Armored For a Fight

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It's been a good weekend and this week in ministry.

I don't know that I I seen them this morning, but I want to congratulate publicly, and this church has been uh very much a part of the process and behind the Randolph family and the adoption of Zedden and Zibby Randolph.

Amen.

We were able to be there, and uh Pastor Dave was the lawyer on hand working through that, and uh it's a beautiful picture of what the church is supposed to be.

And um, so I'm thankful for that.

Be in prayer.

I know the graders have some possible news coming on some adoption, so uh just hang tight with us there.

But that's a beautiful picture of the church, and then of course, last weekend over 2,000 people on campus between our events and Easter was awesome.

So praise God for that.

And uh looky there.

Picture of myself from this week.

It's coming just a second early, but that's okay.

Um be in prayer, um, two things I want to mention to you by way of prayer.

Continue to pray for David Russell and his family.

David did have to amputate from the knee down to that leg this past week.

It was a hard decision, but I think the right decision for them.

And I'll just be in prayer.

I know some people ask me how we can support.

Um, and we'll be looking down the road here in a few weeks at throwing um a take-home lunch, but an opportunity for us as a church to be a church.

They have a lot, a lot of needs, and um this was not anything expected, and we want to be the body of Christ in that.

So be in prayer, and uh we'll let you know more information on that and how you can support.

And then one more thing pray for Chuck Reeves.

Chuck uh lost his mother this week.

I talked to him just Friday, and uh, he'll be observing funeral services.

But when you see Chuck, make sure you give him a hug.

Let him know, Chuck, we're praying for you, and uh we love you.

Amen.

We talked we talked Friday and said she wouldn't want to be back.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

So turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

We are starting this study on armored, and you already saw a picture of me, but I'll throw it back up.

At 11 years old, I wanted to be strong.

And there's reasons in culture that I wanted to be strong.

If you grew up in the 1980s, early 90s, you saw some things like movies with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

There were other things that came throughout the 80s like Rocky and Mr.

T in the 80s.

You saw all these things.

How about anybody remember watching The American Gladiators?

Yeah.

And so there's all these things in the 80s.

Well, what about Hulk Hogan?

Anybody remember Hulk?

Well, we got Rocky, we got Mr.

T.

Is Mr.

T back there somewhere?

There's Hulk.

Y'all seen that before?

He was he slimmed down a little there, he was a little shorter.

That's a picture of me a few harvest jams ago.

We had uh, but I was very taken with strength.

And if you grew up in that time, um a lot of people were, and when I think about all that, is the age of you hear about HGH, human growth hormone, and anabolic steroids to get big and muscular and all that kind of came on the scene.

And the other day it was kind of funny.

My kids were having a dinner conversation, and one of them conversations that doesn't matter for anything, but it's fun, and they were talking about who could take who in the house.

And we got talking through that and realized, and I want you all to know this, none of them are yet to be able to outrustle my wife.

Not yet.

Okay.

I got a 15-year-old football player, but it still, I mean, it might be close, but none of them can outrustle.

So then they started talking about who gathered together could take different people, and they decided if all of them fought Heather, they could win.

But unanimously they said, not any of them together, including Heather, could take me.

And I was like, you got that right.

At least y'all know.

And so we live in this age that is enamored with preoccupied with strength.

There's a company called the Sarkos Company, and they have produced a battery-powered robotic suit called the Exoskeleton.

The exoskeleton, they're saying within 10 years is something that you can put on and be like the real life Iron Man with 20 times the strength.

You know, you yourself could pick up two tires and carry it easily.

And so this is something that's very real possible within the future of life that we see.

When you think about all those things and think about strength, I want you to know today, strength is important because there's a real battle, a very real battle between two opposing kingdoms.

And we're living in it.

In Ephesians 6, Paul wrote a manual, if you will, on spiritual warfare to us and how believers can have a plan to stand with this armor and be strengthened because the battle is among us.

Pray with me.

Father, we love you, and we're so thankful for the opportunity we have, God, to be in your house today.

Lord, we're thankful, Lord, for your goodness to us and that we can worship you.

We're thankful for these baptisms, God.

Lord, we're thankful that we can come around your word and be strengthened.

But we know that the enemy, Lord, is not happy about the things that are happening spiritually at the church at Chelsea Westover.

We know that the enemy desires to battle.

And God, I pray that through this next several weeks, Lord, that you would equip us to stand and God, be beacons of light of who you are in our community, in our families and homes.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Point number one this morning is the process for strength.

If you look at verses 10 and the first part of 11 in Ephesians 6, it says this finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand.

We'll pause there.

This is the process for strength letter A.

It's a choice in survival.

It says, be strong, which is the word enunameo.

Endunameo, and it means to strengthen, that is the active tense, to be strengthened, to be strengthening, that is to be getting strong.

I want you to hear that because it's not like you become a Christian and then it's over and you're strong.

It says to be strong, to be strengthened, active, to continually be strengthening.

How?

It didn't say, did you notice?

Did it say be strong in yourself?

Did it say be strong in politics?

Did it say be strong in economics and wealth and finance?

It said, be strong in the Lord.

Well, it's important to understand that word, Lord capitalized, Lord is master.

And so I said it's a choice.

It's a choice of sides.

Paul is writing and he's writing to the brethren.

He says, finally, brethren, with the idea that these people had made a choice to be part of the brethren.

You made a choice to become a Christian.

You've made a choice.

The only way to thrive, I submit to you today in this life and the next is to have made this choice.

If you're here today and you have not given your heart to Jesus Christ, you'll live the worst existence you can live on this earth.

You'll leave no impactful legacy.

And in effect, you'll be elevator music to the grandest legacy of all time.

Always having had a choice, but making the wrong choice.

The worst thing about that is in the next life, in eternity, it's worse.

An eternity without God.

So I want to tell you today about the choice.

The Bible says, now is the appointed time.

Now is the acceptable time.

Romans 10, 9 says, if you will believe with your mouth and confess, or if you will believe with your heart and confess with your mouth that he is Lord, that you can be saved.

Today can be that day, a choice in survival.

Well, he says, Finally, brethren, what?

Be strong in the Lord.

Again, I said that word Lord, it's a choice of will.

In the Lord, there's two options.

Either you are Lord or God is Lord.

Who is the Lord of your life?

Who is master?

To be strengthened, he said, to be strong, to be getting strong, not in myself, to be getting stronger in the Lord.

Is that happening in your life?

You know, I've had the two biggest injuries that I that I've had, that I've had to go to the doctors, two sprained ankles.

Both of them are kind of funny stories.

One is funny because it's hard for people to look at me and believe it, but one, I soared through the air like Michael Jordan on a rebound.

And I came down and I rolled my ankle.

Immediately following, I went to a winter retreat that was full of snow tubing.

Tell you what fun that was on crutches.

And the second time I was out in Chattanooga, I was at Tennessee Temple, and I went out on a field and they wanted to play some football.

And I put a juke, I'm telling you, on this girl.

I said it.

I put a mean juke on a girl, and I rolled my ankle.

The funny thing is, we go back, Heather talks about that night she said, Why don't you stay and we'll hang out?

And I said, No, I'm gonna go play football.

Look what I get for playing football instead of being with my girlfriend.

Anyhow, I was thinking about that, those injuries.

What if we went to the doctor and after you got an injury and you're sitting there with the doctor and the doctor begins to tell you what's gonna happen, the prognosis and whether you're gonna get a cast or crutches and how many weeks this is gonna take.

What if I looked at the doctor and said, you know what, doc?

I don't like any of that.

I don't want a cast.

I'm not gonna do the crutches, I'm not gonna take the medicine, no ice, nope, that's not for me.

You'd say, Well, Pastor Rick, that's not very smart.

You're right.

Because if I wanted to be strengthened, I need to make the right choices about how to get strengthened.

Paul says, Finally, my brethren, be strong.

And he tells you in what?

To be strong in the Lord.

Before you put on any armor, there's a choice that needs to be made.

And I want to ask you today have you made that choice?

Is your life his?

And not only is it his, are you surrendered?

Before any of this armor goes on and you do any battle before you can stand, are you surrendered to the Lord?

Or are you Lord of your life?

Well, letter B is this.

It's a conduit for survival.

To be strong is to be strong in something.

Well, conduit is usually a tube or scepticle that uses power that's channeled from one source to another.

Ephesians 2.10 said this: for we are God's workmanship created in Jesus Christ to do good works.

We were created to do something that is of power.

The guys tell me we're uh looking at doing some work over on the soccer field and possibly laying tracks so that people can be on this property and walk around the walking track, but we need to get some power in the ground, and they tell me that we need to get some conduit laid.

We need to make ready so that we can have power in place.

Are you hearing me, church?

We have to make ready a place for power so we can build.

Don't you see it?

You are the conduit.

You are, and you need to make ready a place for power.

Now, hear me, conduit does not give value to the power source.

Conduit doesn't make the power any more powerful than it has ever been.

The power is as powerful as it ever will be, but it needs a receptacle, it's necessary, so that power can be run to carry the power.

We get to be in this battle power carriers if we've made the choice and we're submitted.

I want you to read with me 2 Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Look at verse 20 and 21.

It says, But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but of wood and clay, some for honor, some for dishonor.

Therefore, if anyone hear this word, cleanses, cleaning is necessary, cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work.

It didn't say bring a powerful conduit before God.

It said, a sanctified and useful.

If you're empty of yourself, if you're clean, then you're bringing conduit to God that can access his power.

He says, All I need is empty and clean.

All I need is a receptacle willing to be used.

And then it says, of what?

Be strengthened in the Lord and the power of his what?

Did you see that?

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

That word might is the word autos, and the word autos means a baffling wind with a great force.

Hold on to that thought.

A baffling wind with a great force, because Ephesians 2 2 says, Once we walked according to the prince of the power of this air.

His might is a baffling wind.

There was a time where we walked according to the prince and the power of this air, this earth.

But now he says, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

That autos is a greater wind.

It is a, it says a baffling force.

The force of God is baffling.

We can't even understand the type of strength that in atmosphere it's greater, and the lesser, the prince of the power of the air, bows to the greater.

We serve a God of the autos of greater air.

He is the God who with a word breathed and gave you breath of life.

He gave you his might.

And we're not to be in weakness.

We're not to stand in this battle oppressed by the weaker enemy.

But some people seem to be in that state.

Just oppressed, just afflicted by a weaker enemy.

Why?

We have to decide to be surrendered to that power, to that might.

So how do you how do I make that practical, Pastor?

Help me understand this.

So here's some questions.

How are you going to carry the power to be that conduit?

Number one.

This be good to write down.

Have you made a commitment of surrender?

A real surrender.

And if your wife, if your family, if anyone looks at it, they can say, this is legit.

They have truly, their whole life path is moved by a surrender to God and his will.

Has that happened?

That's the first question.

The second question, if that is true, do you have a ministry?

Talking about conduit.

Do you have an avenue to which the power of God within you is moved through you?

Do you have a ministry in this world, in this life?

What is the avenue?

Okay, so you say, well, yeah, yeah, yeah, God's given me this gift.

So what demographic is that power carrying to?

What age group?

What people group?

Where?

What ability is being used through you as ministry to people of this life?

How is the power being carried through you?

I want you to ask yourself that question.

If you're conduit of God, how?

Okay, so let's ask one more question.

How are you using that ministry in April?

In May.

This summer for 2024.

How are you being a carrier of the power of God to the demographic, to the age group, to the people that God has called you to use your ministry?

How are you displaying that?

And how are you getting better?

If you're a power carrier of something God's given, how are you getting better at that?

How are you growing in it?

How are you getting deeper in it?

If you said, man, I want to grow a business in 2024, you wouldn't say, as long as I just get the same marks as the first quarter, every quarter, I'm happy.

You want to grow, you want to be better, you want to reach more, you want to be a carrier of your thing with power to groups.

What's your goals is my question.

Because Zig Ziglar said this.

So if you've made your choice, then soldiers, what can you expect is part two.

If I've made my choice to strengthen in the power of his atos, his might, then what?

Well, get ready is what.

Look at verse 11 and 12.

Secondly, we see the ploys of Satan.

I say that because Satan is not running around rampant on the attack of the not brethren.

Do you get that?

If you've made the choice, Satan's already got the not brethren.

The battle that he seeks to bring out is to keep them not brethren, yes, but then to battle with those, to lessen our impact, to be carriers of the conduit, the conduit, the carriers of the power.

So the ploys of Satan, we're gonna look at verse 11 and 12.

It says this put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So I'm gonna give you letter A and B together.

I know for some of you that's gonna mess you up from what's normal, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

Okay, letter A is who is Satan, and letter B is what's his scheme.

So I'm gonna be giving some of the names of Satan, which is gonna be also defining who he is and what he does.

So throughout this, I'm sorry if that's not on task with what's normal, but that's what we're gonna do.

Satan, three things that I want to tell you about the names that I'm gonna describe that I believe he does.

I believe he seeks to give you labels, to give you an eye labels.

He seeks to send out his lies, and then he seeks to lure.

The first name that you see for Satan, another name is devil.

The Greek word is diablos, and it means accuser.

Accuser.

He seeks to defame an accused.

The word and the name is used 38 times for this enemy.

And this is what he seeks to do as an accuser.

He seeks to remind you every moment of your life how terrible your past was.

He seeks to remind you all the horrible things that you've done in accusation.

He accuses you of every sin, every mistake, and he wants you to waller in that pit and Live in that.

He doesn't want you to forget your past, and in the present, he points out every flaw you have, whispering, what a terrible Christian you are.

You're never gonna be good enough.

You never were enough.

You're never gonna be able to please your God.

And that is because he is an accuser.

And he seeks to label you the loser of all things.

He wants you to be stuck in a pit wallowing.

Well, in Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan wrote this as an excerpt of an interaction between Apollyon and Christian.

Apollyon is Satan.

Christian represents us.

And listen to what it says.

His one of Apollyon's ploys is to recite a laundry list of sins.

Look at what he says to Christian.

Thou didst faint at first setting out.

When thou was almost choked in the Gulf of Destbond, thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of your burden.

Thou didst sinfully sleep and lose thy choice thing.

Thou wast almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions, and thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory.

I have groaned under those sins, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon from my prince.

And at the mention of Christ's forgiveness, Apollyon flies out into a rage.

You see, Satan is the great accuser and cannot stand the fact that his accusations are overcome by the grace of God.

Where sin abounds, the Bible says, grace does much more abound.

He hates it.

And he seeks to accuse and accuse, to label you, degrade you with accusation.

This is not fully exhaustive of all of Satan's ploys in his name, but that is the accuser, the name devil.

The second that we notice is Lucifer.

In Isaiah 14, 12, it says, Lucifer, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.

How you've been cut down to the ground.

In Luke 10, 18, Jesus said, it says, How you are fallen from the heaven, son of the morning.

I want you to see the pictures of light.

In Luke 10, 18, Jesus said, I saw Satan fall like lightning.

In 2 Corinthians 11, 14, it says, And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

And so it is no great thing that his ministers, demons, also transform.

You see, Lucifer masquerades himself as an angel of light.

It's lies.

And he masquerades himself in half-truths and almost truths.

And if he can get in your ear and cause a little bit of division, that's what he seeks to do.

If he can get in your marriage and cause some division, that's what he seeks to do.

And get in your kids' ears, his whole deal is tension and turmoil and division.

And if you've ever worked with teenage girls, you've seen nothing like it.

And across the room, there was a girl over there and she said, Pastor, she's talking about me.

I look over at so-and-so, look like they're talking, having a good time.

Girl over here makes a motion with her.

It's oh she pointed at me, Pastor.

You see the ugly face she made?

I know she's got it out for me.

Satan seeks to whisper in all of our assumptions.

We go home and so-and-so didn't say hi to us today.

She must be mad at me.

I knew it.

I knew it.

I could tell by the way she looked.

I know I sound like a lady because you never hear guys talk like this.

I know it.

Benji, did you see the way he looked at me?

No, we're like, let's just fight.

I don't care.

He seeks to whisper in our ears.

He says things like, You can send that sin.

Everybody does it.

Seriously, everybody.

This is acceptable.

Right?

It's acceptable.

Just turn on your TV.

It's acceptable.

Everybody watches it.

It may not be for kids, but it's okay.

If it ain't okay for your kids, it's probably not okay for you either.

It's okay.

You just justify, justify, and he whispers things in your ears because he's a liar.

Oh, you've got the right to be angry.

Well, I've learned every time I think that thought it's wrong.

I mean, unless you're just standing for righteous indignation, something that's going most of the time when I have that thought, I am dead wrong.

I don't have the right to be angry.

I have the right to get things right.

That's what I have the right to do.

I have the right to go apologize or go seek out a conversation, but I don't normally have the right to be angry.

Nobody will know.

Whispers.

It's lies.

He masquerades and he lies.

Well, he's also called the tempter.

Matthew 4 3.

We see when he comes to Jesus, it says, now when the tempter had come to him.

The word tempter there is parazzo and it means to entice.

He seeks to lure.

This has been his game since Eden in Genesis 3.

It says, the serpent was more crafty, more subtle than any animal in the garden.

And he comes with his subtleties and his crafty ways.

And he says, as they said, we can't, he says, you can't eat of any tree of the garden.

And they said, No, there's one tree.

And he says, Well, what God knows is you'll be like him.

You will be as gods if you do that.

It's a tempting, it's a lie.

He comes subtly.

You see it all through scripture, through temptations.

Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, and he ran.

Samson was tempted to give away the secret of his power to Delilah, and he fell.

Esau was tempted by food.

Amen.

And he sold his birthright.

That was a wrong amen, church.

I'm sorry.

Peter was tempted to hide his Christianity and he denied Christ three times to save his own hide.

And I thought about all these.

And I thought about Satan, the tempter, and the audacity in Matthew chapter 4 that he must have had.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

He came to tempt Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine the boldness it takes?

He must not have been that smart.

As Jesus shared the word of God and cast him out with it.

Well, it doesn't end with just Satan in verse number 12.

We have to hit this again.

People have done volumes of information on this.

This is not exhaustive.

We're kind of a thousand-yard view on it, but it says we do not wrestle, verse 12, against flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this age, a spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places.

We have to hit Satan's minions known as demons.

It says principalities, rulers.

The Greek is art or archbishops, authorities.

The word to control or command is used there.

Powers, cosmokrator, which is rulers of sinfulness, men over darkness.

It is wickedness in the unseen.

So in doing some study over this, some believe that demons are given rulership over specific areas, maybe demographic locations, and have specific powers, like depression or propagation of false religions.

And you can see, I'll tell you what the Bible says, there's links in the New Testament to people who dealt with demonic oppression who had physical calamities.

Oppression by demons.

There was a mute man oppressed by a demon, a blind man oppressed by a demon, an epileptic, an insane man in chains.

And we know by Mark 5 that sometimes they gathered together in groups, and there was a group called Legion.

Why all this pastor, why are we getting into this in this church we were worshiping?

What are we talking about?

I don't want you uninformed.

Because this is closer to home than you can imagine.

In 21, a festival was formed with these groups witches, Wiccans, pagans, Luciferians, and Satanists met for what was called a conjuring festival.

Anybody know what city they chose to meet in?

Birmingham, Alabama.

There's over 1.5 million practicing in the United States.

And most of these practice forms of what's called demonic summonsings.

I'm gonna tell you, church, I don't mess with it.

I don't entertain it.

I won't watch a horror movie.

I'm not trying to be legalistic, but listen, I mean, maybe Jaws, but I'm not watching Children of the Corn.

I'm not watching Saul, I'm the Exorcist.

You've lost your mind.

No, sir.

No, not in my house.

Listen, I'm not having that.

You know, I like to sleep at night and I get scared sometimes.

And if I hear a noise and I watch the exorcist, you can bet I'm not sleeping.

I don't entertain it.

Why?

Because I believe it.

I was in the store the other day and there was a Ouija board cup.

I said, oh, hey, this thing away from me.

I don't want it.

I don't want it near me.

I won't listen to music with it in it.

Look, I don't even like Elvis's song, She's the Devil in Disguise.

Nope.

It's mean.

That ain't nice.

But I know this from scripture.

Hear this.

This will be encouraging.

Every time Jesus Christ encountered a demonic force, they fled.

They trembled.

They knew exactly who Jesus Christ was and that he was in charge.

In James 4, it says, Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee.

That's why in my house, and in my house, in my office, the name of Jesus is present.

There's a hymn on my wall of my office that says, Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

And in my house, oh, I'm thankful for a godly woman in my house.

All of the decor in my house is either pictures of the family or scriptures everywhere you turn.

That's our decoration.

And so when I turn around the corner, if a demon wants to fight with me, he's got to look at Jesus.

And I'm gonna say the name of Jesus.

When I get scared at two in the morning, you know what I say?

Look, I'm just telling you, Jesus.

Watch out.

Don't come messing with me.

We used to work in an old church building, 60 years old.

I had to go at nighttime and go through the back parts of all this building.

And let me tell you, it just felt creepy.

And I'll be walking there, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Y'all don't even mess with me.

Why?

Because it's real.

Do you see that scripture?

Paul wasn't playing with this.

And I listen, I know it's sort of funny, but I'm not joking about that stuff.

I if you got kids, don't mess with it.

I had a kid come on my porch, three in the morning, been at the park messing with a Ouija board.

He said, Pastor, and he was just scared, shocked.

He looked like he just had had a panic attack.

And I'm like, what are you doing?

You're not coming to my house?

I don't even know if that stuff's been touching you.

Don't mess with it.

I said, don't mess.

We prayed.

We asked for God to come, but I don't entertain it.

Why would you entertain that, man?

Entertain angelic things.

It's real.

This is what Paul says.

It's real.

What does it look like?

I don't completely understand.

But I know this.

There's a battle, and God has angels, and Satan has demons.

And it's a reality.

I believe in it.

The third thing we need to see this morning is this purpose to stand.

Look at verse part 11 and 13.

To stand.

Who it says?

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And I'll look down at verse 13.

It says, Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand.

Letter A is this You make no provision for the flesh.

How do we stand in this fight that is before us?

Make no provision for the flesh.

The word provision is a Greek word, pronea, and it's to consider a thing beforehand.

What does it mean to make provision?

For survival, for standing in this Christian life, it means you're making a plan before something ever happens.

Well, Pastor, I can't do that for everything.

Yes, that's true, but you can do it for a lot of things.

Let me give you an example, parents.

Before it ever happens, do you know where your where your stance is on dating for your children?

Before it ever happens.

Before it ever happens and they want to watch a movie in the basement.

Do you have a stance?

Because what you're opening yourself up for is a fight with you and your wife in the moment.

Because you're gonna make somebody look and I don't think so.

You better get that blanket.

Uh-uh.

No blankets in my house.

We turn the heat way up on dates.

No blankets.

What is our stance?

What do you stand for?

Have you already decided that?

Before your child asks, can they go over to so-and-so's house that you don't really know?

Have you taken a stance beforehand?

Pronia to consider beforehand.

When you get in a situation, I don't meet with a woman in my office without my wife or another pastor.

Beforehand.

Do you have things considered beforehand?

Before there's an opportunity of the flesh.

Have you thought about this?

Because Satan, if there's a way for the flesh, how are you planning for the future?

You is a good question.

You cannot stand on the mountain and be providing for this flesh.

Before you ever do any battle, before you ever stand with the enemy, realize we have an inherited sin nature.

And Paul said, make no provision for the flesh.

If you're surrendered, you can't make any provision.

Let it be as this: make every provision for the fight.

The fight is happening, it's around you, and he calls on you to stand in it.

And I want to tell you a couple of things about fighters.

Fighters are not cowards.

Proverbs 28:1 says, The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1

We stand.

Wicked, the cowards, they'll run at the sight of a fight, turmoil.

You see, fighters don't cower in the corner.

Moses fought Pharaoh with a staff and a stutter.

David fought Goliath with a sling and a stone.

If you want to stand in this fight, you can't be a coward.

You may have to fight with your family that's ungodly on some things.

You might have to fight with some ungodly friends about some things that's been understood that they just do.

I want to tell you, Satan's going to attack in every way he gets.

So you might be here today, you'll get right today.

I want to tell you, he'll be at your bedside.

If you read tomorrow morning, he's going to follow you to the job.

If you get through the workday, he's going to jump in the car with you, and he's going to agitate on the ride home.

His demons will be on your phone.

They'll be on Facebook, on Instagram.

They'll be ticking and talking you off.

You have to stand, you have to be courageous.

Another thing about fighters is this they're not cowards, they're not complainers.

We live in an age with a victim mentality.

And I was thinking about that.

I was doing some studies, they've got a picture that may show up.

The things that come from a victim mentality are crazy.

You can look through some of this list.

I encourage you to look through it, but what are we doing?

Life and Satan seek to make us the victim.

And it runs rampant.

I mean, you can look at some of those things.

I'm trying hard.

I'm on a three-year conviction.

I'm trying hard to work on not complaining.

I'm trying.

Sometimes I gotta bite my tongue, sometimes I mess up.

Easter morning, it's 2 a.m.

I find myself in my robe and slippers, walking the dog.

Because she woke up.

And I think to myself at one point walking, like, if anybody sees me now, who would be up?

And I'm walking, and I got tempted and walking, and I start, I started to talk to God.

I'm like, God, you know, I gotta preach in a few hours.

I'm awake at two in the morning, and and I started to sort of feel sorry for myself, and I caught myself, hear me.

Easter morning, I'm talking to Jesus about being tired.

You see what the Lord did to me?

I'm like, I get to be tired, I get to have legs to walk, I get to have a dog, I get to have a family, I get to have a home.

I got so much I can complain about, but I'm forgetting all the things that I'm blessed with.

And man, did the Lord put me in my place?

You don't get to choose all the things that happen in life, but you do get to choose if you complain or not.

Some people are so negative.

I think the demons convene are like, don't get around that one.

Don't do it.

He said, Brethren, finally, brethren, we need you to be strong.

Brethren, we need you quit being the victim.

Quit at the pity party.

Just quit.

Not a coward or a complainer, but what?

We're to be more than a conqueror.

So more than a conqueror through Christ who loves us.

Scripture said, I think Dave mentioned, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

Scripture says, I can do all things.

If God be for me, who can be against me?

You've got to stand in a position to fight because the battle is on.

Either we get equipped in the strength of the Lord to be strengthened and stand, withstand, having done all to stand, we stand, or we play the victim and get victimized by an adversary.

What is your choice?

I want to close with this illustration that I read through again this week.

There's a missionary named Herbert Jackson.

And upon getting on the mission field, Herbert was assigned a car.

And if you know anything about the mission field, it's do all you can with all that you got.

And this car was old and it had a real problem with starting.

So Herbert Jackson figured out that if he could get the car to get a little bit of a push, if he could get moving, it would start.

So he began from that time for two years parking his car either on a hill so it was easy to get a push, or he'd leave it running wherever he went.

And he explained any kind of weather, rain, sunshine, and all kinds of situations, quick meetings, slowing.

This is what he had to do to be able to run that car.

Countless hours of sweat and tiredness and weariness and trouble over these years.

And Herbert Jackson and his family got called to another part of the mission field.

And before that happened, a young missionary came and met with him that was going to take over his place.

And Herbert began to share the ingenious mode of transportation and what he had figured out to keep the car running.

And the young missionary said, Would you mind, Dr.

Jackson, if I took a look under the hood?

And he proceeded to look.

And Dr.

Jackson's just going on and on about stories of how he the car was going down and just having to start it.

And before he finished explaining, the new missionary said, Dr.

Jackson, I believe I see the problem with your car.

It's these cables right here.

There's a loose connection in the cables.

He began to twist the cable, and he got in the car, and the young missionary grabbed the key and turned, and the car started right up revved with great power.

Dr.

Jackson in shock.

For years, needless.

For years, sweat and toil and frustration and weariness, pushing, sweating, every kind of weather.

The power was right there.

He just had a loose connection, church.

Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting all that power to work.

Church, I want to tell you the power is right there.

Is there any loose connection?

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