Our Rule of Life - Scripture Pt2

So we are gonna lean into the practise of scripture again this morning.

And yes, so for quite a while now we have been looking at

these nine spiritual practises.

And if you're new this morning, it's all available on podcast.

If you wanna catch up these nine habits and rhythms of life that help us to

centre our life and our attention on Jesus, these spiritual disciplines that

put us in the pathway of God's grace so that we would know Jesus and that

we would find ourselves maturing in him, becoming more and more like him.

And this is the purpose of our life church.

This is what we were created for, to know Jesus and to become in this life more

and more like Him, to grow into maturity.

And so a mature Christian is a Jesus like person and not just like him,

but someone who is with him who knows him, doesn't just know about

him, but actually knows the Lord.

And I wanna make that point because I think it is very easy to forget

that deep and intimate knowing is actually really key in what we

are talking about in this series.

'cause we can so easily get very enthusiastic about doing things

like spiritual practises and doing things for Jesus or seeking him

to get him to do things for us.

And we can easily miss the relationship part and that can

kind of get pushed to the side.

And I would hate that for all of us.

I would hate for us to get lost in the doing of things, thinking

we're accomplishing a lot through the practises we're engaging in and

all the stuff that we are doing.

And miss the relational part, miss the knowing part because this is

the part that our souls cry out for.

You know, Jesus says this.

He says, this is eternal life.

That they would know you, that they would know you, that they

would know the heavenly Father.

There is no life apart from knowing Jesus, from knowing our father in

heaven, from living in relationship with them through the power of the spirit.

So last week, Luke spoke on the final practise in this series out of scripture.

And like I've already said, today is something of a part two and

that, and I've really felt to lean into actually the spiritual warfare

aspect of this practise of scripture.

For the word of God is indeed a powerful means by which we

are able to abide with Jesus.

And therefore it is a powerful means through which Jesus is formed in us.

But the word is also our chief weapon that we fight with.

For as we will come to see, we are indeed in a fight.

Some of you're like, no kidding, no kidding.

You're feeling it pretty strongly at the moment.

So through this word, I'd also love to bring a bit of a broader frame

to this whole series as well, which isn't just about relationship and

formation, but is actually this whole series is actually about warfare.

And in so doing what I wanna do is bring some more weight, perhaps to the

importance of these practises that we have been talking about by bringing a spiritual

warfare perspective to what we have been talking about over these past months.

So every practise that we have talked about so far.

Is yes, a means of knowing and being with Jesus, but it is also an act of warfare,

all of which are undergirded by the truth, which comes from the Word of God.

And hopefully as we go this morning, this will clarify.

And so let's look at our key passage of scripture today.

Pretty well known one from the end of Ephesians, Ephesians

six verses eight to 10.

So let's have a read.

Finally.

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, put on the full armour

of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against

the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual

forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armour of God so that when the day of evil comes,

you may be able to stand your ground.

And after you have done everything to stand, stand firm, then with the belt of

truth buckled around your waist with the breastplate of righteousness in place and

with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you

can extinguish or extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit,

which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kind of prayers

and requests with this in mind.

Be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord's people.

And so for some of you today, I just have this deep sense that, uh, this message

is actually the kindness of God for you.

The arrows are coming pretty hard at you at the moment.

The battle is fierce.

And, and perhaps you've forgotten that there is a spiritual battle

that you are in the midst of.

And maybe you're just kind of weary or distracted and

you've forgotten how to fight.

And so you're taking a bit of a beating at the moment.

Perhaps you're fallen for the devil's schemes and today may be an encouragement

to you, not another burden, not another weight, but an encouragement

calling into calling you into a deeper place of truth and strength

in the battle that rages in this dark world to use Paul's language there.

And so just to give a little bit of context to this passage, Paul uses

the word finally at the beginning here, and that word should actually

make us pause and stop and ask, okay, if he's using this word.

Finally, what has come before.

And if you've been coming to Word and Way, then you would know, because we

have been doing this in Word and way, just another quiet little plug there.

Um, and so what has come before in the first three chapters of Ephesians is, uh,

on what God through Jesus has done for us.

And who we are now in Christ because of what God through Jesus has done for us.

And then the following three chapters, the final three chapters, it's a really tidy

little letter that Paul has written there.

So we've got three chapters of theology and three chapters then of

how then do we live in light of what God has done through Christ on our

behalf and who we are now in Him.

And so echoed throughout this entire letter is one of Paul's key themes,

one that he is deeply, deeply passionate about, and that is unity.

It is shouted throughout almost every passage of this letter, and

it is summed up in chapter one with these words that he made known.

He being Jesus made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his

good pleasure, she purpose to be put into effect when the times reach their

fulfilment to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth, under Christ.

What is the plan of God?

Unity, reconciliation of all of us to our heavenly Father,

but to one another as well.

And so now we come to the very end of this letter, and Paul comes to this

final excitation and direction and he says, take your stand against the devil's

schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

authorities, and powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.

So why would Paul say our struggle is not against flesh and blood here?

What underpins this statement, what underpins this statement is actually a

couple of us foundational assumptions.

One is, in this life you are going to feel very deeply a struggle.

Life is going to feel quite difficult and hard and painful a lot of the time.

This life will continually feel as though you are in some kind of wrestle.

You will likely have a continual feeling as though something is coming against you.

There is resistance in this life and sometimes I think we, you know,

it's the pond we swim in and uh, we can get kind of used to it almost.

But there is forces that are coming against us.

We are in a war.

And second Paul's words assume that in this wrestle you are going to very

likely and wrongly think that the source of your struggle is other people.

And you'll be tempted to war against people against flesh and blood, which

is to say you'll be tempted to division rather than living in the unity of Christ,

which was God's purpose for sending Jesus.

So the problem Paul is saying here in the resistance, you are facing

the discouragement, you are facing the trials, the sufferings, the

problem predominantly is not people.

The source of our struggle are the forces of evil in the heavenly

realms, the spiritual realm.

And so Christ came to unite us to the Father, to one another.

But there are spiritual forces of evil who have the complete opposite agenda.

And why is this?

Why is their agenda the opposite?

Because division leads to death, and that is the goal of evil.

Unity leads to life, and that is the goal of God.

And so we are in a war for unity, a war for life, and it is a spiritual battle.

In hose Isaiah four, six, God says, my people are destroyed

for lack of knowledge.

And one of the reasons we can find life so hard and overwhelming and

discouraging is that we forget there is an opposing team that utterly hates

our guts and is warring against us continually to steal, kill, and destroy.

And we've forgotten that we're not powerless in this fight.

We have armour, we have a weapon, we have the word of God, a weapon,

as we're told in Hebrews four 12 is alive and it is active and it is

sharper than any double-edged sword.

And so in this passage that we just read, Paul uses this phrase, take your

stand against the devil's schemes.

So what are his schemes?

How does he operate?

Well, we, we spent, anybody remember the series we did a little

while ago called The Art of War?

You know, we spent quite a bit of time in this.

And um, I'd encourage you if you feel like you're in a spirit spiritual

battle right now, which yes you are.

Okay?

Um, we all are.

It's raging on around us all the time.

Um, I'd encourage you to go back and have a listen to that series.

So, how does he operate?

He operates through deception and lies and accusation.

And in speaking to the Jewish people, Jesus describes the devil this way.

In John 8 44, he says he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the

truth, but there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks his native language for he is a

liar and the father of lies.

If our enemy schemes are lies and deceit, then it stands to reason,

doesn't it church that our greatest weapon and defence is the truth?

So, where do we know and where do we find truth?

Well, we find it in the word of God.

We find it in scripture.

And so how does this all play out for us practically?

And so let's have a look at how these three frameworks that we have used

throughout this series, these three values that we hold to here as red

door of Reliant real and relational.

Lets just have a look at how these three values that, um, under

which our nine practises sit, are each a frontline in this fight.

So let's just have a look here.

Reliant.

So what are we resisting here through the practises that we've been talking

about under the banner of Reliant.

So we're resisting self-reliance, which is the lie that we are ultimately

responsible for sustaining our own lives, securing our futures, managing

our worth, solving our problems.

And so this lie tempts us to functional independence from God.

And it says, I must hold everything together.

I must produce the outcome I cannot afford to stop.

And so the three practises that we have under the banner of Reliant of Sabbath

and Scripture, prayer and fasting, they aren't just means of formation.

They are weapons in our warfare that enable us to know and inhabit the

truth that life is found, independence upon God, not in independence.

And at the next one, real.

What are we resisting here through the practises that we have put

under this banner of being real.

So performance is the key one, and this is the lie that we can secure

identity and belonging, approval through what we achieve, through what

we project to others through control.

And this lie tempts us to believe that we are what we do, that we have

to appear strong at all times, that we cannot at in any stretch of the

word, be exposed or be vulnerable.

And so we come to the practises here under the banner of being real, of

confession, forgiveness, and worship.

And these are more than formational.

They are weapons of resistance in this war.

Training us to know and inhabit the truth that yes, I am

broken, but I am the beloved.

I'm free to simply be me before others and before God.

I have nothing left to prove and nothing left to earn.

And then finally, under the value of relational, what are we resisting through?

The three practises that sit under this value?

So firstly, individualism.

The lie that autonomy.

Autonomy is ultimate.

And that my life is fundamentally my own.

This lie tempts us to believe that I don't need others.

My spirituality is private commitment, restricts freedom.

Community is optional.

And then the second one, consumerism.

The lie that people, church, and even God are products to evaluate based

on personal benefit and preference.

This lie tempts us to believe something only has value.

If it is benefiting me, I'll only be invested in something that meets my needs.

I should quit slash leave if my personal preferences aren't

being met and acknowledged.

My sat, my satisfaction is the most important thing.

And so under this value here, we have talked about the practises of hospitality

and witness service and generosity.

And so these are more than just means of forming Christlikeness in us.

They are actually acts of warfare, training us to inhabit the truth

that life is found in shared community, not isolated autonomy in

what I give and not in what I get.

And so that was just a little, I guess, reframe of where we

have been so far in this series.

Perhaps through, not just through this lens of formation, but also as

acts of warfare, acts of resistance in this war in which we find ourselves.

And some of you, I don't know, you might be sitting here going,

I don't wanna be in a war.

You know, I didn't choose this.

No, you didn't.

Probably like most people who find themselves in a war.

And so it's not about what's fair or what's just, it's just about what is.

This is the reality in which we live, and we can try and live in denial

to it, but it's not gonna make the reality of the sit situation go away.

And this is a reality that scripture testifies to very, very clearly.

And so our weapon, the sword of the spirit, the word of God, or another

way of understanding it, truth.

Our, our battle in this, in this world of deception in which

we live is the word of God.

The truth of God.

And so, as I've already said, in combating the enemy scheme of deception, truth

has found in the word is our key weapon.

And so how then do we wield the sword of the spirit, as Paul calls it,

there are three simple steps we can follow, which is a practise taken from

the fourth century called this prac.

I won't try and pronounce it in its original Greek 'cause I'll just

butcher the living daylights out of it.

So just the English translation is the practise of talking back.

And this is a practise developed by a desert monk by the name of Ous Pontus.

Yep.

Catchy.

And, uh, in his little book called A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons.

It's a great title, isn't it?

Yeah, you can look it up.

And so he just, he just outlined three very simple, um, I guess steps

as how we actually wield the word.

So when we have a thought that keeps coming to mind, an obsessive thought,

a lie, we can't shake a toxic feeling like shame or worry a sensation in

our bodies like tightness of chest, shallow breathing, or a sense of dread.

You know, we write this out, go, what am I feeling?

What am I thinking that clearly is not a God because it is not

bringing me freedom all life.

And then if we see, if we can articulate the lie that lies behind

the thought feeling or sensation.

And then three, we write out a scripture that counters the lie

and we turn our mind to this truth.

Whenever the lie reappears in our thoughts, we take captive those thoughts.

We set themselves up against the knowledge of Christ and Repla re

we replace them with the truth.

And this is how we resist the devil's schemes.

And this is how we take captive every thought in a really practical way.

So for an example, let's say you have a thought or a feeling around rejection.

You are feeling deeply, this feeling of rejection.

And the lie underneath it might be, I am unloved and I am unlovable.

And then so you go, okay, what is a word that counters this lie?

'cause that's a, that, that's bondage right there.

Church, you know, we, I, I say that in a few short words, but

what those few short words mean for people's lives is a life of bondage.

When you are bound by feelings of rejection, by a belief that you

are unloved and unlovable, that's an awful place to live, isn't it?

And God doesn't want that for you.

That's not freedom.

That is not the life that Christ came to purchase for you.

So what is the truth that sets us free and many do suffer

under the bondage of this lie.

Romans five, eight.

This is the truth.

God demonstrates his own love for me in this.

While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me.

I am so loved that the Son of God died for me.

So stick that stupid lie and stupid Satan, with your stupid

lies, the Son of God died for me.

So I'm not coming under the bondage of your stupid filthy lies.

I'm proclaiming the truth.

Some of you need to get a little bit more ticked than what you are, right?

You are just taking it.

Satan's just kicking you.

You are down and he's just sticking the boot and you're

not going, okay, kick me more.

And God's like truth.

Here it is.

Pick it up.

Stand.

Wield it.

Proclaim it.

This is not true of who you are.

You are loved.

You are so loved.

Stand up.

Stand against the enemy schemes the thought feeling.

Perhaps shame is something that you feel that you are carrying.

And the lie underneath it is that I am a mistake.

That's what shame says.

I am a mistake.

A scripture says Psalm 139, that you were created in my inmost being you

knit me together in my mother's womb.

I am fearfully and I am wonderfully made.

God gets to say who you are.

Not stupid Satan, not stupid devil.

Any stupid schemes stick in the boot into you again, binding you up with

yet another lie robbing you of the life that is yours in Christ, and

therefore robbing those around you at the life of Christ that Christ

wants to give to others through you.

So get up, stand.

Pick up the word fight.

So let's have a look at a well-known story where Jesus gives

us an absolute masterclass on wielding the sword of the Spirit.

Luke four verses one to 13.

So Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, he leaves the Jordan, he's led by the

Spirit into the wilderness where for 40 days he's tempted by the devil.

He eats nothing during those days.

And at the end of them, he is very, very hungry.

And the devil says to him, if you, if you are the son of God,

tell this stone to become bread.

And Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone.

So what's the lie here?

If you're really the son of God, you need to prove it by meeting your own needs.

And so the temptation, if you're really God's, you shouldn't have to suffer.

Use your power to take care of yourself.

Take control.

And Jesus' answer.

I don't need to prove that I'm God's son and I don't need to take control

of my circumstances to secure my life.

I trust my father.

My identity is received, not proved, and my life is sustained by him.

And so when Jesus answers, he is answering with the word of God with

a passage straight from Deuteronomy six, Deuteronomy eight, verse three.

Sorry for that one.

And the next one, the devil led him up to a higher place and showed him in an

instant all the kingdoms of the world.

And he said to him, I will give you all their authority and splendour.

It has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to.

If you worship me, it will all be yours.

Jesus answered.

It is written.

Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

This is from Deuteronomy six 13.

And so the lie, you don't need to trust the Father.

You don't need to endure the cross.

You don't need to wait for his timing.

You can have the kingdom, the authority, the influence now if you are just

willing to compromise your allegiance.

And so the temptation here.

The enemy doesn't necessarily tempt Jesus with something contrary to his mission.

He tempts in with a legitimate kingdom goal pursued through

an illegitimate means.

Oh my gosh, the temptation comes against the people of God all the time.

And then Jesus's answer, the kingdom is God's to give and

I'll receive it God's way.

Nothing, not even the kingdoms of this world is worth compromising my

worship and my obedience to the Father.

And then finally the devil led him to Jerusalem, had him stand on

the highest point of the temple.

If you are the son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here.

For it is written.

He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you carefully.

They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not

strike your foot against a stone.

Jesus answered it is said, do not put the Lord your God to the test.

And when he says that he is quoting Deuteronomy six 16.

And so the lie here, if you are truly God's son, you can force God

to prove his faithfulness to you.

The temptation You need spectacular confirmation of God's presence and

faithfulness and Jesus' answer.

I don't need to force the Father to prove his faithfulness

because I already trust him.

And then finally, when the devil had finished all this tempting,

just love how the Bible puts things.

Sometimes when he had finished all this tempting, he left

him until an opportune time.

So even that last little sentence there, you know, scripture tells us to resist

the devil and he will flee from you.

But you know what?

He's always gonna be looking for another opportunity.

Just because we do it once doesn't mean he is not gonna come again.

And you know what?

This morning I was, oh I tell you what, walks and showers, the

greatest places to hear from God.

I was out in my walk this morning and I'm like, I dunno, it just kind

of occurred to me this, this other opportune time that the devil found.

I wonder if it was the moment with Peter.

And so Jesus has just told his disciples about what's gonna happen to him.

He's just told Peter, who Peter is.

You're the rock upon which I'm gonna build my church.

And then he is telling his disciples, you know, the son of God is gonna

have to suffer many things at the hands of the religious and then he's

gonna have to die, suffer and die.

And what does Peter say?

Surely not Lord.

No.

And what does Jesus say Get behind me, Satan.

Right?

And I feel like that was this opportune time that's been talked about here.

'cause like, let me derail the son of God from his plan.

Let me convince him that he does not need to go through this.

Let me use a person who is so close to him who he has just validated as the one

upon which the church is gonna be founded.

Satan comes and speaks through Peter.

Oh my gosh.

If you can speak through Peter.

I'll just leave that hanging.

Anyway, that was for free.

All right.

So what Jesus modelled the spiritual practise of talking back was developed

and through this, this spiritual practise that I just just talked about was

actually developed through this encounter here that is recorded in scripture.

And so in this passage, we don't see Jesus overcoming Satan's

temptations by yelling, by trying to physically manifest his authority.

Oh my gosh.

God just must look at us sometimes and go, oh, aren't they adorable?

Thinking that if they just yell loud enough, they'll

scare Satan into submission.

And if they just pray in tongues enough, loud enough, if they just get

enough physically demonstrative that somehow they were scared, this ancient

being back into his little dark cave.

But no, Jesus doesn't do this, does he?

He just picks up the sword of the spirit.

He just picks up the word of God and he just tells Satan the truth, the truth.

Satan has nothing against the truth.

Lies have nothing against the truth.

Darkness has nothing against the light.

We don't need to get all weird and wied out about this.

We just need to pick up the truth.

To pick up the truth.

We kind of gotta know it though, don't we?

And this really comes back to what Luke was talking about last Sunday.

If you didn't hear Luke's message last Sunday, which was really

great word by the way, go back to it because it is that foundational

word and the importance of actually laying that scriptural foundation.

Otherwise, we don't know the truth in order to pick it up.

How am I going for time?

All right, so let's just quickly have a look at this here.

This, let's apply this to the areas of Lion deception that we are

resisting and overcoming through these practises that we've been

talking about through this series.

Oh, that's really horrible.

I'm really sorry.

Okay.

All right.

Um, slides are not my forte.

No, I put it back.

It wasn't that offensive.

Um.

It is just a little tricky to read, especially that yellow bit.

Oh gosh, sorry.

I should have run it past our graphics department before it, before it went live.

All right, so the lie here, self-reliance.

I'm ultimately responsible for sustaining my life, securing my future, managing

my worth, and solving my problems.

And the counter scripture here, Matthew 6 31 to 33, don't worry

saying, what shall we eat?

What shall we drink?

Seek first his kingdom, his righteousness, and all these things

will be given to you as well.

This is the truth.

Do we believe it?

That's the question, isn't it?

The core truth here?

My father knows what I need.

I'm called to trust and seek his kingdom rather than carrying

the burden of sustaining myself.

And this goes beyond just physical needs.

He's there to provide for your emotional needs, your spiritual needs,

as well as your physical as well.

Next one, performance.

I can secure identity, belonging, or approval through what

I project achieve control.

So that's the lie.

Ephesians 1, 4, 6 counters this for He chose us in him before the creation

of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight, in love, Hebrew destined

dust for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with

his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace adoption.

That could be a whole other message.

And you already did it a few weeks ago.

So if you wanna know what Adam's talking about there, the spirit of

sonship, the spirit of adoption, you can go back to message as preached,

um, probably about four weeks ago now.

Was it?

It was an absolute cracker.

Highly recommend.

All right, core truth here.

My identity is received through Christ's love, not achieved through my performance.

And the next one, individualism.

Autonomy is ultimate.

And my life is fundamentally my own lie.

Bomb bomb.

One Corinthians six, 19 to 20.

You are not your own.

You are bought with a price.

Therefore, honour God with your bodies.

I belong to God.

My life is not ultimately mine to direct.

It has been given back to God in surrender.

And that is where true life is found.

That is where freedom is found.

Consumerism, people, church, and even God are products to evaluate according

to my personal benefit and preference.

Philippians 2, 3, 4.

Do nothing outta selfish ambition or vain conceit in humility.

Value others above yourself, not looking to your own interest, but each

of you to the interests of others.

And so the core truth here, I'm not the centre of the community.

I'm called to love, serve and give rather than consume and evaluate.

All right?

So let me bring this home.

The struggle you feel isn't ultimately with the people around you.

It is spiritual and the enemy's primary weapon is not force, it is deception.

He doesn't need to defeat you.

He just needs you to believe something untrue about God, about yourself,

or about the people around you.

That's why our rule of life isn't just formation, it is actually warfare.

Every practise we've talked through, talked about through this series is a

sword stroke against a specific lie.

Because scripture doesn't just make truth claims, it also teaches us the ways to

embody and live in the way of truth.

And so just quickly, this next slide here, reliant again to

hit our three values here.

So against the lie of self-sufficiency that you have to hold it all together.

Sabbath, scripture, prayer and fasting.

How you keep saying, I depend on God and not myself real against the

lie of performance that you have to earn belongings through what

you achieve or project confession, forgiveness and worship are how

you keep saying, I am broken, but beloved with nothing left to prove.

Next one.

Relational against the lies of individualism and consumerism that

your life and your church are yours to optimise around your own preferences.

Hospitality, witness, service and generosity are how you keep saying,

I belong to a shared life and I'm here to give, not just to get.

And Jesus shows us how to actually fight, not with a raised voice, not

with a raised fist, but with the word.

Three lies.

Three quiet answers.

Straight from scripture is what Jesus models for us.

That is the model.

That is how we wage war.

And we name the lie, we find the truth and we speak it back.

So this week, don't just hear this, put it into practise.

When a lie, surfaces in a thought of feeling tightness in

your chest, stop it, name it.

Then go find the sword.

Find the verse that answers that specific lie, and keep turning

your mind back to it until it is what you truly know and believe.

You have been given a weapon, a powerful weapon.

You have been given the truth, so pick it up.

And so let me just trance.

Thank you.

Oh, we are one.

That's so nice.

Yeah, I really lost it there.

Okay.

Just for a moment, I guess that was real kind of teachy stuff.

But now I just wanna transition, I guess, into maybe a little bit

more of a prophetic ministry space.

So for those of you who are feeling very deeply the spiritual warfare reality that

I've just spoken about at the moment,

and that could be for a few different reasons.

For some, perhaps you are just feeling it so deeply, you, because you have

fallen prey to the devil's schemes that you've forgotten that there is a very

real enemy who is out to deceive you.

And so you fallen prey to a lie, to an accusation, to an atmosphere of despair,

hopelessness, shame, confusion, or dread.

And so perhaps just even in this moment, just be quietly asking the

Holy Spirit, what's the word of truth?

What's the word of truth that you have for me today?

Just maybe even just that posture of opening and put it

in my hand, Lord, as a sword.

And I'm sorry, I've forgotten the reality in which I live and I've allowed myself

to fall prey to the devil's schemes.

But, but the Holy Spirit is here to today.

Going here is your sword.

Just pick it up.

You've got the truth.

And I'm with you.

And so maybe that is you today.

Maybe another reason you are deeply feeling that sense of

spiritual warfare right now.

Another reason could be unrepentant And, and I say this because all the

sword wielding in the world is not going to get rid of that foothold

that the enemy has in your life.

Only repentance and confession can do that.

So if there is a sin that God has been knocking on the door of your

heart about going, you need to confess this, you need to turn from it, you

need to repent and you have just been resisting, you need to deal with that.

You need to be brave and confess that thing.

And so if that is you this morning, just hear that invitation from the

Lord and you don't, I don't know who your person might be to do that.

And if you don't have a person, come and talk to us.

Come and talk to Adam and myself.

We do have a high degree of moral, spiritual, moral

superiority in this space.

So you might find a little uncom.

We don't.

We don't.

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

There is nothing that you can share with us that is going to shock us, cause

us to condemn you or shame you, right?

But the only way free for you is confession and repentance.

All the sword wielding in the world isn't gonna help if the

enemy has a foothold because you are walking in un repentance in.

And this is the kindness of God to lead you to repentance right now.

And then thirdly, in second Corinthians, Paul says this, if you are really feeling

this battle right now, and you go those first two, I don't think they're me.

Paul talks about this thing in second Corinthians called a thorn.

A thorn in his side, a messenger from Satan that God has allowed

for a very specific purpose.

And for some of you who are feeling this warfare deeply, it is not

because you have done anything wrong.

It is not because you are in unrepentant sin.

It is not because God has forgotten you.

It is because God is allowing it for a purpose.

Now, I know some of you, your theology doesn't really jive with that.

You probably have an over realised eschatology.

What do I mean by that?

Dominion theology?

You think you should have the fullness of the kingdom in here and now and that you

should come under no suffering at all.

And I would say good luck with that.

Um, 'cause what Paul is saying here, sometimes God allows it for a purpose.

And I feel that for, for many in our church in this season

that we're in right now.

And I think a clarifying scripture might be Psalm 144 verse one.

In this place, praise be to the Lord my rock, who trains my hands

for war, my fingers for battle.

You are in training and you haven't done anything wrong.

So take heart, be encouraged.

There is a purpose.

Yes, you are being disciplined, but it's not as punishment.

It is as equipping.

All right, and there's another group I wanna talk to this morning.

This is fun, isn't it?

Hmm.

Yes, there are those of you here.

You know how to wield the word as a weapon, but what you have

done, you've weaponized it against people and not the enemy.

You've used the word to condemn, to control, to shame others.

You've used the word for your own ego because you wanna feel smart

and you like winning arguments.

You are a clanging gong and you have been the cause of rupturing people's

spiritual eardrums, so they are now deaf to the truth and the beauty of God's word.

And you need to hear the rebuke of the Lord this morning.

And I say that with all seriousness, having been this

person myself for a very long time.

And if that is you, repent.

If you have been a clanging gong, if you have weaponized the word of God

against the people around you for the sake of your own pride and ego, repent.

All right.

And made the fear of the Lord come upon you.

And I say that out of love and compassion, but oh my gosh, heaven,

help us that we'd be ever be a clanging gong that we would cause

spiritual deafness in those around us.

Such is the volume of our clanging, of how we have misused the word of God.

And some of you, and I know this is weighty, but this is all for

the God's kindness to lead you into freedom for your good and for the

good of those around you as well.

Some of you have actually exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

You know the truth, but you want the lie.

And this is what Paul talks about in Romans one.

You know those that exchange the truth of God for lie.

And what did God do?

He gave them over to the desires of their heart.

And you might think that's a good thing, such as a level of

deception that you're operating on.

Trust me, that is not a good thing.

None of us should be given over to the corrupt di desires of our own hearts.

That is its own form of judgement . So my friends, if you are in

that place, and I think this was Judas, Judas knew the truth.

He was with Jesus for at least three years.

He knew the truth and he chose the lie that life was found

in money and it destroyed him.

It absolutely destroyed him.

Peter also betrayed Jesus.

Very different though, very different.

Jesus was able to redeem and there was no redemption there for Judas who was given

over to the desires of his own heart.

Who is, um, anybody familiar with the movie The Matrix?

Okay, this is a massive, like massive gospel goggle movie for Adam.

Um, it's an older movie now showing my age.

But there's this brilliant scene in this movie, and I'll

explain it for those of you.

'cause I think it makes this point so beautifully.

There's this character Cypher.

And so the movie Matrix really portrays this reality that I've talked about

today really well, this sense, sense that there is this world that we occupy,

but then there is this real world that lies behind the smoke screen.

And uh, this particular character he has seen behind the curtain, he has seen

into the truth, but he's now sitting with the badie in the movie Agent Smith

and he's going, I wanna believe the lie.

I know this steak that I'm eating right now isn't real, but I just

wanna be deceived because the truth is uncomfortable and it's difficult

and I just wanna be comfortable.

And so I just, I'm happy.

Just deceive me.

Just deceive me.

Get me out of the truth and just let me dwell in the lie.

Oh, we so easily fall prey to this church.

And the enemy is clever.

So don't be sitting here thinking, I would never fall for that.

Our hearts are deceitful.

Yeah.

And some of us just, just put your heart before the Lord,

Lord, Lord, is this in me?

Is there a lie that I'm believing when I know the truth?

Do not fall for his schemes.

No matter how tasty that lie might seem, might feel it will lead to death.

It will lead to separation from God.

There is no other way.

Black can't be white.

White can't be black.

Truth can't be lie.

Okay, so I, I, I know this is a weighty thing, but this is all for freedom's sake.

It is all for your freedom, for your life, and for those around us.

So close your eyes and just bow your head for a moment and let us just

bring this to a place of prayer.

So these different, so scenarios that I've just laid out there,

what might it be for you?

What might the Lord be saying to you this morning?

In this space?

Is there a lie?

You have been walking in?

Holy Spirit, would you come?

You are the one who leads and guides us into all truth, because without

you, we are spiritually blind.

So, Lord, where there are blind eyes this morning, by the power of your

spirit, would you open blind eyes?

Would you unstop deaf ears who are deaf to your spirit?

Give us eyes to see, and ears to hear the truth that you are

leading and guiding us into.

And Lord, if there are those who are bound in the depths of deception.

Holy Spirit, come with your Ministry of Conviction, with

your Ministry of Illumination.

No, we cannot do this without the work of the spirit, and we fool

ourselves when we think we can.

So for all who are willing this morning, we invite the conviction of the spirit.

Come Holy Spirit, test us and know us.

Know our anxious ways.

See if there is any offensive way in us, any ways where we have given

ourselves over to lies and to deception.

And Lord, lead us then out of the darkness and into your glorious freedom,

into your paths of righteousness, into your paths of right relationship

with you and with those around you.

We remember this morning, the words that we began with.

That your purpose was to bring all things in heaven and on earth to unity in Christ.

That you desire Wholeness for us.

Shalom, this state of restored peace, relational peace, integrated peace

with ourselves, with those around us.

And with you lead and guide us into truth.

Let us hold fast to your teaching.

'cause your word promises that when we do, we will know freedom.

Open our eyes.

Grant us willing spirits grant us deep courage and humility to face the

things that perhaps up until now, we have been a little bit scared to look

at full in the face, that we've been convincing ourselves that it's okay.

This, this won't matter, but you're gonna look at it.

Look at it in the face.

See it for what it is.

See it for what it is doing, for what it is robbing you for what it is.

Robbing those around you, the life that it is choking out of you.

Let us have the courage by your grace to stare the truth of the lies that

we believe in the face to boldly.

Then pick up the sword that you have given us and to confront

these lies with your truth.

No matter how humbling, no matter how awkward and uncomfortable it might

be, trusting that you only have our good in mind, that because you are

love, you only have our good in mind.

So we yeared ourselves to the work of your spirit this morning.

Come, come Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit.

Have your way in our hearts and in our minds and in our lives, and it is in

the precious name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

And now Adam will come with some concluding thoughts.

Where are you going?

Did you just come to stand there?

Can we thank Dale for that?

I, um.

Know, one of the things that make it difficult to uh, hear is what

I would call spiritual arrogance.

Like you've been a Christian for 47 years and you think you kind of arrived, and

then you hear like a challenging word.

It's like you don't allow some things to penetrate.

And so I just wanna encourage you to recognise none of us have

arrived regardless of whether you're 4-year-old or you're 84-year-old.

You still need to be a place of humility to say, Lord, form me, shape me.

Um, I heard this story over the weekend.

I thought I was quickly share it.

Um, just to close, concluding thoughts.

So imagine you're a army, uh, seal, completely trained to the hilt.

You are an absolute weapon.

The entire resource of the United States American army have

resourced you beyond measure.

You are an expert in every possible arena of conflict, of armed conflict.

You are an absolute beast, man, woman, you, it doesn't matter.

You are incredible.

And after 27 years of training, the day finally comes where you have the

resources of an entire nation behind you.

You land on the, the field, you land on the moment of conflict.

You're in the middle of a war.

And suddenly as you, you know, work towards a moment of conflict and suddenly

you're in the middle of it, you're facing the enemy right in your gaze.

He's right up in your grill.

And here's your response.

You grab the phone and you say, Hey, Mr. President, I'm in deep trouble here.

Can you chopping me out right now?

Please help me.

What do you think the US president's gonna say to you at that very juncture?

You're an idiot.

I have equipped you with every single weapon.

Now do the very thing you've been trained to do.

You lack nothing.

Put the phone down and get out your gun and take the enemy down.

You hear what I'm saying?

Sometimes we're so busy do using the word of God to do this, that's good.

But the word of God is not just for the vertical, it's also

to wage war against the enemy.

The victory is won in Jesus' name.

Correct.

We're not bringing the victory, we're just enforcing the victory.

In many ways.

We're declaring the victory.

We are fighting the good fight that has already been won.

And I I, that really hit me.

I actually, Paul said that over the weekend, uh, mark, were

you there when he said that?

It was a great story.

Great sense of like, oh man, yep.

We've been given it to wage war.

Well, that was for free.

Bless you.