Recruiting Soldiers

The subject is often called spiritual warfare, but it really doesn't say it like that. It just talks about the whole armor of God. But it is spiritual warfare.

If you ever lived a Christian life on this earth, you've discovered that it's warfare. The Lord wants to bring home to the new heaven and new earth, He wants to bring home soldiers. Soldiers are going to.

Former soldiers are going to inhabit that place, the new heavens and new earth. Those that have spent their life on this earth as a playground enjoying it, it's not for them. The Lord is perfecting His people and He does it a lot through warfare.

I don't understand why God chose it like that, why He allowed it. I can't explain all those things. That's not what I'm here for.

But we are just wanting to expound on the scriptures today. We're facing, we're in a spiritual battle. And I had to think of in Judges, the book of Judges, they were the children of Israel entering the promised land were supposed to drive out the nation, the warfare.

They did it in a physical way. What we see, they saw people, the evil people, the nations, they were supposed to eliminate them, drive them out in the first covenant, the old covenant. But in Judges chapter two, or is it maybe chapter three? I'm not quite sure.

It says that there were some nations left over that they didn't completely drive out that they might teach their, so they can teach their children warfare. So maybe today can just be some teaching time. Maybe we as parents have that vision, we can teach our children warfare.

You have brought up, you have forgotten children. There's children that you've brought into this world and a world that is filled with warfare. And it's good, it just behooves us as parents that we can teach them, teach them from our own experiences, from our failures, but teach them good warfare.

So that's something in my heart this morning, at least the Lord's heart. So let's come to him in prayer. Thank you, Father, that you are a mighty God, that you're the Lord of hosts, that you're a God of war, really, and that you have overcome the enemy.

When he rose up against you, he was cast to this earth. Rejoice, O you Heaven, but woe unto the earth and the inhabiters thereof. That's us, Lord, but we also confess and profess that you are with us.

You promised to be with us. This is not a message of despair, but it can be of great hope that there is, we're almost at the consummation of all things. The enemy will be gone forever.

We rejoice in that this morning, but until then, that day, help us, Lord, to be faithful, Lord, and help me not to shrink back from the powers of darkness that have even wanted to discourage me this morning and this past week. Lord, I feel the battle in my own soul. So I just put myself under the authority of your word.

Thank you for the protection of your word. In Jesus' name. I don't know why sometimes Satan comes against us like this.

Well, I know he doesn't want to be exposed, and I've been feeling that. Thursday night, Wednesday night, some of us from the North, we met there at Arlen's place, and he just said, as part of your, you'll expect some warfare this week, some resistance because of, he knew what I was wanting to share, and the enemy does not like to be exposed. And I don't know that I, in my feeble way, can do that or want to do that.

I just wanted to share what the scripture is, the word of God, and I know he's out to deceive the four corners of the earth, the world. That's his intent, goal this morning. But I just like, I just like to have this a teaching for my own heart, my family, that they will be able to do good warfare.

We'll read, starting in chapter 6, verse 10. From verse 10 to maybe part of 14, it says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Verse 14, Stand therefore, I'll stop right there. I think that's as far as we'll go today. We probably won't come into the actual, the tools or the utensils, the weapons.

I'd just like to maybe more look at the reason for the armor or the nature of the battle this morning. I think the Lord had Caleb prepared this year. I might shift it around a bit.

But when I was thinking of this, I had to think of my sons like to be out sometimes, and I don't really care so much for hunting, but I thought of a scope. I don't want to scare anyone this morning in Christ Jesus, we're protected. But believe it or not, that is a person there.

But the devil, the devil has his scope. I believe he has his sights set on everybody, every person, every believer is right on the heart. I know people go deer hunting, they want, they don't just want to nick that deer, they want a heart shot.

You know, they get the heart, I got him, he's out. And I just like to, I just like to impress on every heart that is here this morning, myself, my family, each one of you, the devil has his scope in every one of your hearts and he'd like to take you out. That's not from me, that's Word of God.

He wants to take us out. And he's intent on doing that. But in Christ Jesus, rest assured you're protected.

There's protection there. But we have, I don't know why, you know, if we've been saved by grace, we're in, we can just relax. Because we're safe, we're saved.

I don't understand all those, we've been chosen from the beginning of the world, Brother Cleats shared, but there is reality also. We are in enemy territory and there's, it sounds like there's a possibility of being taken out if we're not watchful. So we're in a warfare.

My prayer would be that we could see the battle. Since we're in the new covenant, we don't fight physically, outwardly, but there are spiritualities, the picture of the angel here, where there's spiritual battles that are surrounding us. There are spirits that are influencing people.

Therefore, he says, we should take the whole armor of God. It's not just part of it, it's the whole thing. It's God's will.

It's not our armor, it's God's armor. It's something that if you go to join an army in the physical way, they have their fatigue that you wear, it's from them, it's their, it's a mark of their ownership. It's not yours, it's theirs, it's from that particular military.

So this is God's armor. We often, you know, the Lord is lifted up, even in Old Testament, being a God of mercy. I looked at the references, there's quite a few references, but there's actually a whole lot more references about the Lord being the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the army, the Lord of, God is a God of war, really.

And it all happened when the devil usurped the authority of God. He says, I will be like him. I will be like God.

I, I, I was building up. He was cast to the earth. And ever since there, there's been warfare.

And the Lord of hosts is intent to redeem people and have that, this fallen world will be redeemed. And Satan's desire is not to have it happen. His goal is not to have it happen.

And just do as much destruction as he can and take as many people with him as he can. And he is doing a lot. But I would say this, the Lord has conquered already.

He will conquer. We're, we're almost, I believe, big and close, getting close to the day of all the consummation of all things, when the devil will forever be put away. So it's not simply just an armor, but it's the whole armor.

It's not just a, hey, maybe something we should think about sometime. It's, this is very crucial that we put all the whole armor of God. It's God's will.

It's his will that it becomes our will, because we have an enemy. It'd be foolish to, to, to take on armor, there'd be no enemy, but we have an enemy about us. Peter talked about the enemy as a roaring lion.

I won't probably focus so much about that today, but more maybe on the deception. But Ephesians, Ephesians also, we've been, Ephesians 2, I'll just turn there. It says that, why do we have an enemy or why, why do we have to do all this warfare? It says here in chapter 2 verse, where am I at here? Talks about verse 2 and 3, that in time past, we walked according to the course, there it is, the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.

Every disobedient person that is not walking in the light of the gospel is actually a child of the devil, is actually one of his cohorts that is in tune with him. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation. Talking to the called out ones, the believers, had our conversation.

That should be for us as professing Christians, us as Christians, that is actually a thing of the past. If we profess Christ and it's not a thing of the past, we're not really one of his warriors. We're actually warring against him.

But a sure sign of someone that has been delivered is that they will be in the battle, they'll be fighting, they'll be resisting evil. It's a battle of good, a battle of good against evil. But the word I like to look at is verse 2 there, where in time past we walked according to the course of this world.

This world has a course, this world has a direction. It's going somewhere. It has a mastermind behind all of this.

He knows what he wants. He has strategies and plans to take us out. He wants to take us out.

So this world is on a course. It's following a path. And 1 John 5, 19 says, we know that this whole world lieth in wickedness.

It has this whole world's identity is wickedness. Someone just lies, if I'm tired, I just, I lie in my recliner. I'm just part of, I'm into rest.

I'm just identifying with rest. But the same way this whole world is identifying, it's just surrounded by, is inundated with wickedness. This whole world lies.

It says, we know that. Do we know that? This whole world lies in wickedness. That's 1 John 5, 19.

The verse just before that says, that we know that we are born of God and everyone that is begotten of him sinneth not. Whosoever is born of him sinneth not. It says that he that is begotten of God keepeth himself.

Keepeth himself. God promised to keep us and to save us, but sounds there like we have a responsibility. Also, we have a choice to be kept.

He that is born of God keepeth himself. From this course, from this lying in wickedness, this identity, this course that this world is after. So, this, the course of the world, there's a mastermind, like I said, behind all of this.

And he has strategies, has ways, he wants to deceive all people to actually be fighting against God. There would be no enemy, be no need for armor. But as we continue here in this passage, maybe even the next time, through the weapons, we'll see that, I think in verse 16, it talks about the fiery darts of the wicked.

There's the fiery darts of the wicked. There's hatred behind these darts. And he's intent to destroy and to be hurtful.

He has vengeance in his heart because he was cast out from heaven and he, what really frustrates him is that people believe and obey. And he has an intense hatred, just as intense as God's love is toward us. I believe just so intense, we have hatred of the enemy against us that wants to, wants to destroy us.

And, but I believe the reason we, we so often aren't even aware of the tactics of the enemy is because the very nature of the enemy is deception. That's how it all started. In the garden, I think it's nothing new to us, how he got Eve.

He, she was deceived. He came in a, had some very nice pocket, almost spiritual, almost on the spiritual that to be like God. Well, that would just be right, to be more like God, to have knowledge of good and evil.

Why not? But it was, his tactic was deception. The very nature of the enemy is deception. Eve, which means life giver, the mother of all living, the channel God desired, planned for her to be, to bring life to the earth, actually became a channel of death because of deception.

And that's still his tactic. He likes to bring in death and destruction by deception. That, that is, is one of his biggest tactics.

In 2 Corinthians 11, it talks about the, I'll just turn there, about the apostles that are transformed into the angels of life. Verse, verse three, it says, but I fear lest by any means to, as the serpent to God ease through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. And in verse 13, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

And no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of life. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers, you know, the devil has ministers. It is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to the works.

Smooth talk, what comes out sounds so good, but down the road, look what comes out of the light. That's always the litmus test. The things that come out of the light, are they actually from the devil or from the Lord? I don't know how many years, this is probably 25 years ago.

A man that preached a lot at, or preached, I remember he preached some series on, on witchcraft and exposing the darkness of that. And just especially the, the Amish men in our community where there seems to be a lot of that mixed up in, in their background. So he was just expounding and exposing this evil.

And he just said that, I remember him talking about this one. He had such a vivid dream one time, the church that they're at, and came to church one morning. So as he saw him come in, walk in the door, something told him right away, it's the devil.

But he, you wouldn't, he didn't have horns and a forked tongue and all that. Looked like a very nice gentleman, all dressed up. And he was just, came in and very genial and said that there's no reason we can't work together.

And you know, just let's be Christian brothers and just had a very good speech. Just try to, let's just come together. Very smooth talk.

And I'm just remembering how that just really gripped me. Just the deception he wants to, he wants to come covered up as an angel of light. His strength is in deception.

First, Second Corinthians 10, then also, it says that, for though we walk in the flesh, verse three, also that chapter, we do not war after the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are here in our physical bodies, but our warfare is not in a physical way. Shouldn't be.

We do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God.

I, I'm going through the book of Luke right now and my personal devotions and going through the crucifixion of Jesus. This, the other morning just came to me, just a new and a fresh. A lot of our country, a lot of people have the idea it's God and country.

They're somehow connected. It's maybe more in the South. You face that maybe more in the South, but it's probably prevalent throughout this nation.

But it's, you have the church, you have the cross, and you have the flag right beside it. And I'll just, I'll just submit this to you. I don't believe we can be part of two kingdoms and be a good soldier.

I don't think it works. When I read about Jesus, when he was betrayed there in the garden, it says, Peter cut off Malchus' ear. Jesus said, suffer it thus far, allow it thus far.

He's almost like, we've reached the point, Peter, this far. We're now in the new covenant. What I'm, what I've been living out, what I'm portraying to you in the new covenant, we don't take the sword.

He says, whoever takes the sword is going to be destroyed by the sword. That's what Jesus said. And he proved it.

The Lord Jesus himself proved it by, his weapon was meekness, quietness. Right after that, they came and seized and led him away. No resistance.

I'll just, I'll just want to, we'll maybe get into this more the next time, but our weapons are humility, meekness, non-resistance. Those are the weapons that we arm ourselves with. We've actually been called to take on the armor of life.

The armor of life in Romans is, it's totally different from this carnal warfare, the things you see. I think it's important that we know that. I believe that we're losing out on that concept.

We need to teach our young ones warfare. But the two kingdoms, there are distinctly two kingdoms. We're either part of this earthly one, or we're part of the heavenly one.

The one that is to come, like was shared this morning. Then it was just like a, maybe an hour or two later before Pilate, this is what Jesus said. He says, my kingdom is not of this world.

If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? But now, from now, my kingdom is not from here, from hence. But we are on the winning side. There will be, there'll be vengeance one day, but that's the Lord.

His vengeance is mine, says the Lord. That's for Him. He will make everything right.

Here in verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 10, it says, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the mediums of Christ. So, I believe our minds, our minds are one of the greatest tools that the devil can use to fight against the Lord, to fight against our own souls. I believe that the devil has a formidable ally in your own flesh, in our own flesh and blood that is not regenerate.

Formidable ally. What else, how else would he have fight against the people of God? There might be other ways to use this, but here it says, casting down. Paul saw this clearly.

That's where the battle is at in our minds. That's where it's fought. Every thought, bringing every thought into captivity to the mediums of Christ.

And having an irreadiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. So, may the Lord help us not to, not to be a tool in His hand, not to be an ally. May He not find an ally just in our own flesh and blood.

I don't believe it's just coincidence that this passage here in Ephesians 6 follows right after the roles of the husband, the wife, the child, the parents, the servants, the masters. I believe that we're not, if we're not in our proper place, in our proper order, functioning how the Lord has called us, we make ourselves very vulnerable to the enemy. There's a protection plan that God, the Lord has, I think we've done this before, I'll just do it again.

This umbrella of protection. And we have God, Christ, man, woman, and we have children. But once we step outside of our role, we step outside from under who we're placed.

God has placed us, we open ourselves to the enemy, to the fiery darts. And they will find its target. I've seen it so many times.

I've seen it in my own life. Many of y'all have probably experienced that. Whenever you resist God's order, whenever we resist what God has set over us, there is victory for the enemy.

And this is what Satan tried to do with Jesus when he was tempted. There's three times, three times the devil came directly to Christ. He didn't come through God.

He came from here. Same way he came when man, the fall of man, he came this direction. No children here yet.

If children would have been here, probably that's where he would have come, the lowest denominators where he likes to come in at. Come in the back door. But Christ, what did he do when he was tempted? Three times he always took a right back up here.

Like, Satan, you're going to come in this direction? Let's go up here. He says, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Three times he said it, every time, it is written.

It all came from the book of Deuteronomy. It is written, it is written. And he resisted the devil.

He would like to bring into our minds, do your own thing. That's what he was basically, in essence, doing to Jesus there. Jesus, I got my suggestion here.

This is my thought. Why don't you do this? This is a good thought. He's a pro at offering you suggestions.

What about this? This is an idea. Later on, verse 17, we'll talk about the sword of the spirit another time. But that was the sword of the spirit.

Even as Peter took off that ear of Malchus here, Jesus took the sword of the spirit. He took out the evil one and resisted him. So, deceit.

Deceit is a big thing for the enemy in taking people out and deceiving people. In World War II, when the Japanese were at war with the allies, the U.S. and her allies, there's always this, with the deceit, with the trickery, with spies and so forth, there's always a challenge of keeping your code secret and so forth. One army, one nation is trying to steal from the other their information.

It's a big thing. A lot of their success depends on that. But the U.S., finally, to protect their codes, they hired the Navajo Indians from the Navajo Reservations.

They had a couple hundred Navajo Indians working for them. It's a very, very complex, difficult language. Someone described it as a drain going down, I mean a water going down a partial clogged drain.

So, it's very hard to decipher. So, they hired them and they're very successful. The Japanese never cracked their codes.

But the U.S., they actually, they cracked some of the Japanese code and they thwarted, attacked, forget where it was, but they took down a couple of the warships and it was a major blow to the Japanese. That was before the atomic bombs. But, deception.

And so, Satan has strategies. Don't ever think that you can, that I can outwit him. I can outthink him.

I can outsmart him. There's just no way that you can on your own strength. This is for someone that's trying to do it their own way.

But in Christ Jesus, we have all the wisdom. Wisdom of God really becomes important when you think about the wisdom, the strategies of the devil. The wisdom of God, that's why we have the word.

Proverbs, young men. Proverbs is full of the wisdom of God of anti-combat missiles. Fill your heart with the word of God.

They also used a lot of decoys, maybe false attacks, maybe false alarms to divert the enemy. Satan's tactic is deceit. His strength is deceit.

My goal is just to impress that deceit is really, he's a master at that. Can someone turn to Isaiah 53 verse 9? Just read that verse for me. Isaiah 53 verse 9. Someone have that for John? Do you think there would be any salvation for us if deceit would have been in Jesus' mouth? What if the Lord would act on deceit? We'd never know when to quite trust him.

Is this promise true? Is this going to be true here? But the testimony of Jesus was there. Our Savior, in Isaiah 53, there was no deceit in his mouth. All those 30 some years, 33 years spent on the earth, not one time, not one hint of deceit came out.

Not one time throughout ages past and into the future, there will never be deceit from the Godhead. We can rest assured of that. Totally opposite.

We'll find that the attributes that our Lord and Master has, the devil is opposite of all that. There was no deceit in Jesus' mouth. Truth is genuine.

I'd like to look at, this is the book of Ephesians, and I often wonder what happened, what really happened there in Revelations 2. The first church that Jesus spoke to was this church here. He says, I have somewhat against you because you've left your first love. But he commended them first.

He says, I know your works, how you have labored and you have to have patience, and how you cannot bear those which are evil. He has tried those which say apostles and are not, but found them liars. They were very diligent, but I thought about how when Paul first preached there, the first time I think we read about Ephesus was in Acts 18.

Paul was traveling. He just preached there. He went to the synagogue and preached, went on somewhere else.

Verse 19, he came back and found believers, found certain disciples. Evidently, his preaching brought fruit. Some disciples were there.

He asked them about their baptism. Were you baptized? He says, unto John's baptism is what they said. They didn't know about the Holy Spirit, so he baptized them again in the name of the Lord Jesus, laid hands on them and prayed.

They spoke in tongues and they prophesied. Sometimes I wonder, was that part of those first works? There was something real. They all remember how that church got started.

There was something that was genuine. The truth was genuine. When they were converted, new things came out of their heart.

I think those outward things are just an expression that there's actually something new inside. So we have people that want to come to the Lord, want to be baptized, and there's nothing that's not new things coming out. I think we need to be careful.

I just want to encourage this. If we really, really profess a walk with the Lord Jesus, new things should just be coming out. It should be an automatic thing, really.

It's nothing that needs to be drummed up. If there's no new things coming out, if there's not a different desire coming out, there's a reflection that there is a new inside. So it's through this church here.

That was just kind of a side note I had. I was thinking when I thought about this church here in Ephesus. It's a rich book, but here it's like we're coming to some reality here after the first couple chapters.

I'd just like to look at a little bit at the nature of the enemy. Even as the Lord, He cannot, it says in one place, He cannot lie. The Lord cannot be tempted with evil.

There's a few things that, there's many things that God cannot do as far as evil. He cannot do any evil. There's the negative things, all the evil things.

He cannot deceive, like we said already. God cannot do those things. Just as God is all truth, He cannot go into deceit.

He cannot lie. Just the same way the devil cannot be in the truth. The devil cannot help but lie.

It's just his nature. Just imagine how terrible that would be. Even if you would, in just the slightest way, wish I could be good a little bit.

Wish I could just speak the truth one time. Wish I could just show mercy one time. Wish I could show compassion.

I've tempted that person so many times. I wish I could show him compassion, but you know, I don't believe the devil has that liberty, has that ability. He's a very embodiment of deceit, of evil.

It's just him. He just has to do it. He cannot help but to be deceitful.

He cannot help but to hate, and to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He cannot help it. That's just, he's the very embodiment of evil.

Evil just cannot help but be evil. One of the things he's very good at, and one of his, goes along with his deceit, is causing people to doubt. And especially, I'll just say this, especially young Christians, those that are sincerely wanting to walk with the Lord, have given their life to the Lord Jesus.

That's one of his jobs, is to make you doubt, and cause you, try to cause you to stumble. Like, casting down imagination. He wants to come in your mind, and bring this to your mind.

That's, this is for those that have truly given their lives to the Lord Jesus. I just would like to put your heart at rest. If you're hungering and thirsting after righteousness, the ways of God, those voices are from this enemy.

This enemy of deceit. He cannot help but be deceitful. I believe those voices are from him.

He is a condemning, he comes in a condemning way, of just down, condemning, making you feel ugh. The Holy Spirit will come in a way of, you might not feel so good every time when you do something that's not good, but he is to bring you out. It's not a hopeless, you're just, there's no hope.

The devil's way is no hope, I see no way out. The Holy Spirit wants to bring you out. But also, right along with that, if we're just complacent, and think every, it doesn't really matter how I live, I'm just, I said my prayer, I accepted Jesus in my heart some time ago, and I'm, I don't really care about the reality of Christian life, I would, I would like to put you to unrest, too.

Just as much as I'd like to put the doubters to rest, I'd like to put those that are just in a complacent state of mind, I would like to put you to unrest. I believe God wants to, God wants to have a, serious about this, if, I would like, I guess I'll just say this, if we don't see the warfare, if this is just like baggage, this is just, this message is just like, I don't care for this, this is, this weapon of this warfare, this is just whole, just baggage. Um, yeah, we'll have to ask questions.

Where are we really at? If, if we would be just in a physical way, we'd be, have our arms here, be fully armed, and there'd be a visible enemy coming in here, all of a sudden, baggage would turn into something very special, wouldn't it not? Why is it considered baggage? I think Brother Jerry shared this already about the, the parachute story. This bothersome thing, well, this is the same thing here. This is not baggage, this is really, it's, um, your protection, it's your life, my friend, it's my life.

So, we're just complacent, rather just talk about the carnal, we, we might still be lying in wickedness, we might still be in the course of this world, like we read in Ephesians 2, according to the course of this world, we might be tuned in with the course, what this world has to offer, all the glitter and the gold, the, you, you name it, it's all the, the sports world, the music world, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's world is, are vehicles and all this, simple, simple stuff, that just captivates us, it's the course of this world, and to safely piggy back all of that, it take people, take people down. Fear will be another one we could talk about but I don't think we'll get into that too much, I was just thinking more about deceit today, but now, going back, let's just go go to verse 10, maybe just go verse by verse through these a bit. Verse 10 of Ephesians 6 here says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.

Notice it says brethren. It's the believers he's talking to. If we're not a true believer, it doesn't really connect with us.

These won't connect. It says, Finally, he says, Paul uses this term six times in his epistles, not always necessarily in closing. Only one time actually I think it means in conclusion.

In 1 Peter 5, it says, Finally, brethren, be of all of one mind. That Greek word means conclusion, but the other five times it's more like, finally, it means what remains. Okay, something like Paul's saying, okay, something we need to talk about yet.

There's something remaining we need to talk about yet. It's more that meaning. So it says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.

What is your strength this morning? It's pretty easy to know someone's strength once you live with them for a while or you're around them a bit. What they like to talk about, what their heart is full of, that's their strength. I have to think of like some of the, just for instance, an astronaut.

It takes a lot of training, takes a lot of focus to be an astronaut. You read some biographies of some of these famous people, even from their childhood, they were just fascinated maybe with an airplane, just fascinated with something from a young age. It was their life.

They were strong in that thing and in the power of its might. When they were older, they were just a walking encyclopedia or maybe a Google page of that. They were strong in this thing.

They had exercised themselves in it. That's all they knew. You talk about other things, couldn't care less.

But that one perked their heads and they were ready to talk. And they could talk and talk and talk. And they still do.

It's their life. It's become their life. In the same way, this is how we're supposed to be in the Lord.

It needs to be our life. We're strong in this one, in the power of his might. Even as they know all the facts about that specific field of astronomy or whatever it is, space flight.

So we need to be in Christ. We need to know all the facts about this warfare and about the Lord. I would say more about God and who he is and the devil.

This is just, I'm glad there's not many passages like this. It's very important, but it's not one we want to have every Sunday. It's more like lima beans every day.

We don't need those every day. But occasionally we need this. We need this.

This is reality around us. We keep our, we need to be strong in the Lord. So we think, okay, we know we have this enemy, so we're going to pump up our muscles and we're going to have a meeting.

We're going to have some strategies. How are we going to fight him? Well, I just say, be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.

That power, the word power here actually means, I think it means kratos. There's a couple of words for power in the Greek. Most of the time I think it's dunamis, which word from the word dynamite comes from.

But this is actually a different word here. It's like, sorry Ben, I'm probably butchering the Greek, but kratos or something like that is how it's, I'll just write it on the board. In Matthew 28, Jesus said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

I believe power has two meanings. The exousia maybe is what this one means. I think that's what this one would mean.

It's more of an overall power, whereas the power that Jesus talked about in Matthew 28, that's the meaning there. It's an overall, overriding power. But then in Acts 1, he told his believers, after the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will have power.

You'll have the dunamis. You'll have the right, you'll have the power in a specific area here to set off some dynamite over there. But it's not like we're blowing up the whole thing with a big piece of dynamite.

The Lord has that in his power overall, but he delegates that power out, and he's delegating that to us in this power here, the power of his might. He's giving us some delegation on power to overcome the enemy. Our strength is in knowledge.

Be strong in the Lord in the power of his might. Even as an astronaut, his strength is in his knowledge, and ours will be the same way in the Lord. Our strength in the Lord is in our knowing the Lord and knowing his word and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

That's our strength. That's the power of his might. The strength is the knowledge or the awareness.

The power here actually kind of means vigor, is a great vigor, gives us the ability to do this, to do this warfare. No man that warth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this world. That's in 2 Timothy 2. It gives the idea of a single focus.

Someone just like that astronaut has a single focus. 2 Timothy 2 talks about no man, no man that warth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this world, but has placed himself under the man who has chosen him. It talks about those who have been chosen, has chosen him.

The Lord Jesus has chosen us to be a soldier. He's chosen us to be a soldier. And whoever has been chosen like that, he says, that is my focus.

I'm a soldier and that is my life. Like the astronaut, that is my life. I'm a warrior for the Lord.

It's a single focus. Verse 11, let's go on to verse 11. It says, put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The whole armor, it's a one word. I believe even the Greek maybe comes across as a one word. The whole armor is just, you can't separate, okay, I'll take this part of this and not that, but it's a whole armor.

The Bible talks much about the whole, or all the complete gospel. Acts 20, Paul in his farewell address to the elders of this church in Ephesus, he says, I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel, or all the counsel of God, all counsel, the whole counsel of God. God works as a whole.

His package is complete. He doesn't want us to go out. You'd almost be sure.

You go out to warfare and say, I don't want that sword. That one's too heavy. The shield is very cumbersome.

I'll just leave one of them behind. The Lord knows what he's doing when he says the whole armor, which means all the utensils, the tools, or the implements. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

You'll notice in verse 11 and 12, he uses the word against six times. If there's a resistance, we need to have that resistance against the enemy. It actually has almost more of a picture here of defense versus offense.

I know I've heard people say that's what it is here. Some say, no, it's more offense. I'm not going to argue that.

That's not what I'm here for. But I know that the Lord has an armor for us and he wants us to put it on. He wants us to be active in using it.

But here we have the word against the wiles of the devil, against, to stand. The word stand comes forth a few times here. And against comes across six times.

So the armor is not to put on the wall. Armor is not for the closet. It's to put on and to stand against.

We have, if we don't see the battle, we're in a very sad situation. According to the word of God, there is a battle. This world is on a course and it wants to take us out.

Personally, our families, our churches, our communities want to take us out. We have to stand against. And sometimes people become weary of the standing against.

And they just kind of let down their guards. Well, it's just easier just to kind of give up. Our nation is filled with people like that.

The battle is too hard, I just give up. The word Bible surely can't mean what it says there. And then we just start compromising just too hard.

My friends, let's stand against the wiles of the devil. The wiles of the devil are the thoughts and imaginations he started planting in people's mind and just started to compromise. Take away here, add a little bit here, make it easier.

It makes it easier in our way of thinking. My brothers and sisters, let's stand against the wiles of the devil. What's a wile? I think we all know that's just a trickery.

In the Greek, it's like a travesty or trickery. Traveling over, it's his method. It's a method the devil uses.

He has methods. He's a Methodist, believe it or not. Now, I don't want to say anything.

Don't quote me on that churchism, what I just said. But he is really, in its truest sense, a Methodist. And he has methods, that's what it says here.

He travels over. It's just like a traveling trapper that runs his trapline. Years ago, I was in Canada and I went with one of the men there.

Deep snow out, it was way back in the outwoods of northern Ontario. And he showed me how he was snaring rabbits. These snowshoe hares.

They always put the snare. Where do you think they put a snare? On the trail. It'd be foolish if they just put it out in the middle of nowhere and there's nothing around.

But always on a trail. The devil knows. The devil is traveling and he notices trails.

I just want to, I don't want to scare you, but I believe he notices our trails, our weaknesses, where we like to travel. Be very aware of that. The Bible talks us to watch in the prayer and not be deceived.

He knows your trail. He knows my trail. And that's where he sets the snare, our weaknesses.

That's where he's going to set the snare. That's where we set a snare. The next day he came back, there was a dead rabbit.

He came down the trail, his head, head first, right into that snare. And his life was gone. Same way, the devil has his snare and he's traveling.

I just thought that's an interesting idea. Just like a trap, a man running his trapline, he's traveling. He's a restless, restless, the Bible says he's come down with great wrath, knowing that it has but a short time.

He's out, setting his snares. He wants to trap people. Like it says, I think it's in 1 Timothy, that we're supposed to teach people, we're supposed to, those that oppose themselves, to make this teaching them that they might perhaps, perchance, recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.

It says that maybe God will give them repentance. Repentance, my friends, is the only way to be released from a snare. That's the only way I see in Scripture, to be released from a devil's snare is repentance.

Anything else is just a futile tugging at it, and the noose will get tighter. Our own skirting issues and just trying to paint the picture not quite as serious as it is, is not repentance. True repentance will free you from a snare.

It will free me from it. I can testify to that. Any bondages I've had in the past, any failures and things I was struggling with, it was only deep sorrow and repentance that brought freedom to my heart, and that snare was released, gained life, and bounded away.

True repentance is the way of release. Satan is powerless against repentance. Ever thought of that? Satan is truly powerless against repentance.

Verse 12 here says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness, of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The word against comes forth here, I think, is it five times. So we think that this Christian life is just a little picnic and easy, laid back.

I know every young person that has really wanted to walk with the Lord, has really cast their lot with the Lord has found out that there's been resistance. I found that and I know you're made from the same material I've been made. Really want to walk with the Lord, there's going to be resistance.

If you haven't experienced it yet, it is coming. There's resistance against, the word against, six times. We wrestle not against flesh and blood.

We're not wrestling against North Korea, China, the trade war and all that. We're not wrestling against them, but we are wrestling against principalities. What's a principality? It's in the Greek also, I'm just going to use a lot of the Greek terms here.

It's chief, that word means chief and commencement, those leading out with attack plans. I believe Satan, I don't know, we can't feel that, seems to be very orderly, very strategic. But at the same time, I can't believe that they have peace among themselves, the demons and all this.

They must be fighting, but at the same time, they have goals. I'm glad we can deliver from all that. But it's, they have, it seems, the word in Greek, they have a principality that is archaic.

It means the chief, probably that word like arch comes from the chief archangel. It's like overriding, the one that's in control of it. Obviously the devil has his generals, even as the centurions in the Roman, the army, they had centurions and every military has generals of leaders and different sizes, different groups.

Sounds like you have the same thing in the demonic world. Satan, brother Caleb brought out Satan and his minions were cast out. We need to get things together.

We need to get it organized. We're going to fight against the kingdom of the Lord. So that's principality, it's archaic.

And now it says against powers, against powers also, the devil also has powers. And I don't know why, when he's fallen, why didn't God just take all that away? God in his wisdom knows what he's doing. He knows that we need a battle.

He knows that we just have to give that to him. That's why we're here to encourage one another, not to become weary in this battle. But he has allowed him that word power, this exosia word, I think that's what the word is here.

It's the freedom to exercise, give him the freedom to exercise more of an overall, overriding wider area. So he has that freedom to exercise these attack plans, these strategies. And it's also, he's given, it means give the words of delegated influence.

So people think that the perils of darkness of this world doesn't have influence. It's right here that these powers bring influence. Sometimes we hear about certain music, like music for instance, there's spirits behind it.

I believe that's right here, influence. Magic, we heard about magic also. Someone shared about magic.

I think something that is very subtle in our day and age is in the medicinal world, in medicine. Things can cross over and be shady pretty quick at times. The word, I just want to challenge again with the word, what the word pharmacy comes from, the Greek word pharmakia, something like that.

And it's the word sorcery. The word translated sorcery, not saying going to the pharmacy is sorcery, but it's a mind altering drug, I think is what it affects. And what do we have in our nation is drug culture.

That's why we are having imposter care, is the drug culture has so inundated the minds of those mothers, they can't even function anymore. They are in captivity by this power. There's a power that has overtaken them.

It's the power of darkness. And those powers, those spirits, are in, I'll say that they are in, not only in drugs, they can be in just a lot of these earthly pursuits. I believe they can even be in our vehicles, just for it's very practical.

What is causing us wanting me to have this, you know, big hot rod? In our clothes, our identification even. Brother, I'll just share this. Brother Jerry has wanted to talk about this in brother's meetings sometime and didn't have time, but this has been something he thought we should talk about.

Why, why do we need to have these logos on certain, what's kind of leading out of this nation? Do we really want to be, this is really his heart. I'll just share it. He might not want to come down hard on you, but this has been his heart.

Why do we want to be identified with these things that are highly esteemed among men? This abomination inside of God. We think these are little things, but powers, powers. We're fighting, we're supposed to be fighting against these.

It says we are fighting against, or are we just, well, it's nothing to be against. This is simple stuff. Hey, this is foolish.

It's probably talking maybe bigger things, but I'll just say we need to be very aware. The toys that come into our homes even, I think there's demonic toys that come in. There's power with toys and practices of witchcraft in the medicine world.

I heard this also, this man that preached like 20 some years ago, he was related, he was related with one of these, I'll call them Amish practitioners. There's, I could name a couple. There's always these names growing up.

I knew of people, we never went to them, but a lot of Amish people did. And he said, this is for a fact what he said, what he knew from his relatives that occasionally some of those main practitioners would come together, they would hold hands and have some kind of what they called it a cleansing, where their spiritual powers were shared. And it was, it was darkness.

And he says, the one actually admitted says, I always try not to stand before, beside a certain one because he has enough power to kill me. He has enough power to kill someone. And we, we might just kind of pass that off, but it's reality.

I mean, it was reality in Africa. We had a young boy, we were working in the school, just a young lad. He was, he got sick.

There was just no, the doctoring didn't help. There's just no explanation. Some, some people said a curse has been put on him.

He, he just wasted away and finally died. We went there different times. We went there to pray, but those curses are real.

They're very real things. And I don't, I don't want to scare those people, but I believe we have, we are living in a nation like Brother, Brother Chris shared. Things here appear a little bit different than they do in those poor nations, those uncivilized nations.

I think things are just, just more shrouded here. We've had, we've had a lot of blessings in our nation growing up years ago, or an establishment, maybe more in godly principles, but we are fast losing out. And the interest in Satanism and Satan worship, all that is, is, is rising.

There's, there's a big push for that. Let's be clear. Let's be clear of those questions.

If it's questionable, why, why dabble with it? That's my, that'd be my approach. Let's be against it. Then it talks about the rulers of darkness of this world, of this world.

I think we talked about this enough already about the influence of the course of the world against the spiritual Wiccanism in higher places. This world, I will say this though, that word is, is A-I-O-N in Greek, like the Eon, probably where we get the word Eons in the English. This age, every, every age has its thing.

I believe just as Satan took the devil, took him, excuse me, took Jesus to the mountaintop to show him all the kingdoms of the world, said he showed them in a moment of time, his age and every age, our age right here. The devil had that ability, so this is what's going to come. You hang around, do it my way, I'll give you a smartphone.

Probably even saw all that technology right up to the present. I don't know what is to come yet. But he resisted him being under that authority.

He resisted him and the devil fled. I believe in the same way that he took Jesus to the mountaintop, he wants to take every believer to that mountaintop and show this, I can give you this. This is for your benefit.

This is for your pleasure. This is your right. You've been promised that right.

All the prosperity, the prosperity gospels, that new Cadillac, just pray for it. Do you think that comes from the garden of Gethsemane or that mountaintop where the devil was at? Probably what Jesus saw was glittery. Glittery and shine like light, but he saw through all of that.

So this is actually darkness, the rulers of darkness of this world. All that glitters is not gold. That saying is very true.

The other day I had to fix the old radiator on the old Massey tractor and I've done it before. It needs a new radiator, too tight. So just buy this JV weld and that works pretty good.

Keep patching at them. So we have, you have this white and you have this gray, I mean this black. You mix it together, you get gray every time.

I think that's, I think that's, we hear quite a bit about gray areas. That's when you try to mix the white and the black. The devil would have just loved Jesus.

Yes, I acknowledge you Jesus. You have power. You're the son of God.

Just take some of this white or whatever, maybe the black, just add some of that. It'll work so much better. You start, as soon as you start mixing, you got, then you have gray and we have taken on the enemy's approach.

Stand against the gray areas. Let's, let's be like Jesus. Let's just have the word of God in our hearts and resist him.

Stand against that. That's another thing we're supposed to be against. Then again, spiritual wickedness in high places.

High places. We, sometimes we hear the word having friends in high places. And I think, I really believe there's people, there's some of the, the witchcraft.

They avail, there's people like that are mixed up in magic, witchcraft. They avail their hearts, their souls. They kind of open it to these spiritual wickedness in high places.

They know there's power. There's going to be glory. There's going to be a fame, fame and acclaim, wealth, but there's a cost, but it's a connection with these high places.

It's, it's very similar to a lot of, a lot of these third world countries, brother Chris. I don't know how it is in India, but Africa is very prevalent. If you want to, they say, if you want to move around and you want to get somewhere, even legally in government office, you need friends in high places and you need to pay, call a bride.

We call it corruption, but this is corruption in the spiritual sense. People are giving their souls for the sake of a momentary glitter and gold and fame by having friends in these high places, giving their souls over to spiritual wickedness. This spiritual wickedness, the Greek word is pneumatikos.

It's the word spirit. Spirit comes pneuma, air, a breath of air, but this means just a supernatural, the spirit, supernatural spirit world. People like, there's a, there's a, often a curiosity.

There's a, something that's drawing people more and more into that supernatural spirit world. Want to, want to have that connection. There's power.

They recognize there's power in that, but it's hurt. It says supernatural, spiritual wickedness, and it's a supernatural spirit world. And wickedness is ponereia in the Greek.

Ponereia means depravity, malice, and hurtful in effect or influence. So that's, that's just the essence of wickedness. It's hurtful in its effect and influence.

It might appear very appealing to start with. It will give, it will get me on the map, but in the end it's going to be very hurtful and the influence will not be good. Okay.

Verse 13, it says, wherefore, taken to you because of all these things, all this reality, wherefore taken to you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all these things, and I'll just go over to 14, stand therefore. So the word stand comes forth like three times and, and, and the word withstand is there in there, there yet also. So by just reading this, going across this, we can, I believe can all see it's not God's will that we're complacent.

We just say it's no big deal. It's not much of a fight. I'd rather just enjoy life than having all this baggage, this spiritual warfare, too much baggage, all these weapons.

We'll, we'll, Lord willing, get into some of those next time. And, and these weapons are, again, they are spiritual. They are things that are come from our character and the word of God and so forth, prayer and salvation, but humility, all in the embodiment of humility.

An arrogant person will not last long in the fight. Pride, pride and arrogance will not, actually, not only will the devil be able to take us down, it says even God is against those. So you have the devil and the Lord against that.

There's not much chance. Let's keep, let's keep low. So we might look at all these, a couple of verses, a few of these verses here.

And just like sometimes I tell my son something to go through, about just give him some simple direction and they might say, why? I think, I think we just asked the heavenly father this morning, talked about the whole armor that we're supposed to take on. We just asked him why. And I think he, he really explains it here.

He just lays it out that we have an enemy. He wants to take us down and he's not on our side. So let's, let's just believe him.

Let's be convinced in our hearts that we want nothing but the whole army, armor, because the evil day is coming and it's here. That you may be able to stand, withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. The goal is standing.

When he comes, even the hurricane passes through, the devil blows his slot. After it passes, you're still standing, still standing. There's a day coming, a great shaking, as those that are in Christ Jesus are filled with the Holy Spirit and have on the whole armor of God are the ones that will be still standing, having done all to stand.

Let's not take any shortcuts. Let's not become weary of the word against. Stand against these powers that want to take us down.

The Bible talks about a few, I think a few were read this morning. One was especially was read in Ephesians 2. We've been, we've been seated in heavenly places with Christ. That's one posture.

That's our rest. We can rest assured in Christ Jesus. We have that rest.

We are seated with him. Even as he sat, he overcame and sat down. His work is finished.

The Bible talks about running a race. But here today, it was about standing. Let's be standing.

Let's be found standing when our Lord comes again and when he calls us home or when he checks up on us or when that evil day comes. And really that's what it's for, when the evil day comes. And we have to decide in our own hearts, is it an evil day? I believe it is.

Okay. I'd like to encourage us sometime just to go through the book of 1 John. 1 John, Apostle John is very close to the heart of Jesus.

And in the whole Gospel of John, a lot of the other Gospels talked about, they use money as an example in the parables. But John doesn't do it one time. And John was the one that led, that he led them.

He was leaning on Jesus' breath. It was his special, someone like his special, close confidence. It's the picture I always get that John, the closer you are to the Lord Jesus, the less you have to talk about this world.

He talks more about heavenly things, really. He talks about it maybe twice in a negative connotation. Once when he drove out the money changers.

And another time, I think about the 30 pieces of silver that Judas was paid for his betrayal. But what I want to encourage us to do in the book of 1 John, the same John, an old man was writing this fatherly letter to his disciples and to us. And he talks much about the world, the world.

Notice that sometimes, the conflict between the world and those that are in Christ. Maybe we should just read a few of those. 1 John, I think it's chapter 4. 1 John 4, verse 4. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Let's leave on a, end on a positive note like that. Even though we have this enemy who wants to take us out, he's got his sights set on us, greater is He that is in us, if He is in us. That's the big if.

Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Then it says, they are of the world, therefore speak ye of the world, and the world heareth them. Those that are not of Christ, they are of the world, they speak of the world, and the world has an ear for them.

There's a back and forth, no problem. There's a communication level there that is not interrupted. It's worldly, and it's not, how would you say, it doesn't bring a lot of disruption.

It doesn't upset the both. They can speak their thing, they are of the world, and the world heareth them. Then it says, we are of God.

He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hereby, know ye the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

This morning we were looking at the spirit of error a bit, just how people can err by not standing, not taking the battle serious, and not seeing the fight. May we see the fight, may we see the battle, may we see reality, not become weary in well-doing. Okay, I'm sure that the clock is working, close, and a word of prayer.