Joseph Prince - This Truth Will Protect Your Mind
This is an excerpt from: Under Attack? Put On The Armor Of God!
Amen, we are in a warfare. How many know we are in a warfare? Alright, Ephesians 6 tells us. Look up here. «Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,» here’s the hierarchy, «against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places». You can put sickness there because sometimes, not all sickness is caused by a demon spirit, but they can actually manifest as spirit of infirmity.
Now Jesus ministered to a woman who was bowed down for 18 years, okay, and when he laid hands on her, she was set free, but the Bible says she was bound by a spirit, a spirit of infirmity. They can manifest as a spirit of infirmity or they can manifest as a depressive spirit. You can’t break your mental, you know, disposition from that dark thoughts, that foreboding thoughts that come, the gloomy thoughts that come to your mind. These are the work of the principalities, the darkness of this age, the rulers of the darkness of this age. Again, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, go on. «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». We stand because we are on victory ground.
Now this is the book of Ephesians. One thing you need to learn is this, the book of Ephesians is divided into, first of all, the three Ws, okay? First of all, you have the wealth of the believer in Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2. You have what we have, the riches we have in Christ, amen. All the spiritual blessings in Christ, all the riches, wealth. Then comes the walk. Walk worthy of the calling, the high calling. Walk worthy, you are a prince, walk like a prince. You are a princess, walk like a princess, amen. Walk worthy of your vocation, of the calling, amen. So you have the wealth, or you can call it sit, amen, because we are seated with Christ. It says in Ephesians, our position is a rest. We start from rest. Can I have a good amen?
Wealth, then the next W is walk. The first one is sit, then walk. Walk worthy, all right? The W be W. Wealth, then we have walk, then we have warfare. The third W, which is also stand. You stand because you have the victory ground. All right, when the devil comes to lie to you about your health, you have this or not, remember that you are already standing on your possession. Now you look at healing, or whether it’s peace that you want from your depression or addiction and all that, remember this. It’s not a ground that you want to take. So you pray to take the ground. Once you pray that way, you are praying from defeat. We don’t pray from defeat. We are already on healing ground. We are on peace ground. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace. Let us possess this peace. Can I have a good amen? Let’s possess this healing, amen? Amen? We pray from victory, not for victory. We pray from victory. Can I have a good amen?
Then it says that, «having done all to stand». All you gotta do is stand. Stand, the devil wants to move you away from your position, and many a times, he makes us do things that are «Christian,» nothing wrong. You pray, but when you pray out of desperation, you move yourself out of that position. Remember, don’t lose your place. Okay, let’s go on. «Stand therefore», now he’s going to tell you the armor, the pieces of the armor, and I think you all heard me share before. I think you all still remember that this is not putting on armor like some people teach us last time, put on your girdle, your belt of truth, click! And then you put on another click. Your shoes, click! You know, your helmet of salvation, click! There’s no clicking here. Sunday when you click, you must click all these things on early in the morning before you go out.
All right, I heard that before last time. Prayer teachings and all that, but really, all these pieces are actually doctrinal. It’s got to do with doctrines that’s based on the gospel. The gospel of grace that we preach. Every piece of it has got to do with it. It’s nothing to do with the Old Covenant. It’s got to do with New Covenant, and if you have wrong believing in any one of these areas, there’s an area where the devil can attack. Where you can be shaken off from your position. Are you listening? So the first one is, «Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth». Now, the assumption is that, «having girded,» means past tense, right? A rear tense here and it says, «having girded,» that means you have your belt of truth.
Now, how many under the sound of my voice have received the truth and the truth has set you free? Amen, you’re born again. If you’re not, by the end of this service, praise God, you can get saved right now. Just ask Jesus to come into your life, believe on him, he died for your sins, amen. Praise the Lord, and you are saved. Now your loins are girded with truth. What is your belt for? All right, what’s your belt for? To hold up your pants! Now in those days, the armor of God, this is the armor, okay, God’s armor.
Notice, «Take up the whole armor of God,» verse 13. This is the armor of God. It’s not our armor, and yet, Paul is using the analogy of the Romans at that time. Their belt is not just to hold up their pants. Where they hold up their sword, the scabbard. All right, the sword and also all their small daggers, amen, and all their possessions are actually in their special girdle. «Having put on the breastplate of righteousness». Now, breastplate of righteousness. The Romans, they have this breastplate of righteousness. You ever saw that? It extends all the way to your… it’s a one piece here. It’s a whole piece here that covers your abdominal areas. Guys, have you seen that before? They have this six-pack. I love that, and then when you watch a Ben Hur movie or one of those kind of movies, they take off that whole piece. Oh man, the guy just flabby. You feel that? Put it back on bro, amen. I feel like putting that on all the time, amen.
Some of them have eight pieces, amen. So when they put on, the whole piece comes on. It’s a breastplate because this area is the most severe. In warfare, all right, if you get stabbed in your heart, you get stabbed in your lungs, you can die, amen. So the breastplate covers the whole thing, and what is the breastplate? It is the breastplate of righteousness. Now some people, when they teach on this part here, the armor, they teach that it’s your moral integrity. It is your right doing. It is not. Every piece here has got to do with the gospel. It has got to do with objective truths, not subjective truths. It’s not your inward righteousness that you work out that gives you the breastplate.
If you think that way, you’re never sure you have your breastplate on. No, you are the righteousness of God in Christ, amen. That’s your breastplate from the accusations and the fiery darts of the enemy. All right, the enemy aims at your heart. He comes to you and says things so that your heart will be… you will condemned, and the Bible says, if our heart condemn us. The devil wants to condemn our hearts, correct? Okay, so this part that you must be established in righteousness. Can I have a good amen? Your inward man many a times is known as the hidden man of the heart, known as your heart, your inward heart, okay? That must be protected by knowing that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. Can I have a good amen? Then it says, «Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace».
Now, your shoes is called the gospel of peace. I say the gospel of peace. Now this word preparation in the Greek is the word preparation, but I like what W.E. Vines says about this word preparation. He has this little insight from the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, where in Psalms it says, «Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne». The word foundation there, all right? Of course, Old Testament is in Hebrew, but the Greek version, the Septuagint says exactly the same word as preparation. In other words, W.E.Vine says most likely this verse actually means, all right, not preparation. Your shoes as a preparation of the gospel of peace, but it’s actually your foundation. It is your firm footing.
When you have the gospel of peace, you know you’re on firm footing, amen, because the gospel of peace does not depend on you. It depends on Christ. It’s not about how bad you are. It’s about how good he is. It’s not how faithful you are. It’s how faithful he is. It’s not how obedient you are. It’s by the obedience of Christ, and that’s what we must bring our thoughts to, to the obedience of Christ, not our obedience. The moment it’s got to do with you, you know you will fail. You are no more on firm footing, okay? Next, so, «Above all, taking the shield of faith». «Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one».
Alright, the shield of faith. The Roman soldier will have this oblong shield, all right, of faith and it’s made of solid wood but it’s layered many times over with hides, okay, the leather hides of skin, and it’s very sturdy. It stands against the arrows and the javelins of the enemy, but, «Above all, taking the shield of faith,» and this word shield covers actually in the Spirit. The idea of shield here is the Roman shield, but God’s idea of shield in other places, in Psalms and all that, has this idea of all encompassing. It covers your back as well, amen. It’s a, «shield of faith with which you’ll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one». «All the fiery darts of the wicked one».
Don’t forget what I said. All this has got to do with the gospel. You see the fiery darts of the wicked one? I asked the Lord one time, can you show me how the fiery darts work, okay, and he showed me. The devil shoots a fiery dart. Today there’s… and the word dart, you might think it’s a dart, the way you play a dart. It’s the word for javelin. It’s the word for spear. It’s the word for arrow, fiery arrow, and it’s the word from where you get «balos,» ballistic missile, and the word ballistic from the Greek, «balos,» to throw, to shoot. All right, a missile. So the firing missiles of the enemy. The devil shoots missiles into your mind and it’s fiery. Don’t forget, all this has got to do with the gospel. So I’m going to show you right now what the Lord showed me.
In Hebrews 12, verse 20, it says, «For they could not endure what was commanded: 'And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.'» God says to Moses at Mount Sinai before he gave the Ten Commandments. God told them the moment they took their position on their obedience, when it was God’s faithfulness that brought them out of Egypt. God took care of them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God provided manna and God brought water out of the flinty rock. God took care of them, not because they were good, but because he is good. Not because they were faithful, because he is faithful, but God brought them out and all of a sudden, they took their position on, «Kol asher dibir Adonai, na’aseh». «All that God says to us, we can do it».
Long before, they even heard the Ten Commandments men presumed on his strength. Straight away, God told Moses, «Moses tell them, don’t come near, and even if a man or a beast touches Mount Sinai,» the mountain of law, «it will die». How does it die? It will be stone or shot with an arrow. The Bible says when God came down, there was an appearance of fire. Okay, the fiery dart, the fiery arrow, and this word arrow is the same from the root word, we get fiery dart. The «belos,» the ballistic missile. So it’s shot with an arrow. Fiery arrow of the law. That’s how the devil attacks. His name is Satan. 1 Peter 5:8 says, «Your adversary the devil». «Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil».
The word adversary is the word devil. In the Hebrew, when it says adversary, if you look it up, the word is the word Satan. The word adversary is literally «your opponent,» «your prosecutor at law». Are you listening? In the Hebrew, Ha’satan is actually going to do with the courts of justice. The one who comes against you, who points out your faults, amen. He’s not your advocate. He’s not your defense lawyer. He’s your prosecutor. He’s there to find faults. He will tear down all your excuses and all that. Your only plea is the blood of Jesus. I have nothing to plea but the blood of Jesus, and all his arguments fall flat. The moment you look to Jesus, but the moment you say, «But I obeyed the Lord, I did this, I did that, I did this».
He will keep on pointing the things you have not done. You listening people, all right? So, our only plea is the blood of Jesus that was shed. So remember this, the way he shoots is that you have not done this, you have not done that. Make sure your armor is on. Make sure you are gathered with truth. Make sure that you have the gospel of peace, you understand it. It’s all got to do with right believing. Putting on the armor has got to do with right believing. Do you believe the truth? The fact that you are righteous in the gospel of peace? Are you listening people, amen, and once you know that, and I want to say something else to you. You see the word, back to Ephesians 6, «taking the shield of faith».
People look up here. How many want to quench all the fiery? Not just a few. It says all, «quench all the fiery darts». There are two ways this can happen. I’m going to tell you right now. If you jump ahead, verse 18, look at verse 18 down there. «Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit». Right, so that’s one way. And the word quench is what? When you hear the word quench, what kind of idea do you have, quench? Water, very good. Water, and fiery. Fire and water, who wins, water. So you pray. As you pray in the Spirit, you’re praying in tongues. It quenches all the fiery thoughts of the wicked, amen.
I remember years ago, the helmet of salvation for me wasn’t working too well because I remember how it happened. I had a bout where I started believing that I had committed the unpardonable sin. Now I tell you what happened. I can trace it back to the very day that my thoughts became an open field to the devil’s thoughts and fiery darts. It’s almost like the gates open. I don’t know what happened. The gates open and almost every other hour, I have blasphemous thoughts about God. Later on, I found out that John Bunyan also suffered that. John Bunyan of «Pilgrim’s Progress». I was so encouraged to know that. That he went through the same journey. The one who wrote «Abounding Grace to the Chief of Sinners». The one who wrote «Pilgrim’s Progress».
All right, he had the same problem. His blasphemous thoughts, but what opened that door? I had very bad thoughts about God almost constantly. I tell you what opened the door, I read a book. I read a book. I got hold already of good teachings and all that, all right, and I don’t blame the author of this book. It’s not his fault in the way I receive it, but nonetheless, I read this book, Christian book, and it says that you can lose your salvation. I don’t know why it bothered me. All of a sudden, I said, «Wow, I was enjoying this romance with the King. I was enjoying the Lord’s love. I was enjoying the peace of God. I thought it was secure forever, but all of a sudden, I read this book and it says you can lose your salvation».
A Christian can lose his salvation, and the guy went to point out some ways that you can lose your salvation, and the moment I heard that, or I read that, something happened to me. It’s as if my mind, the helmet, opened up. The hope of salvation was gone. The confident expectation of salvation was gone. «I won’t make it to the end. I might be safe now, but can I make it»? Hope has to do with the future. «Can I make it all the way»? I started worrying that I might lose my salvation, and the door was open. All of a sudden, I had a blasphemous thought about God and I said, «How can I think that about God»?
Another thought about God. Then another thought about Jesus. Another thought about the Holy Spirit, and the moment it came to the Holy Spirit, this verse came to my mind. Another fiery thought. How many know the devil can quote Bible? But it’s never accurate. So I didn’t read it accurately and it says, you have committed the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and because you have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, there’s no more forgiveness for you, but what Jesus said, all right, were people that saw him in person and rejected him and says he has an unclean spirit. It must be people who see him in person and people who will see him in person when he returns, not in the Rapture, but the Second Coming of Christ.
With the Jews then, not with the believers. Believers, your sins are forgiven. When Paul writes to the believer, he says, «In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins». In Colossians, he says again, «We have forgiveness of sins». In Colossians again, he says, «Having forgiven you all trespasses». That means what? God saw your entire life. We see from a time perspective, day by day. God sees your life until the day you die or the day you meet Jesus face to face, amen, in the Rapture. God sees your entire life. When God put your sins on Jesus and God says, «Having forgiven you all,» God means all.
Now this won’t cause people to have, you know, a propensity to want to sin knowing they are forgiven much, because Jesus says, «Those who know they are forgiven much will love him much». It’s for the lack of preaching days, we see sins rampant in the church. We see people struggling, you know. And now back to my story again. I started having blasphemous thoughts about the Holy Spirit, and all of a sudden, you know, I didn’t know it’s been shot from outside. It felt so much coming from inside. Then this verse was quoted to me. «You blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, you have no more forgiveness,» and Jesus is not referring to the believer. A believer cannot commit this sin. A believer cannot commit this sin.
I tell you, I cannot sleep at night. I cannot rest in the daytime. I was troubled. I went to this man of God to ask for deliverance. I went to that man of God to ask for deliverance. Man, my life was hell. All right, you can read all about this in «Destined to Reign,» and probably in a few other books that I’ve written, but my life was like hell on earth because of my thoughts. My thoughts became so dark, and the more I had those bad thoughts, the more I had bad thoughts about God, you know, and all because I believe. And it was this area that was attacked, notice that? That the helmet of salvation was no longer there because of wrong believing, but when God brought me back, that’s when God introduced to me the gospel of grace. When God showed me that I am saved, and the Bible says, «Having obtained eternal redemption,» and, «'I give them eternal life, no man can pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who is greater than all, '» amen, «'has given me them; and no man can pluck them out of my Father’s hand.'»
So you have the Father’s hand and Jesus’s hands, and we are completely protected. So I understand when people go through depression or that, I don’t take that lightly. I’ve been through that, amen. What got me out is the gospel of grace. One last thing and then I’ll close. Ephesians 6, verse 16. Verse 16 says, «Above all, taking the shield of faith». Do you know that the word faith here has a definite article, «the faith». We all think of faith as a teaching. You know, I have faith in healing, all right, so I put up the shield of faith and all the fiery darts of symptoms can’t come near me. I think that’s true. I’m not saying that’s not true. It’s a general truth, but specifically, all this has got to do with the gospel truths, and when the Bible says, «the faith,» it’s referring to justification by faith. «Taking the shield of the faith».
Young’s translation is, «Taking the shield of the faith». «The faith» is there. Sometimes in the book of Galatians, for example, it says, «After faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster». Actually, «the» is there. «After the faith has come». What is «the faith»? Righteousness by faith. Are you listening, people? Are you listening? And that is where we all want to rest. Can I have a good amen? You are the righteousness of God in Christ. If anyone can move you away from that by their teaching or their unbelief, let me just tell you this. If you imbibe that wrong teaching, no wonder there is uncertainty in your heart. No wonder there is shakiness, and it can also affect all your ability to receive the blessings of God. Whether they be healing, health.
Many a times, those who struggle to receive are those, deep down they have a wrong belief, and it’s so deeply entrenched that sometimes it takes hours and hours of listening to right teaching, gospel truths, to set them free. I didn’t ask you whether you know these truths. I’m asking you, what do you believe deep down? Do you really believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ? Do you really believe that you have firm foundation under your feet because of the gospel of peace? Do you believe that you are the righteousness of God, justified by faith, and that becomes a shield that quenches all? Do you have the hope of salvation?
If not, today is the day that you renounce all your wrong beliefs and start believing right. I don’t care how many times you click on these pieces. It won’t work if you believe the wrong thing. Stop believing that you are vulnerable to losing your salvation. Stop believing that you are unclean and dirty in the eyes of God. Stop believing that God is holding your sins against you. Stop believing wrong and start believing right. All your sins are forgiven through Jesus’s blood. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, amen. You stand before God in all the fullness, in all the efficacy of the work of Jesus. We are unto God a sweet fragrance of Christ. You are highly favored in the Beloved. God wraps you up with Christ. He is the armor of God. Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and fulfill not the lusts of the flesh. You’ve got to put him on. Put him on. Put him on. Realize he’s your new identity.