't want you to know how to use the sword, or more accurately, how to use this. He doesn't want you knowing the Word of God. As I have said before, sin will keep you from this book. And this book will keep you from sin. Isn't it an amazing thing how we can, you know, watch a news program on television, or look at our favorite website, or update our Facebook page, and post a photo on Instagram, and send up four tweets, and text 20 people, and everything is quiet on the home front. And the moment you open up the Word of God, all hell breaks loose. Right? Crazy stuff. Or even, not just things happening, but all these things jump in your mind that you have to do. Not even bad things. It's like, okay, I'm reading here. Oh wait, I've got to go. My calendar. Oh, wait a second. I forgot. I got all these things. Oh, now you go do those things, and you don't get back to this. See, that's where discipline comes in.
Daily Use of the Sword of the Spirit
So I'm going to do this. So you start every day with the Word of God. This is number one. It's just a thing that you do. You make it a habit. You're establishing that concrete roadway in your mind, if you will, and you stay with it. And you don't let the enemy keep you from it. And the devil is going to try to stop you from studying, knowing, and learning the Word of God.
Notice it's called the sword of the Spirit. The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Or literally, it could be translated, it's breathed by God. So this is God's Word to us. The Holy Spirit will bring Scripture to mind in situations where we need it. Sometimes when we're sharing our faith, verses jump into our brain. Because you know, maybe when you were reading this morning, it wasn't like the Fourth of July of devotions. Right? You read three chapters. That's great. Praise God. But it was, you know, you just read. But then later that day, you're in a conversation with someone. They ask you a question. And all of a sudden, that verse you read that morning jumps into your brain. You don't even remember consciously memorizing it. And you're quoting it verbatim. And now all of a sudden, these other thoughts are coming from the Word of God. And it's so good, you want to take notes on yourself. See, that's not you. That's the Spirit. God's Holy Spirit is taking the Word that He inspired and He's applying it to specific situations in your life and enabling you to help others.
Now, remember when Jesus was tested in the wilderness. Right after the Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Another gospel says He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. So which was it? It was actually both. He was led by the Spirit, but the devil was there to attack Him. Both were happening simultaneously. And the devil brought a series of temptations to Christ, saying to Him, Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. So the devil says, Hey, why don't you take that rock and turn it into a piece of bread? What does Jesus say? Jesus pulls out the sword and says, It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So he takes the Word of God and he uses it like a sword, you see. So I'm defending myself, because the sword does that too. But I'm also using it offensively.
Then the devil takes him to a high point of the temple and says, Why don't you jump off from here? And interestingly, Satan quotes Scripture. He quotes part of Psalm 91. And Satan says, Because the angels will catch you if you do this. And Jesus comes back and quotes Scripture in context again.
Keeping the Sword Sharp Through Obedience
So here is my question for you. Is your sword polished through daily use as you study the Scripture on a regular basis and sharpen on the anvil of experience as you have applied and obeyed its truth in your life? Or is your sword rusty from lack of preparation? Or is your sword dulled by disobedience? See, if you neglect the study of the Word of God, your spiritual life will ultimately unravel. Because everything you need to know about God is found in the Bible.
It is great to carry a Bible in your purse or in your briefcase. But the best place to carry the Word of God is in your heart. That is where one person stopped thinking. As the psalmist said, Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Then in Deuteronomy 11, we are told to lay these words up in our heart and teach them to our children, and we shall write them. I think writing is a really helpful thing, don't you? Typing works. Or if you do it with your keyboard and your phone, it is all good. But just putting it down somewhere. But actually just writing out is a great way to remember things. I find that I often remember things better when I write them down.
So you know, a verse speaks to you. Underline your Bible. It is okay. Some people, no, don't ever underline in a Bible. No, no, go ahead and underline it. In fact, I want to see your Bible so beat up you have to get a new one every few years. Because a Bible that is falling apart is usually an indication of a life that isn't. Okay? So when I see a beat up Bible, I am thinking that is a person that is really studying their Scripture. That is a good thing. So write notes in the margins and underline and use all your colors if you want. You know, some people their whole Bible is just living color. They underline everything. It is underlined. That is great. And it will help you remember. And then that Bible becomes very familiar to you. And very important to you.
Prayer and the Word Working Together
But this is something we want to have in our life. The Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. Because once Scripture is ingrained in your memory, it will be there to utilize later in life.
Now here is kind of the wrap up, the conclusion of what Paul is saying in verse 17 and 18. The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. See, this pulls it all together. Here is the armor of God. We have the helmet of salvation. I don't think he can see. There we go. We have the breastplate of righteousness. We have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We have the sheet that fell on the ground. That has no meaning. We have the breastplate of righteousness. And of course we have the sword of the Spirit. We have an electric guitar that has no bearing on this.
But so we get all of our armor on. That is great. Now there is a place for prayer. Praying always. With all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Listen. The Word of God and prayer are inseparable. Now the leaders of the early church gave themselves, according to Acts 6:4, continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Jesus said in John 15, If my words abide in you, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.
One of the secrets of answered prayer is knowing the Word of God. And as I pray biblically and start praying for what God wants me to have, then I will see my prayers answered far more often in the affirmative. Jesus said, If you abide in me and my words abide in you. The Word of God enlightens us, but prayer enables us. Let me say that again. The Word of God enlightens us, but prayer enables us. The Word of God in the Bible reveals the will of God. Prayer enables me to do the will of God. See, so I need to open this book up and read it, but then through prayer I can apply it.
The Call to Salvation and Protection
This is the armor that God has given to every follower of Jesus Christ. But guess what? If you are not a believer, you don't have a breastplate of righteousness, and you don't have a helmet of salvation, and man, you don't even have a sheath laying on the ground. You got nothing. You have no breastplate. You have no shield. You certainly don't have a sword. You are just defenseless. You know what you are? You are a walking bullseye. You are a sitting duck if you don't know Jesus Christ. Because the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the devil, is a powerful spirit being. And he can effectively do whatever he wants in the life of the non-Christian.
Paul tells us to pray for non-believers who are taken captive by Satan to do his will. And the Bible says that they are blinded by Satan. So listen, maybe you have come here for this service tonight, and your eyes are kind of being opened a little. And by that I mean spiritually you are kind of getting some of the things we are saying. It suddenly dawned on you, I need Jesus Christ. Now it is kind of funny how you will tell a person that like one million times, and they won't get it. And then one day it dawned on them, I need Jesus Christ. That is what I have been saying. But it is like finally the Holy Spirit has made it real to you.
Maybe you have come in here tonight and you thought, you know what, I realize what I need to do now. I need to actually ask God to forgive me of my sin, and I need to follow Jesus Christ. And then God will arm you up for the spiritual battle, and you don't have to be a victim anymore. But instead you can be a Victor. You can be more than a conqueror. And you can come under His protection. And you can know that God has a plan and a purpose for your life.
But if you don't have this relationship with God, you are vulnerable. And I will tell you what, if it is true that God loves you, and there is a wonderful plan for your life, it is also true that Satan hates you, and has a horrible plan for your life. And you will see that in time. Don't go down that road. Don't waste your life.
Jesus Christ loved you so much that He came to this earth, and He went to the cross, and He died there for your sin, for my sin. He took all of our sin upon Himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us, the Bible says. But then He rose again from the dead. Look, a lot of people died on crosses 2,000 years ago. And Jesus was one of them. But only one person died on a cross who was fully God and fully man. And only one man who was fully God and fully man rose again from the dead. And He now stands here at the door of your life. And He is knocking. And He is saying, if you will hear His voice and open the door, He will come in.
Have you ever asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin? Do you have the assurance right now that if you were to die, you would go to heaven? If you don't have it, would you like to have it? Listen, He is only a prayer away. And I would like to give you an opportunity to get right with God.
Invitation to Receive Christ
So we are going to bow our heads for our prayer in a moment. And I am going to extend an invitation to any of you that do not yet know Jesus personally. You that do not yet have this hope of heaven. I am going to give you an opportunity to believe in Him and leave this place different on the inside than when you came in. If you need to make this commitment, or perhaps a recommitment to Christ, respond now as we close in prayer.
Let us all pray. Father, thank You for Your Word to us. And thank You for the promises of Scripture. And thank You, Lord, that they are true. And I pray for any here, any listening, any watching, who do not yet know You. Lord, would You help them to see their need for You and help them to come to You and believe in You. This very night, we ask Your Holy Spirit to convict and convince them of their sin and bring them to Yourself. We ask this in Your name.
Now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying together, how many of you would say tonight, Greg, I want Jesus Christ in my life. I want my sin forgiven. I want to know that when I die, I will go to heaven. I want this peace you have spoken of tonight. I want this relationship with God. I am ready to say yes to Jesus. Pray for me. If that is your desire, wherever you are sitting, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, would you lift your hand up right now wherever you are, and I will pray for you. Just lift your hand up really high, where I can see it. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. God bless you. God bless you down here toward the front. Raise your hand. You want His forgiveness. You want Christ to come into your life. Let me pray for you. God bless you there in the very back. Anybody else? Raise your hand now. You want Jesus in your life. He will not turn you away. You don't have to clean your life up and come to Him. You need to come to Him and He will clean your life up. You just come with your sins and your problems to Him. Jesus says, Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Anybody else? You want Jesus in your life. You want that peace that He promises. Raise your hand up. If you haven't raised it yet, let me pray for you. God bless you.
While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, I have been a prodigal son or daughter, and I need to come back to Jesus again. I have been trying to live in two worlds, and I have been miserable. Pray for me. If you need to make a recommitment to Jesus tonight, would you raise your hand up? And let me pray for you. God bless you. God bless you.
Now I am going to ask every one of you that have raised your hand, if you would, please. I want you to stand to your feet. And I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment to Christ. Just stand to your feet. Every one of you that raised your hand, just stand up wherever you are. That's right. God bless you. Stand up. Others are standing. You won't be alone. Stand up. You don't want Christ in your life. You don't want His forgiveness. Just stand to your feet, and I am going to lead you in a prayer. God bless you. Others of you should stand. You raise your hand. Take the next step now. Just stand up. I am going to lead you in this prayer. Even if you did not raise your hand, but you want Christ to come Stand up now. Let me lead you in this prayer. God bless you. You don't want to make that recommitment to Christ. Stand to your feet right now. We are going to pray together. Anybody else? Stand up now. God bless. One final moment. You want to make this commitment, a recommitment to Jesus. Stand up. God bless you. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand now. God bless you as well. God bless each one of you. One final moment. You want Jesus Christ in your life. You want to go to heaven when you die. You want to come back to the Lord. Stand to your feet. I am going to lead you in a prayer. God bless you. Anybody else? Alright.
Now all of you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. Again, as I pray, just pray this out loud right where you stand. And this is where you are asking for God to forgive you. You are asking Christ to come into your life. Or you are recommitting your life to Him. So again, as I pray, pray this out loud right where you stand. Okay? Pray this now. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But I know that You are the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin. And rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I choose to follow You from this night forward. As Your child. As Your disciple. As Your friend. Thank You for loving me. And calling me. And forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
God bless you guys. Listen, my friend has something for you tonight. Just hold it, will you? This is a start Bible. It matches his outfit, kind of. Red's a little off. But this has been designed for a new believer. Somebody like who is going to watch this in a Webcast later. Is going to think this is a mental breakdown here. They are going to isolate this on YouTube. Greg Laurie loses his mind. Just so like a minute. This will be weird. Anyway. But this is a start Bible. I am going to take this back from you again. But this is the New Testament with some very easy to understand notes that I wrote. That will encourage you that just prayed with me a moment ago. Asking Christ to come into your life.
And over to my left. You are right. You see Jonathan, my son over there. You saw him earlier. He is holding up a start Bible. I want all of you that just stood and prayed that prayer with me. Right now to get up out of your seat. And go over to that room. And get this Bible. Go over there now. Yeah. Go over to that room. Get up. Go over there. Yeah. Right over there. If you are one of our counselors. You can go over as well. Hold it to these. Folks who are in the back there. Are walking over there right now. God bless all you guys. Yeah. God bless you guys. Praise God.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
All right. Let's all stand up. Well let's pray. Lord we are in a battle and we know it. But we also know greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We know the devil has one third of the angels on his side. But we have two thirds of the angels on our side. Our God is greater. And Lord we pray now as we march into battle that we will suit up. That we will put on that breastplate of righteousness so we stand right before you. We will put on that helmet of salvation. And guard our minds against those evil thoughts. Lord that we will hold up that shield of faith to repel the flaming arrows of the wicked one. That we will put on those gospel shoes. That will carry us forward as we gain new territory. And then Lord that we would take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and use it when temptation comes our way. But also use it to march forward for your glory. So help us Lord to be more than conquerors. And apply the truths we have learned tonight. We commit ourselves to you again. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.