How to Win Spiritual Warfare | Brad Straarup

Are y'all ready for the word?

Come on, are y'all ready for the word?

I want to start today with a question because I already felt this as I was praying that some of you might have walked into this room and as you walked into this room you're battling some things.

Uh some of you you are battling with anxiety and you don't know what it is, but there's something in your workplace or in your life that has caused you to be unsettled.

Some of you walked into this place and you're feeling worried.

While others of you maybe you're fighting depression, and then there's someone else that would say, Man, I feel like there's such a war going on in my mind that I just feel like I can't ever get victory from that thing.

While there may be someone who is honest enough to say that you feel like the devil is coming at you.

Let me say that if you're in this place and you have felt any of those things, I'm so thankful that you're here because today we're gonna talk about something that I think affects every single one of us.

And today what I want to do is I want to give you the tools on how to combat that thing.

We're starting a brand new series this week entitled You Asked For It.

Now, some of you might remember Easter.

How many of you were at Easter?

Anyone here that was at Easter?

Look at that.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Look what God has done.

Some of you might be here at Easter, and what we did is we asked a survey about what are some of the topics that you want to hear.

So we're gonna be talking about anxiety in this series, we're gonna be talking about worry in the series.

Why?

Because you asked for it.

Literally, we took a survey, and those were some of the highest things that were requested, but the number one thing that was requested was spiritual warfare.

Like almost a hundred percent of everyone who filled out that card said the thing that I want to talk about more than anything is spiritual warfare.

So today we are talking about spiritual warfare.

Why?

Because you asked for it.

You asked for it, and I think so often there's not a lot of teachings around this topic, but my goal is that you will understand it, but not only that you will understand it, that you will know what to do with it.

Because I don't know if you realize this, but you're in a fight.

I don't know if you realize this, but you are in a fight.

Whether you wanted to be in that fight or not, whether you realized it or not, whether you wanted it or not, you are in a fight.

John Piper says it this way He says, Life is war.

He says that's not all it is, but it's always that.

Life is war.

That's not always what it is, but it is always that.

What is he saying?

There are moments in our life of joy, there are moments in our life of peace, there are moments in our life of celebration, but even though that's the case, we are always in a war because we have a real enemy.

Ephesians 6 says this we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against what?

Principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world.

So I'm gonna play a game and let's see if any of this hits close to home with you guys.

Have any of you ever had an argument with your spouse that went ten layers deeper than it should have?

Anyone?

This came out of a marriage series, let's be honest in church.

Some of you are like, he's not talking to me, is he talking to you?

Because that has never happened to me.

How about this?

Ever had someone say something to you that hurt you and it was still bouncing in your head three weeks later?

Ever had a negative, destructive, or evil thought about yourself?

Ever had a moment where you swore off something on Monday and Tuesday, literally the next day, you were doing the same thing.

Have you ever walked into a room and you noticed something was off in the room before someone ever said anything?

Or have you ever woken up at 3 a.m.

feeling like there's something sinister in your room and you didn't know how to shake it?

Let me just say this.

That that is not a bad week, that is a battlefield.

That is not a bad week, that is a battlefield.

And if you've experienced any one of those things, what you have experienced is spiritual warfare, whether you knew it or not, whether you realized it or not.

Let me give you a definition of spiritual warfare.

Spiritual warfare is the battle to remain faithful to Jesus against the schemes of Satan, the pull of the flesh, and the influence of the world.

Spiritual warfare is the battle to remain faithful to Jesus against the schemes of Satan, the pull of the flesh, and the influence of the world.

And my entire goal today is to teach you how to fight.

Because here's the thing: it doesn't matter what you've gone through, what I believe is that you can walk into this place, and no matter what you're struggling with, you can be free in the name of Jesus.

That that sin, that anxiety, that stuff that has held you down, that you can be free.

Our Bible says this that we are more than conquerors for those who are in Christ Jesus, which means this if you are in Jesus, you can be free.

How do we know that?

Jesus went to a cross, but he didn't stay there.

He went to a grave, but he didn't stay there.

He went to a tomb, but he didn't stay there.

Why?

On the third day, he rise again, and if he can give up, anything is possible.

If the grave can be emptied, then whatever it is in your life, it can be done.

If he can resurrect himself, he can resurrect you.

He can resurrect that thing in your life that you have given up on.

And what you need to do is you need to engage in spiritual warfare.

So what I want to do is I want to go theological and then I want to go practical.

Theological and then practical.

Okay, we're doing orthodoxy.

What is that?

Right belief.

I need you to have the right belief about spiritual warfare.

And then orthopraxy, what is that?

Right practice.

I'm gonna teach you what to do.

So first, I want to teach you how to think theological.

There's three things that I need you to believe about spiritual warfare if you're gonna be effective and you're gonna overcome the plans of the enemy.

Three things I need you to believe.

The first thing is this the devil is real.

The devil is real.

So often we do not think the devil is real, we think he's just some figment of our imagination or something fake.

C.S.

Lewis says there are two ditches that we can fall into.

And he writes this in screw tape letters.

He says there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall in about the devil.

One is to disbelieve in their existence, the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

They themselves are equally pleased by both errors.

We can have this place where we're like, they're not real.

And I think Hollywood has done an incredible job at that.

Like when I say the word devil, what you think of is this fat, cupid dude with a pitchfork red, and it's like, that is not the devil.

Okay, he's not just some like red dude, like that, that like some cupid kind of person.

That's not it.

Or I think even with horror movies, like horror movies, what that can do so often is it can actually just make it look like superstition and fake and fictitious.

And let me just say this: the enemy would love you to believe that he's not real.

Because if that's the case, you won't be fighting him because you don't think he exists.

So you're fighting at this level, meanwhile, you should be fighting the thing beneath the thing.

He has convinced so many of us that he is not even real, and just because you don't believe he exists doesn't stop him from knowing that you exist.

And he still wants to come and steal, kill, and destroy.

So we believe that he's not real.

Another ditch that C.S.

talked about is obsession.

Obsession with darkness, an unhealthy interest in them.

I've met some Christians that know more about demons than they do angels.

I've met some Christians that know more about the devil than Jesus.

Let me just say that is a ploy and a trap of the enemy.

We need to stay away and stay balanced.

One is superstition, and the other one makes it its identity, and we need to come to the middle.

The devil is real.

Ephesians teaches us this.

Ephesians 6, verse 10.

Ephesians 6:10

A final word be strong.

Say, be strong.

You can be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on all God's armor that you can stand firm against the strategies of the devil.

For we wrestle not, we fight not against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers, authorities of the unseen, against mighty powers in this dark world, against evil spirits and heavenly places.

Like we are not just fighting at this reality level, we are fighting something beneath that.

You're like, Brad, but that that's not true because you know, Satan didn't offend me.

John did.

That wasn't Satan, that was John.

Oh, yeah, but the second John offended you, Satan was happy to step into that place and say, now let me tell you what you should think about that.

Yes, Satan didn't cut you off in traffic.

That other dude did as you were coming in here, and then they pulled into Spirit Church, and you're like, You're a Christian, why did you come off in traffic?

Okay, brother, what's up?

Good to see you.

Satan did not cut you off in traffic, but let me just say this: once you got cut off, he was happy to step into that place.

Yes, not everything is caused by the devil, but he wants to use whatever he can to influence you and get you not to follow Jesus.

That's why verse 13 says, Therefore, say, therefore, what do we do about this?

We put on every piece of armor so that we can resist the enemy in the time of evil.

Then, after the battle, you will be standing firm.

Oh, my friends, I need you to believe that the enemy is real.

We we we have a real enemy, but the beautiful thing is the second thing I need you to believe is that that enemy, the devil, has been defeated.

Yes, we have a real enemy, but that enemy has been defeated, but he has not yet been removed.

The devil has been defeated, but he has not yet been removed.

Some of you may know about the Second World War.

On June 6th of 1944, there was a pivotal moment in World War II.

And it was when the Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy and D-Day happened.

When the beaches of Normandy was won, D-Day, historians would see, say that that was the moment that turned the battle.

Once D-Day was won, they victory victory was imminent.

However, it would take another year of the Allied forces pushing back Germany all the way to Berlin until Germany finally surrendered.

And I think that picture is actually very helpful to understand spiritual warfare.

Why?

Because through the cross, Christ defeated Satan.

Can I get an amen?

Christ defeated Satan.

Colossians 2:15, it says this that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities through the cross.

Colossians 2:15

But just because Satan has been defeated doesn't mean he has been removed from the earth.

He is still working and he is still tempting and he is still coming off to you.

Now, the end of days, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire.

You can read about it at Revelation.

We go back to Genesis, except there is no snake to tempt us.

We get into a better place, but in this moment, he is still active.

The decisive battle has won, but he has not surrendered.

That's why, as Christians, we have to learn to stand.

We have to learn how to stand because he is still at work.

But we stand on the ground.

Man, we stand on the ground that Christ already won.

He won the beaches of Normandy by himself.

And all we have to do is stand.

We're standing on him.

Hebrews 2.14, Jesus broke the power of the one who holds the power of death.

That's why as Christians we say this we don't fight for victory, we fight from it.

We fight from the victory.

And once you get that, it changes everything.

Because when the enemy attacks you, you're no longer saying, Satan is attacking me, attacking me.

What should I do?

When you understand that truth, you say, Jesus is Lord and I belong to him, so how will I stand?

No, what will I do?

No, how do I stand?

Read Ephesians.

Paul doesn't say go out and win.

He says this be firm and stand.

Throughout Ephesians, how do we battle?

Spiritual warfare, we stand.

Ephesians 6.11, stand against.

6.13, stand your ground.

614, stand firm.

Hear me.

The goal of spiritual warfare isn't to become obsessed with the devil.

It's to become so established in Christ that when hell pushes, you don't move.

When hell comes against you, you don't move.

When the enemy attacks you, you say, No, I will not move.

I will not get in.

I will not get bitter.

I will not carry unforgiveness.

I will not get angry.

No, I will not move.

I'm standing.

The devil is real.

He has been defeated, but he hasn't been removed.

The final thing I need you to believe to be effective in spiritual warfare is this Satan's primary weapon is deception.

Genesis 3.

He goes into the garden.

The Bible says he's more crafty than any other animal.

And he says to the woman, Did God really say, let me just say this, he is still saying that now.

Did God really say that you need to remain faithful?

Did God really say that you need to stay with your husband?

Did God really say that you need to forgive?

No, friends.

The Bible calls him a bunch of things.

They call him an adversary, an accuser, a tempter, a deceiver.

But Jesus sums it all up with one word liar.

Liar.

John 8 44.

He's talking to religious Jews and he says this, You belong to your father, the devil.

And you went to carry out your father's desires.

He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to truth, for there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

When you speak English, that might be your native language.

When you speak Spanish, that might be your native language.

It is your default language, friends.

When the enemy speaks, his default language is to lie.

And for some of us, he's been speaking lies over your life.

And what we need to do today is we need to bring them into the light.

Because spiritual war, forget this.

The entire goal of Satan is he wants you to believe a lie that is not true, that you will begin to live it as if it were true.

And he wages war in two areas in your life.

Some of you have experienced this.

The first thing is the battle within you, it's the battlefield of the mind.

The first attack ever recorded was not physical, it was mental.

Did God really say?

The accuser will say it today.

He'll say this to you You are what you did.

As the tempter, he will say, Sin will give you something that God is holding from you.

As the deceiver, he will say this, God can't be trusted.

So what do we do with these lies?

The Bible says this, 2 Corinthians 10 5.

We demolish, say demolish.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and we make it obedient to Christ.

That means when you recognize a lie, when you recognize a sin, when he's speaking things over your life that is not true, you can bring it under Christ's authority.

Just this week, I had an opportunity to get offended, had an opportunity to get hurt.

And it's funny because I was like, I knew I was speaking about spiritual warfare, so I was prepared for it.

And I tell you what, something happened, and all of a sudden, the second thing that happened, the enemies came, and he was like, Hey, let me tell you some things.

You're not good enough.

This isn't gonna work out for you.

You're not capable, capable, you're just weak, you're not a great leader.

Like all of these things started coming to me.

I started believing all kinds of lies.

But the beautiful thing is I recognize the liar immediately.

And what do you do when you see the lie?

You confront it with truth.

You see, because when the enemy comes and he says you're not good enough, 2 Corinthians says that my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.

Satan, you can call me weak, but when you call me weak, Christ says he is strong.

You're broken, you're defective.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, Ephesians 2 verse 10 says that I am God's masterpiece, that he created me in Christ to do the good things that he planned for me long ago.

Ephesians 2:10

Friends, we have to come to a place when we recognize the lie of the enemy that we can combat it with truth.

But how do you know if it's a lie if you don't know the truth?

The only way you know a lie is because you know the truth.

Jesus, when he was in the wilderness, Satan tempted Jesus.

We get to see Jesus facing spiritual opposition.

Three times we see it.

The same thing every time.

What did the enemy do?

Lied.

And what did Jesus say?

It is written.

It is written.

Three times he lied.

Three times Jesus said it is written.

And then as Christians, the challenges so often we do not say it is written because we don't know what is written.

Friends, get into your Bible.

How do you confront the lie if you do not know the truth?

The enemy is like, You'll never amount to anything, and you're like, I guess I won't.

No, friends, that is a lie from the pit of hell.

And he is wanting you to believe it that you will never do anything great for God.

No, we need to come against that with the word of Jesus.

There's gonna be a battle in your mind.

Some of you, you've been fighting that battle.

The way you overcome it is with the word of God.

Some of you, the battle is in your mind, some of you, the battle is around you.

It's not in your mind, but you're actually seeing this.

And I have to speak about this because Job in the Bible experienced direct demonic attack.

And some of you have experienced direct demonic attack.

Jesus encountered real demonic activity, but you also need to know this that not everything is caused by the devil.

Not everything is caused by the devil.

People are like, Brad, I just lost my peace.

The devil took my peace.

Where did my peace go?

The devil took it.

And I'm like, brother, tell me about that.

And he's like, Well, I watched the news, 24-7 news.

I drank 20 cups of coffee, and then I watched a horror movie, The Devil took my peace.

Nah, bro, you went and lost your piece.

Nah, nah, brother, that's on you.

Like, you went and lost that piece.

Not everything about that.

People can lose their job, and they're like, Man, the devil took my job.

Maybe.

Maybe.

In Job, everything got taken from him as a direct demonic attack.

Yes, maybe.

Maybe the devil took your job.

Maybe that's what happened.

But also, maybe it's just persecution.

In the book of Daniel, that's what happened.

However, the enemy was still behind that.

Sometimes it may be direct demonic attack.

Sometimes it may be persecution.

Sometimes it may be consequence.

Sometimes it's consequence.

Like I've chatted to people before.

And they're like, I got fired.

It's the devil.

I'm like, ah, devil.

I'm like, tell me about it.

And he's like, oh, I showed up late seven weeks and seven days in a row.

And I was like, bro, that wasn't the devil, that was you.

Like, you you you gone done that all by yourself.

Sometimes it is consequence.

How's this?

It can be direct demonic attack, it can be persecution, it can be consequence.

Sometimes it's providence.

Sometimes it's providence.

Some of you all know that.

You lost that job.

And you were like, my life is over.

And then all of a sudden, God brought you into something different.

What was that?

Providence.

Joseph.

He lost everything twice.

And yet he was elevated to one of the highest places.

And when his brothers came, he said this.

No, no, no.

You meant this for evil, but the Lord meant this for good.

Could it be that maybe the thing that you're seeing as a direct demonic attack is actually provision from God, and he's getting ready to put you into something that he wouldn't have been able to put you into had you still had that thing?

Maybe God is trying to do something in your life.

We have to be so aware of what it is that God is doing.

And my friend, let's say that if you if you have lost your job, I don't care what the origin was, I don't care if it was you, I don't care if it was the enemy, I don't care if it was Providence.

Here's what I know the second you get into that place, the enemy wants to come and he wants to start telling you lies.

And here's the thing you need to keep confronting that with the truth.

You need to keep running off to God, because if you don't quit, you'll win.

If you keep running off to God, you'll win.

He's wanting you to quit.

Don't quit.

My friend, don't quit.

Don't quit.

Even though we don't always know the origin, the battle always begins right after.

The circumstance does not have to come from Satan, but Satan will gladly interpret that situation for you.

So let me slow down real quick because I feel like I couldn't speak about spiritual warfare without talking about those of us who are in this place and we have an immense fear of the demonic, of demons.

Some of you have had a direct encounter with a demon.

Some of you have experienced people that are demon-possessed.

Some of you have seen things in your own life.

Sleep paralysis, demons in your home, demonic dreams, physical manifestations of the enemy.

Here's what I need you to know.

There is power in the name of Jesus.

There is power in the name of Jesus.

Not only is there power in the name of Jesus, there is authority in the name of Jesus.

The problem is a lot of Christians were scared because we don't recognize our power.

If you've ever watched a horror movie, pray that you don't.

If you ever watch a horror movie, you'll see these priests who don't know Jesus, who are trying to cast out a demon, and they take holy water and they go.

And the demon's like, and it's like or they take a cross and they're like, cross.

And it's like this six-minute fight.

Yo, in the Bible, Jesus cast out demons with a word.

He was like, you out.

Look at the Bible.

That's it, wasn't a fight.

No, we have authority in Jesus.

Jesus is the name above every name.

So we're running scared and we're afraid when we don't need to be.

We don't have to be.

Why?

At the name of Jesus, darkness flees.

I need you to get this into your system if you're experiencing demonic attack.

Philippians 2 verse 10 says, In the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.

Philippians 2:10

Above the earth, on the earth, underneath the earth.

To Jesus.

Luke 10, 17.

The disciples come to Jesus and it says this the 72 returned with joy.

And they said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

Acts 16, 18.

There's a girl following Paul around who is demonically possessed.

Eventually, Paul just gets fed up and he says, This in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you, come out of her.

At that moment, the spirit left.

At that moment, the spirit left.

The name of Jesus is more powerful than any other thing.

And the enemy doesn't want you to believe that.

I remember as a kid, I used to have demonic dreams, so many demonic dreams, as a five-year-old.

And I remember going for counseling, Christian counseling, and the person said this, let me just tell you something.

There is authority in the name of Jesus.

You just need to say the name of Jesus.

And I was like, Praise the Lord, I just need to say the name of Jesus.

So I walked into my house and I said, Jesus.

I walked into my room and said, Jesus.

I got on my bed and I said, Jesus.

I said, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

I loved it.

Get this.

That exact night that she told me that, I had a dream, a demonic dream.

In the dream, I get up from my bed, I go into the bathroom, I sense something dark, and I say, Jesus.

And in my dream, an invisible snake comes out and starts strangling me to the point of death.

The entire time I said, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and the snake wasn't afraid.

And I woke up.

What was that?

A demonic attack.

The enemy was like, I don't want you to say the name of Jesus.

The name of Jesus isn't powerful.

And immediately I was able to come against that as a five-year-old and say, No, Jesus.

The name of Jesus is powerful.

I have authority in the name of Jesus.

I will not be silent and I will not back down.

The name above every name.

The name that you have to bow to.

Jesus.

Jesus.

For this to work, there's two things.

You actually need to know Jesus.

And you need to be filled with the Spirit.

It's funny, there's a place in the Bible where there's a bunch of people that try to cast out a demon and they do not know Jesus.

Acts 19 says this.

Verse 11.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul.

So even that a handkerchief and apron that had touched him, when they were taken to the sick, their illnesses were cured.

And evil spirits left them.

Paul is the goat.

He didn't even go there.

Like he just took a handkerchief and went, whoosh, and then it touched the person, and evil spirits left.

Like the goat.

Like outside of Jesus, this is my guy.

This is my dude.

This is my dude.

But it says this, watch this, verse 13.

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed.

And they would say, In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

I command you to come out.

Seven sons of Skeva and a Jewish priest were doing this.

One day, the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and Paul I know about.

But who are you?

This is demon smack talking right here.

Like, Jesus I know, Paul I know about, but who are you?

Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them.

He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Friends, it is not enough just to know about Jesus.

You need to know Jesus.

You need to know Jesus.

Not only do you need to know him, you need to be filled with him, filled with the Spirit.

There's only one point in the Bible that we see a story.

It's Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

With the disciples, we're not able to cast out a demon.

And this man brings his son to Jesus and says, Your disciples couldn't do it.

And Jesus says this He says, You wicked and perverse generation, how long will I stay with you?

And he talks to the Father, and then eventually he turns to the Son and he costs the demon out in a sentence.

And the disciples come up to him and they said, Why did we not have victory over this thing?

And Jesus said this, This kind only comes out by prayer.

Some manuscripts say prayer and fasting.

Another uh gospel says this, that you didn't have enough faith.

What is he saying?

You wicked and perverse generation, this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.

You wicked and perverse generation, this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.

You wicked and perverse generation, you are too connected to the world.

This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.

You are not connected enough to God.

So you can know Jesus, but you can have so much of the world in you.

And you're not connected enough to God, and you will fight the enemy and you will be weak.

If you're gonna win at a spiritual battle, you have to decide how much of the world you're gonna allow into your life.

Because we are in a battle.

So something you may not know about me is I talk funny because I'm South African.

And as a South African, there's certain things I do not understand about America.

I do not understand why we drove on the other side of the road.

Almost got on an accident once, because I thought someone was playing chicken with me.

And uh, I was like, no, I will stand in my lane.

I will and and I was like, oh, I'm wrong.

So I don't know a lot of things.

One of the things I don't know about is football.

Okay, terrible with football.

I I watch football where you kick the ball with your feet.

Um, and then there's the football where we run with it.

And I'm like, why is that called football?

It should be called handball.

Um because we're not, I'm offending, I'm like losing church members by the minute in this in this illustration.

But I I don't know much about football.

I don't have a football team.

I'm in Arizona, so I guess go Cardinals.

Like, I like I like I like I don't have a football team.

And I don't understand the rules, but when I was watching football, one of the things I realized is that every football team has two units.

There's an offensive, I love explaining football to Americans.

There's an offensive unit and a defensive unit.

The defensive unit's goal is not to give up any ground.

The offensive unit's goal is to take ground.

Friends, spiritual warfare is the same.

We are supposed to not give up ground and we are supposed to take ground.

We need strong defense and a strong offense.

The challenge is this so often we have such a strong offense.

Every time you hear about it in church, you gotta pray, you gotta fast, and there's people you can pray the paint off that wall.

Man, you have fasted, you have done everything, but you're looking at porn.

But you're allowing darkness into your life, but you're listening to things that are dark, you're listening to people that are dark, you're watching horror, you're doing all of these things, and you're wondering, why is my prayer life weak?

You have a strong offense, but you have no defense.

Others of us, we have such a strong defense.

I'm gonna I'm gonna submit and I'm gonna repent, and you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna beat my body into submission, but we don't know how to pray.

We don't know how to fast.

We don't know the word of God.

Friends, you need both.

To be able to say, I'm not gonna give you any ground, and now I'm gonna take ground.

Theological understanding, three things that I need you to believe.

Now I'm gonna give you three quick things that I need you to do if you're gonna win this battle for spiritual warfare.

You need a strong offense, you need a strong defense, you need both.

So, how do we fight?

Three things.

The first thing is I need you to stand your ground.

Say stand.

How do we fight?

We still we fight by standing.

Ephesians 6 10.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Verse 11.

Put on the full armor of God that you can stand against the devil's schemes.

Verse 13.

Put on the full armor so that when the day of evil comes, you might be able to stand your ground.

And after you have done everything to stand, y'all get the picture?

I think he kind of wants us to stand.

Like he wants, he continues, verse 14, stand firm then.

And then he teaches us how.

How do we stand?

Easy.

With the belt of truth, with the breastplate of righteousness, with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and then the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

That's how you stand.

And then pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, with this in mind, be alert.

Two things I need you to notice about this passage.

The first thing is this what's the operative word?

Stand.

You're standing on the ground that Christ has taken, and what you're saying is, I'm not going to give you any ground.

Second thing, 85% of the armor was defensive.

85.

And so often when we talk about spiritual warfare, when we preach about it, we only talk about offensive.

85% of the armor was defensive.

And the challenge, you're not gonna have to do as much offensive work if the enemy isn't living rent-free in your house.

I love you.

So what do we do?

We stand.

Imagine this.

Imagine I came up to you and I said, hey, so at 3 a.m.

today, tomorrow, 3 a.m.

There's gonna be a thief that's gonna come into your house.

And he's gonna steal, kill, and destroy.

It's gonna happen at 3 a.m.

Okay?

How many of you would go to bed?

Nah, I'm not going to bed.

I'm getting a rocking chair.

And I'm gonna sit at the front door with my friends Smith and Wesson.

And I'm gonna be like, boy, you better try to come in here.

I'm gonna take you out.

You wouldn't do that.

But if you knew the enemy was coming, yet the challenge is the Bible says this in 1 Peter 5, 8, be alert and sober minded.

Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

So resist him by standing firm.

The problem is so many of us we guard the doors in our life.

Man, we have ring cam, we have ring cameras, we have locks, we have deadlocks, we have guns, we guard all the doors in our life, but we do not guard our spiritual doors.

The enemy is like, I'm not coming through your front door, I'm coming through your phone.

I'm not coming through that window, I'm coming through this one.

So careful.

Oh my gosh, I'm gonna protect my family physically, but we do not protect our families spiritually.

Teenagers, what are you watching?

Who are you letting speak into your life?

Why?

A toxic feed and toxic friends will breed a toxic life.

You have to say, how much of the world am I gonna allow in?

Why?

Worldliness in your life is the devil's access to your life.

You have to stand firm.

The second thing that I need you to do is I need you to close open doors.

In other words, don't allow the enemy a foothold in your life.

Bitterness is a foothold, offense is a foothold, unrepentant sin is a foothold, selfishness is a foothold, anger is a foothold.

Bible says Ephesians 4 26 In your anger do not sin, do not let the sun go down while you are angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

It goes to talk about stealing.

What's that?

A foothold.

Talks about uns unwholesome talk.

What is that?

A foothold.

Says, get rid of any bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, every form of malice, but be kind and compassionate, forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven you.

You do not have to fight the enemy away in a place that you have not given him access.

Where have you cracked the door?

What are you flirting with?

Where are you playing with or dabbling with evil?

Can I say some stuff?

Can I just like say some stuff?

Is that okay?

Y'all love me enough for me to just some just say some stuff?

Just gonna say some.

We're in October, okay?

Let me talk about some stuff.

Horror movies.

Horror movies.

Y'all, I used to love horror movies.

It used to be my favorite thing that I used to do.

It was my favorite genre of movie.

There was a time when I was young, I would go to Blockbuster and I had seen every horror movie on that shelf.

Even Shadow Postor, who loved me enough to say, You like horror movies?

And I was like, Yeah, I love them.

And he said, You need to get that checked.

And I was like, what does that mean?

And he said this: How can you preach about fear when fear is entertaining you?

How do you preach about fear when you have allowed fear access into your life?

And friends, the more and more horror movies that I watched, the weirder and weirder stuff in my home got.

And there came a point that it got so strange and so weird that I said, Father, forgive me, and I never watched them again.

I never turned back, and that stuff stopped happening.

Brad, it's crazy.

This weird stuff is happening in my home.

Yeah.

And you're allowing stuff into your home.

Can I say one more thing?

Halloween.

Halloween.

Like it's not a big deal.

Like it's fine.

It's fine.

My kids get it dressed up.

It's cute.

It's just chill.

It's chill.

And I could stand here and I could tell you about a witch's calendar.

And how it's one of the most important dates on their calendar.

I can tell you that they do that because they believe that the veil in the spiritual world is so thin.

I could tell you about what Satanists do with that day.

Or instead of glorifying evil, what I can do is I can read you Ephesians 5 verse 11 that says this have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but expose them.

Ephesians 5:11

Have nothing.

That's what we're doing right now.

1 Thessalonians 5.21.

Hold on to what is good and reject every.

Say every.

Every kind of evil.

Friends, you can either reject it or you can entertain it.

But let me say, if you entertain it, you are being deceived.

The Bible, so many times we think that the enemy is this cute kind of thing, or we're like, no, it's not that big of a deal, or it's harmless.

Friends, the Bible says this that the enemy masquerades himself as an angel of light.

What does that mean?

It means he looks good.

He masquerades himself.

You think the devil shows up looking like the devil?

You think he's that dumb?

No, the Bible says he shows up as an angel of light.

It's harmless.

Exactly.

That's what he wants you to think.

But there is stuff that happens in the spiritual.

It's good, it's harmless.

No, it's not.

85% has to be defensive.

And then there's the offensive.

We have to stand our ground.

You have to close any open doors.

So I wrote this down.

I need to say this.

Close any open doors.

If there's occultic stuff in your home, Ouija boards, astrology, horoscopes, y'all, it's in the name.

Hurrah.

Horoscope charts, tarot cards, spells, witchcraft, crystals, energy stones, pendulums for divination, dousing rods used for guidance, psychedelic drugs, any drugs, amulets, charms.

Have nothing to do with evil.

Get rid of it, throw it away, burn it.

Burn it.

I don't have it in my notes.

That verse in Acts, that verse in Acts, where um Paul goes and costs out that spirit.

No, when the when when the spirit when the the the the people are beaten, it says this that people feared God in such an incredible way after that moment that everyone took their occultic stuff and they burned it.

They came and they burned it.

Y'all, I calculated how much that were that was worth.

It was over 10 years of salary.

All the stuff came and they just burned every single thing.

Burn it.

Final thing that I need you to do is I need you to use your weapons.

Use your weapons.

The first weapon is this repentance.

James 3, verse 4.

James 3:4

It makes an entire argument that repentance is essential for spiritual warfare.

The second thing is the word of God.

Ephesians 6 17 says this take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The whole point of spiritual warfare is replacing a lie with the truth.

Know your Bible, use your weapon.

There is a one-year Bible.

Follow that.

There's a devotion, there's some Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, or Proverbs.

It will take you 15 minutes a day.

Start there, start somewhere.

Know the word.

Final thing is this prayer.

Prayer is a weapon.

Ephesians 6 17.

It says this take the helmets of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and pray in the spurs on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the Lord's people.

This is not a devotional attitude, this is century duty.

This is a knight who is saying, I am gonna watch.

It's the same thing Jesus says in Mark 14 to the disciples, watch and pray that you do not fall into temptation.

Repentance, the word of God, prayer.

Final thing that I'll say about the armor is that this with the spiritual battle, the power does not come in reciting the armor.

I know of people that are like, you're in a spiritual battle, brother.

You didn't put on the armor of God.

And I'm like, how do I do that?

They're like, you just say it.

You just say it.

I put on the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, the breastplate of righteousness.

And I'm like, there's no righteousness in our lives, but I put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I don't know the word of God, but I have the sword of spirit.

How do you have the sword of the spirit?

It's because I said it.

Yo, you put on the breastplate of righteousness by walking in righteousness, not by saying it.

You respond with the word of God, the sword, by responding with the word of God.

You put on the helmet of salvation when you stand in the understanding of who you are in Christ.

You have the shield of faith when you still choose to believe that God is working, even though the enemy is attacking.

Friends, it's you memorize it.

Please memorize it.

It's good for you to know.

Why?

Because you can say, okay, wait, I'm not walking in righteousness right now.

Because, friends, when we're not walking in righteousness, when we do not have the sword of the spirit, when we don't understand who we are in Christ, and we're not wearing the helmet of salvation, when we're not walking in peace, we are defenseless.

If you want to win at spiritual battles, don't just memorize the list, live the list.

Be the list.

Allow the Holy Spirit to help you be the list.

Does that make sense?

Final thing, and then we'll pray.

Some of you have come into this place, some of you have been struggling with darkness, and the enemy has told you that he is powerful, and there is nothing that you can do to break free from that thing.

You've been so stuck in that addiction and sin that you're like, this is just who I am, and I'm forever gonna be this way.

There was a story in 2002, Paige and I, we love documentaries, about a girl by the name of Elizabeth Smart.

Some of you may know the story of Elizabeth Smart.

A thief broke into her home and took her at night, her little sister saw the entire thing.

And this thief took her into the wilderness of Utah and assaulted her, and took her as one of his wives, and he had another wife.

It was crazy and weird.

But eventually, this got to such a place that this thief became so arrogant that he put her in a gown garb and you could only see her eyes.

And he would take her out into public, and the entire city was looking for her, and she was right there in the middle of them, and no one knew.

There came a point she was next to a police guard who was looking for her with her captor, and in that moment, all she had to say was, I'm Elizabeth Smart.

And she would have been freed in a second.

That second, she would have been free.

But she didn't say it because she so believed the lie of the enemy that if she said it, she would die.

Y'all, some of you, Jesus is right there, and all you have to do is call on the name of Jesus, and you're not doing it because you are believing the lie of the enemy.

Friends, do not let him lie to you.

At any point, all you have to say is, Jesus, help me.

Jesus, bring me strength.

Jesus, I need you right now.

Jesus, I call you, Jesus, bring me.

Call on the name of Jesus.

Don't let the enemy lie to you.

If you're gonna win that spiritual battle, we stand on ground, won by the greatest man who has ever lived.

Jesus, my savior, my king, the one we serve, our Lord, our savior, Jesus.

And there's some of you here, you don't follow Jesus.

And the enemy is kicking you up and down, and you don't have Jesus.

Let me just say today, you need Jesus.

No one I'm like, everyone, close your eyes, bow your head.

No, no, no.

If you need Jesus, I want you to do me a favor.

I just want you to wave at me and say, Brad, that's me.

If you need Jesus.

Thank you.

I love that.

I love that.

Thank you.

I love that.

I love that.

Pray this prayer off to me.

Let's all say it for those saying it for the first time.

Dear Jesus, I need you.

Come into my life.

Make me new.

I repent of any darkness.

Anything I've allowed into my life.

Cover me with your blood.

I believe you're God.

I give you my life.

Thank you for changing me.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

And amen.

Church, doing me a favor.

Put your hands together.

We love you, church.

And hey, if you just said yes to Jesus, I want to be the first to tell you that this is the best decision you could ever make.

Congratulations.

And we do have a next step for you.

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Well, we love you, church, and we will see you right back here next week.

And remember that with God, there is more.