The Weapons of our Warfare: The Anointing part 4 | Pastor Shane Idleman

The title this morning, A Fight to the Death, The Weapons of Our Warfare. And I want to recommend a book. The Christian in Complete Armor. It's pretty thick, isn't it? Yeah, it's like a Bible. It's actually... Any guesses on what year it was written? I know some of you have read it. Come on. Balcony? 1600s. By a Puritan by the name of William Grinnell. And he was part of the Puritan movement that was inside the Church of England. And man, I want to do a series on church history at some point. It's so fascinating on how we separated from Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, the Great Schism, all these things that are so important in church history. Anyway, this is the book that also brought David Wilkerson kind of back on fire for the Lord. Leonard Ravenhill gave him a copy. This is hard. It's Thee and Thy, King James. But there are abridged versions for you. I want to highly recommend it because it really goes in depth on this topic. And we are in a series in the book of Acts, of course,

but the anointing, part four. And if you get a chance, go back and listen to part one, part two, part three, maybe this week. Because the anointing is so important. It's a biblical term. People have made it weird, but it's not weird. It's biblical. God actually said, the Bible says that God has anointed Jesus. The Bible talks about, we have an anointing from the Holy One. It's basically the Holy Spirit touching our lives in a powerful and profound way. And we have to guard the anointing. We have to survive the anointing. And last week was on guarding the anointing. How do we guard it? What is the battle we are in? And then I promise this week is going to be the weapons of that warfare. Because it's one thing to know about the battle, but it's another thing to be engaged in the battle. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I like to tell the truth. All of you as believers are in a spiritual war. And sometimes I have people say, I don't want to be part of it, pastor. Well, there's no way around this battle. Because if you're not on God's side,

you're not in the enemy side. There's no pacifist in this battle. Actually, if you are, you're drifting towards the enemy side. And so we are in a spiritual battle and I love to equip people. I love to tell my kids, we don't know what to expect. You might see the Antichrist. You might go through tribulation. You might be out of here. I don't know. We got to expect anything. Here's the spiritual battle you're in. Here's how to win. Because when we don't prepare people, they're easily defeated. And that's one of the big pushes now against, I'm so glad it's been a long time coming, even more so against the prosperity gospel, the name it and claim it gospel. It's real popular in Africa. And if you're not aware of it is, or aware what it is, it's this belief that God wants you healthy and wealthy. And it preaches well, right? You can build an audience, get those tithes and offering up, but it's not biblical. Because what happens is you get sick

and maybe you don't get well, or somebody you know, you love, you lose them and your whole faith is shaken, but that's not the gospel. And you know what? Most of us in this room might not ever become millionaires. Can we just be honest? You might not. And so we're not, God doesn't say everybody's gonna be wealthy. Physically speaking, we are to be wealthy, spiritually speaking. And sometimes it's a struggle, it's challenging. And if you don't understand the battle, you can get easily discouraged. Listen, life is already discouraging. You don't want to add more discouragement to this. And I've been around people where I'm like, you know, I say, I'm not feeling good today. Don't say that. Don't say that. You're speaking life and death into your, you know, just say, so I'm supposed to say I feel great? When I don't feel great? Yes, speak. Speak things as though they were. But that's lying. That's not honest. And a lot of these teachers, if they get sick,

they go to the hospital, they have to check in under an alias. Come on, this is ridiculous. And so what we're not doing, you'll build your ministry, you might build your giving platform, but you're not building disciples. Because disciples realize, followers of Christ realize we're in a spiritual war. But thank God we're on the side that already won. That's why I don't get too worried about it. You guys realize that, don't you? The God and the enemy are not going back and forth. Like who's going to win this one? It's not a movie. He's already won, he's a conquered foe. But we have to walk in that victory. We have to fight that good fight of faith. We're not in heaven yet. And I, just a personal belief, I think there's levels of rewards in heaven based on a lot of scriptures. And I think the more we persevere and we prevail, that there is a benefit to that. So, in spiritual battle, you don't fight this enemy with physical weapons. Our gun safes are full, but our prayer closets are empty. This battle has to be won spiritually speaking. You put on spiritual armor.

And let's just look at the text, and then I'll break it down. So, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, and he gives this incredible discourse, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And then he gets into chapter 6, verse 10. Okay, breather. Finally, brethren, here's the key to everything we've been talking about. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. What does that mean? Don't worry, we're getting there. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the tricks, the craftiness, the deceit of the devil. Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, against people, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. I really want to do a series on this at some point, because some people say, you know, that's just one group of spiritual powers. But actually, the Bible can break it down to principalities over a certain area. The rulers of darkness of this age could be political rulers of darkness in this age. And there's so much there, but the bottom line is that we do not battle with them in the physical. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God

that you may be able to withstand, put up with, hold back the evil day. And having done all, when you've done everything, have you ever been there, I've done all that I can do, I'm in my wits' end. You just stand. You just stand. Because you've already fought. You stand. And God says, having done all, stand, and I will fight the battle for you. Because what's the opposite of this direction? It's this direction. It's cowards. And cowards flee. Others fight. And as you'll be seeing probably in the news if you haven't already, that mass shooting in Australia, one of the guys that actually went after and took out the shooter, he was in a forward direction and standing, fighting that good fight of faith. How much more Christians, as our families are attacked, they disintegrate, children walking away from the Lord, suicidal thoughts, and suicide, and they're calling it epidemic. Why is that? Because it's a spiritual battle that we have to engage spiritually speaking. Therefore, gird your waist with truth. It holds everything together.

And having already put on the breastplate of righteousness, which of course is Christ, and then cover your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, above all, taking the shield of faith, and that way you can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Do you know how the enemy gets you? Fiery darts. I know you've heard this before, but some people haven't. They're newer. But last time I've checked, I've never been hit by a physical dart. Ow, that hurt. It's a fiery dart. That burned a little bit. Where's it coming at then? But what a great image. You put up the shield of faith to quench those fiery darts. And then take on the helmet of your salvation, protecting the mind and the sword of the Spirit. You fight with the Word of God. That's how Jesus fought is quoting Scriptures often and then praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. So let's put on the armor.

What did He say? So after reading that, what stood out? Whatever stood out to you might be an area that God is dealing with you in where maybe you've dropped your guard. And usually that conviction comes in. And here's the key. Everything worth fighting for is spiritual. Everything worth fighting for is spiritual. It's spiritual. The promises of God. There's no promise without pain. There's no hope without hurt. And there's no blessing without brokenness. It's a battle. William Grinnell mentioned in the Scriptures there are three illustrations of great joy. Check this out. Great joy. Of a new mother, the joy of a very successful farmer, and the joy of a very successful soldier in victory. But guess what? The success of all three comes from hard soil. It costs the mother great pain, does it not? The farmer many months of back-breaking labor, and the soldier grave peril

before they come to their reward. But at last, they are paid in full. And remember, this world, in this battle, we are either on Satan's side or on God's side. And this war with sinful desires in the heart, talked about that last week, and the spiritual forces on the outside, we are engaged in this warfare until the day we die. Being prepared for this warfare. Ephesians, so let's get into this. 6.10-17, we're gonna go for it. Ready? Finally, brethren, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Okay, sounds good, but what is God's might? Well, it's not like we're sitting at home watching Netflix and you get this jolt of electricity from God. Ah, I've got His might. Now I can go out and fight the good fight of faith. Thank you, Lord. It's actually our actions and our attitude determine the strength of His might within us, correct? How many scriptures have we seen before in the last four weeks? On obedience, trust in God, faith in God, thankfulness. See, as we position our hearts and our minds, our actions, that the strength of God, now we can go out in His might because we have surrendered to His will. Think about that, without thankfulness, are you walking powerfully in the might of God?

No, because the opposite is grumbling and complaining. Talk about quenching the spirit, doesn't it? Have you ever been, I mean, some of you, maybe you need a fresh encounter with the spirit. Others, you know, when you've quenched and grieved and unthankfulness and discouragement can really get us in a low spot. And then disobedience. We feel like we are powerless because we've been overcome by the power of the flesh. And so putting on His might has to do with positioning ourselves correctly. Like Zechariah 4, 6, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Note here, he's talking about man's strength and man's power. Zerubbabel, it's not gonna be by your might, it's not gonna be by your power, it's gonna be by my spirit, thus saith the Lord. I love context, how about you? Because you can make the Bible say whatever you want. Context, context, context is king, is our saying at this church. Well, the context is this man with an interesting name is going to rebuild the temple of God after it had fallen. Jerusalem, those of you who don't know, Israel was actually broken up.

You had Saul, David, Solomon, and then Rehoboam, Jeroboam, and it broke up into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel fell first, I believe, to the Assyrians or Babylonians, one or the other, and then Judah fell about 150 years later. And so, but God's promise is, I will rebuild, I will bring back my remnant, and I want you to rebuild the temple, and he said, that's impossible. Have you ever had those odds against you? Let me tell you something, most of the time when God does something pretty profound, it's against the odds, it doesn't make sense on paper. It doesn't make sense on paper. Mill, you know, you're shaking your head, right? I visited you in the hospital. Your neck was broken. They don't think you're gonna make it. 40,000 to one odds. What does God say? What does God say? But the judge, Shane, the court, who's the judge? Who's the king, who's the law giver? but God Almighty. Most of the time, God planting a church, making a church successful, it's not going to work. Hello! But what does God say?

Not by your might or by your power, your strength, you're not going to do this in the flesh. You're not going to make something happen. You're not going to manipulate. You're not going to send a text or an email and make things happen. Actually, you might hurt things. Anybody hurt things when you get involved? No, not too many. That's good. Well, I need to take note then. So He said this is insurmountable. This huge mountain. The enemies are not going to let Me build this. And I love God. He just puts the kings in the palm of His hand. He says even before a king named Cyrus was even born, God says My servant Cyrus is going to rebuild. What? He's not even born yet. Oh, trust me. When God's in it, it's going to happen. And so He says this big mountain in front of Me, and the Lord says it's not going to be by your strength, it's going to be by My Spirit. Thus saith the Lord, say to this mountain, you will become a valley. And the Spirit of God will break down those barriers and rebuild the temple. And of course, Nehemiah comes in and builds this incredible wall around. And of course, there is enemies to that.

Anytime God does something, the enemy is opposing it. Take hope, take strength in that. But to tap into God's power, you must tap out. You know what tap out means, you wrestling fans? Right, you're getting it. What's popular right now, isn't it MMA? I don't encourage it, but you know, it's a lot of people watching it. I'll never forget, I'll never forget this guy. I remember his name, Dan. I was probably 270 pounds, bodybuilding, lifting weights. And this guy, I think he was like 165. And he goes, I can take you out wrestling. No, no, no. So I don't know what happened. We were actually in pre-sales in a trailer at the mall for 24 Hour Fitness. It was going in there at the mall. We had a 20 year lease, obviously that's why it closed. That's a side note. So back when I was in my, in my, those years, and within eight seconds, I'm hitting the floor, tapping out, like what he's got, I'm like, I'm like a pretzel. I'm like, what just happened? And he's so, but for many years, he's been going to something called the Gracie School of Jiu-Jitsu. I'm like, oh, that would have been good to know. But man, it was, and tap out.

But to get God's power in your life and his strength, you must tap out from your own self-will and say, God, how do you want to use me? Do you want to speak the truth? Do you want, because the words will bring kingdoms down. The words, the boldness will make hell shake. Hell shakes and the enemy trembles over the prayers of God's people, over the prayers of God's people. Well, no wonder it was said of this man by the name of John Knox, John Knox. He was a reformer in Scotland. You heard of Martin Luther, Germany, Jürgen Zwingli, Switzerland, John Calvin in Geneva. This man, John Knox, was so powerful that it was said that I believe it was the Queen of England feared, feared the prayers of John Knox more than the armies that came against her. And it's recorded in history. I don't know, but I know that's true. I know the principle is true, that the prayers of God's people will break certain spiritual shackles that have been built. God spilled his son's blood to purchase us and he will use his power to keep us. So keep staying in the battle. Keep staying in the battle. Here's the key. Here's the key to stay in the battle. Get back up and keep fighting.

We are serving a king who died for us. That same hand that held me in 1999 when I came back to the Lord is still holding me in 2026. And if I'm still here, he's going to be still holding me in 2056. I don't know his will, but I know him who holds the hearts of people in the palm of his hand. Guys, this is why fear and discouragement is so devastating. It's crippling. Many people, we live in fear and discouragement, especially if you're in California, Los Angeles County. Right, there's something that we feed this fear in. And why is fear and discouragement so devastating? Because wrong choices. will be made because of self-preservation rather than trusting God's power and sovereignty and strength. What do I mean by self-preservation? When we live in fear, we make choices to guard us and to make us more safe and secure versus choices according to God's Word. That's why the enemy loves fear and discouragement. Those are two primary weapons of warfare. If I can get the Christian discouraged and fearful, they'll make choices that don't correspond with my Word. Ephesians, we're continuing. So put on the whole armor of God

that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. I believe that word actually in Greek means schemes. He's sneaky, isn't he? Guys, guess what? Temptation always looks good. Always. There's no other way around that. That's why it's temptation. It looks good. And then we begin to justify in our mind. That's how he works. And he's been around a while. He's been watching human history for many, many millenniums. He knows what it takes to trick us. But when you have the armor of God, I've noticed this, when you've got the armor of God on and you're full of the Spirit, it's hard to be deceived. But when you put that down and you open yourself up, that's why I often say, and I know people get upset, but I'm going to keep saying it, be careful of conspiracy theories. Okay, some things aren't conspiracy theories. They're true. I understand.

But we get so caught up on all these different things. No matter what I post, there's a conspiracy theory behind it. I posted one the other day on the Aqueduct, and they're like, is that chemtrails above you? I'm like, I don't know. I'd be more worried about your fast food habit than chemtrails. Don't get me started. Don't come. Don't go there. Are they spraying stuff? Absolutely. But trust in God. I mean, all these, it's like all over YouTube, all these different conspiracy theories and all these people live in fear and anxiety. Guys, it's not healthy. But to stand for God, you must stand against the enemy. There is a stand. There is a fight. There is a positioning. There is a position of warfare. That's why we say, this is how I fight my battles. How?

On my knees before Almighty God. Because you can't, how can you fall when you're on your knees? How can you fall when you're on your knees? You lay prostrate and you worship the Lord. How can you be deceived when you're pressing in and worshiping God? Usually, the person is led astray when they're not doing much. You ever heard that term, idle hands? Or something, Satan's workshop tools, play pen, whatever it is, it's not good. Because we think idle, you're actually swimming in the current of the world when you're idle. Jump in the closest river and you're gonna go that direction. Because there's no neutral in this battle. We like to find that neutral, don't we? Oh, seeking God is difficult. Falling into sin is difficult. Oh, where can I just relax? Relax. Watch out. That's easy prey. He goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he can, ow. If ow, that wasn't good lion noise, but you know what he tried to do there.

It's just, he's looking for those people. That was like a cougar. What was that? I don't know. But remember, fighting is active, not passive. You will be active. You will engage in prayer. You will double down in worship. You will load the full magazine of God's Word. It's aggressive. It's active. That is faith. Faith fights. That would have been a good sermon title. Faith fights. But Shane, I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover. That's good, love and then fight. Love God so much you have to fight. I believe a mom has more influence or dad than any other person in a child's life if their first morning time is spent seeking the Lord and praying. How many things does that guard against? How many? How many of you know you shouldn't be still married? What kept it together? Had it not been for the Lord on our side. Had it not been for the Lord on our side. Nobody is safe without engaging in this warfare. For we do not wrestle.

Our fight, again, is not against the body and people necessarily, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. That's what we're wrestling against. So in this battle, as you're wrestling, persevering to the end will be the hardest thing you've ever done, but also the most rewarding. Persevering to the end. It's the hardest thing, but it's the most rewarding. We have to persevere. Persevere. That's the Christian faith. That's the battle cry. That's actually a good fruit of salvation is perseverance. A true believer will persevere. Yes, they fall, but they get back up from time to time. Yes, they get discouraged, but they encourage themselves in the Lord. We have to get that testimony of the Old Testament saints. You know Esther, if I perish, I perish.

Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Your Savior said, I set my face like a flint to Calvary. Nothing can stop me. Pontius Pilate, the enemy, discouragement. I have set my face like a flint. I will finish this race. And you got to get that deep down in your spirit. No matter what comes, no matter what comes against me, no matter where God directs me, I will not give up. I will get up and I will finish this race. I will do what God has called me to do. Come hell or high water. Though the floods overtake me, they will not consume me. Though the fire may burn me, it will not take me out because the Lord my God is on my side. Oh my goodness, I feel like preaching. Here we go. I might have to switch from teacher mode to preacher mode. Ephesians, Ephesians six continues. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God. Oh, not just one piece. You know those people who had just a few pieces on? Modern day Pharisees have a couple pieces on.

They've got that belt of truth. It's tight. Oh, it's tight. They'll tell you. They'll tell you when your belt is loose. Won't they? The sin sniffers. You guys want me to do that again? You do? Who's got their belt on today? Your belt's a little loose. I watched you walk into Cinemark. What movie did you watch? Cinemark. You fell again last week. What? You fell again? How dare you? I was delivered 25 years ago. You just need to have more faith. That's why you're sick. Oh, they got the belt of truth. They'll quote Scripture at you. They'll make you feel discouraged and defeated. They've got something on here. They're doing pretty good, aren't they? They're wide open for the enemy. They don't see that big crack in the armor called pride. And that has taken more people out, more Christians out than I think anything else.

Because when you don't take heed lest you fall, you walk very close to that edge. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Right, it'll never happen to me. It'll never happen to me. Pride in others I can clearly see, but praise God, there's none in me. They've got some armor on. They're saved. They've got the helmet on. They've got the righteousness of Christ covering them. But sometimes they'll take it off and expose themselves in pride. Put on the whole armor of God, the Word of God, faith, everything. All right. Yes. Two people. That's good. I know it's hard sometimes to just get... Praise the Lord. Praise God. Lord, You are so good. And remember, this armor should not be removed. This armor cannot be removed. But Shane is heavy! Don't you ever get tired? It's just me. It's heavy. You get tired. And that's why Jesus reminds us, cast your cares upon me. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. Haven't you got... We can have a line of testimonies up here.

When you give that care to the Lord, and you say, Lord, I can't keep doing this. I'm at my wits end. But I give this to You, and there's a release. There's a strength. Because we realize we can't keep finishing it in my strength. I mean, how freeing is that that God's sovereignty is our sanity? How freeing is that? Hey, Lord, financially, it's Your bill. This isn't going great. Lord, You called me to this. What do You want to do? And of course, He says, just stand. Having done all, just stand. You need to understand this about the Christian faith. It is offensive, of course. We're in offense. We're also in defense. But there are times when we've done all that we can do. It says, you've done it all. It's all on. Just stand. Stand, therefore. Hold the line. It's a military term. It's also a football term. Is that what they're trying to do? Protect the guy behind them? Throwing the ball? I know, quarterback. So, they're holding the line. That's what they tell a Christian to do. Just stand. Listen, you got that diagnosis from the doctor. I'm going to stand.

Listen, your prodigal's not coming home. I'm going to stand. My marriage is on the rocks. I'm going to stand. God didn't heal like I thought He was going to heal. I'm going to stand. And you stand, and you hold the line. Because what's the opposite of that? Uh-oh. I didn't read about any armor covering my back. Did you? There's some death shots here. Are there not, kidney? You're not protected this way. Back of the head? Anybody been hit by something? Back of the head? It's never to turn and run. It's always to stand. Stand and fight. There's no armor protecting the back. And so you stand, therefore. And you gird your waist with truth. It's actually not a little belt. It's a big type of mechanism that helps support the weight that you're carrying. And then you put on, having put on, the breastplate of righteousness, which is Christ's righteousness. That's what covers us. Now, there is practical application

on righteousness and holiness and things that are so important, but I believe this is talking about having put on Jesus Christ as the protection over the heart. And then, of course, you cover your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. You're bringing the Gospel to people, and you're doing things for the Lord. Again, you're not too idle. There's times to take a break and vacation, but if you're always in vacation mode, you're going to be an easy target for Him. And so the Bible told us to put all this on, so don't complain if you are spiritually naked. Don't complain if you are spiritually naked. We have a lot of complaining going on in the church, don't we? Maybe second service, you guys are okay, but first service was honest. We complain. We complain. And if we stay there, it gets pretty depressing. I mean, look at all, just a couple days, the Muslim invasion. Our government. Oh, the crime. The crime. And these are all valid things. We're called to use wisdom. Are we not? But if we're always complaining and fearful when God says, stand, having done all, stand. Because I have found that those clothed,

those full of the armor of God, they rarely complain. And then finally, above all, wait a minute, above all, this is the most important thing? You guys think so? I'd love to do just a sermon on that one verse. Because it is. It holds everything together. Faith is unwavering. unwavering, unconditional trust in God. No matter what, the church burns down. Unwavering. Somebody close to you dies. Anybody's plan's not going exactly like they thought? Just, you know, you guys... I know it's hard to... But it's unwavering faith. So above all, it has to guard. It has to be the final mechanism, the shield of faith. It's actually a shield. Have you seen those things on social media where the mom or the dad are down on their knees, this huge shield, and all these arrows are coming, they got their kids behind them? What a cool picture. But that's what it is. It's the shield. What is the shield blocking? Fiery darts? Wow. What kind of bone arrow is that? Again, we're not hit by physical darts.

Up here. And the enemy loves to work with offense. They offended me. Why did they do that? Why didn't they do that? Why did they say that? What did they mean by that? Where are they going with this? Why did that happen? Why didn't that happen? And what happens? Where faith says, Lord, I'm trusting You. Even if they meant that, I don't care. I'm not going to hold in offense. Listen, guys, let's be honest. Many times we come to church and we don't want to see everybody here. I'm good, but I know some of you, you'll sit over there because such and such is over there. Or my favorite, they don't come anymore because they have an offense against someone. The enemy works in that. On the worship team, on our ushers, security, children's ministry, with children's ministry, with parents, it's this constant fiery dart. That's how he gets in. Pew, pew, pew, pew. Fiery darts. And that shield of faith is what blocks that. Because I don't know if you've ever been down this deep rabbit

hole, but if you fuel those fiery darts too long, they'll consume you. Because when it hits you, it's got a little flame going. But you start to throw gasoline on it, and you become bitter, upset, don't want to talk to people, run into people, gossiping, backbiting, complaining. They all have their roots in this. Taking the shield of faith. The shield of faith, it's determined action. We have to take action against this, and the power of the made-up mind. Guys, this warfare is aggressive. This warfare, you've got to get aggressive with some things in your life. This passive, lukewarm, I don't care mentality has got to go. I just read this morning, and I got encouraged. How many of you like King Josiah? Man, I love that guy. King Josiah. What happened? They read the Word of God, and they said, oh my goodness, we're not in a good direction. I wish Washington, D.C. would open the Word of God again, and start in Deuteronomy, and get on our knees before Almighty God. Look to that again. He said, look at what God's Word says. Look where we are. And he began to pull down, and this is a big deal.

He went through the temple, cleaned it out, pulled down the shrines of Molech and Ashtoreth, and these false gods. He got rid of the priests, the false prophets of Bel and Molech. He got rid, he cleaned house, and he restored genuine worship in the temple of God. Yeah, Shane, the temple of God, that makes sense. Did you know you are the temple of the Holy Spirit? How much more? Get the trash out. Get the false influencers. Get the bad influences out of our hearts, and get radical and aggressive again, because I've noticed the more aggressive you get for pursuing God, the more full of His Spirit you will become, and we become lukewarm. We become lazy. I'll never forget, they were interviewing a pastor in Africa. Famous, well-known, very humble man. I think the church, we complain about chairs and carpet and everything. They're on dirt. And the interviewer said, you don't have... there's hardly any counseling in the African church. Like the American church is full of counseling. Just fills our offices. Counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling. I need counseling.

Now there's a time and place for it, please don't misunderstand. Sometimes I get dramatic, I go to extremes, right? But he said, why is there not that much counseling in the African church? In this area. And he said, because in America you counsel, in Africa we repent. I'll never forget that. I never forgot that. Aggressive, dealing with these things. The enemy's hitting hard, we have to hit harder back. Pull down those strongholds. Cast down the lies. Again, if we had time, these are aggressive words when the Bible says, pull down the strongholds. Cast down the lies. It's a militant. It's aggressive. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God for the pulling down of, I think I'm going to Galatians now, probably this is not in Ephesians, I believe. And pulling down strongholds and casting down every argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ. This is not good. This is not godly. I'm not even going to go there. I'm not even going to think about it. Why don't what? The book of Enoch, the Apocrypha, what about this? I'm not even going to go there. You cast these false philosophies, these things that go against the word of God, you cast them down, you don't even go there.

And also, your level of intensity determines your success or your failure. Guys, you've got to be intense. You've got to be intense about pursuing God. What's the opposite of intense? Look it up. Not intense. Not intense, lukewarm, right? I mean, that's an intense fire, or I can barely feel it. We get intense if you seek me with all of your heart. That, I don't know, I mean, that sounds kind of intense. That means no other idols can be on the throne of my heart. That means I seek you with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my strength, with everything I am. My day is going to be centered around you, Lord. My activities are going to be centered. I'm going to keep your sin on a very short leash. I'm going to be a repentant, broken, humble person pursuing the heart of God, and I'm going to seek you with all of my heart. And that's good because he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The Bible says, don't worry, I'm going to keep going. Make no provision for the flesh that you shall fulfill its desires. Crucify the flesh. Put to death the deeds of the flesh. It goes on and on and on. There's no compromise. There's no patty cake. Put to death the deeds of the flesh. I mean, somebody said, who was pretty famous, if your eye causes you to sin... No, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute.

Guys, let's be honest. How can you get any more intense and dramatic than this? If your eye is causing you to sin, gorge it out. But what do we do? Oh, it's not that big a deal. It's my one little vice I cave into once a week. I need it. It's no big deal. Shane, you should go see my neighbor Bill. Now that guy, he needs some help. And we just keep coddling it. Jesus said if your eye causes you to sin, remove it. If your hand, cut it off. It's always dramatic in nature dealing with sin. Why is it so dramatic? Because there's no negotiating. What's the saying? You give it an inch, it takes a mile. I mean, look at all those words. Crucify. Crucify the flesh. Put it to death. When it comes to sexual morality, contemplate it. Think about it. Then eventually make the right decision. No, because that happens, you're done. You're toast. It says... That's aggressive.

Anybody, you're just walking through life, you're not looking for it, but it finds you? Oh, there's the temptation. There's the... I'm out of here. You don't entertain it. You don't entertain it. It's a turning. It's an aggressive. Pursuing God is aggressive. The whole nature is militant. Spiritual, military battles, spiritually speaking. From the days of John the Baptist till now, Jesus said, the kingdom suffered the violence and the violent take it by force. What He's talking about is there's a spiritual upheaval that took place. Jesus steps on the scene. For what? Millenniums. The demons were in control. And now they have to ask permission from Jesus. He has bound Satan. He took the keys of the kingdom of darkness. And it's aggressive. It's militant. Boy, the cross was aggressive. Just this morning, I got through Mark. At the end, it's hard for me. Sometimes I'll admit I skip a little bit

because I don't like to read. Beaten beyond recognition. They sped on Him. His creation sped on Him. The soldiers beat Him, prophesied. Who slapped you? Whipped Him. Like this literally happened. Very aggressive. God, why couldn't Jesus just trip on a rock, hit His head, and shed His blood? Right? He's gone. But this violent upheaval. This violent spiritual upheaval. Remember what your King did on the cross. And guys, this is why we say a lot of things are demonic. Do you hear that often? This is why we say it, because the enemy is planting thoughts into the minds of people. Demonic. And they run with it. You see even in the news a lot now, I'm not going to say names of things, but the Christians divided big time. A lot of it on one side often is demonic. It's demonic. That's why the fiery darts. And the Bible says put to death. Well, that's a little aggressive.

Put to death these things that are so unclean. And then when you put something to death, you have to replace it. Did you know that? You know, when you remove it, you've got to replace it with something, because if not, it's a void. Okay, I'm going to give you guys some good advice. You're going to need this in about two weeks. You know what's coming up, don't you? When you say, I'm not having fast food again. January 1st, my New Year's resolution. About six days into that when you fall, remember this. You've got to replace it with something else. Take off, put on. Take off, put on. And so it does beg the question though on this piece of armor, have you put on the breastplate of righteousness? Is it secure? Is it secure? Because that breastplate can become kind of loose on the soldiers. Over the years, they don't keep it tight and it begins to, they begin to, they're in battle, but it's really loose. And they leave their first love. That verse I love in Revelation, I don't know if I love it or just concerned about sometimes,

but the church He was talking to, you would never imagine, they love sound doctrine. They do good things. They point out error. But can you imagine Jesus like, but, but I have this against you and it's so bad that I'm going to remove your influence. You got to get aggressive. What is it? Return. Turn to your first love. Guys, I've been preaching long enough to tell you this. Truth without love is void. Some of you Bible students, but you don't love. There's no compassion and brokenness in your heart. No humility. That's where the Word comes alive. That's where it really comes alive. The truth with a man or woman on fire for God, leading others to the Lord, ministering in their neighborhood, whatever that is, there's that deep passion for the things of God. That deep love. You can preach as well as Billy Graham. Have a Ph.D. in theology. But if you have not love, it profits you nothing. Nothing at all.

This is so hard because those who struggle with this and have a lot of pride don't see this. They're like, yeah, that's good for such and such. Yeah, that's true. No, it's good for you. Look in your heart. Pray, Lord, show me. Is that me? Is that me? But back to this question, have you put on the breastplate? Are you even saved? At salvation, a breastplate is issued to each repentant sinner. At GotQuestions.org breaks this down perfectly. You have to repent to believe. That's why we're seeing a lot of Christians who are not Christians. Because over the years, they've maybe said a little prayer, I don't want to go to hell, neither do I. Yeah, it's cool. It's a thing. It's an American thing. I'm Christian. My parents are Christians. I believe in Jesus. Well, the demons believe and tremble. But they don't repent. I don't know if they can. I doubt it. But you have to repent and see sin the way God sees it. Lord, I see that I'm unclean and undone without You. I repent. And this breastplate is specially designed by God to protect our heart and our soul from evil and deception.

Our own righteousness is no match for Satan's attacks. The breastplate of righteousness has Christ's name stamped on it as though He said, your righteousness is insufficient to protect you. Wear Mine. Wow, powerful. Alright, here we go. Finalizing, take on the helmet of salvation. Again, I could stay here another hour, but I won't. Put on the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Some of you need to get back in the Word like never before. You need to live on that. You need to breathe on it. You need to let that just start coming out of your mouth. In the Word of God, praying always. It's a spirit of prayer. Yes, you can pray always. You have to work. But there's a spirit of prayer. It's a passion of yours. There's a desire of yours. It's a desire of yours. And be watchful until the end. Basically, now that you're ready, now that you're guarded up, now that prayer is going to guide you, go and fight. And remember, prayer is not mere words.

I want to really convey this. Prayer is not, okay, I'm just going to pray. It's actually, it's the heat of battle fuels it. Doesn't it? The heat of battle fuels. If your prayer life is lacking, you have no passion, let the fuels of battle, the fuel of battle begin to propel you in that direction of prayer. Because that's what a real prayer life is. It's understanding that our fight is spiritual. What about if you could see all the fiery darts that the enemy was throwing at your kids? At your family? What about open the eyes of the demonic assault? You don't think you'd become a passionate prayer warrior? If there's no deep passion for prayer, it might mean that you're walking back into the enemy's camp. Guys, that's one reason we're here, because of prayer and worship. That's one reason God built this church is because of prayer and worship. Remember, they said, teach us how to pray. My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Prayer is the focus. Prayer is the priority. That's why we're here. We're here.

I mean, I'll be a little selfish and tell you why I'm here, because my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. I don't know about you, but I don't come on Sunday to play church. I don't come on Sunday, go, I hope everybody liked this message. I don't come and say, oh, let's get through this week. I come because my heart and flesh cry out for the living God, and it's great to preach a message. Don't get me wrong. It's great to preach a message like this, and it's good to contemplate, but we need the spirit of the living God to fall afresh on us, and we need to mean it, mean it. We need to get aggressive and say. Spirit of the living God, we are lost without You. Fall afresh on me. Let the Spirit of God come alive in our hearts. There's only one fire that thaws the coldness of the human heart, and He is a consuming fire. Pray, God, open our spiritual eyes so that we see the demons looking through the windows spiritually of our home. They're looking for the cracks in the armor of our kids and ourselves. Forgive me for the ways I've closed my eyes, I've turned from conflict, and I failed to guard my heart.

Our Savior never lost a battle, even when He lost His life. We must turn to Him completely this morning. And I know it's hard for some of you because although we're in battle, although you signed up for the warfare, you're on God's side, you have received a dishonorable discharge. You know what that is? In the military, you've been removed from military service because of your actions. Thank God He doesn't do that. We do it to ourselves. And when you do that, God says, return, return, return. Come back to me, I will give you that passion again. I will give you that desire again. Guys, that's where these sermons often come from. I've lived that life. I've lived that life as a prodigal. And I've seen the difference it makes. And you can return to God. And God restores and He heals. Aren't you so glad when you return, He doesn't beat you up? Alright, it's punishment time. Get out the paddle. Look at the only image He really gives us is that prodigal son. The prodigal son.

He comes to himself. He says, I've got to return. And the father's been waiting for him. The father's been waiting. What is he, like this? He's running, son. You've come to yourself. Come home. Come home. That's what has to happen to many of you. The only way to really have on the full armor of God, the only way to have that relationship is to repent and to believe that Jesus is who He said He is. Shane, I don't know if I have enough faith. I've got questions. Take it to the Lord. He's big enough to take questions. When Job had questions, he said, where were you when I formed the Atlantic and the Pacific? Where were you when I hung the moon and the stars? Answer me like a man, and let me question you. Come to God, full surrender. Just repent. Say, God, I repent of my sin. I need you. I need you. I need to be set free. I need to be delivered. Or prodigal, maybe it's time to come home. Listen, I know many of you come in, and you sit here Sunday after Sunday. You might miss a couple. You come twice a month or once a month, and you're just kind of going through the motions.

It's time to stop going through the motions. It's time to get aggressive. It's time to get aggressive and say, I'm going to pursue God like never before. Never before. And He will honor that.