Armor of God // Sword of the Spirit // Pastor Josh Evans

Amen. What great music here this morning and just such a phenomenal songs and just the worship has been phenomenal here this morning and I appreciate our worship team and just the time that they put into leading us to the throne room each and every week. Well listen, it is good to see you here at Union Grove this morning and I know that the rain is on its way today and I might have already gotten here outside. I haven't been outside since early this morning and so but I appreciate you being here even on a rainy, rainy Sunday and I'm so glad that you're here. I did want to mention one thing before we get rolling here today. It is a special week and somebody in our church's life here today had a birthday and I'm going to ask Miss Cindy Vanhoy, can you please stand for us? It was her birthday this week. Can we just clap for her? And we appreciate her and just thankful for what her family means to our church here today. Well listen, I want to go ahead and jump right into it today.

So we are continuing our series. If you got your Bible today, Ephesians chapter number six, Ephesians chapter number six and go ahead. I appreciate what Pastor David said here today. If you are a guest with us, we'd love to connect with you and that's one thing that we get excited as much as anything else is being able to connect new people to the life of our church and we would love to introduce our church to you. And we do a thing called Starting Point every few months and that's just what we call our membership class and it's a great opportunity for you to connect if you've been coming for any length of time and I want to connect a little bit deeper.

I'd love to invite you to that. But at the end of the service, we get to celebrate baptism here today and I'm so excited about that and I believe we got three following the Lord in baptism today and I want you to know church, there's nothing better than celebrating life change in the life of people and that's the reason why we gather as a church every single week. That's the reason why we exist is to reach as many people as possible and to disciple them into becoming devoted followers of Jesus and that's what we're excited about and we get to do that at the end of the service here this morning. Ephesians chapter number six here today, we've been in this series.

In fact, I believe this is week number six that we have been in our series on the armor of God and I've enjoyed being able to kind of take each piece of the armor and break it down and how this can apply to your life. But here in Ephesians chapter six, we know this that Paul is writing to a real church, the church at Ephesus, and he's writing to this church much like this church and he's writing about a bunch of different things. In fact, the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, he's writing all about the gospel, the gospel at work in our life and you find one of the greatest passages in all of the scripture about what the gospel does in a person's life in Ephesians chapter number two.

It's just a beautiful passage and then when he comes to Ephesians chapter four, he actually transitions at the beginning of the book and he says because of the gospel, chapters one through three, this is what it is like to live out the gospel in chapters four, five, and six. And as he concludes this letter to the church at Ephesus, he begins to write about warfare. He begins to write about the battle that we are in. We've been looking at this battle over the last six weeks and I hope over these last six weeks that you have realized and understood that you are at war. We are all at war. You say, who are we at war with? He tells us right here, we have a real enemy. We have an enemy that is trying to to fight us. You say, what's the enemy's purpose? And we've said this every single week, the devil is after our destruction. He's after our destruction. You see, the enemy that we are fighting is wanting to destroy your life. He's wanting to destroy your family's life. He's wanting to destroy the things around you. He doesn't want you to be used by God. So what he is doing is he is throwing these fiery darts in a lot of different ways. You say, well pastor, I attend church, you know, I do a lot of good things. I mean, aren't I exempt from the fiery darts?

You see, no, none of us are. In fact, the scripture says that the enemy, the devil, our enemy, disguises himself as an angel of light. In other words, what he's trying to do is he's trying to disguise himself into whatever form he has to to get a foothold into your life. It could be TV, it could be the media, it could be music that you're listening to. It could be good things like trying to get you busy and to sign yourself up for everything under the sun so that you can get your eyes off of the Lord and what he has for you and onto other things.

It could be a bunch of different things, good things, whatever. But what he's trying to do is disguise himself so that he could see that you can get destroyed, that you would be destroyed. Here in Ephesians chapter 6, he gives us the strategy to win the war that is within us, this war between the spiritual and the fleshly, and he gives us the strategy and the battle plan for us to win the war. In verse number 10 of Ephesians 6, we've read this every single week, he says, finally, my brothers or brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

And then in verse 11, he says, put on the whole armor of God. I want to reiterate this, that here in verses 10 and 11, you can see that the Lord is the one who can fight for you. In fact, he says, be strong in the Lord. Your strength is in him, it's not in yourself.

If you're trying to fight in yourself, you're going to lose every time, you're weak. And so you need his strength in you, but in the power of his might. You see, it's his might that fights for you and it's his armor that is found in the gospel that he tells us to put on this whole armor.

Why? So that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. He goes on in verse number 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So because of that, wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. In other words, what he's saying is, is that once you take on the whole armor of God, is that the enemy, the devil can throw his fiery darts.

He can attack you in all these different ways, but you will be left standing because you have chosen to put on the entire armor of God. So he says, verse 14, stand therefore having your, the first thing is the loins gird about with truth. That is the belt of truth. Let me remind you that the way that you determine truth should be through the grid of scripture. In fact, the scripture should drive what you believe about stuff. The scripture should drive what you believe about God, what you believe about yourself, what you believe about the people around you, what you believe about anything. That should come from the scripture.

The grid of truth should be found in the word of God and not in anything else. So he says you got to put on the belt of truth, but then have a breastplate of righteousness. I remind you that the only reason that you have righteousness to put on in your life is because the righteous one came and was righteous for you. And when you trust in Jesus, the righteousness of his very dear son is placed into your life. Then he says you got to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

In other words, you got to have these shoes on, these gospel shoes on to share the gospel with people, to share the good news of peace. Then he says, verse 16, above all these, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And then last week we looked, verse 17, take the helmet of salvation. And then today we will look at the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

And so the sixth piece of armor that we're going to look at today is this, the sword sword of the spirit, the sword of the spirit. Now I want to give you kind of a big idea that, that for you to understand anything that what we're going to talk about the rest of the time, and for you to leave here and take on or put on or pick up the sword of the spirit, you have to understand this. And this is really the big idea today is this your ability, your ability to overcome the enemy's attacks is directly proportionate to your knowledge of the word of God. It's a very direct statement, but I want you to understand, as you look at this, your ability to overcome the enemy's darts that he is throwing at you, the attacks that is coming at your family, it's directly proportionate to your knowledge to your knowledge of the word of God or your application of the truth of scripture. You have to understand that the word of God is the weapon that needs to go before you, the weapon that you pick up and that you take up that you use to fight off the different things that come your way.

Here's what Paul is saying. He's making this point that trying to fight off the enemy with no knowledge of the word of God is like showing up to battle without your sword. It's like showing up to battle, you know, like if we were called, you know, to the front lines of some big battle and here you come and you're up there and you're like, man, we're going to win the thing. But you have no sword. You have no weapon. You have nothing that you've picked up that's going to take you to the battle and that's going to fight and destroy the enemy.

He says that that's foolish, right? And he said for you and for me in the spiritual warfare that we are facing in the battle that we're facing, if you don't every single day pick up the word of God, it's no different than you showing up to battle without a weapon to fight with. You see, we, if we are going to overcome the enemy's attacks, we have to have knowledge of the word.

We have to apply the word. You cannot win the battle without the sword. You cannot win the battle without the sword.

You're going to get defeated every single time. Now, throughout scripture, we look at the truth. In fact, this passage or this part of the armor is very similar to the belt of truth that we looked at in week number one of our series. But what I want you to understand about the word of God is this. What food is to your physical body, the word is to your spiritual body. You know, none of us can go without food, right? And in fact, this past week, I was in Pennsylvania with the senior adults and that's everybody over the age of 50. And I learned every time I'm on these trips with the senior adults, I learn a lot of different things.

Some things I wish I didn't know, but I do learn a lot of things. And one of the things that I learn every time I'm on these trips with with that crowd is that they love to eat, right? They love to eat. Seriously, that's like the entire itinerary.

It's like what time breakfast is, what time lunch is, what time dinner is, and then what time is the dessert places that we're stopping at in between those three meals. That's what they do. They love to eat. They love to eat. They run from the ice cream shop to dinner and it does not faze them. They just keep going with life.

It's amazing that they've lived this long is honestly what I was thinking. But here's what I want you to understand. We all need food, right? Every single one of us. In fact, some of you, you woke up late, you didn't eat breakfast, and you're already right now in your seat wondering what you're going to have for lunch, right?

That's what we think about. We always are thinking about food and why? Because we have to have food to survive. You have to have food to survive.

You're not going to make it in life if you stop eating, right? Well, what the apostle Paul is saying is he's saying that for you the sword is the word of God and you are not going to make it in this battle, this war that we are facing. You're not going to be able to make it if you are not having a daily dose of the meat of the word of God in your life. The word is essential to your spiritual life.

I think all of us understand that, right? I don't think that that's news for anybody in here to be like, oh, I didn't realize that I couldn't fight the battle without the word of God. But then here's the thing that amazes me and it probably applies to a lot of you in here. I saw a statistic when I was studying this this week.

This was from LifeWay Research from just a few years ago. So it might be a little bit different than this, but 30% of Christians read the Bible regularly. Now the reason why I wanted to mention that, and I'm not real big on statistics all the time, but the reason why I wanted to mention that is this, is that if you and I, we all agree that the word of God is essential to us winning the war, then why on earth is only 30% of us actually picking up the sword and going out into the battle with it in hand? It's no wonder that we're losing. It's no wonder that our families are losing. It's no wonder that our world is in the mess that it is in.

Listen, I'll just be honest with you. We think, man, it's because of somebody sitting in Washington. No, the reason that we are in the mess that we are in as a society is because there's a lot of Christians who stop picking up the word of God in their life. That's the reason why we're in the mess that we're in. Don't get mad at the news.

Don't get mad at Washington. Pick up your Bible and that will make the changes that need to happen in your life. You see, he's saying that for us, we have to pick up and take the sword of the spirit if we are going to overcome the enemy's attacks. You see, our ability to overcome the enemy's attacks, it's directly proportionate to your knowledge of the word of God.

It is every single time. So I want to see just a couple of things about this. Number one, I want you to see the power of the sword of the spirit here. The power of the sword of the spirit. The sword was used for offense and for defense during the battle. In fact, when you look up the word sword in the Greek, there's two specific words that are used here.

The first one is this, ramphaya. That word, it's really the word that you probably are thinking of most of the time when we see the word sword. It's a long sword.

It's an arrow. It's a long sword. It's an image of this long sword that we think of.

And it's this broad, double-edged sword. This is what the word that we hear when we think of sword, we naturally think of. It's the one that's attached that's really long or whatever. But here is actually a different word that he uses here in verse number 17. He uses the word, it's in the Greek, makhariha. And this word actually refers to something smaller. Almost in the size of a knife. It was more specific to the one that was wore around the belt and it would be used in battle, normally around 18 inches long, and it would be used in battle for hand-to-hand combat.

In other words, to stab the enemy that is in front of you. That is the word that is mentioned here in verse number 17. That's the picture that we have here in verse number 17. He's using this word, makhariha. It's the same word that is used in Matthew chapter 26.

You all know this story because it's fascinating. When they came to arrest Jesus, remember, and Peter, he grabbed his makhariha, that sword, he grabbed it, this small sword, and he cut off the ear of the soldier. It's the same word in Acts chapter 12 that Herod used when he martyred James. And so when we think about this, I want you to think that that's what he is talking about is that this sword is used to defeat or to destroy or to hurt the enemy. He mentions two things about the sword. First, he mentions it is of the spirit. Our sword in our spiritual battle is speaking, when it says of the spirit, it speaks to the sword's origin. It speaks to the sword's origin when he says the sword of the spirit.

I don't want you to miss, I know the sword is fascinating and we're going to look at it here in a moment a little bit more in detail, but when you think of the sword, don't miss the phrase of the spirit because this is directly tied to the origin of where your sword is from. When the word of God, it is important to understand the origin of the word of God. 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, we all know this, it says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. When it says that all scripture, the word of God is given by inspiration of God, here's what that means is that the word of God is literally God breathed. It is God's breath put onto this. That's why we find in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21, it says for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I want you to know that the origin of the sword and where it comes from, it is from the Holy Spirit. It is God breathed. The third person of the trinity breathed out the word of God. That's why we can say that the word of God is inspired, it is inerrant, and it is infallible.

It is without error. In fact, the book of James, he calls it this, the perfect law of liberty, and he says this, James kind of doubles down on his point there in James chapter 1 about the importance of the word of God, and he actually calls it the engrafted word. Now, the book of James, if you understand, is all about a Christian living out their faith, and so what he says in James chapter 1 is that an authentic Christian, someone who really knows God, should have the word of God engrafted into them. The word engrafted actually means rooted or built up, so when he says that Christians should have the word of God rooted in them, we should know the word of God, and it should be planted so deep into our soul that when the enemy tries to throw a dart at us, the only defense that we have is the word of God.

You see, that's the point. It comes from the Holy Spirit, but it is engrafted in you as a Christian. It's engrafted or it should be engrafted into all of us so that we can ward off the enemy, but then he goes on when he talks about the sword, he says of the spirit, but I want you to see this word, the word sword, for just a couple of minutes. He says in Hebrews chapter 4, the writer says this, for the word of God, he mentions all the this good stuff, he says, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and it is a lot, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Here's what Paul is saying, and I know that's a lot, and some of you are looking at me like you're tired and you're ready to get into bed, okay, I get it, and nap time's coming for you, and lunchtime's coming as well, all right, but I want you to see this, when we see the sword of the spirit, I want you to first see the origin of the spirit, it is God-breathed.

It is God-breathed, which is mind-blowing to me that he gives us the word of God straight from the Holy Spirit's mouth, but I want you to know it is a sword, it is quick and powerful. Here's what that literally means, it means that the word of God is living and active, it is living and active in front of us, it is living and active. Notice this, it's not if the preacher is really good that makes it living and active. The way that I communicate the word of God has nothing to do with whether the word of God is active and living in your life. It has nothing to do with the communicator or the preacher, it has everything to do with the fact that this is a God-breathed book, and because it is God-breathed, it is living and active, it is living and active. The only reason why you might feel today that it's not living and active, the only person to blame for that is the receiver of it, is the receiver of it.

If you come into the word of God and you open the word of God and you feel, man, I'm not getting anything out of it, listen, that is on you, that's not on the preacher, it's not on if the word of God is living and active. No, it is, it is living and active. If you want it to be living and active in your life, it can be, it can be, it's breathing life. But he says not only is it living and active, but he says it's sharper than any of the two-edged swords.

Like, what does that mean? What he's saying there in Hebrews is the writer is saying that this sword, the word of God, it reaches us with such a deep precision and sharpness to us, so much to the point that it can discern the thoughts and intents and motives of someone's heart. Of someone's heart. In other words, the scripture can cut straight between the soul and the spirit.

It can cut straight between. It can discern between the two. You see, the word has the power to reveal how truly sinful and broken we are, and it has the power to reveal how good God is. You see, the word, it contains all the power to change a person's life. It contains all the power to change your life. If you walked in here today and you say, Pastor Josh, I don't know Jesus as my Savior. Listen, I want the word of God to be breathed out into your life and to be living and active in your life.

And when you trust and believe the living active word and what God has said and breathed out to you about your life and about him coming to rescue you, then salvation can occur. You see, that's the sword of the spirit. So you say, how do we apply this?

The second thing I want you to see is the application of it. How do we apply the sword of the spirit? We know a lot of this that is God-breathed, that is inerrant. We know all the doctrinal terminology about the word of God.

How do we apply what it's saying? Well, here in verse 17, when he says the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, there are four specific Greek words that translate the word word. The two most primary ones that we know are mentioned, number one, you know this, is logos.

We know that, and we talk about that. That's what you find in John chapter one when he says, in the beginning was the word logos. This word refers to something said. It also refers to the thought behind the word. The word is often used to speak about the entirety of the word of God. Well, here in verse number 17, when he says, which is the word of God, he's not using the word logos. That word word is the word rhema.

It's the word rhema. This word is actually different and actually gives us the way that we apply the sword of the spirit right here in verse number 17. When you look at the Greek meaning, it means this, that it is an utterance. In other words, what he's saying is that the word rhema, the word of God, it is a saying or it is an utterance of what God has said. It's not speaking to the totality of the word of God. It's speaking specifically to some of the smaller sections of the word of God throughout scripture. So, when he says here in verse number 17, which is the word of God, he's not referring to just the whole Bible in a nutshell.

He's referring to shorter sections of the Bible to us, how we can apply these different things. The best illustration that I can give you about what he's trying to mean here is in Matthew chapter four. In Matthew chapter four, you're welcome to turn there if you want. Matthew chapter four, we find the familiar passage where Jesus is being tempted in the wilderness.

You guys know that story. Remember Jesus, he's called away to the wilderness. The enemy comes and he tempts them. The son of God is there in the wilderness and the enemy comes approaches him and tempts him just like you and just like me. And he says this in verse number three of Matthew chapter four. He says, when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. That these stones be made bread. Now, Jesus is being tempted just like you, just like me.

He's being tempted in the same way, different possibly, but in the same way that you and I get tempted each and every day. And here, here's how Jesus responds. He says in Matthew four, verse four, he says, but he answered, said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word, rhema, that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Here's the interesting thing. When Jesus got tempted there by the devil, the first thing he did was he used the word of God as his, as his response. This is a direct response to Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse number three in Deuteronomy eight, three, that's what he quotes here. So when, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, the word of God is his response.

Then the enemy continues. Verse number five of Matthew chapter four. He says this, then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and seteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And then in verse number six, he says this and sayeth unto him, if thou be the son of God, cast thyself down for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands, they shall bear the, the up. So they're on this, this mountain top, the enemy takes him and he says, cast yourself down.

And I'm sure angels will get you. And Jesus could have, we know that he could have done that, but you know what he did? He responded with Deuteronomy six, verse 16, when he says thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy, thy God. Well then in verse number eight of Matthew chapter four, the enemy's continuing and he says, the devil taketh him up into a exceeding high mountain, showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and sayeth unto him, all these things, why give thee if thou will fall down and worship me? Jesus in verse number 10 said this, then sayeth Jesus unto him, get thee hence Satan for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

That's a direct quote from Deuteronomy six, verse 13, when he says thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. Here's the point, here's the point is that when Jesus was tempted and like you and me, we're all tempted to respond the way that we should, and we're all tempted with pride. We're all tempted to gossip. We're all tempted to slander.

We're all tempted to do different things, right? When the enemy throws a temptation at you in your life, we can learn because Jesus, he actually was so familiar. Now, yes, I get he was the word, so he was familiar with it, but he was so familiar with the word that he was able to select the proper rhema, the portion of scripture, that small utterance of scripture to speak directly into the temptation that he was facing. You see, we as Christians must be so familiar with the word of God that we can apply the word to the temptations that we're facing.

That's the point. That's what it means to take up the sword of the spirit. It means to be in the book and to know the book and to apply the book and to learn the book and to meditate upon the book and to know it so intently that when you get tempted, your first response is what the word of God says.

You see, that's exactly what Jesus was teaching us when he got tempted. That's the best response to any enemy attack, right? You get tempted. You're with some friends and somebody mentions somebody that's not there and they want you to feel differently about that person and they're making fun of that person.

They're gossiping. What's your first response? Do you chime in? That's a temptation.

Or do you say, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth? That's the point of the sword of the spirit. That is taking up the sword of the spirit is that when temptation comes your way, you can take a portion and utterance the rhema, the portion of scripture that applies to the temptation that you're experiencing. You can take it and you can speak it directly into the temptation that you're facing. Maybe you're tempted sexually. Maybe to sleep with somebody and you're not married to them, right? What do you do?

You take what the word of God says, flee fornication, abstain from it, and you take what he says in scripture and you apply it to the specific thing that you are facing. Maybe it's pride. Maybe you do something and everybody's like, wow, look at you. You're so good.

What do you do? You speak the word of God into that and you said, hey, pride goeth before a fall. We should not think more highly than we ought to to think. You see, all I'm saying is that's what he means by taking the sword of the spirit. He means taking the utterance, the word of God, and knowing it so intently that when you get tempted, you can speak the rhema, the word of God directly into what you are facing. And here's what's amazing about the whole thing to me.

Matthew 4-11, when Jesus spoke the word of God, you know what happens in verse number 11? The devil fleet. That's what I want. Listen, I don't want the enemy to be on me all the time. The best way for the devil to get out of you or to get away from you, the best way to get him out of your circle is by speaking the word of God directly to him.

That is going on the offense. That is taking the sword and picking it up and going on the offense and cutting him so much to the point that he runs the other way and he flees from you. But remember this, your ability to overcome the enemy's attacks is directly proportionate to your knowledge of the word of God.

Let me just say this very directly. Don't be surprised if the enemy is beating you up and defeating you and your family when you value everything that this world has to offer and not the word of God. You know, when I was a youth pastor, I was a youth pastor for many different years. In fact, those youth activities prepared me for the senior adult activity that I was on this week. And here's the thing, over the years, and they all mean well, but you know how many people, like parents, sat in my office over the years and they're just like, where did we go wrong? We lost my kid and he, you know, has gone off and he ran away from everything that they tried to teach him and different things. And they always come back to the church leader like it's our fault that their kid is the way that they are. Like if the youth leader or the youth pastor or the associate, whatever, could step in, it would have been way different for them. Here's the thing, is that when we value everything that the world has to offer above the word of God, don't be surprised when you get defeated in battle. Don't be surprised that your kids grow up and don't care about church. Don't be surprised when your kids grow up and they don't really want to be around spiritual stuff. It starts now, parents, it starts now when they're young, teaching them the word of God, surrounding them around the word of God, and putting it in their life and instilling it in their life. That is instilling the sword and giving them the sword so that when they go out and they're faced with all the many attacks that the enemy's going to throw at them, that they are ready and prepared to defeat the enemy because of their knowledge of the word of God. Some of us were so surprised that we're getting defeated and that the enemy's beating us and that the enemy's coming at us.

And we're like, why? You know, it's because probably we're not valuing the word of God the way that we should. So you say real quick, I want to give you a couple practical things. The first thing is, I'll just tell you this, you need to be in the word every single day.

This is the main thing. We call them devotions or you might have called it quiet time. However, you've kind of termed this thing, but every single day you need to be in the word of God. And by the way, don't be surprised if you get beat in the battle and you fall into temptation if you're not daily picking up the word of God.

It's like you're showing up every single day without your sword, without your weapon. It's so important, it's so vital to you. Pick it up every single day. Find a Bible reading plan.

There's tons of them out there. Find something. Start. Do something.

Maybe you should, with your kids, sit around and read is sit around and read something in the morning at breakfast or in the evening. It's surrounding yourself with the word of God. What that means, that's taking up the sword of the spirit and applying it.

Your quiet time is so important. You got to be in the word every single day. I'll say this, church is not enough for you.

It's not. If you think that coming here on Sunday is going to help you defeat your enemies all week, it might help you a little bit, but I'll tell you this, it is not enough for you to defeat the enemy. We cannot throw enough church services that can help you every single day to defeat the enemy.

It's got to take church people and churchgoers and Christians and followers of Jesus. You've got to realize every single day it is up to you and to pick up the word of God, your sword, and start there. That's the best thing.

Don't come to me and say, man, we're getting defeated by the enemy. We must need 10 more church services every single week. No, what you need is to pick up the word of God every single day.

That's what you need. It's not the church's fault that you're getting defeated in the enemy or by the enemy. Quiet time. Another thing is this church.

Listen, I get it. We are all busy, right? We're all busy and we go out of town and different things and we're all busy, but if church is optional for us, then don't be surprised when the enemy gets a foothold in your life. If church becomes optional for your family, don't be surprised when the enemy gets a foothold in your life. You say, are you just trying to build the biggest church?

No, that has nothing to do with it. All I know is that it is an opportunity where we can get around the word of God together, and it is an opportunity for us to pick up the sword so that when we leave here today, we can have the sword in us and apply the rhema of God, the word of God, and apply it to the circumstances that we have. Church is an opportunity for you to hear the word of God and apply it.

Here's another thing. Bible fellowship. Now, I'm not saying you got to do every single thing on my list that I'm mentioning today, but what I'll tell you is this. These are opportunities for you and your family to get involved so that you can grow together and take up the word of God.

Don't be surprised. Don't complain if you're getting defeated in the battle, if you're not attending anything that the local church offers to help you, and if you're not picking up the word of God every single day. We got Bible studies starting this week. This is just another opportunity for you maybe to step out of the corporate auditorium in here and step into another opportunity for you to grow in your relationship with God. It is opportunities like this that are helpful things that we put in front of you to help you so that you can know the word of God, because if you remember, our ability to overcome the enemy's attacks is directly proportionate to how well we know the word of God.

It's directly proportionate. We cannot win the battle without the sword. We cannot beat the enemy without the sword. You cannot protect your family from the enemy without the sword.

You got to pick it up. You got to pick it up every single day, and you got to look for opportunities to surround your family with it so that when the enemy strikes and the enemy throws a dart, we know what the word of God says, and we can speak the word back to the enemy so that he will flee from us. That is the sword of the Spirit. I ask you, are you taking up the sword of the Spirit? A good way to tell is when was the last time you picked up your Bible that wasn't on a Sunday? That's a really good indicator of if you're picking it up or not. That's where it starts. That's where it starts.

Pick it up every single day and take it, and that is what will help you defeat the enemy. Can we pray together? Heads bowed, hearts lifted in prayer here today.

Nobody's looking around. This is what we call a response time. It's a time where we can respond to the word that was preached to us. You say, Pastor, today, God spoke to me, and today I've not been. And listen, nobody's judging you. This is an opportunity just between you and God today.

Nobody's looking around. In fact, I want you to respond. This is just us. And before God, you say, Pastor, God spoke to me today. I'm not picking up the sword, the word, the way that I should.

God convicted me about that today. You say, that's me. Would you slip up your hand? Anybody anywhere? Yes, I see that.

Hands going up everywhere. Hey, listen, I'm with you. We all need it. We need it. Well, listen, in a moment, the keyboard's going to play.

We're going to stand. If you raised your hand and said, Pastor, that's me. I need to do that. Why don't you come forward and pray and ask God to help you? Ask God to help you.

Ask God to discipline you. Ask God to give you the courage so that you can learn more of the word of God so that you can apply it when the enemy attacks. Would you please stand, heads bowed, hearts lifted in prayer. Let me pray for you as our instrument plays. Father, God, you're good to us. Give us the courage to respond to the word that was proclaimed here today, for it's in your name we pray. As the instrument plays, if God speaks to you, you can come.

There's nothing magical about coming down front here today. You can deal with whatever in your heart, right there at your seat. But listen, I want to pray for you that you can take up the word of God, pick it up, the sword of the Spirit, so that you can go out and fight the enemy. Maybe you're here today and you've come and you're like, man, I've never trusted in Christ as my Savior. I've never never trusted in Him. I've been trusting in my good works. I've been trusting in my different things and I've never trusted and you need to come.

Listen, this would be your opportunity as well. We got Pastor David down front. We would love to show you how you can leave here and know without a shadow of a doubt that you know Jesus as your Savior. Listen, you're going to continuously be defeated by the enemy if you don't know Him and know God. You got to know God. That's the first step in us fighting the battle.