Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend a great new children's book by Sally Lloyd-Jones called Jesus Our True Friend. You have kids and they need to hear the story of Jesus. And I bet you struggle at times trying to read Bible stories to your children. This is a great tool, so order your copy of Jesus Our True Friend Stories to Fill Your Heart with Joy, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
Many believers have all their armor in place. but they never use their sword. Pastor Greg Laurie explains how our sword can defend against the lies and attacks from our enemy.
So Satan comes to you and he says, God will not forgive you.
Now it's time to pull out the sword. It is written, 1 John 1.9, if I confess my sin, he's faithful and just to forgive me my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. That's how it works. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing graves now sweetest town. But can you hear all the ancients are singing? This is the day the day when life begins.
Some professions have specialty clothing and it saves lives. Firefighters have turnout pants and jackets to protect against heat. Police officers wear Kevlar vests.
Soldiers have vests and helmets and boots. And as we learned today, Christian soldiers have specialty clothing as well. But too many of us don't know much about it. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us get to know our six pieces of spiritual armor. and how we can use them in spiritual battle.
All right, well, let's grab our Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. And the title of my message is How to Fight the Spiritual Battle. Look at verse 14. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.
Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith. with which you'll 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.
So six pieces of armor are mentioned. Six pieces. The first three. The belt. the breastplate and the shoes.
We're attached to the body. never to be removed. The second three, the shield, the helmet, and the sword were for specific purposes and methods of attack.
So it starts by saying, gird your waist with truth. Let me just use a more modern. Translation, put on the utility belt of truth. The Roman soldier had a belt, and on his belt he had a sheath, which was for the sword, obviously. And also the breastplate was attached to the belt.
And the belt also pulled his, well, it pulled his little skirt up, okay? Because he wore a toga. A toga is basically just like a skirt. And so it'd be down over his knees.
So when he's going into battle, he pulls it up above his knees and he cinches in the belt so it stays above the knees, giving him freedom of movement.
Now he pulls his sword out. You gotta have the belt on because if someone pulls your belt off, off comes your breastplate, there goes your sword, and your dress just fell to the ground. You're looking stupid, right?
So what does this even mean? Put on the belt of truth. Basically, it's just saying bottom line. If you're not walking truthfully before God, none of the rest of this really matters. You know, if you're living a hypocritical life, If you're saying one thing and doing another, then this is not going to work for you.
So you start with a truthful, right relationship with God. Then you have the breastplate of righteousness. What does that mean? The breastplate of righteousness. What it is, is a representation of your stand before God.
We talked about how we are justified. Which means when you become a Christian, God forgive you of all of your sin, and then He puts the righteousness of Christ into your spiritual bank account, so to speak, and you stand positionally right before God. I am a righteous man. You're a righteous man. You're a righteous woman.
So I stand in this special relationship with the Lord. And I bring this up because one of the devil's primary tactics is accusation. You know, he comes up to you, he tempts you. To think an impure thought, and then you sort of take it for a test drive, and he attacks you. What a hypocrite you are.
You're not even a Christian. You don't believe in Jesus. Boom, you know, blows against the breastplate. But this is righteousness where I'm not standing in my good works. Or what I've done for God, I'm standing in what God has done for me.
Very important. Number three. We are to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This is the footwear of the soldier. It gave him Firm-footedness and mobility on the field of battle.
It speaks of standing firm and gaining ground. And how do I gain ground? Very simple answer: by proclaiming the gospel. That's how we advance in the spiritual battle. Romans 10, 14 says, how can they call on him?
unless they believe in him. How can they believe in him unless they've heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them unless they're sent? And that is why the scripture said: how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news.
So, the way we gain ground in this spiritual battle is by sharing our faith.
Now, look at this: verse 16. Above all, underline those two words, above all.
So, Paul's now distinguishing this piece of armor from the rest. Above all, He says, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
So the Romans, you know, the Roman army was amazing. And that's why they defeated so many of their enemies because they worked together. And they would march into battle with these shields for the first part of combat. And when the initial barrage of flaming arrows came, they would all get them up and lock their shields from the front, from the side, and on top too. And all those arrows would land on top of the shield.
So they knew the arrows were coming and they were ready for them when they came.
So, the way it works in real life is the devil will fire his arrows. at us. You never know when it's going to happen. Satan's flaming arrows are swift and silent. There's no advance warning of their arrival.
You can wake up in the morning and the enemy can hit you with a flaming arrow. or a fiery dart. before your feet even hit the floor. It can happen in the middle of the night. Maybe a thought of complete despair.
You might be gripped with the thought of intense fear and terror. What if this happens to me? What if that happens to my family? What if this other thing happens? It can be.
A thought of hatred towards somebody. It could even be a blasphemous thought. It's so crazy. And from Love Field, you're thinking, how could that thought even come to me? Remember, it's not a sin to be tempted.
And just because the devil fires a flaming arrow at you, That doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. You're not the twisted one. He's the twisted one. You put up your shield and identify the source of it. That's from Satan.
I reject it. I'm not going to even entertain it for a moment. I didn't think of it, and I'm not going to play around with it. And that's how you resist it. No way, these things are coming from because the devil's clever, as I already said.
He'll tempt you. And then he'll attack you for being tempted. How could you be so twisted to think that? I didn't even think it. It's like Worshiping.
And this thinking thought, where did that come from? It came from hell. It came from Satan. It's a flaming arrow. It says, Hey, I reject that.
That's not from God. Just let it go. Resist the devil, and what will happen? He will flee from you.
So understand the source of these things.
So the helmet of salvation. This is so very important. Because obviously the helmet Protects Your head. And you know that most temptations come in the form of your thoughts, right? They always start with a thought.
Take any temptation you've ever given in to, and I bet you in every instance it started right here. And you know, you entertained it, so you have to wear a helmet. I ride a motorcycle and I have to wear a helmet. And I hate helmets, by the way. But I know that they're good and they protect your brain, which is a nice thing to keep intact if possible.
So, in the same way, in the spiritual battle, you're going to get hit in the realm of your thinking.
So, you want to protect your mind.
Okay, so there's one last. Weapon in our spiritual arsenal. And that is the sword of the Spirit. This is the only weapon that is offensive. In other words, if I'm going against my enemy, I'm not going to throw my helmet at him.
Okay, here I come, throw a helmet. That's not going to work very effectively. I'm not going to beat him to death with my breastplate. That's not practical. I'm not going to attack him with my shield or, you know, throw my gospel shoe at him or something, right?
These are not effective weapons. These are not weapons. These are defensive tools that the soldier uses. But this sword, this is how I attack. And of course, it says, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
See, many believers have all their armor in place, but they never use their sword. They leave it in the sheath. They talk about it. They study it, but they never actually utilize the sword in spiritual battle. Listen to this.
The devil knows the authority of the Word of God. And that's why, as I mentioned earlier, he will try to keep you from it at all costs. He will do everything he can to see that we either keep our swords sheathed. Or that we don't even put them on in the first place. That's why he attacks God's word in your life, because he knows the power.
of scripture. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place.
We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash of Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app.
Well, Pastor Greg is presenting the final message in our series of the top 10 most requested messages by our listeners. Today Good Insight on Emerging Victorious in Spiritual Battle. Let's continue. One of the greatest things you can apply your mind to is the memorization of the Bible. The memorization of the Bible.
I can't do it. I can't remember Bible verses. Yeah, you can. Oh, I can't.
Okay, let's start with one: Jesus wept. Say that Jesus wept.
Now you know a Bible verse. That's one.
Now we're going to move on. I still remember Bible verses that I learned when I was 17 years old. And verses that I just committed to memory. And you know you can do it because you have all kinds of stupid song lyrics in your head. You have lines from movies that you can quote at will in your head.
You have stats and scores of games that have been played over the years in your head. You have other information that you put in there. You can make time for the Bible. It's a commitment, it's a discipline, but memorize scripture. You say, well, why do I need to do that?
Because. Memorize scripture is a weapon against sin. Psalm 119, 11 says, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Then Psalm 37, 31 says, the word of God is in his heart, his steps do not slip. See, here's how it works.
So Satan comes to you and he says, You've just sinned, and let's say you have sinned. And he says, God will not Forgive you. You have no relationship with God, not Fanny to pull out the sword. And use it. Oh, that's not true.
Because it is written, 1 John 1:9, if I confess my sin, he's faithful and just to forgive me my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Just like that. That's how you use the sword. Remember Jesus when he was tested in the wilderness. was hit with three primary attacks from the devil.
One of them was when, after he had not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights. Can you imagine how hungry he would have been?
So what does the devil do? He comes up and says, hey, why don't you turn a rock into a piece of bread? And what does Jesus say? It is written, you shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Now, Jesus could have just said, Look, I'm Jesus, you're not, get out of here. Jesus could have banished the devil, driven him away with just a word. But Christ gave us an example of how to deal with temptation by quoting Scripture.
So we do the same thing. The devil whispers in your ear: God will not hear your prayers. God will not hear what you're saying. God is not listening to you. I come back with the word of God.
1 John 5:14. This is the confidence we have in Him. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
So I quote the scripture.
Sometimes I quote it out loud. I quote it out loud. The devil can hear it. And I can hear it.
So I'm reminded of what the Word of God says. Maybe the devil says you should be afraid. You know, I'm going to destroy you. And we quote scripture, Psalm 27:1, The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom then shall I be afraid? And then 2 Timothy 1:7, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. The devil says, Well, you need to worry. Worry right now.
No, actually, I don't, because I'm told over in Philippians 4:6, don't worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. That's how it works. You know the Word of God, you memorize the Word of God, you quote the Word of God, and it will help you when you're being tempted. But if you don't know God's Word, Clever little things you read on Instagram are not going to help.
Okay? There's all kinds of clever little things you can read and nice little saints. But you need the Word of God. That's what the devil is afraid of, and that's what he responds to, and that's why it is called the sword of the Spirit.
Okay, one last thing, and then I'm going to close. The final ingredient to winning this spiritual battle, in addition to putting on the armor of God and the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation. Shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, and having your feet shouted, the preparation of the gospel of peace, this is really important. Prayer. Prayer.
Look at verse 17. 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. Supplication is when you're praying for someone else.
Worship is when you're bringing glory to God, intercession, you're standing in the gap, supplication, you're praying for someone, petition, you're asking the Lord to help you. But uh The word of God and prayer are inseparable. Listen to this. The Word of God enlightens us. And prayer enables us.
Let me say that again. The word of God enlightens us. But prayer enables us. The word of God reveals the will of God. Prayer enables me to do that will.
There's an excellent illustration of this in Exodus chapter 17. showing how God's word and prayer work together.
So the nation Israel is facing off with the Amalekites on the battlefield. And Moses told Joshua to send men to fight the Amalekites. And he would stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hand, interceding for them.
So when he held that staff up, they knew Moses is praying.
So he's praying. And when the staff is up, they're winning. And then he's, you know, Moses is old and his arms are getting tired.
So he kind of pulls his arms down. They start losing. No, he puts them back up and they start winning again.
So two guys say, we've got to help poor old Mo, right? One's name Aaron, the other's name her. They grab each end of his staff and they hold it up. Moses kind of hangs on with his arms. And so the soldiers saw.
Moses with his staff up praying and they prevailed in the battle.
So it shows how prayer and the word of God go together. And that is why we need to proclaim the word of God and then we need to be praying. The power in the spiritual battle does not come from what we know, it comes from who we know. It's all about Jesus. And it's all about a relationship with Jesus.
And so let me just close by asking. Do you know Jesus? Let me say something that you need to understand. If you're not a Christian, You're no match for Satan. He can pretty much wreck a lot of havoc in your life.
But if you're a follower of Christ, you're under his protection. His ID tag is attached to you. And so you have that guarantee of protection. But a non-Christian, they have nothing. And you think you're going to keep the devil away with uh A crucifix?
I have a crucifix. He hates crucifix. He can care lots about crucifixes.
Well, I have holy water. There is no holy water. Oh, well, yeah, you need Jesus. That's the only thing Satan fears. Let me restate that.
That's the only one Satan fears. because of the power of Christ. And when Jesus comes and lives in a life, you're under his protection. You know, sometimes people say that. Christians can be demon-possessed.
How absurd. Do you think God's into a timeshare program? I have Jesus here, and sometimes demons live over here. No, no, this is like: if Christ is in this house, he's a sole occupant of the house. And he drives everything out.
So when he comes in, all that demon power that was maybe in me in some way, shape, or form is gone and I'm protected.
Someone new is in the house. And when the devil comes knocking, I just say, Lord, would you mind getting that? And when Jesus answers the door, trust me, the devil's not coming in. But if Christ is not living in your house, in your life, You're vulnerable. You need Jesus.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. who came to this earth and lived a perfect life. And then he went and died on the cross for your sin. and paid the price for every wrong you've ever done. And then he rose again from the dead.
Now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. Have you asked Jesus to come into your life yet? There might be some of you here that, man, you're just worried and you're full of anguish and You have a lot of problems you're facing, and you're just thinking, This is so hard.
Well, there's someone who said, that we should cast of our care upon him because he cares for us. God's saying, let me take your troubles. Let me take your cares. Let me take your anxieties. Let me carry it for you.
Come here, let me put my arms around you. You're safe with me. You need to come to Jesus. You don't want to be out there for one day without them. You don't want to be out there for one hour without him.
He'll forgive you. and you'll enter into a relationship with him. And if you don't have that relationship with Jesus, Let me extend an invitation to you now to believe in him. Because he's ready to come into your life. But you have to say, Lord, save me.
Lord, forgive me. And I don't know what mess you're in right now or what troubles you're facing. or whatever they are. God is greater than whatever you're facing. And He'll come into your life tonight.
To not say yes to Jesus is to say no to Jesus. Jesus said, you're for me or against me.
So this is an either-or proposition. If you don't say, yes, I want Jesus, you're effectively saying, I don't want Jesus in my life. And you have that ability to make that choice, though it is the wrong one. Don't make it. Say yes to him.
You will not regret it. Let's pray. Father, I pray now that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince every person that's. listening or watching wherever they may be. Show them their need for you and help them to come to you and believe in you.
Right here, right now.
So we ask for your Holy Spirit. to work in the hearts. of those that need to take this next step. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie. and if you know you need to make that kind of change to day in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Gregg will help you with that before today's edition of A New Beginning wraps up. Are you receiving Pastor Gregg's daily devotions each day via email? If not, let's take care of that right now. You can sign up today, free of charge, at harvest.org.
And you'll receive a daily inspirational thought from God's Word each day in your inbox. Again, go to harvest.org.
Well, Pastor Greg, you mentioned our need to come to Christ for forgiveness of sin in today's study. Maybe there's somebody listening who would like to do that right now, who'd like to take that step. Maybe you could help them with that right now. I'd be delighted to listen. If you would like to accept Jesus Christ into your life right now, and by that I mean if you would like your sin forgiven, and have the assurance that you will go to heaven when you die, would you pray this prayer with me?
Just stop what you're doing and pray this prayer. You might even pray it out loud after me. Let's pray together now. Lord Jesus, who I know that I am a sinner. But I thank you for dying on the cross for my sin.
and rising again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin, Lord, and I turn from it now. And I put my faith in you to be my Savior. My Lord, my my God and my friend. Thank you for loving me and calling me.
and accepting me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer in a minute, I want you to know on the authority of God's Word that Jesus Christ has just come to take residence in your heart. The Bible says these things we write to you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Listen, we want to send you some resources that will help you grow spiritually.
So here's Dave with some details. And let me say, God bless you and welcome to the family of God. Yeah, and those resources, Pastor Greg mentioned, are all included in something we call our New Believers Growth Packet. And foremost among those resources is Pastor Gregg's New Believers Bible. It's a special edition of God's Word, and it'll help you get started in living your life for the Lord.
We'd like to send it to you free of charge. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime around the clock. That's 1-800-821-3300. or write a new beginning box 4000.
Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click the two words Know God. And Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in harvest ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women. Boys and girls, and what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife? your son or your daughter. Oh, your mommy, your dad.
Or your best friend.
Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable.
Well, listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment. of my resources, of my money, Than in the work of the kingdom of God.
So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in harvest ministries. As we continue on to fulfill the great commission. Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. or write us at a new beginning box 4000.
Riverside, California, 92514. or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, Pastor Greg reveals how to live a more balanced Christian life. Good insights coming your way. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Craig Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
