What The Bible Says About Fighting Temptation

Let's put a bow on battle ready. And you know, if you've been here, we've been focused in a one theme scripture. And the thing about this scripture is, you gotta stand up to read it. All right, y'all. I know you just sat down, but all across the room, would you stand back to your feet? Come on, even at home and online, join us standing here in the room. And because it is our last week of the series, I thought we could read this scripture together out loud, all together, beginning to end. Get fired up. Now, if you were here last week, I know Pastor Ben taught you some hand motions. And if you wanna add those in, feel free. But let me just tell you, I didn't study enough to put them all in this week. All right, so here we go. We're gonna read it all together. You ready? Let's go. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world,

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything to stand, put your hands together for the word of God, everybody. It's awesome. Woo! You sound good. And now that you've stood, you can sit again, all right? And we're gonna jump into this final week because we've learned in this series that if you're going to be battle ready, you gotta have the full armor of God. The Apostle Paul is writing this letter of Ephesians from a Roman jail cell. He's likely chained to a Roman soldier guarding him 24 hours a day. This Roman soldier's likely dressed in 70 plus pounds of full on body armor. He would have looked something like this. And taking this as his inspiration, he is writing to you and I about the need to be battle ready in our own right. That just like the guard is battle ready for a physical fight, the Christian needs to be battle ready for a spiritual fight. And just like the guard has armor,

the Christian needs armor. And I've told you that there are six pieces of armor. We've studied five of them together up to this point. If you missed any of the messages, they're all available on our website and on YouTube and on our Water's Edge Church app. And before I jump into number six, I wanna give just a little clarity because some scholars actually argue that Paul gives us seven, not six, but seven pieces of armor when he describes this armor of God in Ephesians chapter six. And so I wanna show you what some suggest is the seventh piece of armor before I teach you about the sixth piece of armor. So after listing all six pieces of the armor, Paul then says this. He says, and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. The Lord's people. So Paul may be suggesting to us that prayer is the seventh piece of armor that protects us in the battle against the enemy. And I think we could all agree that prayer is an important tool in fighting against the enemy. I said, I think we could all agree that prayer, okay. Hey, you gotta pray just to make it today, y'all.

And I know a lot of us struggle in that area of prayer, but when you connect with your heavenly father in prayer, Paul says, I love it, you gotta pray all kinds of prayers. And you gotta keep on praying so you don't ever get to stop praying when the enemy attacks. We pray. And by the way, that's why we have a prayer team available at the end of our services, so that you can have someone join with you in a battle to pray. And that's why we have a whole weekend set aside a couple times a year. We've got one coming up at the end of the summer. I believe it's one of the most important things that you can add to your calendar. We call it Prayer and Worship Weekend. It's coming up. I hope you'll plan to join us. You'll be there, because I'll teach you more about this seventh piece of armor during that weekend, this piece of armor known as prayer. But today, today I want to dig in to the sixth piece of armor. And this is a piece of armor that is for everyone who's ready to fight back. All the other pieces of armor, the first five have been defensive weapons. They've been weapons that you and I use, and we need if we're gonna stand

in the face of the enemy's attacks. They've been defensive in nature, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation. These are all defensive weapons, and they're necessary. You gotta have them. Oh, you gotta have them if you're gonna stand against the devil attacks. But today, the sixth piece of armor, well, it's a piece of armor that we can use to chase the devil down, punch him in his throat, and teach him his lesson, everybody. I'm fired up about this piece of armor today. I kind of think of it like this. Do we have any, we got any Rocky fans in the house? Rocky, Rocky, Rocky. Can we all just agree, Rocky IV is the best of the Rockies. Can we agree on that one? Huh? No, no, no, no. Somebody said with disgust, no. No, we can't. Okay, well, in any of those movies, like Rocky or Karate Kid. Let's go, Karate Kid. Okay, in any of those movies,

there's always this scene where the hero of the movie is kind of getting beat up by the villain in the story, and he's just kind of taking it. There's a scene, every one of those movies, there's a scene, and he's taking some punches, and he's taking some hits, and he's enduring some blows, and he's just standing there, taking it. But then something switches, and it happens in all the movies. Something rises up, and Rocky starts fighting back. And I believe today is the day that something rises up, and you start fighting back. Today, something's gonna rise up on the inside of you that says, no more, devil. We're not gonna stand and take your hits any longer. We're fighting back, and you can do it with the sixth piece of the armor of God. You gotta be battle-ready. And this is how Paul describes it. It's an offensive weapon. He says, take the helmet of salvation. That's what Pastor Ben taught us about last week. And then he says, and the sword of the Spirit. That's the sixth piece of the armor of God. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is, and say it with me, everybody, which is the Word of God. You've got a sword you can use against the enemy.

It's called the Word of God. Now, let me teach you something about the sword. When we read this, most of us picture in our minds this long, powerful, strong, heavy, giant sword that you would wheel around and scare people away with, one of those kinds of swords that would strike fear in the heart of anyone who would dare come close to you. In fact, fun fact, I've had multiple people in the church offer to me their swords as a illustration that I could use today. Multiple people, I mean, multiple people. Ever since the very beginning of the series, it's like they read ahead, they knew the sword of the Spirit was coming, and so they've offered to me these long, giant, big swords. Why do you people have so many swords? I can't figure, it's so weird to me, I can't. Like, what are y'all doing with these swords? Oh, would you like a sword from my sword collection? No, I would not, that's weird, I don't want that. So I have politely declined multiple options. It concerns me. Multiple options offered to me because every one of the swords, in fact, I was away at camp this week, and my assistant sent me a picture this week, and she was like, did you request someone drop off this sword for you? It's sitting in your office. No, I did not.

Call the police. I don't know what's going on. So I have politely declined. All of these kind offers of of Swords because this is not really the picture that that Paul's trying to give us of a Roman soldier sword What what Paul's actually describing here is something a little more along the lines of what we would call a dagger The sword that he calls the sword of the spirit is is more like an 18-inch small double-edge Sharp as could be sword that would be carried in the in the soldiers belt It would be pulled out quickly and used in close Hand-to-hand combat before the enemy would ever see it coming This is the kind of sword that The soldiers would have carried and Paul says the kind of sword you need to have You need to have a dagger Tucked near to your heart To be used in a moment's notice When the enemy has gotten up close and personal And Paul says that dagger It's actually the Word of God because it'll drive the devil away. In fact, write this down You need to know it God's Word is the weapon that drives the devil away You need to know it Now notice I didn't say God's Word is the weapon that defeats the devil and I want you to understand why I didn't say that I Didn't say God's Word is the weapon that defeats the devil Because Jesus has already defeated him Come on he's already been defeated The devil was defeated When when Jesus died on a cross was buried in a borrowed tomb rose again three days later crushing the head of the serpent Jesus defeated the devil. In fact, this is what this is what the scriptures say about that moment It says that Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to shame

by triumphing over them So so the devil's been defeated Satan and his hordes of demons that they've already been defeated. But when we wield the Word of God When we when we pull it like a dagger as our sword to remind Satan of his demise It also reminds us that we are not victims we're victors we cannot be overcome We've already been overcomers because of the blood of Christ So he's already been defeated and this is Why we have the Word of God the sword of the Spirit, but I want you to hear what I'm saying Because I'm concerned that Just like you cannot use a sword in a battle That you do not possess You cannot use the word in a battle that you do not know You need to know the Word of God You need to know it You need you need to sit under the teaching of the Word of God every week every week Every week you're like pastor you say that a whole lot. You really want us here every week. Yeah, I Really want you here every week and I don't want you here every week so that I'll feel better I want you here every week so you'll fight better You got to sit under the teaching of the Word of God You need to sit in a circle every week discussing the Word of God That's why we talk so much around here about groups and everybody needs a group And everybody needs a group so you can sit in a circle to discuss the Word of God and then you need to sit quietly alone every day opening the Word of God You need to know The Word of God it needs to be planted into your heart and then listen This is gonna blow your mind for some of you. This is a big challenge. You need to be memorizing portions of the Word of God memorizing it Did you know why we focused on that theme scripture for the last six weeks and I've had you read

Portions of it every single week leading up to today where we read the whole thing together out loud in hopes of you Starting to memorize the Word of God so that you can quote it back to the devil in a moment of temptation Some of y'all look at me like oh, you know, no pastor. I I'm way too old to memorize anything else I'm way too old. Don't tell me that Don't tell me that because every person in here 40 and above can still quote the first lyrics To the song ice ice, baby every single one of you can Stop You you can memorize You can memorize You need the sword of the Spirit memorized If you're gonna fight the enemy Let me explain to you why you why you need it the sword of the spirit. I think this is so important. You need the word of God because the root of every temptation from the enemy is always the same. The root of every temptation from the enemy is an attack on the word of God. This is how the enemy does it. He poses it as a question, not always the same to all of us, but some form of this as a question. Let me show you what the root of the enemy's temptations are always about. Always about this. Did God really say? Did God really say? Now, the devil's crafty, okay? So he knows what to say to get your attention. So maybe he doesn't put a question mark at the end of it. Maybe he forms that question in a statement or in an accusation or in a doubt or in a fear, but every temptation of the enemy is an attack on the word of God. He's trying to get you to doubt what God has said. He's trying to get you to doubt that it applies to your life. He's trying to get you to doubt that a good God has good plans for your life. He's trying to get you to doubt that you need to follow and obey God's word as the best way of living. And why is he trying to do that? I've already told you that he's trying to steal, kill, and destroy you. That's the devil's plan. That's his plot. That's his tactic. And so he comes at you to steal, kill, and destroy you by causing you to doubt the word of God. And that's why God's word is a sword that we can use to fight against him and drive him away. Now, this has been his tactic from the very beginning, y'all. From the very start. In fact, back in the Garden of Eden, when God places Adam and Eve in the garden,

he gives them one rule. One rule. That's it. Just one rule. And he said this to them, hey, you can eat from any of the trees in the garden, from any of them, enjoy the fruit from any tree there is in the garden. Just don't eat from that one tree. The one tree, he said, because if you eat from that one tree, you're going to surely die. So God's one rule was settled in God's love for his creation. God's one rule was settled in what's best for Adam and Eve. Don't eat from that tree or you'll surely die. Eat from any of the other trees but not from that tree. And what does the devil do? Well, let me show you. The Bible says, now the serpent, that's the devil, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord had made. He said to the woman, and here it is, did God really say? He's attacking the word of God. He's trying to plant a doubt in Eve's mind about the word of God. Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, we may eat from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat fruit from the one tree that's in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die. And then the serpent says this, you will not certainly die. Like, how foolish of you to believe the word of God. How foolish of you to put your faith in the word of God. How foolish of you to actually obey the word of God. You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. And of course, you know what happens. The big dummies fell for it, everybody. That's what happened. They fell for it. They doubted God's word and the devil won that battle and Adam and Eve and you and me, we lost it. And all it took was one subtle suggestion from the devil. Did God really say, can you really trust him? Does he really know what's best? Does that really apply to your life? But shouldn't you be the boss of you and not let God be the boss of you? And don't you deserve to eat that fruit? And shouldn't you at least try it? I mean, just try it for yourself. You're going to miss out if you do what God says all the time. Oh, you'll be just fine. In fact, you may even be better off. These are the whispers of the tempter. And you've heard them too. You've heard them too. I've heard them too. All of us have heard some version of, did God really say? We've heard it within the last 24 hours because it's an attack. on the word of God. In fact, some of you in the last, I don't know, in the last three minutes, you've been tempted

to open Instagram, to scroll on your phone, to make your grocery list, to start to think about lunch plans, to open Amazon and see what you can order for your dad that'll get there this afternoon, because you forgot. You've all been tempted in the last three minutes to be distracted from receiving the word of God. Can I just clarify it for you? That's an attack of the enemy too, because he does not want you to hear and receive God's word. So he's trying to tempt you to be distracted from the word, because his whole tactic is, did God really say? Did God really say? But it is the word of God, when used like a dagger, that will drive the devil away. So what do we do? How do we use it? When there's an attack on the word of God, how do we pull out the sword of the spirit? How do we do battle with the word of God that'll cause the devil to flee? I wanna teach it to you today. And I wanna show you that this is exactly what Jesus models for us in Matthew chapter four. If you're taking notes today, write down that reference. We don't have time to read Matthew chapter four in its entirety. But in Matthew chapter four, Jesus models for us how to use the sword of the spirit, the word of God,

how to use it when the enemy attacks us. And by the way, let me just give you a little context before we jump in. In Matthew chapter three, Jesus is baptized. And when Jesus is baptized, the heavenly father's voice is heard, God speaks. And when God speaks, he says, this is my son in whom I'm well-pleased. He says, I love him. This is my son in whom I'm well-pleased, I love him. Imagine the moment when your dad looks at you and says, I love you, I'm proud of you. And how much that fills your heart, how excited you get when you hear your dad say, I love you, I'm proud of you. Well, this is the heavenly father speaking over his son, Jesus, as he comes up out of the waters of baptism, his voice is heard, this is my son in whom I'm well-pleased, I love you, is what he says to his son. By the way, baptism at the beach is coming up in just a handful of Sundays. And if you've never been baptized since becoming a Christ follower, baptism at the beach is a great next step for you. And in fact, it's your opportunity to do what Jesus did, to be baptized at one of our phenomenal, beautiful beaches here in Yorktown or in Newport News or in Virginia Beach.

We want you to get baptized at the beach. And for those of you having that little voice right now in your mind saying, oh yeah, that's not for you, you don't need to do that. You know, that would be silly for you to get baptized. You know, plus it would be too hot. And what about sharks? And hey, you don't. So you got all the excuses right now running through your mind, that's an attack of the enemy. That's an attack of the enemy. You need to fight back. You need to fight back to the enemy with the sword of the spirit. Jesus was baptized. Jesus was baptized. Shouldn't I be baptized? And Jesus said, go therefore and make disciples baptizing them. I should be baptized as well if I'm a disciple of Jesus. That's how you silence the attack of the enemy. So Jesus has just been baptized. The father has just spoken his word over his son, Jesus. And I want you to see what happens next. The Bible says, then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. This is what the devil does. He tempts us to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

You think? Like that's the biggest understatement in all the Bible right there, that one. He was hungry and eating for 40 days and 40 nights. I bet he was hungry. Now pay attention because Jesus has just been baptized and Jesus has just heard the voice of God speak God's word over his life. And now he's fasting. and he's in the wilderness, and he's about to be tempted by the devil. And you should know this, that sometimes your greatest temptations follow your greatest spiritual victories. So if you get baptized at baptism to the beach, don't be surprised when temptation rises after that experience. If you were a student that spent a week with us at your best week of the summer, student camp, and you experienced all kinds of spiritual victories, don't be surprised when the enemy attacks after the week of camp. Not only is it sometimes after your greatest spiritual victories, sometimes it's when you're the weariest, tiredest, loneliest, and hungriest that the enemy attacks. And Jesus, undoubtedly, after 40 days in the wilderness all alone, felt isolated, was hungry and tired, and the enemy attacks. And look at what happens.

The Bible says the tempter came to him. The tempter. Notice the title of the devil, the tempter. This is who the devil is, he tempts us. Came to him and said, if you are the son of God. Now let's hold up for just a moment because God the Father has just spoken over his son, Jesus, being baptized, the word of God. And what did he say? This is my son, that's what he said. Those were his words. This is my son. Now what's the devil doing? If you are the son of God, he's questioning. Did God really say? He's planting doubts. Did God really say that? He's tempting Jesus to doubt God's word. He's attacking God's word. Did God really say you're his son? Same old play. Same old play he used in the garden with Adam and Eve. He's using here with Jesus. Same old play he uses with you too. Did God really say? Did God really say? Because if you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread. So Jesus is tempted to doubt God's word. He's tempted to doubt what God has said.

And watch what the devil's doing. This is so important. He's using bread as the temptation because he knows the one thing that Jesus is lacking right now is bread. He's using bread. How many of you know nothing's wrong with bread? Thank God for bread. Nothing's wrong with bread. He's using something good, something wholesome even, something necessary for life. He's using it to tempt Jesus to find satisfaction, peace, contentment, and fulfillment in something rather than in someone. In some bread instead of his relationship with his heavenly father. Jesus, you're hungry, right? Aren't you hungry? Well, if you are who God said you are, like if you really are his son, then why don't you do what you deserve to do? Go ahead and make some bread from this stone. You'll like it. It'll make you feel better. It'll satisfy you. You deserve it. You're Jesus after all. You've been working hard after all. It'll be fine. So why don't you make you feel the way you want to feel?

Make some bread from the stone. By the way, the devil does the same thing to us. He tempts us to prioritize our feelings over the facts. He tempts us to turn to another drink, to another hit, to another pill, to another person, to another scoop of ice cream in my case, to another something to try to find satisfaction and fulfillment, to feel a certain way. But I want you to see Jesus as he pulls the sword of the spirit. It's so powerful. Jesus answered and he said, it is written. Everybody say those three words with me. It is written. Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Jesus fights back by actually quoting scripture. That's Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse three. Woo, woo, just pulls it out. Just, just, just wields the dagger. Deuteronomy eight, three. Just knew it right off the top of his head. How many scriptures from Deuteronomy can you quote? There's a challenge. Here's the challenge. The challenge, when the devil tempted Jesus with finding his satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment from something else, Jesus had a verse. He wielded the sword of the Spirit.

And Jesus says, my sustenance, my peace, my fulfillment, my satisfaction, it doesn't come from carbs. No, no, no, it comes from God the Father. The devil tempts and Jesus fights back with the sword of the Spirit, the dagger. And in Matthew chapter four, this happens two more times. You can read about it on your own this week. Two more times, the exact same thing happens. The devil tempts, questioning the word of God. And both times, Jesus replies by quoting Scripture, he fights back with God's word. And I love how this little section of Scripture ends in Matthew chapter four, after the third attempt, and after Jesus's third time of quoting Scripture to fight the devil, the Bible says this, then the devil left him. Let's go, yes, he did. The devil could not stand the word of God. That's an awesome verse. That's what we want for our lives. Then the devil left him and the angels came and attended him. This is how you stand. This is how you fight. This is how you win. This is what it looks like to take up the sword of the Spirit and use it in battle because God's word fights the enemy and God's word always leads to life, always. So when the enemy is knocking on your door,

ringing your doorbell, calling your name, when the enemy is whispering subtle lies, did God really say? Is that really what God wants? Does that really apply to you? When the enemy is tempting you, you fight back with the word of God. And then you stand against the enemy by living your life according to the word of God. Because this is the power of the word. It fights the enemy, it leads to life. There's a word for every attack, but you've gotta be able to access it. You've gotta be able to wield it and use it when the tempter comes at you. This is why the psalmist says this, it's such a powerful verse. I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The psalmist had God's word, the sword of the spirit in his heart. And it's what kept him aligned in his life with the ways of God. And it's what allowed him to stand when the enemy attacked, the word of God. I've been praying, honestly, y'all, I have been praying for weeks. I wrote this message weeks ago and I've been praying for weeks that this would be that moment in the fight scene

where something rises up, where something rises up on the inside of you and says, I'm tired of taking the punches of the devil. I'm ready to fight back. Give me my sword, give me the word. Let's get out of here and fight the devil together because there is no reason that we should be knocked down by the devil anymore. We've got the full armor of God and we got a dagger, the sword of the spirit. If you're a father, you need some verses. You need some verses to speak over your children. Yeah. If you're a child without a godly dad, you need some verses. That every time the enemy starts to whisper something about you, you need some verses to talk about your heavenly father. This is how we stand and fight against the schemes. Of the devil, you need some, it is written's in your heart. It is written. It is written. Because every time the devil tempts you to doubt God and give into a temptation, it never leads you to a better life. Think about it. Unforgiveness doesn't lead to a better life. Selfishness doesn't lead to a better life. Pride, anger, drunkenness, lust, sexual immorality, all the things that the devil tempts us with,

gossip, laziness, all the things that the devil whispers to you and tempts you toward. And doubt God's word, it never leads you to a better life, but the devil makes you think you need it. The devil makes you think you're above it. The devil makes you think you deserve it. I was thinking about it, just these little temptations that come our way, being stingy and not generous. This is one for a lot of us, where the devil tempts us. In fact, at the end of every service, I'm gonna do it here in just a few moments, actually. At the end of every service, I'm gonna invite you to be a part of giving generously. And about, I don't know, about 60% of you, the devil whispers every time I say those things, or one of our campus pastors invites you to give, the devil whispers, that's not for you. That's not for you, you don't need that. You actually need the money more than they need it. You actually need to hold on to the money more. And I'm not mad about it. I'm just sad because I know that you're giving into a temptation that's leading you to not a better life. You need some it is writtens. It is written, it is better to give than to receive. It is written, every good and perfect gift comes from above. It is written, give, and it'll be given back to you,

pressed down, shaken together, and running over. You need some, it is written, God loves a cheerful giver. You see what I'm saying? This is how you combat the enemy of his lies. When he causes you to doubt God's word, you come back with God's word. It is written, quote, scripture back to the devil, and he'll flee, he'll flee. This is how you use the dagger to fight the devil. So I'm gonna give you a little homework, a little homework to put into practice this week. It's so simple, it's just two parts, just two parts. Here's the first one, and that is, number one, identify the common temptations of the enemy. You probably know, what are the common temptations where the enemy causes you to doubt God's word? What are the common temptations you struggle with where the enemy comes along and slides in a little whisper or a little lie or a little half-truth or a little temptation to get you to give into something that's contrary to the word of God? You already know, just identify it. This is what, these are the top three, these are the top five in my life. This is what the enemy tempts me with. What are they? Identify the common temptations of the enemy. That's step one. And then step two of your homework is this.

Find and memorize specific scriptures for that battle. So if your common temptation is to blow up in anger, find some scriptures about the effects of anger and how God doesn't want you to be angry. Get some it is writtens in your heart for that battle. Find some scriptures and memorize them. So the first step is to find them. You're like, I don't even know where I would go. Okay, ask your group leader. Ask a campus pastor. Ask AI for all I care, all right? AI can help you. But after you ask AI, go check it against the scriptures because sometimes AI be lying, all right? I'm just gonna tell you. So after you find the scripture, for the common battles that you face, write it down. And after you write it down, write it down again. And after you write it down again, read it out loud. And after you read it out loud, read it out loud again. And after you've read it out loud and written it down, put it somewhere where you can see it regularly and repeat over and over and over again until that scripture gets in your heart. And then stay alert. That's what the scriptures tell us to do with the full armor of God so that when the enemy attacks, you've got God's word on your heart ready to quote back to the devil. And I'm gonna show you what'll happen.

And guys, this is a great verse to start with, a great scripture memory verse, because it's really what this series has been all about. Ooh, I cannot wait, last verse of the day. I cannot wait. I saved the best for last. Six weeks of a series and I've saved the best verse. I haven't even shown you this verse all series long because I wanted to save it to the grand finale. I wanted to use it like the cherry on top of the ice cream. You ready? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. That's the best promise ever. Right there, the devil will flee. If you resist him, and that's why we put on the belt of truth and we, and we put on the breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of peace. And that's why we had the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and now the dagger, the sword of the spirit, because you don't have to fall when the devil attacks anymore. You now know how to stand, and it happens when you've got the armor of God on your life. So I'm going to pray today that all of us, all of us would leave from here, armored up, ready for the fight, ready to stand against the devil's schemes. But before I do, there's one group of people. And every Sunday I preach for this group is those of you who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And in just a moment in this prayer, I'm going to invite you to say yes to Jesus Christ, to be your Lord and savior. Now likely what will happen for you is the devil will whisper. You don't need that. You're good. You're a good person.

You don't need to bend your knee to Jesus. You don't need to make him your Lord and savior. You're doing fine on your own. Or likely the devil will whisper to you, oh, you're too far gone for that. You could never be good enough. You've done too much wrong. And I just want to say, don't listen to the eyes of the enemy, for it is written, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And today is the day of your salvation. I believe it in Jesus' name. So get out of here, devil. You got to flee. We stand on the word of God. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Today, Father, we come to you now in the powerful, mighty, matchless name of Jesus. And we put on the full armor of God. We armor up for the battle because we know the day of evil is here. But Lord, we want to stand. So we are grateful today that we can stand with the full armor of God. And we wield the sword of the spirit, the word of God. We thank you for it. We thank you that it is true and applicable and living and active. And we thank you that with it, the devil has to flee. So write on our hearts some it is writtens. So we can hold on to your word today. Father, I pray for those in the middle of a battle right now, for those feeling tempted, for those fighting for their families, fighting for a marriage, fighting for their faith, fighting for a friend, fighting for their health. I pray today that as we stand in those fights, we would be armored up. God help us to stand in the full armor of God.

And now this is a moment for those of you ready to give your heart and life to Jesus. You've never said yes to a relationship with him before, but he brought you here to hear the good news, to give your heart and life to him. And I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer. I'm gonna invite you to pray this prayer with me. And if you would say, pastor, include me in that prayer. I'm giving my heart and life to Jesus. Would you just shoot your hand high in the air and hold it there for just a moment while I lead you in this prayer? This is my moment of faith. I'm coming to Christ. I'm giving my heart and my life. God bless you. God bless you. You can put your hands down and pray this now with me silently, right where you sit and really mean it. Say, Jesus, I want to know you. I want my sin forgiven by you. And now I want to live my life for you. So come into my life, be my Lord and savior. It's in Jesus name we pray, amen, amen, amen, amen.