Greg Lorry and Harvest Ministries recommend a new resource from best-selling author Max Lucato dealing with your thought life.
So many people have Max Lucato books already in their library, but this is his brand new book to help you learn how to team your thoughts. Our thoughts really ultimately affect pretty much everything. And folks, we want to offer you this book by Max Lucato. Team Your Thoughts. for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
All right, Ephesians chapter 6. We're going to look at that in a few moments. The title of my message, as I said, is: This Is War. You know, some Christians are surprised to find that. This life is a follower of Jesus.
It's not a cakewalk. It's a conflict. It's not a playground. It's actually a battleground. And the question is not whether or not we're going to be in a spiritual war.
The question is rather: Are we going to win or lose in the spiritual war? Are we going to advance or are we going to retreat? Are we going to gain ground or are we going to lose ground? There are no other alternatives. In this particular battle, you cannot choose to be a pacifist or you will die on the battlefield.
You say, I don't know what you're talking about, Greg. Listen, the day you committed your life to Jesus Christ, The day you had your spiritual eyes opened and As it says in the book of Acts, you turn from Darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that was a day the devil declared war on you.
Now look, he had you where he wanted you before. And he was quite happy with that arrangement. But you weren't, nor was I. That's why we turn to Christ. The Bible says that the God of this world, speaking of Satan, had blinded our eyes.
Scripture tells us that we were taken captive by him to do his will. We got sick and tired of being ripped off and we put our faith in Christ.
Well, the devil's not happy about this and he's not going to take this line down. He's gonna do everything he can to trip you up or to defeat you on this battlefield. It's been said conversion has made our hearts a battlefield. And listen, anyone who chooses to be on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ will face severe opposition from Satan and his followers. You all know that World War II was one of the biggest conflicts in the history of mankind.
And think about how different our world would be if America had not entered that conflict. Hitler was on the march. He had taken over Poland. He had taken over France. And he had other territories in his sights.
And had the United States not entered that conflict, we would have a much different world right now. But we did enter that conflict, and the world was a better place for it. It's not that war is a good thing. War is never desirable, but sometimes you have to fight. And that was a good war.
Meaning, it was a right cause for us to stand up, especially when we found out later that Hitler's goal was to eradicate the Jewish population of Europe in his so-called final solution.
Sometimes it's good to fight.
Now generally some of us don't like fighting, oh, but there are people who like to fight all the time. They look forward to fighting. Are you one of those people, or do you know one of those people? They seem to thrive on arguments and conflict. I don't know about you, I'm not that guy.
I try to defuse conflict. I try to get along with people to the best of my ability, but. There are times when you got to just step up to the plate and stinking fight. And it's interesting that on more than one occasion, the Christian life is compared to a conflict. on a battlefield.
In fact, we're told over in 2 Timothy 3, Paul says, be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Then Paul writes, endure hardship as a good soldier. Interesting, a good soldier. Then in 2 Timothy 4, Paul says, I fought the good fight. I kept the faith, I finished the course, henceforth there was laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
which the Lord will give to me in that day, and not to me only, but to all who love his appearing. Then in 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul says, fight the good fight of faith and lay hold unto eternal life with which you are called and have confessed this good confession. It's a good fight. And we've got to stand up and fight, and I'll tell you why. The church is under attack like never before.
The church is under attack around the world. And the church is under attack in our own country. Christians are summarily mocked, marginalized, and dismissed. is lunatics. Overseas, our brothers and sisters are being martyred by Islamic terrorists and communists.
It's enough to cause you as a Christian to be downright discouraged. But I have good news for you today. We win in the end, guaranteed. Communism isn't going to win. Islam is not going to win.
Secularism is not going to win. The gospel is going to win. And the kingdom of God is going to win.
Now we may lose. a battle here and there, but we're going to win the war. Why do I say that? Because Jesus said. The gates of hell would not prevail against the church.
You know, in ancient times, a military tactic used by armies was to break down the gate of an enemy's fortress and Hit them with a battering ram, and once inside, they would destroy the opposing army. In the same way, Jesus is Satan, Satan and his forces are not able to withstand or prevent the onward march. Of the Christian faith. And when I say this, don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about a militant Christianity where we force conversion.
I'm talking about the loving. Followers of Christ seeking to persuade men and women to turn from their sin and believe and be forgiven. I'm talking about when Christ comes back to the earth and he will establish his kingdom as king of kings and lord of lords. But listen, there comes a time when we just need to fight. You know, coming back to World War II for a moment, of course, the Nazis and the Japanese were allies in this conflict along with the Italians.
And the U.S. did not enter in. We were helping out our ally. England. And England was really taking a beating from the Nazis because Hitler had built up a military machine for a number of years that no one even knew was happening.
And then he released. Hell on the planet and conquest. And the prime minister of England, Chamberlain, thought Hitler was okay, and you could negotiate with Hitler. And that's a little lesson on negotiating with. people that say they're going to kill you, isn't it?
And so that didn't work out so well. And so here we have the Nazis bombing London and attacking the Germans. And they fought courageously. But Churchill made a number of trips to the United States asking our then President Roosevelt to step into this conflict and declare war on Germany. And Roosevelt was reluctant.
Our country was reluctant until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. And 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 were wounded. Then the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan as well as Nazi Germany. By the way, this was after the Empire of Japan and Germany had already declared war on us, and so we entered into both the European and the Pacific theaters. But after the Japanese bombed us, it's reported that Japanese Admiral Yamamoto said these words, and I quote, I fear all that we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.
and filled him with a terrible resolve. End quote, speaking of America. And that was true. We were a sleeping giant, and you know what I feel in some ways? The church today is a sleeping giant.
The devil has declared war on our country. He's declared war on our culture. He's declared war on the church. Listen, he's declared war on our young people, and it seems like we're collectively taking a nice long nap. It's time for us to put on the armor of God, and it's time for us to fight back.
And I want to tell you about two of the most powerful weapons you have in your armory as a follower of Jesus. Two weapons that are not used enough by Christians and by the church, and those weapons are prayer and preaching.
So I don't know what kind of conflict you're facing today. Maybe it's some huge bill, maybe it's some medical emergency, maybe it's a marital conflict, maybe it's a prodigal child, maybe it's a threat against your life. I don't know what it is, but I know that God is greater than your problem. And you need to start praying about it specifically. Prayer is a secret weapon.
I look at our country and the course we're on right now. America needs to change its course. We're going the wrong way. We need to turn back to God again.
So we need to remember to pray for the United States of America. And specifically, we need to pray for a spiritual revival. We need an awakening in our nation again, like perhaps never before. That's one of our secret weapons. And the other secret weapon is preaching the gospel.
Proclaiming the gospel. And that's why we booked AT ⁇ T Stadium on March 6th of this year. And we're trying to stage what may be one of the largest evangelistic events that has ever happened in our nation because we believe it's time to stop losing ground and it's time to start taking some ground. And by the way, we're re-inaugurating or reintroducing to you our little 320 prayer program. Do you remember that?
We did this for our crusade last year and our crusade was so blessed, wasn't it?
So we're asking you to do it again. I want you to set your smartphone to 3.20 in the afternoon. And so your alarm will go off every day at 3.20. And you know, if you're asleep, you need to wake up. That's late, okay?
But there's another thing we want you to use it for, and that's to remember to pray. You don't have to pray for an hour, you can if you like. You don't have to pray for 20 minutes. If it's a two minute prayer, but just say, Lord, bless harvest America. And I think as we collectively remember this together and pray, it'll make all the difference in the world.
So please set your alarm to 320. You say, well, why 320?
Well, because Ephesians 3.20 says, God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Ephesians 3.20.
So that's why that is a time you ought to set.
So yes, the church needs to wake up. The church needs to pray. The church needs to preach and listen to this. It's not as important as the first two things they said, but it's still important. The church needs to register and vote.
Yes, we do. You know, it's estimated there are 80 million evangelicals in America. One half of them are registered and only 20 million voted in the last presidential election. 20 million out of 80 million. That's ridiculous.
Now some will say, well, you know what? I just feel, you know, we're not of this world. Shut up. You're not understanding. That's not what the Bible teaches.
You are in this world. And as long as you're in this world, Jesus said you're to be light in this world and you're to be salt in this world.
Now, look, we are realists as Christians. We understand that no particular person Can change the country. No senator or congressman or governor or even a president, but we also know that they can make a big difference for good or for bad, can't they?
So we want to pray for a person of God, a man of God, a woman of God, a person who loves the Lord to occupy that awful office because the Bible says when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.
So we need to register and we need to vote in this coming election. It's time for us to wake up. Romans 13, 11 says, this is the most urgent time. Because of how late it is, time is running out.
So wake up, for our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. This is war. I say, okay, well, you're talking about all this stuff. I don't even know what it really means.
Okay, let's personalize it now. Let's talk about you. I'm talking about when you get hassled by the devil. How many of you have ever been tempted to sin? Raise up your hand.
You've been tempted to sin. But these girls didn't raise their hand. Will you never been tempted? Have you been tempted? Yeah.
Have you ever sinned? Really? Tell me what you did. No, don't.
So sweet she never sinned, no she did. Just like her parents, just like you, just like me, we all do. Yeah, we're tempted to sin. We're hassled by the devil. He hits us with doubts.
Hits us with discouragement. Other things like that, persecution, we all know what it's like. And sometimes we're confused by it because it seems like temptations come at the most, well, inappropriate times. Like when you're in church and you've got your Bible open or you're singing a praise song and all of a sudden some wicked... Twisted thought.
Just sort of a touches, it's a right there, you know. You know, it's like alien hanging off your head. But what is this?
Well, look, it's not a sin to be tempted. It's only a sin if you give in to the temptation. We think sometimes if we're tempted, it means we're doing something wrong. Why don't you turn it around and think of it this way? If you're getting tempted, if you're getting harassed by the devil, it may actually be an indication you're doing something right.
You say, well, that doesn't make sense. No, it does. It makes biblical sense. Because Job was a man of God. He was so godly, in fact, God bragged on him in heaven.
And on one occasion, the Lord was bragging on Job in the presence of the angels, Satan included. And a series of attacks came against this man, Job. Not because Job was a godless man, but actually because Job was a godly man. Here's why the devil attacks godly people, because they are a threat. to his kingdom.
See, if you would say to me, I can't remember the last time I was tempted. Then my response would be is, Either you're Dead or worthless. I mean, if you're no threat to Satan, you say, why waste my time on them? I'm going to set my sights on that man of God, on that woman of God, who's daring to share their faith, who's trying to make a difference. Those are the ones that are a threat to my kingdom.
Well Here we are now talking about this battle, and it's found here in Ephesians 6 in a very familiar. a series of verses about putting on the armor of God. And we need to understand How important this is because to be forewarned is to be forearmed. If you're constantly defeated, If you're constantly falling back into the same old sins and returning to the same habit patterns month after month, year after year, even decade after decade, I want you to know today that can change. It can change if you pay careful attention to what the Bible says about what you are to do and how to defend yourself spiritually against these attacks, and even more.
how to progress and Take ground for God's kingdom.
Now, we're looking at Ephesians, and it can be divided into three sections: the wealth, the walk, and the warfare of the Christian. By the way, The men and the women in our church are studying Ephesians right now. The men have a study called valor, the women have one called virtue, and they're going through Ephesians, and it's fantastic. And here's one of the reasons y'all ought to think about getting involved in our men or women's group. It makes a big church a small church.
Because you have the teaching time. And then you get together in small groups and discuss what was just taught. A lot of friendships are developed in those times, and it's a great time to grow and learn.
So, even if you're not a part of our men or women's Bible study right now, you can jump in and you'll be smack dab in the book of Ephesians.
Well, anyway, it's divided into three sections: as I said, wealth, walk, warfare. The first part of Ephesians from chapters 1 to 3 deals with the wealth of the believer. I don't mean the financial wealth, I mean the spiritual wealth. It deals with all that God has done for you. I think you're probably aware of the fact that there's a powerball.
Lottery thing going on right now. Do you know that that prize has now exceeded one? billion dollars. Can you imagine? How that would change the life of a person.
Someone's going to win it. I think it's a one Point three right now. Unbelievable. Their life will be changed. And, you know, I don't know if it will be changed for the better.
I know it will be changed. But imagine to be going about your life one day, maybe working at minimum wage and your car is breaking down, and then you win that. And by the way, this is not an endorsement of the lottery. I hope your takeaway point is: you know, Pastor Gregg said, go buy lottery tickets. I'm not encouraging you to do that, but if you win, remember to tithe, okay?
Because. I'd fund our crusade ministry for a long time. But that's not my point. My point is how your life would be changed if you went from minimum wage to that kind of money, even after the government took back half of it. You'd still have a lot of money, wouldn't you?
Well, do you know how much God Is put into your spiritual bank account. Do you know about your spiritual riches in Christ? That's the first part of Ephesians. And before we can appreciate this warfare part, we need to know about the wealth part. Ephesians 1:5 to 8.
Paul says, God. Predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence. God predestined you. What does that mean?
That means God chose you before you chose him. I think what's a great Preacher Spurgeon, who said, It's a good thing God chose me before I was born. Because if he would have waited until afterwards, it would have changed his mind. But actually he said that tongue-in-cheek. Because God did choose you before you were born.
He chose you before you were even conceived. He chose you before your parents were born. He chose you from the foundations of the world to be his child. He chose you in love. And then it says he adopted you.
He's made you a member of his family. And because of that, Paul says you're accepted in the beloved. You need to know what that means. That means that If you're a Christian. How many of you are Christians?
Raise your hand.
Okay. I want to tell you what God's done for you. You're accepted in the beloved. That means that God loves you unconditionally and accepts you as His child. Why is that important to know?
Because sometimes we're trying to earn the favor or approval of God. If I just do a little bit more, if I make this sacrifice, then God will love me. Forget that. God does love you, God does accept you. You're accepted in the beloved.
Let me say something even more crazy. God loves you as much as he loves Jesus Christ. Say, where'd you get that?
Well, I didn't make it up. Do you think that God the Father loves God the Son? Do you think the Father in heaven loves his Son, Jesus Christ?
Well, I know he does. Because he said He was his beloved son, in whom he was well pleased. But here's what Jesus said in his prayer in John 17: praying to the Father. He says, I've given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one. Listen, and understand that you love them as much as you love me.
There you have it. Jesus said it. Father, you love them. That's you. That's me.
God loves us as much as he loves his own son because of what Christ did for us at the cross, his death. and how he satisfied the righteous demands of God. That is so amazing. God's done that for you.
So that's your wealth. But then there's your walk. That's section number two of Ephesians. That tells us that we are in Ephesians 4.1 to walk worthy of the calling with which we were called in humility and gentleness and long suffering. See, so the idea of the walk section of Ephesians is: okay, God's done all this amazing stuff for you, He's put this incredible amount.
of righteousness into your account so instead of going through withdrawals Why don't you make a withdrawal? and start living it out and walking. You know, I like to walk. I walk pretty fast actually. But I don't like to run.
I hate running, in fact. My wife will sometimes try to trick me. We'll be out walking together and she'll say, let's run. I say, I hate running.
Okay, Greg, let's just run to the end of the block, but I know it's going to go beyond that, right?
So we run to the end of the block.
Okay, no, let's run to the end of the next. I don't want to run to the next block. You know, because when I'm walking, I'm happy, and the moment I go to even a slow jog, everything's shaking around, and it's just, I go from relative happiness to pure misery.
Well, it's interesting, this phrase walking is used in the Bible. As you receive Christ, so walk in Him. Walk in the Spirit, and do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk with God.
Now, when you walk with somebody, You walked with them.
Sometimes my wife will take walks with some of her girlfriends, you know, and She goes, I'm going on a walk and these walks last three hours. I'll say, don't call it a walk. Call it what it is. You're going on a talk. Because Well, guys walk together, they walk.
And that's it. Girls walk together, they talk forever, right? In a good way, this is a compliment. You know, we admire your communication skills, okay. But you know, you walk and you talk.
Say, hey, let's take a walk together. That doesn't mean I'm going to ignore you. That means, hey, let's walk, let's talk about things, let's discuss things.
So when the Bible says walk with God, that's the idea. It's not like I'm trying to beat God in a race, which you couldn't. I want to keep pace with him. I don't want to lag behind him. I don't want to run before him.
I want to stay in sync with him. That's walking with God.
So there's the wealth. There's the walk and now we come to the warfare. By the way, that was the introduction. That was a long introduction, wasn't it? Let's look a little bit now.
About how we can fight this fight well, the good fight. Ephesians 6, starting in verse 10, I'm going to read down to verse 13. Paul writes, Finally, my brethren, and he's drawing on what's been said, that's why I wanted to review it. Finally, my brethren, 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.
You might want to underline that phrase, we'll return to it. For we do not wrestle 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 or the supernatural realm. Therefore Therefore. Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand.
We'll stop there. Verse 11, he says, put on the full armor of God. By the way, the phrase put on means to do it once and for all. In other words, it speaks of permanence. The full armor of God is not something that we put on and take off every night.
It's something to be put on permanently and you keep the armor of God on for your whole life because the temptations and attacks will not stop until you get to heaven. And why do we need to do this? Because you need to always keep your guard up. Because the devil never takes a day off. Wouldn't it be nice if Satan took like a month off?
Somehow we found out Satan's taking August off. Wow. That's going to be an amazing summer. You know the sad thing is, is we would still get ourselves into trouble. Or Satan's taking Mondays off now.
Mondays are double free. No, no. Satan doesn't take a month off. He doesn't take a day off. He doesn't take an hour off.
He doesn't take five minutes off. He's always on duty looking. For lives to ruin. That's why we need to keep our guard up and we need to keep the armor of God on. Put on God's armor.
Why? Verse 11.
So you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Now Whenever we bring up the subject of Satan, People wonder Why does he even exist? Why has God not destroyed him? And more to the point, Why did God create someone as horrible as the devil?
Well, the fact is, God did not create the devil as we know him today. In fact, God created Lucifer, his name previously. As an angel, he was a high-ranking angel, sort of like a general angel, like a four or five-star general, right up there with Gabriel and Michael. But Lucifer which means the sun of the morning. Decided he wanted the top job.
Satan wanted to be God. Satan did not want to be a worshiper. He wanted to be worshiped. And so Isaiah 14 says that Satan said, I want to be like God. I'll be like the Most High.
And he lost his once high-ranking position in heaven. But listen to this. When Lucifer rebelled, he took a bunch of angels with him, one-third in total. And those fallen angels are what we would call demons today. Wicked angels, demons.
And they follow Satan.
So the bad news is one-third of the angels defected with Satan. And that just goes to show sin makes you stupid. Doesn't it? Tweet that. But it's true, isn't it?
I mean, here are angels in the presence of God Almighty and they rebel against him. How ridiculous is that? But Satan led this rebellion. The angels followed.
So, yes, one-third of the angels are fallen, but the good news is two-thirds of the angels are still on our side.
So that's why we win in the end. One of the reasons we do But now these demon powers are out there doing the bidding of the devil. These minions, no, not that kind of minion. Not the cute little yellow minion with one eye, but these minions of Satan. Are probably what you are encountering day to day.
So when we say, wow, the devil really tempted me the other day, it's pretty unlikely the devil himself tempted you. Because, unlike God, Satan can only be in one place at one time. You see, God is. omnipotent and God is omniscient. And God Has these unlimited abilities.
Omnipotent means he's present everywhere at once. Omniscient means he knows everything. Omnipotent or omnipotent speaks of his great power that he has. Oh, excuse me, omnipresent. I used the wrong word.
Omnipresent means he's present everywhere. Omnipotent means he's all-powerful.
Okay, so Satan is not like that. It's not like the two sides of the force, okay? We're talking about God who has no equal and the devil.
Now, though the devil is more powerful than any person. He's not anywhere near being the equal of God. Satan can only be in one place at one time. He has limited power and he's limited in what he knows. But the point of this is when you're tempted, that was one of his demons probably tempting you.
and doing his dirty work. And so that's what we face right now when we encounter these wiles of the devil that Paul is actually talking about here, that we would be aware of these wiles that he uses against us. that bring us down.
Now, it's an interesting thing also. In verse 12, Paul says, We wrestle not against flesh. and blood. The word that Paul uses here for wrestle. Speaks of a life and death.
Conflict. It's mortal hand-to-hand combat. In the old days of the Olympics, they weren't as sanitized as they are today. And the wrestling portion, they fought to the death. It's really easy to figure out who the winner was.
He was the guy who was still alive. And that's the verbiage that Paul is using, we're wrestling now, we're in a life and death conflict with the devil who is attacking us. And this started even before your conversion. Before you were a believer, the devil had you in his. grasp but then when you believe remember he attacked you Do you remember right after you became a Christian?
Maybe some heavy-duty temptations came your way? Right after you became a Christian, there was some conflicts that you faced. Maybe it was some kind of persecution. Maybe your mind flooded with doubts. That's the devil hitting you.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus talked about a sower that went out and sowed seed and some of the seed fell on the roadside and the birds came and ate it. We still see this today, you know, the birds that are out there. I have a little bird feeder hanging outside of our kitchen. And I filled it with seed the other day, and I like to watch the little birds come and get their seed. We've invited them, they're our guests.
They're our friends. But then there are those birds that don't ask to be invited. They just come and take what they want. They're called seagulls. You know, you're at the beach, you brought your lunch down, all of a sudden, the seagull's flying off with your lunch.
Did you remember giving your lunch to the seagull?
Sometimes flying off with You're a cat, which is not a bad thing. No, I'm kidding. I doubt you'd take your cat to the beach, but...
Someone might. And then they have their cousins, the crows. I hate crows. They just squeeze. quack and Do their thing on your card.
You know how it goes. They're scavenger birds.
So that's the idea Jesus is talking about. These birds just kind of come down and swoop and take the seat up, sort of like when you're sitting outside at McDonald's or in an outburger inn. You drop a fry in. The bird comes and takes your fry.
Sometimes they take your food right off your table, don't they?
So that's the devil, Jesus says. These are they, Christ says. We hear the word of God. And just like that bird, Satan comes immediately. to take away the word that was sown in their heart.
He wants to stop us. And he is allowed a certain leeway in the life of the Christian. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2.18. We wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again, but Satan stopped us.
That's interesting that the devil was able to stop the apostle. Paul talked about his personal struggles there in 2 Corinthians. where he had the glorious privilege of going to heaven. He was killed. Probably during his stony.
and went up to heaven and saw such amazing things and Said it, I can't even put it into words, but it was like. Paradise, but then he was called back to this earth and to live his life out. But he said, but lest I would be exalted above measure, or to paraphrase, lest I should go on the ultimate ego trip. There was sent to me, listen, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. He was a thorn in the flesh.
Paul says, Three times I asked the Lord to take it away, and the Lord said, My grace is sufficient for you. By the way, the word that is used there for buffet, speaking of the messenger of Satan, means to strike. With a fist.
So God allowed this. And we say, but why does God allow it?
Well, one reason He allows it is to keep us close. Close to him. Because we say, man, I need God's help. But also, it's to strengthen us because the Bible says the trying of your faith will produce patience or endurance. And let endurance have its perfect work in you.
And know this: God will never give you more than you can handle. When God allows his children to go through fiery trials, he always keeps one eye on them and one finger on the thermostat. I don't know about you, but my wife and I, we have different temperatures. You know, I like it colder, she likes it warmer. We're always fighting over the thermostat, right?
So when God lets you go through it, Trial, he's got his eye on you. He's going to watch you. And if it's getting too hard, he'll turn down the heat. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, There's no temptation that you'll face. It is not common to other people.
But God, who is faithful, will not allow you to be tempted above your capacity to resist, but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. There's always a way out. Think about the last temptation you gave into. There was a way out, wasn't there? Right?
It might have been as simple as walking out the door. It might have been as simple as unplugging your computer. It might have been as simple as terminating their conversation. It might have been as simple as hitting the off button on your remote control, but you could have gotten out of that if you wanted to.
So God will never give you more than you can handle, but he will allow certain things to happen in the life of the Christian.
So let's wrap this up with some final points. If you're taking notes, You may want to write this down. Number one. Recognize this is a spiritual battle. that must be fought with spiritual weapons.
It's not a battle against flesh and blood. It's a battle against the devil and his satanic forces. It has to be fought with spiritual weapons. You fight fire with... Fire.
Number two, realize that Satan, a super being, is more than I could ever handle. He's not as powerful as God, but he's way more powerful than me or you. And I can't face him in his own strength. I need God's help. I need to stay as far away from the devil as possible and stay as close to God as I can.
The Bible says Submit to God. And then it says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. You see, you can't resist the devil if you're not first submitting to God.
So I submit to God.
Now I can resist Satan, and the Bible says he'll actually run from me. You know, the Bible tells the story of is guys that were called the sons of Skiva. And they weren't Christians. But they were called exorcists. In fact, they're the only people ever called exorcists in the Bible.
Though I believe people can be demon-possessed today, I don't believe there is a gifting of an exorcist. Uh to cast Demons out of people, or children that have their heads spinning, or whatever, you know, like the movie said. But But these guys were Exorcists, so-called. And they went to a guy who was possessed with some demons, and they said, In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches. Come out of this man.
And the demon speaking to the guy actually said these words, you know, I know Jesus. And I know Paul, but I don't know who you are. And then he overpowered them and attacked them with such violence, they fled from the house naked and betrayed. That's what happens when you try to take the devil on in your own strength. You're going to lose.
So again I cannot face him in my own strength. Point number three. Therefore, stand in God's strength, not your own. Therefore, stand in God's strength, not your own. Verse 10 of Ephesians 6: Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
You need help. We all know the story of this. Brave Philadelphia police officer who was attacked in his car just the other day.
Some men ran toward him yelling, Allah Akbar. Uh Fired many shots. It may have been as many as 13 if I recall right. Point blank at the officer. He got so close because there's foam of it.
this Islamic terrorists Hand was actually in the squad car firing on this officer. and they recorded the officer's distress call. Where he asked for backup immediately, and then he said, I'm wounded, I'm bleeding. But somehow this officer managed to get out of his car and chase this guy down, and they apprehended him. But then that's so that's good.
But then the mayor of Philadelphia got up and said this was not an Islamic terrorist. Right. Really? Kind of walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. You say, Allah Akbar, I do this for ISIS.
Sounds like it to me. I don't understand this political correctness and nonsense of today. But anyway, I digress. That officer survived the shooting because God protected him. But he was also wearing a bulletproof vest.
And you know, in the same way, you're going to be attacked by the devil. And that's why you need to have your armor on, always. And number two, that's why you need backup. That officer needed help, and other officers came quickly. And we need help.
We need God's help, and we need the help of our Christian brothers and sisters. You're not in this alone.
So call for help when you need it. But the devil wants to separate you from God and he wants to separate you from your Christian brothers and sisters. The devil loves it when we fight with each other. And as the old country preacher Ben Tabner once said, if we're so busy using our sickles on each other, we're going to miss the harvest. And a bunch of Christians are fighting, and we're fighting the wrong battle.
The battle is not against each other. The battle is against the devil and his forces. Let's figure out who the enemy is and take the fight. To them, because the devil's main objective is to get between the soul and God, to separate us. From the Lord.
So, we want to do this in God's strength. I'm going to share one. Last point.
Well, let me say two last points. That's a preacher's way of saying, I'm not done, but I will be in this lifetime. But this is a good point. If you haven't listened up to this point, Listen now. Here's something the devil doesn't want you to know.
Don't you want to know what the devil doesn't want you to know? Here's something Satan doesn't want you to know. Satan does not want you to know that he was soundly defeated at the cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ. He hates the fact that you would know that. Jesus said, First John three says, the purpose.
Of the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. That's why Christ came, among other reasons. And when Jesus Gave that word from Calvary to Telestine, which means it is finished or it is accomplished. He was saying it's done. The price has been paid.
The enemy has been defeated. Finished was the work the Father had given him to do, and finished was Satan's stronghold on humanity. Let me personalize it. Finished was Satan's stronghold. on you.
and on me. Because Colossians 2.14 says at the cross, Jesus wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way and nailed it to the cross. And he disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it.
So here's what this means to you. You don't fight for victory, you fight from victory. See, a lot of times we're going through life, and oh Lord, here's this temptation. God, give me the strength. God, give me the victory.
I mean, that's the wrong way to approach it. Say, here comes that temptation. Lord, thank you that you won't give me more than I can handle. Thank you that you're more powerful than Satan. Thank you that greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.
That's fighting from victory, not for victory. I'm standing on the work that Christ did for me. Makes a big difference.
Okay, now my final point, and I promise this is it. Everything I've said. And this message is for the follower of Jesus Christ, it's for the Christian. This is not for the non-believer. Listen, the non-believer.
You can't put on the armor of God. The non-believer You cannot resist the devil. In fact, a lot of times for you, a temptation is, well, an opportunity, isn't it? But maybe you come to discover what a rip-off this is. Maybe you're finally figuring out how empty life is without God.
Maybe you've taken a lot of those things Satan has offered and you've realized that those things are ruining your life. Here's the difference between God's plan for you and Satan's plan for you. Jesus said the thief, speaking of the devil, comes to steal, kill, and destroy. In contrast, Jesus said, but I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly.
So here's your choice, death or life, hell or heaven. Chaos. or Christ. Listen, just as surely as there is a God in heaven who loves you, there is a devil that's headed to hell who hates you. And he wants to keep you from this God of love.
Say, well, I'll fight the devil on my own. How?
Well, I've got a silver bullet. Oh. Did the Lone Ranger give it to you? Maybe it'll kill an imaginary werewolf. It won't stop Satan.
Well, I've got garlic hanging around my neck.
Well, that'll keep your friends away, but it won't keep the devil away. The only power that Satan fears is the power of Jesus Christ. You need Christ living inside of you. And if Christ is not living inside of you, it's like you have a big bullseye painted on your chest. There's nothing you can do.
So, maybe you need to just realize you need God's help right now and call out to Him. In a moment, we're going to give you an opportunity to get right with God because you see, Jesus died on the cross 2,000 years ago for your sin and for my sin. He paid the price for all the wrongs we've ever done. And then he rose again from the dead, and now he's here with us, standing at the door of our life, and he is knocking, and he is saying, If you can hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. I ask you right now, is Jesus living inside of you?
Or did this message scare you a little bit? Maybe it scared the hell out of you. I meant what I said. I don't mean it in a profane way. I hope it does scare the hell out of you.
And I hope it scares the devil out of you too. And I hope that you'll turn to Jesus and say, I need your help, I need your forgiveness, and he'll do that for you right now. If you'll call out to him. In a moment, we're going to pray, and I'm going to give you an opportunity to ask Christ to come into your life and be forgiven of your sin, and then you come under his protection. God's protection.
And you don't have to live in fear of this. Fallen spirit, fallen spirit being known as Lucifer, ask Jesus into your life now. You will not regret it. Let's all pray. Father.
I pray now for every person here and every person listening and watching who does not know you yet. Help them to see their need for you. Help them to come to you and receive your forgiveness now. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, and we're praying, how many of you would say today, Greg, pray for me? I want Jesus to come into my life.
I want my sin forgiven. I don't want the devil in my life anymore. I want to turn from darkness to light. I want to go to heaven. I don't want to go to hell.
I'm ready to say yes to Jesus. Pray for me. If that's your desire, if you want 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, wherever you are. Would you lift your hand up and let me pray for you right now?
Lift your hand up and I'll pray for you. God bless you. Lift your hand up high where I can see it, please. God bless. Wherever you are, raise your hand up.
We're going to pray. you. God bless you. God bless you. You that are watching the video screen, raise your hand as well.
course I can't see you but That doesn't matter. The Lord sees you. Take that little step of faith and say, yes, I need Jesus. wherever you are. Let me pray for you.
God bless all of you raising your hand.
Now I'm going to ask that every one of you who has raised their hand, if you would please. I want you to stand to your feet. And I'm going to lead you in a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life. Stand to your feet if you raise your hand. Even if you did not raise your hand, but you want Jesus in your life, you want him to forgive you of your sin.
Just stand up. And I'm going to lead you in a prayer. God bless you that are standing. Stand up wherever you are. Stand up now.
You want to be ready for the Lord's return. You want to go to heaven when you die. You want your sin forgiven. Stand up. We're going to pray together.
And in this prayer, you'll be calling out to the Lord. Anyone else? There's others standing by the way. You're not alone. Anybody else?
Stand now. Let me lead you in this prayer. Watching the screen stand up there too. I'll lead you in this prayer. I'll wait one more moment.
You want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. Stand up. And we'll pray together. God bless all of you standing.
Now, I'm going to ask if you're standing. I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. Again, as I pray, Pray this out loud. After me, pray this now, Lord Jesus. I know that I am a sinner.
But I know that you are the Savior. Who died on the cross. For all of my sin. I choose to follow you now, Lord. From this moment forward.
I don't want the devil in my life. I want you in my life. Thank you for calling me. and accepting me. and forgiving me.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. God bless each one of you that prayed that prayer. I bless you, God. Hey, everybody, thanks for listening to my podcast.
Before you go, I wanted to let you know about the important work we're doing here at Harvest. You know, we've had the same goal these last 50 years, which is simply this: we want to know God and we want to make Him known. And we do that in a lot of ways: documentary films, animation, radio, television, large-scale evangelistic events, and more. If you want to be a part of what we're doing to fulfill the great commission, you can support us with whatever you can give at harvest.org/slash donate. Again, that's harvest.org/slash donate, and thanks so much.
