Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign church. We are thrilled you decided to listen to our teaching on your favorite podcast app. If you made a decision to follow Christ today, would you let us know by visiting? Yes.newlife gillette.com Here is this week's teaching.
[00:00:27] Good morning.
[00:00:29] That was good, wasn't it?
[00:00:31] That was really good. Let me say welcome to those of you who are watching online, to the guys over at the prison, to our friends at the jail, and those of you who are here in the room.
[00:00:40] How many of you grew up going to Sunday school?
[00:00:44] Okay, maybe half. Half of us grew up going to Sunday school.
[00:00:48] Sunday school used to be what they did, like right before church or right after church, and you'd go and you'd learn a lesson or about God. And they had adult Sunday school classes and kids Sunday school classes. I grew up going to Sunday school classes, and I feel like there was one lesson in Sunday school that we learned like every other week. It was just like half of the time in Sunday school, we were learning this one lesson, and it was the armor of God. Everybody else grew up learning about the armor of God in Sunday school.
[00:01:21] Yeah. Maybe you did it on one of those felt boards with, like, the Roman soldier, and then you'd have to put his armor on him. As you're talking about the different pieces of the armor of God. Or maybe they had an overhead transparency.
[00:01:32] They'd, like, cover it in and with a dry erase marker while you do it. Or maybe if you had a really fancy church, like, new life, you had one of these that you used to teach the kids about the armor of God.
[00:01:45] Do you have one of these?
[00:01:47] Make me look really tough.
[00:01:51] There's a whole armor in here. There's everything. But I don't know. I think.
[00:01:56] I think this is why I'm such a brave adult.
[00:02:00] Because when I was a kid, this is what I grew up with. Right.
[00:02:05] This is the kind of confidence that going to church gives us.
[00:02:08] This is the type of men that going to your. No, I think that if you did grow up going to Sunday school, then learning about the armor of God has probably served you well in one way or another. And if you did not grow up going to Sunday school, then I think you're in for a treat. I think it's a valuable lesson, not just for little kids, but for all of us to learn how to go through life, living life the way God intended it to be lived. So we're gonna read the passage that all of this comes out of. It's in Ephesians, chapter six.
[00:02:44] It goes like this.
[00:02:47] A final word. So this is Paul concluding the book of Ephesians. This is kind of like his summary. He's just kind of told the church in Ephesus. Here's a bunch of things that I'm calling you to. And to summarize it all, here we go.
[00:03:01] A final word. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
[00:03:08] Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.
[00:03:17] For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
[00:03:36] Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.
[00:03:47] Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm if you've got the armor of God. If you're wearing the armor of God as you fight against the evil spirits, you will still be standing firm.
[00:03:58] You will be standing firm.
[00:04:00] Stand your ground.
[00:04:02] And here he's going to list the pieces of the body armor. Stand your ground. Putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness for shoes. Put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared.
[00:04:20] In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
[00:04:29] Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
[00:04:37] Then he adds this on. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.
[00:04:43] Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers. Pray for all believers everywhere.
[00:04:51] My son Lincoln is a pretty brave kid, um, just in general. He'll ride any roller coaster. He'll try any food. He'll he, he likes even the food that most kids will think is gross. He, he'll. He catches all kinds of animals in our backyard. He started for years when he was really little, started catching snakes and would learn all about snakes and he'd read about the snakes and he'd go out and find that snake that he read about and all this stuff. Like he's always been really brave kid. This is why Darcy and I generally have a little more confidence in allowing him to do things like herp for snakes in the backyard. Because we kind of believe that he knows what he's doing and his bravery is going to take him in the right direction but not too far.
[00:05:36] So we've kind of given, we have some excitement and see what God, what Lincoln is going to do. And what God is going to do through Lincoln with this bravery? The other day, some friends of ours were over at our house, and they had their dog with them.
[00:05:50] And this dog got loose while they're over at our house. And so this dog is loose somewhere in a strange place. It doesn't know how to get home. And so we realized we got to jump in and help our friends find their dog. And so Darcy jumped in the car and started driving around the neighborhood. And I ran down the street to a field that I thought maybe the dog might go to. And our friends are running around the neighborhood. Well, none of us realized we've just left Lincoln and Titus alone at home, right?
[00:06:21] So after looking for a little while, I go back home and I realize the front door is locked to our house. And so I go around to the side of the house and I try the side door. The side door is locked to our house. We don't. I shouldn't say this publicly. We always lock our house all the time, guys.
[00:06:41] And so I was a little bit confused, so I knocked on the door and nobody answered the door. So. So then I typed in the code to unlock the door, and I come in and Titus is bawling, crying. He's our six year old. He's just crying uncontrollably. And Lincoln, who's not exactly a nurturer, is, like, comforting Titus. And I'm like, what has happened? And then it dawns on me. It doesn't dawn on me. Titus says, you left us.
[00:07:10] They were terrified. They thought that they lost the dog and their parents, I guess. I don't know.
[00:07:15] There's no hope. They're gone forever.
[00:07:18] And Lincoln says, dad, don't worry. I took care of it. Lincoln, you could tell, was he's not crying. But, you know, he had that shaken look on his face, and he says, dad, don't worry. I took care of it. I locked every door and every window in the house. And I know right where your gun is.
[00:07:37] Oh, I didn't know you knew where that was.
[00:07:45] Please don't call DFS on us. We.
[00:07:50] The gun is in a safe.
[00:07:53] I need to get a little more safe. But Lincoln, Lincoln, he's brave, he's tough. Like, he knows that I'm the older son and I've got to learn and I've got to protect.
[00:08:05] And I think that when we read the story of the Armor of God, one of the lessons that we take away with it is the necessity of being both. I think not one or the other is of being both. Brave and prepared.
[00:08:20] Being brave doesn't mean being stupid and careless, right?
[00:08:25] When you think about a soldier going into battle, what do you picture in your mind?
[00:08:30] Do you picture some dude in jeans and a ripped up T shirt with a can of beer?
[00:08:36] Is that how you picture a guy going into battle? No, you picture a guy in, in camo with all of his gear. In addition to all this gear and the plan that they have when they're going into battle, they've also got all this training, right? He's brave, but he's also prepared.
[00:08:53] Paul told us that all Christians are in a battle, whether you know it or not. It's going on behind the scenes. Sometimes it looks like we're fighting against flesh and blood. Sometimes it looks like it's a relational issue or a physical problem. But what Scripture teaches us is actually there's this evil going on behind the scenes that is constantly trying to pull us down. That is fighting against you every day of your life.
[00:09:20] And if you're not aware of it, you won't be prepared to fight against it.
[00:09:26] So the question is, are you prepared?
[00:09:30] Do you feel equipped to fight the Satan?
[00:09:35] Are you brave enough to fight him and are you prepared enough to fight him?
[00:09:42] Are you brave and prepared?
[00:09:47] Has somebody ever picked a fight with you in your life?
[00:09:51] Were you prepared for that fight?
[00:09:53] Has Satan ever picked a fight with you in your life?
[00:09:59] I'm going to guess that he has. I'm going to guess you were aware of it. But even if it hasn't happened and you were not aware of it in your past, just be prepared. If you call yourself a Christian, it's coming.
[00:10:12] In the past year, I have experienced more attacks of the Satan than I've ever experienced before. But it has not happened in the way that I would have expected it to happen.
[00:10:23] I felt like he was attacking, but I also felt like I was more equipped to fight.
[00:10:31] I felt like he was attacking, but I also felt prepared to fight the way God wanted me to fight. That doesn't mean it was easy.
[00:10:38] That doesn't mean I enjoyed fighting against him, but I felt prepared.
[00:10:45] Remember?
[00:10:46] Let's talk about this passage. Paul says this.
[00:10:49] Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.
[00:10:56] Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm.
[00:11:03] Usually the Satan attacks when we are most effectively doing the things that God wants us to do.
[00:11:10] When you are raising your family well, when you are pursuing God, when you're adopting good habits in your life, when you are Making an impact at work and at school when you are influencing your community for God.
[00:11:27] Satan feels threatened and he will begin to attack.
[00:11:31] And what this verse tells us is that God has given us every weapon that we need in order to defeat the Satan. We will win. If you will put on the armor of God, you will win because the Satan's already been defeated.
[00:11:51] As a side note, I haven't said this in a while. If you wonder why I say the Satan rather than Satan is because in scripture there tends to be this like, dignity of the naming process. And when somebody gets a name, it gives them the dignity that that name deserves. And I think that we should not give the Satan the dignity of having a name. Scripture does not do this. This is just something in our modern parlance that we have done in our, our way of doing language. We have given him the name Satan, but the Satan was never meant to be his name. It's a description. He is the deceiver. That's what the Satan means. He is the liar.
[00:12:26] That's who he is.
[00:12:29] So how do we do this? How do we prepare for battle?
[00:12:34] Paul says, stand your ground. How? Putting on the belt of truth. Why does Paul start with truth? Why is this the first piece of armor he says that you should put on? I don't know what order you would normally put armor on, but he starts with the belt of truth.
[00:12:51] Because the Satan's primary weapon is lies.
[00:12:58] I usually recognize that Satan is attacking in my life when I begin to hear things about myself that I know are not true, when rumors are flying or when fights are happening and it just seems like people don't understand each other.
[00:13:14] When people are attacking me, I recognize there are some lies going around that people are believing the lies of the Satan that they should not believe. And it even happens to Christians, even us Christians, even within the church. We can start to complain and whine and fight. You know what? Jesus constantly prayed for the church.
[00:13:33] When Jesus prayed for the church, he constantly prayed this prayer. He said, I pray that you will be unified.
[00:13:41] That's what he wanted for us, unity.
[00:13:44] Not to believe the lies and the gossip of the Satan, but that we would be unified.
[00:13:52] And to that Paul says, stand your ground. Stand with truth.
[00:13:58] Because Satan's going to throw all kinds of lies at you.
[00:14:02] What will the Satan tell you?
[00:14:03] What kind of lies does the Satan have?
[00:14:08] The Satan will tell you you're not good enough.
[00:14:11] You don't deserve to have a relationship with God.
[00:14:14] You're too far gone. You're too bad, you're not strong enough. You don't have the weapons, you don't have the tools. He'll start to tear you down.
[00:14:23] To that God says this actually we are God's masterpiece.
[00:14:28] He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
[00:14:35] The Satan will lie to you and he will tell you that you're all alone.
[00:14:38] He'll make you feel lonely.
[00:14:41] But God says, I will never abandon you. Guys, we're going to go through these slides quick.
[00:14:47] The Satan will tell you that you will never change. You're stuck the way you are. Just accept it. Just be proud of who you are and don't try to change.
[00:14:58] But God says actually anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and a new life has begun.
[00:15:11] The Satan will tell you your sins, disqualify you from being a Christian. But God says there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. The Satan will tell you that you're too weak, that you're not strong enough. But God says, actually my grace is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.
[00:15:31] The Satan wants to get your attention off of the mission that God has created you for by making you insecure, by making you power. But God's grace gives us the solid foundation of truth that we can fight on, that we can follow on, that we can fight together. On next, Paul says that we should put on the body armor of God's righteousness.
[00:15:53] Righteousness has.
[00:15:56] We use this word wrong.
[00:15:58] We use the word differently than the way scripture uses this word. Righteousness isn't about trying to earn God's approval. If I'm good enough, I can earn my way into heaven. That is not what righteousness is.
[00:16:09] Righteousness is not about perfection.
[00:16:12] Righteousness is about protection.
[00:16:15] When you live with integrity, it guards your heart from shame. When you live with integrity, when you live the way that God told us to live, it guards your heart from accusations and from self destruction and from the pain that our sin causes off in our lives. Proverbs tells us to guard our heart. And we do that by living the way. This is why it's a chest plate of righteousness. We gotta guard our heart. Private Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts. And we do this by living the way God teaches us to live.
[00:16:52] And that might have a bad name, doing things God's way.
[00:16:57] His way may not always be the popular way, but it's the good way.
[00:17:03] It's the good life.
[00:17:06] If you follow his truth, if you Follow his instructions, it will lead you to the good life.
[00:17:13] The problem is sometimes it doesn't feel like the good life.
[00:17:17] Especially when our world has gotten so good at making their way of living look so attractive, so appealing. Our Instagram world has done a really good job of making, of faking people out.
[00:17:31] We all can just show the best of our lives to the rest of the world and make everybody feel like our life is perfect.
[00:17:37] Well, if that was true, then you would just look at a person's wages to determine their happiness or their attractiveness to determine their happiness.
[00:17:46] Our world's standards are different than God's standards.
[00:17:50] The truth is, as we live the way God tells us to live our lives, victories are often difficult to recognize.
[00:17:58] I can go through life doing the hard work of doing the things that God called me to do and never recognize immediately the good that following his instructions is producing in my life.
[00:18:10] So what do you have to do? You got to look for them.
[00:18:13] You got to, you got to look at something. Look for something that might not be obvious in your life.
[00:18:20] Ask yourself how God might be using the battle that you are in for good.
[00:18:26] Sometimes it feels like losing.
[00:18:29] But when we have an eternal perspective, we begin to see things differently. You know, you have an eternal life.
[00:18:37] This day is so short.
[00:18:39] Your life is so short.
[00:18:42] God's timeline is very long.
[00:18:46] He's not just trying to get you through today, he's doing that, but he, he has a much longer timeline. He's got a much bigger plan.
[00:18:53] And when we recognize that he's got a long term plan, then in the short term, I can be faithful.
[00:19:00] Maybe you've been fighting to save a marriage. Maybe that's the battle you're in.
[00:19:06] Maybe you've been fighting to get out of debt.
[00:19:10] Maybe you've been fighting cancer.
[00:19:14] Maybe you've been fighting a relational battle with your kids.
[00:19:21] Maybe you're potty training. That's a battle.
[00:19:26] When you're in the middle of fights, sometimes it just feels like it's a no win situation. We live in a hard, difficult, fallen world. The reality is these fights are coming, pain is coming. But if you will put on the armor of God, he will bless your efforts and he will fight with you to win the long game.
[00:19:46] I gotta move quicker, he says for shoes. Put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. Peace of the good news.
[00:19:57] Paul is saying that peace comes from knowing that God has already won the war. That seems so daunting to you.
[00:20:05] That's what the good News is God has accomplished everything necessary for you to be saved of your sins.
[00:20:10] Jesus defeated death, so we do not fear death. Death. I've got this bed of rocks between my yard and my faucet. And I always go out to work in my lawn barefoot.
[00:20:21] So getting to the faucet is so hard because I gotta get across these jagged rocks. What do I need?
[00:20:27] Shoes or some stepping stones or something that help too. But shoes help us to walk confidently through life.
[00:20:36] This is what he's saying.
[00:20:38] The peace that comes from the good news will do for us. It will allow us to walk confidently because I know that God is already victorious and that God is with me.
[00:20:48] He says, in addition to all these things, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Shield.
[00:20:56] I'm a big Captain America fan.
[00:20:59] Captain America is a unique character. He carries a shield.
[00:21:03] Kind of lame for a superhero. You'd think, right? Have you ever seen him throw that thing?
[00:21:08] It's awesome.
[00:21:11] Captain America shield and all. Shields. The goal of them is to keep the attacks from taking us out.
[00:21:18] I can absorb the attack.
[00:21:20] The attack is coming. I know that I can absorb it and I can keep moving forward. Faith is what allows us to keep moving forward. When the enemy attacks us, it doesn't give up because it trusts that God is in control. Faith allows me to withstand the enemy's attacks because I trust that God will win the war.
[00:21:40] He says, put on the. Put on salvation.
[00:21:44] Your helmet.
[00:21:47] The hardest battle that you will ever fight in your life is the war in your mind.
[00:21:57] But what does salvation tell us?
[00:22:01] Salvation is this truth that you will never save yourself, that we need a savior. If we will set our eyes on things above, not on ourselves, if we will set our eyes on things above, then he will accomplish what we will not. If you're going to win the war in your mind, it's going to be God who is victorious in your mind, not you who is victorious in your mind. If you will put your attention on him, then he will begin this miraculous process of sanctifying your mind. He will remove, renew your mind. But you've got to focus on. On him. Let him do in your mind what you cannot, he says, and take the sword. This is the exciting part, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
[00:22:50] And you picture Jesus fighting the devil out in the wilderness with scripture.
[00:22:58] This one would take more time than I have time for today to fully dive into.
[00:23:03] But in August, we are doing a class called what is the Bible? And they're going to dive into this question. So I encourage you to take the what is the Bible class. It's going to be awesome.
[00:23:12] But for those of you who do have done a little bit of a Bible study, let me tell you a little bit of the Greek that's going on behind the scenes here.
[00:23:20] The word for word. The Greek word for word in this passage is not logos, which is a lot of times, like when you read John, you read the word logos for word all over the place. The word for word here is rhema.
[00:23:33] And for. For us, this is talking about the revelation of God. It's the revelation that God gives directly to you. And most of the revelation that God has given directly to you is right in scripture.
[00:23:45] It is God's words to you. It's the weapons that he gives you in order to fight the battles that he's called you to fight. The Bible is our weapon. Use it, read it, study it, memorize it.
[00:23:58] Don't let it be something that collects dust.
[00:24:03] And then Paul adds this. This isn't a part of the armor, but he adds this.
[00:24:07] Pray in the spirit at all times.
[00:24:11] And on every occasion, he's saying, read the Bible, study the Bible and pray in the spirit.
[00:24:18] When you pray, you are inviting power greater than you into a war that you could never win on your own.
[00:24:26] I'm a twin.
[00:24:28] My twin brother is much larger than me, but when we were kids, he was even more larger than me. Like, at one point when we were kids, my twin brother was a foot taller than I am and like £500, not really, but bigger than I am. Like, he's much larger than I am. I'm the runt of the family. This is the reality of our lives.
[00:24:49] So because I had this big, strong twin brother, I had a big mouth. I don't know why those that goes together, but it does.
[00:24:57] And I remember one time, my brother and I were playing behind our fence, behind our backyard where there was this creek back there. And we were playing in the creek, and some other kids around our age came over and they were playing on the other side of the creek. Well, they recognized that I was smaller than them. And we started talking, and they were being a little bit rude. And I screamed, hey, get off my property.
[00:25:21] Because I was big and tough, you know, and it wasn't our property, by the way, but I said, get off our property. And they said, make me.
[00:25:31] And I said, okay. There's a creek between us. And I thought I was fine. I wasn't fine. They jumped across the creek, and one of the kids grabbed me around the neck. I'm terrified until my twin brother comes out from behind the fence.
[00:25:46] Now they're in trouble because he's bigger than both of them. And he grabs the one that's got me around the neck and he throws him back. And he falls down into this muddy creek and he's just, like, shaking.
[00:25:56] And I'm like, take that. Don't mess with us again.
[00:26:04] Right now, all of a sudden, I've got all this confidence. Why do I have more confidence now?
[00:26:08] Because I'm not alone.
[00:26:10] There's somebody much stronger than I am that is with me.
[00:26:14] And this is the way, as Christians, we can live our lives.
[00:26:19] We can take on this confidence that comes from knowing that God is with us.
[00:26:24] God's got you. Do not be afraid. Do not fear. He is with you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you.
[00:26:33] So if we've got the opportunity for prayer, talk to the one who has all the strength that you will ever need.
[00:26:42] Don't go through life afraid, struggling.
[00:26:46] Go through life confidently, knowing that God is with you.
[00:26:51] Are you in a battle?
[00:26:53] Do you feel like you're all alone?
[00:26:56] Do you feel like you're empty and you've just got nothing left?
[00:27:03] You just lack this confidence and courage that you know that you're going to need to keep going through the next day. You know what John 14 tells us?
[00:27:10] John 14 tells us that if you will give your life to Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit will live in you and he will be with you and he will comfort you and he will guide you.
[00:27:25] But then it goes on. It says, and as a follower of Jesus, you live in Jesus. He says, you are in me. What does it mean for us to be in. It's like we're one.
[00:27:38] Scripture calls us the bride of Christ.
[00:27:40] We have been married. We have been united. We are in him.
[00:27:45] And then Jesus takes it one step further and he says, and I.
[00:27:50] I am in the Father.
[00:27:55] Now, I don't know if this gives you any confidence at all. Can you see yourself in there?
[00:28:00] You're there, but you're not alone.
[00:28:04] You're in there, but you're not undefended.
[00:28:08] This gives me confidence to know that I'm never alone. He's in me. He's around me. He's working through me.
[00:28:16] This should give us confidence, Christians, to know that we are not just out here just trying to make it through because we're some accident of a big bang. You should know that God created you on purpose, for a purpose, and he did not just throw you out there and leave you alone. He wants to walk with you because his plan is to accomplish that purpose.
[00:28:36] Paul tells us that we will win, we will be victorious and this is what the armor of God can do for us.
[00:28:44] So we put our faith in him, we trust in him and we walk through life courageous and prepared because we have a relationship with the creator of the world.
[00:28:55] God I thank you that you have made it possible for us to be adopted into your family to be called your bride.
[00:29:03] God I pray that you would bring our attention to you that if there's anybody here today who has not yet developed a habit of reading scripture or developed a habit of regularly talking to you of praying to you God that you would give them an opportunity, an idea and the courage to do the things that they need to do to be prepared. We love you and thank you. In Jesus name amen.
