The Weapon Jesus Used Against Satan

and we're being told to... Almost got you, almost didn't get you there, yeah. We're told to? - The word of God. - As your helmet, and take the... - The word of God. - Which is the word of God. Man, put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Man, the final two pieces of armor, the helmet of salvation, and the word of God. All right, let's talk about these two amazing gifts we've been given. But first, I need to do a quick little survey. Do any of you have someone in your family who's notorious for giving weird gifts? Anyone have someone in their family that you're just like, you don't know what you're gonna get when birthday or Christmas comes? All right, you know who you are, and if you're not, and someone's looking at you right now, you might be the one who gives the weird gifts. So if you feel like somebody's around you, I wanna question your gifts. Well, I don't know why, but my dad's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, it was like their whole side was known for giving questionable gifts.

Like, I remember one Christmas I showed up, and my grandpa was like, "Boy, I got you a great Christmas gift." And I'm like, "What?" And he pulls out a ziplock bag with a frozen barefoot in it. Guys, he shot a black bear, lop the foot off, and he's like, "You know what my grandson wants? He wants that frozen barefoot." And he was right, it was awesome. I'm like, "Who gets a frozen barefoot?" It was the coolest gift I ever got. I remember all day, I played with the barefoot until it started to melt on the way home, and my sister did not like the frozen barefoot near her face at that moment. I remember another Christmas, we show up at my dad's side of the family, and my aunt was like, "Here you go, Matty." And she hands me purple sparkly toe socks. You know those socks that your toes each have like their own little thing in it? And I remember looking at her and being like, "What high school boy in the history of humanity wants purple sparkly toe socks?" But I had them, they were comfortable. But the wildest gifts that I always got came from my dad. For whatever reason, my dad always bought one gift. Mom would buy about 99% of the gifts.

She would get the ones that we wanted, the ones we needed, but they would always be that one gift, that one gift under the tree, that no one knew what it was other than dad. And here's what you knew about that one gift. It was either going to be the most amazing gift you received that Christmas or the weirdest, one of the two. Like I remember the Christmas after I got married is my first married Christmas pearl and I go down to Georgia over having our first family Christmas. And that was the Christmas, my dad decided he needed a gift to me in front of the entire family, a sexy Santa outfit. There wasn't a lot to the gift, but you can imagine opening that in front of your entire family, seven months married, four months into being a pastor. Guys, Pearl just about died next to the Christmas tree. She's like, oh my goodness, what did I just marry into? You just never knew what you're going to get with my dad. Sometimes it was a weird gift. Sometimes it was an amazing gift. Sometimes you were left asking, dad, how much did you spend on this? Like I remember one time it was my senior Christmas. And for whatever reason, dad got me this wild outdoor arena, wool, wilderness, hiking vest thing. I'm not sure how to describe it other than it was so cool, but so small. Like for whatever reason, he got me like an extra small and it was like fat guy in a little coat.

I just couldn't even get it over my shoulders. Like it wouldn't zip. It was just way too small, but I loved it. And so he told me which like boozy, boozy, mountaineering store he got it at. And it was just like really cool store up in the mountains. And so I'd drive to the store and I was like, do you have these in a bigger size? And the person said, no, that's the only size we have left. And I was so disappointed until I was looking at the one on the rack and I saw the price tag. Guys, I don't know what my dad was thinking, but this vest was hands down the most expensive single piece of clothing I had ever touched. Like I didn't know what it was. I don't know what it was about. Maybe it was my senior, senior Christmas and he was already missing me. Maybe he picked it up and got to the register and was too embarrassed once he saw the price to put it back. But until that moment, I simply did not know the value of what was in my hands. I didn't know what someone was willing to pay for me to have it. I didn't know what it cost my father to give me such an extravagant gift. And that, that's how I think a lot of us think about the gift of salvation. We don't know what someone was willing to pay

to give it to us. We don't know what it cost our heavenly father to give us such an extravagant gift. See, salvation is free to us. We don't do anything to earn it. We simply accept it, but it is by far It costs us nothing, but it costs God everything. See, salvation, it's a really fun theological word, but for us to understand the extravagant gift we have for us to understand the helmet of salvation that we're talking about today, we have to unpack what is salvation? What is this big fancy word salvation? See, Paul, the guy who's writing about this armor, this whole book that we've been sitting in, the battle that we're in, and he actually writes to another church, and he unpacks what salvation is. See, he tells this church in Rome. He says to them, in Romans 3, 23, he says, "For everyone has sinned, "we all fall short of God's glorious standard. "We've all sinned, we've all done and messed things up. "We've done things our way, our broken ways. "We've done it our way versus God's way, "and none of us are perfect." Paul is just like, "Hey, you're all a bunch of screw-ups. "Welcome to church." It's a great reminder that none of us have it all together. We've all made a mess of things in one way or another,

but that making a mess of it, that sin, that way of doing it on our own, it comes with a consequence, it comes with a cost. And Paul tells us that the wages of sin, the wages of doing it our way is death. The wages are us getting what we've earned. It's us getting paid what we do. See, if you work 40 hours, you're expected to get paid for 40 hours, and God is saying, "You've messed up. "We've all messed up, we've all done it our own way." And that act, that sin, it has a wage. It has something you've earned. You've got a paycheck coming due, and that paycheck is death. But see, that death that we've earned actually comes in two different ways. See, first we're told that God is life, and sin separates us from God. It pulls us away from life. So the first death that we experience is death, death where eternity, where eternity were in a place of death and destruction, the opposite of life. We're separated from life and all things good and true after this life. But the second way that we experience this death, the wages of sin, is actually in this life today. So think about this. Think about when you choose to do things your own way. You choose to trust in what you think is best, and you choose to lie.

Well, that lie brings death to your integrity. You choose greed, and that brings death to your joy. You choose lust, and it brings death to contentment. Everything God warns us against, everything that he says, don't do it that way, do it. My way, he knows that doing it that way will bring death to something today, and also death by separation for eternity. But Paul doesn't stop there. He continues, and he gives us the good news. The good news is salvation from our death sentence. See, he says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. How did God go about making this free gift happen? We're told that God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners, while we were still messed up, messing things up, not yet perfect. Christ died for us, took the death we deserved, the punishment we deserve, and then gave us his life, his payment. He offers us new life in him. Guys, this is the greatest exchange in the history of the world. It's actually the single most important decision you'll ever make in this life and for eternity. It's the biggest question you have to answer, which is the question, will you accept the free gift?

Will you accept the gift of life, the salvation that God extends to you? But how do you know you've done that? How do you know you've accepted this? How do you know you've taken what God is offering to you? Well, Paul answers that, and he says in Romans 10, he said, "For if you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved." But what if you're like, Matt, I'm like super screwed up. I'm like a super hot mess. Like I've really done a lot. Like if you knew my story, you would say surely that's too much for God. Actually, we're told everyone. Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. Anyone who wants it will be saved. Guys, God is like a cosmic Oprah. He's like, you get salvation and you get salvation and you get salvation, you just gotta accept it. I mean, like this is literally the payment for all of your wrongs, acceptance in the God's family, eternity with him and get this. When you make this exchange and you accept him into your life, Jesus says he actually will put his spirit in you,

his spirit that unlocks all of the armor we've been talking about, his spirit that will empower and guide and enable you guys. This is his now the greatest gift of all time. And Jesus is like, here it is, do you want it? All you have to do is accept it. If you've not accepted Jesus, why not? If you've not accepted Jesus, what's stopping you? Why wait another moment? Why risk accidentally stepping from this life into the next life without the gift of life that Jesus offers you, the forgiveness that Jesus offers you. And so if you've not done that, why not do it now? Why not pray a prayer? Something like Jesus, I've messed up, I need to be saved. I accept what you did for me and I want to follow you. Forgive me of my sins, come into my life. Why not pray that right now? Why not pray? Jesus, I've done and messed things up. I'm a sinner, I know it. You offer me salvation and I accept that. I wanna follow you. Guys, if you did that, if you just prayed that prayer in your own words, just that exchange of God, I've screwed things up. I need you coming to my life. If you've done that, you've just accepted the greatest gift of all time. You've accepted the salvation that God offers

and what Paul is talking about. But if you did that, let me tell someone. Right now, lean over to the person next to you. Tap him and just be like, I did that. He told me to tell you I did that, but I wanna tell you I did that. If you did that, tell someone you did that. And then let us know. Go tell a staff member, come down at the end of a gathering to one of the prayer corners, text trust to 2.0.0.2. If you text that number, we've got a whole team that would love to walk with you, to encourage you, to help you unpack this incredible gift you just accepted. But here's the really cool thing. Everything that we've just talked about, that's the starting point of salvation. See, everything that we just talked about, that is the first part of salvation. That's the making you right with God part of salvation. See, there's actually three really fancy seminary words that involve salvation. And so if you like learning new words, you can write these down. But see, what we've been talking about is justification. That is the being made right with God. The salvation in his totality is justification, sanctification, glorification. Justification, sanctification, glorification. What does that mean? That means justification, I'm being made right.

Sanctification, I'm being made new. Glorification, I'm being made perfect. Justification, I'm made right with God. Sanctification, I'm being made new right now. Glorification, I will one day be made perfect in glory in heaven. Guys, when you've accepted Jesus, you've been made right with God. Your sins are covered, paid for. You are justified and put into right standing. God accepts you into his family for eternity. But the good news is, we're not dead yet. Like, I don't know about you, I like living. I'm not planning on going to heaven tonight. And so the second part of salvation is the right now part of life. It's the making us new right now, right here in the middle of all of this. It's the taking the old selfish, sinful, jealous, hateful life that we once were. And he's saying, hey, that's gone. And now I'm making you into something new. Hey, that old life, I'm sanctifying you and changing you and a new is coming. Man, this is an ongoing process of becoming a life changed by Christ. But then a day will come that we do die. But because of Jesus, when we step into eternity, we will be stepping into eternal life. And this is where we will be made perfect

given our heavenly bodies for eternity. See, salvation, salvation is being made right. It's being made new and it's being made perfect. Salvation is being made right, made new and made perfect. So when Paul says, put on the helmet of salvation, he's saying, wrap your thinking around the totality of this process, this reality, to let your thinking go. You're being made new. There's no condemnation for those who belong in Christ Jesus that you are currently in the process of the old life going all the way and the new life being built in you. You are not who you once were. And then the reality of this life isn't all. There is that a day is coming that you'll step from this life into the next life. You'll be made perfect and there'll be no more sickness and no more tears and no more death. Paul is saying, let these truths, this reality, shape your thinking. Shape what you dwell on, shape how you think. And I love, I love that Paul, when he was thinking through all the different metaphors that he could use to talk about salvation, that he chose a helmet. Because he knows and we know that what we think about, what we know, what we ponder on, what we dwell on, that affects everything. You know, my granddaddy, not the barefoot granddaddy, but my other granddaddy, my momma's dad.

He was a profound warrior. And he gave me the most intense fear you could ever have of the craziest animal on the planet that I love to stay as far away from as possible. Some of you are crazy and love. I have this intense fear of horses. Now I know some of you are crazy about your horses and I saw you last year at the Horse Weekend. I too love horses on TV and as a blue, I shouldn't have said that. I love TV horses on TV. All the horse people are gonna be mad at me now. But here's why my granddaddy had such a fear of horses that he then gifted to me as a young kid. See when my grandpa was really young, growing up way back in the hills of Georgia, way up in the mountain, somebody came to visit him. And I don't remember if it was a family member or a neighbor, but I just remember grandpa saying that this guy came and visited, but this guy somehow or another spooked the family horse and that horse kicked this dude in the face. Guys, this was tragic. It was traumatic. My grandpa never forgot about it. He talked about it often, but now, but here's the thing you gotta know about my grandpa. He was brilliant with common sense, but he only had a third grade education. So he didn't understand much about like traumatic brain

injuries, but what he learned in that moment was protect your head or you'll get kicked stupid. I heard so much growing up. Protect your head or you'll get knocked stupid. Protect your head or you'll get knocked stupid. I'd go to play football. Son, you better put on your helmet. You're gonna get knocked stupid. Going out for a bike ride. Boy, you better put on your helmet. You're gonna get knocked stupid. Pick it up a skateboard. Boy, that's stupid. Put the skateboard down. He hated skateboards for some reason. Grandpa knew in his brilliant simplicity, protect your head. Protect your thinking. Protect what happens between your ears because it affects everything. And some of us, sadly, we've not protected our thinking. We've not protected our worldview. The way that we see things. Some of us have taken some really hard shots from Satan. And our thoughts have gotten jostled. Our heads gotten jostled. And see, the helmet of salvation, it helps protect our thinking. See, some of us have taken hits from Satan and we started to think I have to earn God's approval.

The helmet of salvation says, Jesus has already earned it for me. Some of us are thinking my worst moments define me. The helmet of salvation says what Jesus did for me, defines me. Some of us are thinking if I struggle, I must not really be saved. Helmet of salvation said struggle is evidence that God is changing me. Which is crazy to think about is like before Jesus, you didn't even fight. You didn't even struggle. It was a temptation and you're like, let's go enjoy. But now that you're following Jesus, there's this conviction, there's this tension, which conviction is amazing. I'm so thankful for it because it is a loving God's sake. I'm making you new. I'm making you new. There is a tension between the old life and a new life and that is awesome. Like I hear people say, man, I'm following Jesus for 15 years. Why do I still get angry? Why do I still fight insecurity? Why am I still tempted? Because you're in the process of being made new. Construction sites are messy and don't confuse unfinished with abandoned or broken. And you're being made new, you're being made new,

you're being made new. Some of us have taken shots and we think this pain is forever. The helmet of salvation says God isn't finished with my story. Some of us feel like cancer is final. That grief feels final. The broken relationship is final. Aging feels final. Death certainly looks final. The helmet of salvation. It says none of those get the final word. It's a perfect day is coming. Man, here's why the helmet of salvation is so amazing. No matter, it's so amazing because no matter where I look when I'm wearing it, what I see changes, 'cause see when I look backwards, I see he made me right. That past doesn't define me anymore. even though this construction site is messy and things are still broken, Jesus is transforming my present. And when I look forward, man, I see that a day's coming, he's gonna make me perfect. My future is secure, no matter what happens between here and there. So guys, when shame screams, God can't forgive that, put your helmet on. When that frustration says, you'll never change, put your helmet on. When the suffering says, this is all they'll ever be,

put your helmet on. But I get it, Satan is really clever. He is the father of lies. He's a master accuser. And he's really, really, really good at flinging arrows and giving hits that cause us to think crazy things, to fill lies, to get distorted, warped thinking. But here's what I wanna ask you to do. Something awesome happens when you think about what you're thinking about and then you say, here's a lie that I need to expose. 'Cause when you pull a lie into the light that loses its power, when you pull a lie into the light, it loses its strength. When you pull a lie into the light, it loses its stronghold. And some of us have been tempted to think about lies right now. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to pull out your phone and I want you to text a lie to this number. Now, just so you know, this number's gonna go to my friend, Des, she knows we're doing this, no surprises to Des, we're about to blow up her phone with like a thousand texts. But I want you to text Des. And I want you to text her a lie that you're tempted to believe. A lie that the enemy knows works for you. And we're actually gonna do something with these

at the end of the gathering, so please pull out your phone, text this number, text Des a lie. Maybe for you, your lie is I'm too bad to be loved. Maybe your lie is my past defines me. Maybe your lie is if anyone ever knew about blank, I'd never be loved. Maybe your lie is I have so many doubts, how could I ever belong? So which lie is the loudest for you? What thought is Satan trying to sneak in to distort your thinking? Text it in. Now, we're gonna do something with those here in a couple of minutes. So go ahead and text them in. What lies are around you right now? Gotta be quick, 'cause we're about to keep moving on. You guys get those texts it in? Okay. So now that we have put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, we've picked up the shield of faith and we have the helmet of salvation on. We are finally suited up. We've got on the armor of God. But all of these pieces that we've been talking about over the last five weeks, all of these are defensive pieces. They're protective pieces, but we're not meant to just sit back and be Satan's punching bags, taking shots from him.

Yes, God wants to help us be protected from the schemes and strategies of the devil, but guess what? He also wants us to pick up a powerful weapon and not just stand our ground, but start taking ground. To start preparing, to go from preparing for a fight to bringing the fight, to go and say, we're gonna take back what the enemy has stolen. We're gonna rescue back those trapped in his lies. We're gonna free those held captive to his ways. We're going to fight back. And here's how Paul says to fight back. To take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. We fight back by taking up the sword of the spirit. So we're clothed in truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation. And now we pick up the sword of the spirit, the word of God. And we start to say, not today, Satan. And we go pick a fight and we take back some grounds. But first I gotta be real clear on who we're picking a fight with because some of us have mistaken this and we pick the wrong fight. How did Paul start this entire teaching block? Who did he say we're fighting against? We're called to battle Satan, not each other. We're called to be peacemakers with each other, to pursue harmony with each other, to be meek and gentle with each other. We're called to live at peace with each other, but not with Satan.

We're told to bring it to Satan. See, we fight Satan, not our sister. We fight the father of lies, not our father-in-law. We fight the accuser, not our co-worker. We fight the devil, not the difficult, annoying person sitting next to us. People aren't the enemy, but there is a real enemy behind the fight and that enemy, Satan, the devil, we don't make peace with, we stab. we're going to put you back in your place." We stab back, but we stab back exactly how Jesus stabbed back. So we have this incredible story where Jesus teaches us how to stab back. See, Jesus was directly challenged by Satan three times, and all three times the way that Jesus responded was he struck back with scripture. So you'd Satan accuse? Jesus used scripture. Satan tempted? Jesus used scripture. Satan lured? Jesus used scripture. Jesus fought back with scripture. The greatest weapon against Satan is scripture. It's not your cleverness. It's not your discipline. It's not whatever podcast you're listening to. It's the holy word of God. And here's what's crazy about what Paul did. He didn't say scripture. The Word of God was like a sling or a bow or a javelin or a catapult, something that attacks the enemy way out there because I want to attack him way out there. No, no, no. He didn't even compare it to the broad sword, the two-handle sword that some Roman guards would carry. He compared it to a gladius. This is a Roman gladius or the cheapest version we could buy quickly on Amazon. This sword looks almost exactly what a Roman soldier would carry. It's called a gladius, it's a short sword, and this short sword was meant for one thing, up close and personal battle. See, the Roman soldiers, they would do everything they can to keep the enemy at bay as long as possible to attack as far out as possible, but they knew that a time would come that the enemy went from out there to right here. And the enemy would be up in your face. He would be up close and personal. It would be hand-to-hand combat. And Paul is saying, there will come a time that Satan, he gets past all that, and he's going to be right in your face. He's not shooting arrows anymore. He is right up in your face. He is so close you can feel his breath. It feels like he has got his hands on your neck. It will be right up in your face, and it's going to feel so close,

so scary, and you not only will have to pick up your shield of faith to take the blows, but you got to pull out your sword, and you got to stab back. And you got to say, Satan, back up. You got to say, Satan, I got a truth for you, and it's at the point of the tip of this, back off, boy. You know, when we started today, I told you my dad gave some really weird gifts. But my dad came by it, honestly. I mean, his dad, his father gave me a bear's foot, so how far do you think the apple falls from that tree? Well, that same grandpa, the barefoot grandpa, when I turned one, 365 days old, at my first birthday party, he decided that was the moment to gift me my first gun. Who gives a one-year-old a rifle? Southern Rednecks do, and it was awesome. It was like this rite of passage for Parks Boys. But here's why I share that. I was given something that I had no concept of the power of. I was given something I had no concept the power of. Guys, we've been given something that many of us don't have a clue the power of what we hold in our hands. But this power, sadly, is useless if we don't use it, if we don't learn how to wield it. See, this book is in a book of spells or incantations. Satan is the father of lies. The only way you defeat a lie is with truth. And this is the greatest source of truth the world has ever seen. These are the very spoken word of God. This is a lamp until I feed a light into our path, showing us how to move forward in a world of lies and confusion and deception. This is how we move forward in chaos. We come back to truth. You know, much to my boys' disappointment, I did not give them a gun for their first birthday. Their mom disapproved of that idea. But over the years, I have been actively teaching them how to respect and honor and care for the power of a gun. So whether or not they ever become hunters, I know that ignorance can get you hurt and I don't want them to get hurt. And so whether you're a hunter or not, just go with me with this metaphor for a minute. See, for years, I've been dripping lessons around gun safety for my kids. How do we respect what we hold? And then a few weeks, we're actually going to be doing the hunter safety course together. And so to teach my boys how to handle the power of what they hold in their hands, we've been... We're getting around other safe and wise people to learn from. We're practicing. That's the same thing for scripture. How do we learn how to wield the power in our hands?

How do we learn, know, and use the truth that we have? How do we learn how to stab back? How do we learn to how to not just stand our ground, but to take ground back? We read the book. We join classes. We get around other people, other safe and wise people to learn from. We practice. And if you want to know how to start reading the Bible, how to start unpacking the power that you hold, man, we created an awesome website for you. It has a ton of articles, a ton of next steps, a ton of resources. If you just text Bible to 20022, we'll actually send you that link. And it's just a great first step to get you into the Bible and to start understanding the power that you hold. But to end today, we want to do something that if I'm honest is a little bit scary to me because I don't fully know what's going to be handed to me in just a minute, but earlier we asked you to text in ways that you're tempted to hear lies. Thinking that has gotten jostled because of the hits you've taken from Satan. And so Craig is actually going to bring me some of the stuff that you guys just texted in. Awesome, thanks. So these are literally just off the printer.

Texted from you guys listening right now. And what we want to do is we want to stab back. We're going to take the word of God and we're going to speak truth to these lies. See growing up, we did this thing called sword drills and so we had practiced finding things in the Bible. And so today we're kind of kind of in with the sword drill because we're told that the Bible is living in active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It's able to pierce with clarity and truth. So do whoever texts it in. My past is too messy to be forgiven by God. I want you to hear Psalms 103.12. God has removed our sins as far as the East is from the West. Can you hear your past is not too messy for God? You are forgiven. You are a child of God and your sins are as far from you as the East is from the West. Someone texted in the lie they want to believe is that they're all alone. For you, the truth is due to Ronomy 31.8. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will never fail you nor abandon you. Satan wants you to think you're alone. Satan wants to make you think you're not noticeable, that no one sees you, that you're forgettable, you're a wallflower. God says he sees you.

We're told that he knows the number of hairs on your head. He loves you dearly. He is with you. He will never leave you or fail you. Someone said anxiety has so much control over them. Man, if you know my story, that's a part of my story as well. So man, if that was you, I get it. We're with you. Man, we talk real openly here about mental health. We talk real openly about the value of counselors. We love our counselors here and we love the way that they help us find freedom from the thoughts that so easily entangle us. We're a pro counseling church 'cause we don't hide that stuff. We all got it. I know your marriage is messed up. I know your kids are messed up. I know your finances are messed up 'cause all of ours are. Let's do it together. Let's get healthier together. Let's just be honest about it. But if that's you who has anxiety, man of truth that I've cling to, and I hope the truth you hold, is 2 Timothy 1-7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So my friend, whenever that anxiety gets loud, my friend when that anxiety gets loud, and you're tempted to give in to the fear, to live, timid, to back off, and to back down, and to cower, may you know that the spirit that lives in you because you asked Jesus into your life, he says you got power, you got love, you got self-discipline, and when anxiety gets loud, don't let it become something of shame, let it become something of prayer, to where it goes from shame, to tap it into the source of power, strength, and discipline that Jesus says he is there to give you. Man, I want you to know, Romans 8 and 1 is for you. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Whoever said, I can't handle my diagnosis. The cancer has returned. I want you to know, Philippians 4, 13, it's true that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. It's my friends out there battling a disease and illness. That verse doesn't mean that we're gonna win just because we prayed. I don't know if you guys know this, but we will all die someday from some thing. But for those of you who are battling something, you ever thought about you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength, that may mean living with dignity

and faith and courage and letting your disease be the greatest testimony of your life. My dad had a terminal illness, battled it for eight years and he lost that battle. But because he had the helmet of salvation because we had the helmet of salvation, we knew that we didn't lose life. He just stepped into life. He stepped into eternal life. But because he lived with such courage, such faithfulness, such devotion, that those who witnessed his life in his final seasons, battling his disease, they didn't see someone sick. They saw someone faithful, he didn't see someone sick. They saw someone who looked a lot like Jesus. And so my friends who have diseases, who have illness, man, we get it. That's the church we wanna walk with you. But we also, I wanna challenge you that maybe this illness becomes the greatest testimony of your life to put Jesus on display. To whoever said, I believe alive because I've struggled with watching pornography since I was a kid and I'll never be worth a future husband or boyfriend. First of all, I just wanna say thank you for being so brave. And I love that we got a church so courageous to be so honest and that it is so safe to be so honest here. And to you, my young friend,

the temptations of your life. First Corinthians 10, 13, the temptations of your life are no different from what others experience. May you hear you are not alone. You're not the only one. This church has hundreds of people who struggle with temptations and addiction. And Satan loves to isolate, but isolation is terminal. And so don't believe that lie. Your face is nothing that no one else hasn't faced. And so you're not alone. You're not broken. You're not distorted. You're not terrible. Someone else knows your pain. Scripture says it real loud and clear the temptations in your life are no different than any others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. So keep standing. Keep resisting. Keep saying not today, Satan, and stab that sword back in the helmet to say, "I have not been given a spirit of fear and humidity. "I can overcome this." You stab back. But friend, if you've got a temptation in your life, this last verse, you cannot miss.

You cannot miss the last sinness in this verse. It says, "When you are tempted, "he, Jesus, will show you a way out." So you can endure. Some of us are so focused on the temptation. We miss the exit ramp Jesus provides. Stop looking at the temptation to stop or looking at Jesus 'cause Jesus is gonna say, "Here's who to call. "Here's who to text. "Here's who to reach out to. "Here's who to say help. "Jesus will provide a way if you're looking for Jesus." Stop looking at the temptation. Start looking at Jesus and see the way that he provides. Man, someone just texted in that I have to do it all on my own. You gotta muster it up. You gotta carry everything. Man, I want you to know Psalms 46.1 is for you. God is our refuge and strength. It's not up to you, cling to him. He is our ever-present help in trouble. Whoever just texted it, I'm defined by the worst things I've done. Galatians 6.9 is for you. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessings if we don't give up. Your past does not define you. Jesus defines you and he brings you freedom. (gentle music)

- Dez told me that these have been coming in so fast that she's just having to grab them. And so I just want you to hear who's some of our church. What's some of our church is saying? I'm a fraud. I'm gonna marry him anyway, The lie is I'm tempted to believe that I'm too damaged to be a good father, that I'll never be good enough. I am never anyone's first choice. I am never wanted. My abuse makes me unworthy. The lie that I believe is that even though I have been baptized and confessed to my faith in Jesus Christ, that I still will not go to heaven because I struggle so much with lust, temptation, and adultery. Truth is, I just hate myself. Almost five years ago, I tried to convince a lot of others, a lot and lot of struggle to get out of emotional, will be financially, mentally, and physically, the lie. The enemy whispers is maybe you did something wrong and God is punishing you for your struggle. A lie is I can't get sober. A lie is I need to earn salvation. A lie is that my past military career and the things that I've done in war make me unlovable. A lie is that I can't be trusted. A lie is I'll never heal from the trauma and the break, the cycle that has been going on that's affected my whole family. The lie is I keep getting it wrong

and I'm going to mess up my kids. A lie is my husband won't ever accept Jesus. A lie is I'll never forget what happens to me that day and I won't be able to get past it. A lie is that I am too overbearing and controlling and people hate being around me. A lie is I'll never be alone in that being a special needs. Mom is so hard, I'm exhausting and exhausting to others. I am empty. Friends, I want you right now to put on the helmet of salvation. You are made right with God. You are being made new with God. And one day you will be made perfect and so no matter what lies, you are hearing, no matter what lies, the devil is screaming. Put on the helmet of salvation and know that you are made right. You are being made new and you are being made perfect and Jesus is for you, he is with you and he is walking with you and he has provided you with the sword of truth and clean to this and as Satan gets loud, get jabby, get stabby, put him in his place and say Jesus is the truth that I will be defined by because I'm made right, I'm being made new and one day I'll be made perfect, I'm being made right, I'm being made new, one day I'll be made perfect so matter what the lies say, speak truth back. So today, I hope that every one of us will do one of two things. If you're following Jesus, man, I hope you will get to know the sword or the spirit in your hands

and that you'll fall in love with the Bible, man text Bible to 20022 and learn how to use what you've been given. And for those of you who you're not yet following Jesus, man, I pray that you will recognize that without salvation you're fighting naked, that's what we said down south, you ain't got any armor on because salvation is what completes the armor but it's also what unlocks the armor to begin with. Trusting Jesus is the single greatest decision you will ever make. So if you're tired of fighting naked, tired of fighting, feeling exposed, tired of feeling like it's all on your own, Jesus is saying, I'm right here. Except that I love you like crazy, ask them into your life, tell someone, come down front to the prayer corner, talk it through with someone, say something online in the chat, text trust to 20022 and let us know 'cause Jesus changes everything. So guys, to wrap up today, two steps. Choose which one's right for you. Do you need to get to know Jesus or do you need to get to know the Bible? Do you need to get to know Jesus or do you need to get to know the Bible? - Thanks for joining us today with LCBC on YouTube. We are so glad that you took time to join us today. And it's still not too late to be known as a part of our online community by checking in

and sort of do that text YouTube to 20022. And if you're doing that for the first time, check in with us for the first time. We're gonna send you a coffee gift card just as a thank you. We're so glad that you joined us today. - Yeah, we can't wait to see all the ways that God can work in your life through this LCBC community. But until next time, thanks for being here.