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Foreign. How about that? Who's ready to learn how to fight? You ready? If you got your Bibles, I hope you do. Let's go to Ephesians, chapter six is where I'm going to end up. We are in week three of this series, stand firm and act like men. And what we're really going to talk about is fighting. Before we do that, would you join me in welcoming our newest campus to 1122? This weekend we open up our campus in St. Augustine. Can you welcome St. Augustine to the family? Praise God. Amen. Amen. Yeah, we found an old Save a lot. That's where the campus is. How about that? That's what we pray happens that God saves a lot of people down there in St. Augustine. Well, we're in week three. And each one of these weeks kind of build on one another. You remember, our core verse is First Corinthians, chapter 16, verses 13 and 14 says this. Be watchful. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. And again, I've said this before, that the hub of the middle of the wheel is act like men. But you don't have to guess what it means to act like a man, that the Bible's going to tell us that. The first week we said, okay, remember, if you are a man, that was God's idea. You don't have to apologize for that. You need to step into manhood. And we had to ask the question, what went wrong? And the answer is, sin went wrong. That God gave every man work to enjoy, a woman to love and a will to obey. And then sin has infected and affected every single one of those. And if you want to stand up and act like a man, you must first bend your knee to the God man, Jesus Christ. That's what led us off. Then last week we said that we need to be watchful. That's a military term. That means that we are on watch because the enemy is trying to take us out. And if he can take out the provider and the protector, if he can take out the defender, then by definition there is a group of people that are left defenseless. Which leads to this week where the Bible says, stand firm in the faith. Stand means to fight. Like to stand up, to stand your ground, to take a stand. That's what it means. And so, men, I'm calling us to fight. I hope you're ready for this. Some of you, you're like, finally, you like to fight. Some of you are nervous. That's all right. You'll get over it. Okay. Aw. Toza says the most important thing about you is what you think when you think about God. I think he's primarily talking about God the Father. The most important thing about you is what you think when you think about God. Like, if you think God is distant, then you'll probably live a distant life. If you think God is mad at you, then you'll always try to perform. If you think God has just come kind of sky fairy sprinkling pixie dust on you, you'll do whatever you want. But if you think God is a sovereign judge who is a good dad, who loves you, then you will act rightly. Okay, I wanna shift it just a little bit and ask you this question. What do you think when you think about Jesus? Because some people have the wrong view of Jesus, some people because of terrible art from the 1500s. When you think about Jesus, you think about this wimpy, weak, little effeminate Danish guy with blond hair, straight, no split ends. I don't know if you've been to the Middle east, not a lot of blonde haired, pasty dudes there. It's not in their gene pool. You think he's wearing like a bathrobe with a Miss America sash, he's got a British accent and he's petting a sheep going, hello, I'm Jesus. And if that's who you think Jesus was 2000 years ago walking around on Earth, you have a terrible view of who Jesus was. He was a carpenter's son. One day he made a whip, he walked into the temple, he flipped over the tables that he had the power to talk to the wind and the waves, and they had to do what he said. Now, he was lowly and gentle on round one, but currently Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, just waiting. I mean, now, dad, can I go now? Is. Is now the time to go? Because he don't know when. He says, he doesn't even know when he's going to return. And at some point, God the Father is going to tap his boy on the shoulder and go, go get my kids and bring them home. And when he returns, there's going to be a trumpet blast, the heavens are going to rip apart and he's showing up. How about this? He's showing up dressed in white. Who wears white to a fight? Somebody that knows they going to win and it ain't going to take long, that's who. And he's got eyes like fire and he's got tattoos on his quad it says, lord of Lords and kings of Kings. And he's got a sword coming out of his mouth and he's riding a horse and he's coming back in victory. That's what he's coming back. That is who Jesus is, and that's who we've been called to follow. I hope you know that. Exodus 15:3. The Bible says the Lord is a warrior, and the Lord is his name. In week one, we spent the entire time talking about the reality that we are created in the image of God. So if we are image bearers of God, that means that we are warriors because God is a warrior and he created us in his name. Listen, when I was in seminary back in the 1900s, I went to the worst seminary, all right? And it was full of just academics, intellects, and wusses. And that's what I would tell them, all right? A bunch of wusses. They almost didn't let me graduate, and then they realized they'd have to put up with me more. So they were like, congratulations, you're outta here. All right? So. And one of the things they wanted to do is I had seminary professors with more degrees than Fahrenheit. And they would say that they thought we should eliminate all of the warlike language from the Bible because it made them uncomfortable. And I thought, well, here's a news flash there, Prof. I don't think God was asking you to be an editor to His Word. You see, I think you have lost the narrative. By the way, if you want to be comfortable, then being comfortable is not a Christian value. I don't know if you realize this, but when we were born, we were born behind enemy lines, that we are at war. But in the beginning, God speaks everything into existence somewhere in eternity past. We've talked about this all the time. Our enemy, our adversary, Lucifer. He was in charge of leading worship to the angelic choir. He was wearing, or either made of these gemstones that God Almighty was the source of light. And because of his pride, he got tired of being looked through and wanted to be looked to. And he wanted to sit on the throne of God. God cast them out of heaven like lightning to the earth. And so God creates Adam and Eve in his image. They're in this perfect, unbroken relationship with God. And this serpent, this snake, this trickster, slithers his way in there and tricks God's creation. And when sin entered the world, it held the door open for all the pain, all the strife, all the guilt, everything you have ever regretted in your life. And because of God's, mercy. God doesn't kill Adam and Eve, that he sheds the blood of an animal and makes a covering suitable for them. But because of his justice, he says, you can't be in my presence. And then God is going to send a serpent crusher Jesus to come. And from that moment to this very moment, we are behind enemy lines. We know this very well from the 1010 life that our enemy's mission statement is in our Bible. The Bible says that he is a thief. The thief. That means he's trying to take something that is not his. Like you. You don't belong to him. You belong to your Creator. But he's trying to take you like your kids, your family. That doesn't belong to him. It belongs to the Creator. He's a thief. And he only comes to steal, kill and destroy. And that's what he's trying to do. And men, God has given us the mandate. God has given us the position. God has created us in such a way that we are called to stand on that wall, to stand at that door, to defend. Listen, your deep voice and your muscles aren't for you. I hope you realize that, that they are for the benefit of somebody else. And he is trying to steal your joy and see and steal our children's childhood and steal our freedom. He's trying to kill the most vulnerable, which will be the unborn. He's trying to kill a generation. The increase in deaths of despair among generation Z are through the roof. If you don't believe that there's a demon, that there is the demonic, that we have an enemy that's trying to take people out, I'm telling you, you're just too dumb to talk to. And I don't know what to do with you because I can't disciple a demon and I can't cast out dumb. So I don't know what to do with you. And he is trying to destroy marriages and families and our country and churches. And if we don't stand and fight, who will? And so the Bible tells us what to do. Stand firm in the faith. Last week we spent all of our time saying warnings, warning, don't get taken out. That was so that you could do this week, which is stand firm in the faith. All right, if you're a husband, guess what? Maybe you've heard somewhere that you're the spiritual leader of the house. That's kind of true. It's just somebody made that up at some women's Bible study. The Bible never says you're the spiritual leader of the House. The Bible says you're the head. You're in charge of the whole thing. Now, the spiritual health of everybody in there is a part of what that means, but that's not all that that means. It means that you are responsible for everything in your house, in your family. Luke 11:21 says this. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. And do you know what divides actually means in Greek? It means has his own way with. With a sexual connotation. That's what that means. That the enemy doesn't just want to take your stuff. He wants to have his own way with your wife and your kids and every single person that you love deeply. If you were not willing to stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes, and you're like, all right, you've got my attention. Well, good. Ephesians, chapter six. We studied this. I feel like we did a whole series on it last year. We. We've done a whole series on how to fight this year. But most of the time, when we talk about spiritual warfare, what we're talking about is how to fight against the enemy for your benefit. The thing I want to look at today is this. How do we fight against the enemy for the benefit of somebody else? So if you're a dad, Listen, man, I'm 52 years old. I got two kids, 20 and 16. It's the lens by which I see it right now. So most of my illustrations are going to be that. So if you're a granddad, make the adjustment. If you're an uncle, make the adjustment. If you're a coach, if you're a teacher, make the adjustment. If you're a single guy, you're gonna play like you practice. If you think you can abdicate your responsibility in your teens and twenties and then one day just show up in a tuxedo and say, I do. And then all of a sudden think you're equipped, then you're too dumb to talk to. So why don't you begin to take responsibility for the provision and protection of these. Of the women and the children here in our church, and especially men, our 18-25ers, man, we need you. We need you volunteering in our student ministry. We need you volunteering in our kids ministry. Part of the reason is you're still cool. We're not. And you could leverage cool for the kingdom of God in the lives of some of these elementary, middle school and high school kids. So this is for you, too. Take good notes. Ephesians, chapter 6, beginning in verse, verse 10. Finally. This is why it takes so long. It's not my fault. I have to explain things. The reason it says finally is because for the previous chapter, the apostle Paul has been talking about what it looks to live out your faith in the context of marriage, in the context of home, and in the context of work. And here's the thing that we're going to realize. If you follow after Jesus, you're gonna have an enemy in and three of the primary places that he is going to try to attack you. He's going to try to attack your marriage, and he's going to try to attack your children, and he's going to try to attack you at work. Amen. And so he says, finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Whose might? His might. So some of you little wimpy guys out there, I got good news for you. This ain't your mic. This isn't like beat your chest and cowboy up. And that's not what we're doing here, that we're going to lean into his strength. In fact, next weekend, don't miss next weekend because we're talking about what strength means in the scripture that God has given us strength. It's just not for us. Says, finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Over and over and over, you're going to see it. That Paul tells the church at Ephraim to stand. He says four times in like two verses. This is a military term. If you stand up a division, that means you equip those folks, you give them guns and armor, and you get them ready for war. It means like, stand your ground. It means don't lose ground. This is what it means, means stand up and fight that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. That word scheme is methodeia in Greek, where we get methods. You see, the enemy's tricky. The enemy's a tactician. The enemy has been at this a long time. And everything God creates, the enemy tries to corrupt. I hope you realize this. This. Have you ever noticed how good the enemy is at tricking you? Isn't he pretty good? If you've been a Christian a minute, don't you think that you would be a little further along in your sanctification process? Isn't it Crazy. Is it a little bit crazy to you that he gets you with the same tricks over and over and over and over? I've shared this with you before, but first, John, the Bible says that the enemy only has three lures. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh. Flesh and the pride of life. But he dresses up those three lures to try to trick us. And the reason I call it a lure, I'm a bass fisherman, and every lure has a hook. And here's the crazy thing. Every time I say this, nobody ever writes it down. It's the most theologically impactful thing I've ever said. And temptation is tempting. You ever notice that if it doesn't tempt you, that's not temptation. And so if he throws out at you that lust of the flesh, but it doesn't do it for you, then. Then he clips it off and he throws the pride of life and tries to get you with that. Cause if you're a good fisherman, you don't care how you catch them. You just want to catch them. And that's what he does. And the way the enemy has to come against us. Check this out. It's a dirty war campaign of the mind. Why? Because he can't do a full. Occasionally. Sometimes the enemy himself will manifest himself in some sort of kind of like crazy supernatural way. Because. But here's what he knows. If you were to walk out to your car tonight and the devil of hell is sitting there going, you know, devil, what you gonna do? You gonna pray? You gonna come get us? We gonna fill up a super soaker with some anointing oil and get out there and we're gonna take that devil out, right? You see, because he knows that when Jesus says it is finished, then it was a curb stomp to the head of the devil. And the book of Revelation says, he is a dragon, but he's got a mortal wound of the head and. And he's bleeding out. And eventually he's gonna die when God tells him it's time to die. And so we can't do a full frontal attack. That's not what spiritual warfare is. That would be like if. I mean, I've used this example before, but think about it. What if our neighbors, I don't. To the south, attacked us? Like Mexico is like, here we come. Ha ha ha ha. What would that take a minute? No more Mexico. That's how it goes. If Canada. I mean, what are they gonna do, kill us with kindness? They couldn't mount up on their little horses. And what are they gonna sprinkle us with maple syrup like it wouldn't. It'd be over quick. These are not equal. Opposing forces that are battling it out and we'll see who wins in the end. No, no, no, no. When Jesus says it is finished, it inflicted the final death blow upon the enemy. Therefore the way the enemy attacks is the way just like a bunch of enemies of America attack right now. It's a dirty war campaign of misinformation. Listen, everybody knows this is fact. Now there are bot farms all over the place trying to put all kind of poisonous algorithms into our feeds so that we will all as a nation, hate each other, be divided and not like each other. Right? Cause they can't attack us full on. This is the same thing the enemy does. And if you're a man, and especially a man with a family, then you have to fight for the heart, soul, mind and strength of the people that God has put under your protection. You got to fight for their hearts. You got to fight for relationships, you got to fight for their soul. You got to create the kind of environment whereby they could follow after Jesus. You got to fight for their mind. That means you have to stand at the door to guard the lies that want to enter into your house. And you have to fight for them physically. That means you physically need to take care of them. This is provision and protection. And so how do you do that? Here's how you do it. Verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. That word wrestle is not a sporting word. It's a fighting word. It means to fight until you die. That's what that means. This does not mean like you're wrestling against the enemy. Like two take down and at the end you shake hands and somebody raises their hand. No, no, no, no. This is wrestling. Like that scene in Saving Private Ryan where the one guy's fighting the German with the knife and he. Right through the heart. Remember that one? If you haven't seen Saving Private Ryan, you should and say thank you. That's ever put on a uniform, somebody that has put on a uniform to stand on that wall for our freedom. Okay? And if you'll remember, in that scene there's one guy, an American soldier, and he's terrified and he's frozen and he's sitting on the steps while he hears his buddy fighting to the death and losing and his fear paralyzes him and nothing happens. We got a lot of men that are paralyzed by fear or abdication. Meanwhile, the enemy is having his way with a generation. It's that kind of fight. For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So here's what this means. Your enemy's not your boss or your wife or the kids or your ex. The enemy's not even politicians shriek. No, that's not our problem. And so one of the things husbands, if we can begin to understand what we're supposed to do is not fight with our wife, but fight for. For our wife, everything changes. If we can begin to understand we're not supposed to fight with our kids, but for our kids, everything changes. In the book Song of Solomon, Solomon says, catch for us, the little foxes in our garden. It's implore us to understand that when we get sideways with each other, then what we're doing is we're inviting the enemy in so that we will think it's me versus you. But in reality, what it is, is it's me and you versus this fox that does not belong in the garden of our relationship. You get that? You see? And there's two great dangers when it comes to spiritual warfare. One is if you don't think it exists, you're done. You're done. I'm mentioning this to you over and over and over. Currently, it is deer season. Some people called hunting a sport. I. I think it's funny. Cause half the teams don't know you're playing. They always lose, they never win. Sometimes they get away, but they don't ever get you back. You see that deer thought it was going to get some corn. It didn't know it was going to my freezer. And if you don't realize that we have an enemy that wants to steal, kill and destroy. You're like the deer. The one not prepared for battle will always lose the battle. The other extreme is you blame every single thing on the devil. Like you blame traffic on the devil and you blame your bad hair day on the devil. Listen, man, it's called humidity. Sometimes stuff just happens. All right? But we have to be aware that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against demonic powers. And so you say, all right, well, how do I stand against an enemy? Cause I don't feel like prepared. Well, I've got good news. The Bible's going to tell you how to be prepared. Verse 13. Therefore, since we're in this fight, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day that God has given you what you need. To fight that you don't take up your armor, you take up his armor. Now, a part of what Paul is doing is Paul is referencing Isaiah. When Isaiah talks about a warrior that is going to come on our behalf dressed in the same armor. Also, Paul is in prison and has been in prison many times. And he can just look over and see a Roman soldier dressed in armor, ready to go to battle. And he's going to take this picture and he's going to use it as a metaphor for how we are to prepare for battle. He says, therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand. Therefore you get this. So just in case you're a little slow on the uptake, Paul is saying, hey, boys, get ready to fight, fight, fight. That's what he says. Step one, Having fastened on the belt of truth, that a part of what it means to fight on behalf of those that we love is we have to fight for truth these days. Listen, there are some things that are right and there are some things that are wrong. And the way that we know what is right and wrong is according to the word of God, all opinions are not equal. All points of view are not equal. And we elevate the opinion of God above all other opinions. I don't care what the Supreme Court says. How arrogant must you be to call yourself supreme when you're not supreme? Unless it means, like, you know, adding guacamole and sour cream to your taco. Like, what are you talking about? You don't get to define what life is. You don't get to define what marriage is. They weren't your idea to begin with, and you didn't create them. The creator of the universe says, this is how we are to do life. And we have to fasten the belt of truth. And this is. This is the core central piece, like for a Roman soldier. Everything tucked in and tied in to the belt. It's where the sword hung. It's where they would take that big robe and they would tuck it in before they would fight. And if you were to take off your belt, you know, it's hard to fight with no pants on. It's a little awkward. This is the centerpiece of the fight. So let me ask you this, Dads, does your family know the truth? What are you going to do about it? I hope you realize this. Almost everything coming through a screen in your home and in your device is lying to you. Almost everything. And let me tell you, here's how the enemy gets you, man. Dads, we sit on our leather couches with our remotes and we watch our favorite cable news station and we just yell at the things that are happening all around the world. And we feel righteous because we have right ideas. Right? Because we could solve all the problems just like this, couldn't we? Meanwhile, TikTok and YouTube are discipling our children via the demonic. And we ain't got a word to say about that. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Does your family know the truth? You see, there are some truths that your kids need to know. They need to know that they are not a cosmic accident, but they are fearfully and wonderfully made. I mean, listen, if for a few generations now that we've taught our children or allowed our children to be taught they're nothing but an accident and they're nothing but elevated animals, then why in the world are we surprised when people act like animals? We taught them that there's some things that are just true. Here's something that your kids need to know. You are not the label the world gives you. You are. You're not the label the world gives you. Your desires don't define you. Christ defines you. Your past doesn't define you. Christ defines you. That the primary thing in you is who Jesus says that you are. Listen, here's something that our kids need to know. You were created on purpose. You were not simply the result of somebody else's choice. You were God's idea. Sometimes there are accidental parents. No need to. Amen. There are no accidental children. And every single image bearer of God deserves a right to life. You are not what you consume. You are not what this world says about you. You are not the opinion of others. The stuff of this world will not satisfy. And if we could undo one thing that the prophetess Oprah taught us. Please don't follow your heart. You know what Jesus says about the human heart? It is the source of evil. Yeah. Don't follow it. Anybody's heart. Ever Lie to him. Yeah, man, yeah. No, you need to follow the one. The one who is the king of this universe. And here's what's beautiful. I mean, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and he says this very famous verse that a lot of politicians quote, but they quote it way out of context. He says, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. He was talking about the word of God there. And then later In John 14:6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me. The truth is not just a propositional statement that aligns with reality. Truth is a person and his name is Jesus. So ultimately, when I say what you've got to do is on behalf of your family, you've got to fasten on the belt of truth and is that you've got to do everything you can to make Jesus the centerpiece of your life and your family. This is a part of how we fight. Next, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, this is my favorite one. This is about identity. When the New Testament uses the word righteous, it doesn't mean right activity, it means right identity. This is what the old theologians would call imputed righteousness. Second Corinthians 5, 21 says this, that God made him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God. That when Jesus pushes up on his nail pierced feet and he says it is finished for anyone that would believe that somehow counted for me, then the great exchange happens. And at the cross of Jesus Christ, he takes on all of your sin, past, present and future. He actually becomes your sin on the cross and receives the full penalty of God on the cross. This is what propitiation means. And we receive the full credit of all that Jesus accomplished, which is a perfect life. Again, this is double imputation. Our sin was imputed upon Christ and his righteousness was imputed upon us. Listen, Catholics, not impartation. Impartation is if I do my part, like confess and take communion, then I am a state of grace and God will do his part. That's not what the Bible says. This is imputed by grace through faith that he gives us what we do not deserve. That means when God looks at you, though you are imperfect, the picture that he gets is that of his perfect Son. This is the illustration. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Anybody? You ever watch like Gladiator? See that movie Gladiator? Great. My kids make fun of me because all my movie references are like 20 years old. Cause I don't watch. I ain't got time for that no more. Okay? So whatever. Here's the thing, man. You ever seen a chubby breastplate? You ever see them custom fit one? It's got a little potbelly, little pew over there, you know, walk up to. You walk up to somebody's breastplate. That's not what. Nah, man. Every breastplate looks jacked, doesn't it? Like perfect pec, perfect abs. But there's not necessarily that going on underneath the breastplate. This is the picture. When you get saved, you get a breastplate of righteousness. So when God looks at you, he don't see the wrinkles, he don't see the stretch marks, he don't see the donuts, he don't see the dimples, he don't see the jiggle. He sees a perfectly righteous breastplate. Can I get a Witness from the 50 and up crowd? Praise God. That's what I'm talking about here. Proverbs 4. 23 says, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. A part of the way we fight for the hearts of those that we love most is we speak the truth of their true identity over them all the time. Because you have to battle against the lies of the world. Parents, let me ask you some questions. Do you celebrate who your kids are or what they've accomplished? Man, listen, we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Gretchen's a lot closer to perfection than I am. But one of the things I've always tried to do with my kids is celebrate who they are way more than what they do. Like at ball games and things like that. Not way to go on the interception, but way to hustle and be a good teammate. You understand what I'm saying? Because this world wants to drown them in a performance trap. If I were to ask you what's most important about your child, I know that you would say who they are and who they are in Christ. Especially if I ask you and you know who I am. Oh, Jesus. Yeah, for sure. If I looked at your wallet and your calendar in the life of your family, what would it say is most important in the life of our families? This is how we go to war. Listen, here's just a little free hack. When your kids are little and you're putting them to bed and you're doing bedtime, and they try to trick you and stay up late, trick them back and have some real heart conversations. Try to ask them, not just activity like, what did you do today? But how that thing made you feel. Because what you're trying to do is the breastplate guarded the heart. And you as a mom and you as a dad and as an uncle and as a grandparent and as a guardian, as a teacher and a coach, what you're trying to do is guard their heart, for everything they do flows out of it. Everything. Fellas, when you speak to your wife, are you guarding her heart? Are you trying to speak against the lies of this world? About who she is, that she'll never be enough. She'll never love up. Here's what's crazy, ladies. Here's how the enemy's killing y' all right now. No matter what you decide to do with your life, the enemy's going to whisper you, you didn't do the right thing. If you decided to stay home, then he's gonna whisper, ha ha. You're worthless. You don't do anything. And if you decide to go work, then you're like, ha, ha. You don't love your family. Cause you do this, husbands, you gotta echo the voice of God in the life of your wife and make sure that she's aligned to just do whatever Jesus has told her to do. And he has given her everything she needs to accomplish, everything that he has called her to do. Ladies, your self talk is terrible. Some of the biggest fights I've ever gotten to with Gretchen is the way she's talking about her. I'm like, hey, lady, nobody talks to my wife that way. She's like, I am your wife. I know. Not even you. Right, right, right, right. You better fight for the identity of the people that you love. Verse 15. All right, you're not gonna like this one. I don't like this one. And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, shoes take you somewhere. And what we're supposed to take is the good news, the gospel of peace, man. Let me ask you this question. When you walk into the room, do you bring in peace or chaos? When you walk into your house, does peace walk in with you? When you walk into that meeting, does peace walk in with you? When you walk into your kids room, does peace walk in with you? Or does everybody pucker up a little bit because they're scared? You see? I dare you, fellas. I dare you to ask your wife this today. I dare you. When you get home, I dare you to say, okay, be honest, what's it like when I walk in the room? And if she can't answer, there's your answer. If she's nervous about answering, there's your answer. And then when she says something, I know your defense, like it's going to go, yeah, but all right, here's how you reply. When she gives you some critique there that you invited, here's how you. Here's what you're going to say. You're going to say, got it? Did you get it? And then the next thing you're going to do is confess and repent and say, I'm sorry, you want to be the leader of your home? How about be the lead repenter? How about be the lead confessor? Verse 16. And in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Yeah, the enemy is trying to steal, kill and destroy. A flaming dart was like a javelin, it was like a PVC pipe and they would fill it with flammable liquid and then they would light it on fire and they would chuck it so that when it hit, the fire would go everywhere. And they would take these huge shields that would cover a person and they would saturate them in water. And then the way these things are designed. Have you ever seen 300 again? 25 years old or whatever? And the way these shields were designed is that men would line up and the shields were supposed to link together and it was both defensive and offensive. They would link these things up together. They would put them above them, they would put them below them. Sometimes they would create a little whoop, open it up. So you could juke somebody into liver or something. And the idea is in the failings, what they would do is they would put family members next to one another. So if I was going to war with my family, that means dad, like my dad would be like one of those old men In Braveheart, another 30 year old movie, whatever, you know, those old tough men, like saw their arm off, they just jab you with the other one. That's my dad, son. And then I'd be there. And then my brother and my son, we would all be there together. Why? Because they understood that if somebody that you love, like your brother or your son, if they went down, there's no way you're turning back and running. And what happens is when somebody would go down, you would link your shields together and so that you would provide cover for them when they couldn't stand up and provide cover for them. Dads, men. We are supposed to have the kind of shields of faith that is so big and growing so rapidly that when somebody else is lacking in faith, they could borrow some of our cover for a little while. This is like Mark chapter two, when the four men bring the dude on the mat, tear a hole in the roof. Remember, Jesus sees the faith of the friends and looks at the guy on the mat and says, son, your sins are forgiven. This is why it's so important to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Because fellas, it's not just you in your life that depends on it. Your family Depends on it. We're supposed to bear one another's burdens. Verse 17 and take the helmet of salvation. I think the reason to use this helmet is this. You can't lose your salvation. Just like you can't lose your head. You can't lose your head, but you're dead, right? Do you know you can get a new heart still be you? You can get a new liver still be you. If you get a new head, you ain't you anymore. It is essential to you. So let me ask you, does your family understand salvation? Does your family understand the gospel? I mean, we live in a world where there are many, many, many parents that spend more time, more money, more energy and more effort on where your child is going to spend the next four years in college, as opposed to where they're going to spend eternity. Or you spend all your time, effort and energy on a sport. And they've got like a 0.01% of going pro, but they've got 100% chance of standing and giving an account before Jesus one day. Please tell me you can explain salvation to the people in your family that you're responsible for. This is how you go to war. And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, this is one of the offense. The primary offensive weapon right here is the sword of the spirit. Now again, remember, our battle is not against flesh and blood. That the word of God is not a sledgehammer to beat up Kathy in the cubicle next to you. You know, Kathy, you do everything wrong. No, no, no, no. It's a surgical strike. Not against people, but against principalities. And again, I've told you this before, man, the worst way to read the Bible is like a set of binoculars. Like if every time you read a verse about some evil people and you're like, I'm gonna send this verse to my mother in law. You're not doing it right. It is a mirror, man. The judgment of God begins. You know where the judgment of God begins? In the house of God. And what if you were the kind of dad that began to know the Word, began to learn the word, began to memorize the word. And I know what some of you are saying. You're like, well, I ain't good at memorizing. I'm calling bull skew line on that. You can tell me how many past attempts Tebow had versus Ole Miss 20 years ago. We memorize what is important to us. We know what is important to us. Listen, especially if you got little kids, I would highly encourage you to pray the word of God over them every single day. Guess what will happen? You'll memorize it. I mean, look, JP's 20 now, but for almost all of his, like elementary age school, I would pray over him. Psalm 1 every night. Blessed is he who does not walk in the way of the wicked, or stand in the way of the sinner, or sit in the seat of the mocker. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and upon his law. I'll meditate day and night. May I be like a tree planted by streams of running water. May everything you do prosper and the Lord will bless the righteous every single night. Because that's what I wanted. And listen, man, here's why. I want to drop the anchor of the truth of the Word of God so deep in my children's life that even though they may swerve and obviously there's some swerving, that's called teenage years, right? Whatever. They'll be anchored to the Word of God. I was praying that he would not surround himself with idiots because I didn't want him to be an idiot. You know what he did this morning? He met with a couple of his brothers, some dudes, also 20 year olds, right here from the church and they do Bible study. Maybe that was yesterday morning. There's no doubt in my mind that's a part of the result of the Word of God that I prayed over him for a decade or more. Regan Capri, she's 16 years old. We hit the jackpot with her. Listen, when she was born, she was £7 exactly. That's the number of perfection in the Bible. Jot that down. And the majority of our life, when I would tuck her in, we'd pray. Psalm 139. Dear God, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. Do you know why? Because she lives in a world that's gonna lie to her, especially the girls that you think your value is based on the external. This world's gonna say if you're not beautiful, you're not lovable. And the definition of beauty is, is created by some kind of AI generator. Human beings can't even look like the definition. I hope you realize that. And I want it. If some mean girl or soon to be dead boy came sniffing around with lies at my house, I wanted her to go, no, that ain't right. That doesn't smell right at all. Because I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, that God's works are Wonderful. And I'm one of those fellas. Listen, I think Pastor Britain said this a long time ago. In regards to eternity, maybe the three most important words ever spoken are this. It is finished. In regards to you living every day, the most important words are this. It is written. I hope you've got some. It is written in your life. The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Verse 18. And praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. Prayer is an offensive weapon against the devil. I've told you before, husbands pray out loud over your wife. Pray out loud over your families. I dare you, take a chance. Pray out loud at work. Be the prayer guy. I'm going to cheat here a little bit because I've seen all the devotions that Gretchen's written and one of them is coming out this week. Don't miss this. Here's what Gretchen says about prayer. But many of us don't think of prayer as a war tactic against the enemy. We think of prayer more like a stroll in the park with our dad chatting about all the events of the day. Or we pray to God for things that'll make for a more comfortable life, more contentment, more happiness. When was the last time you asked someone to pray for you? Not for comfort or contentment or happiness, but a prayer that reaches the soul level. When was the last time you prayed so hard you were left in a puddle on the floor? In a war between good and evil, battling against sin, fighting the prince of darkness. When we pray, the enemy cowers. When we pray, the enemy loses his grip. When we pray, chains begin to break and lives are restored. Is this how we're going to war for our people? Pray. In just a few minutes, you're gonna have an opportunity to pray. You know what? I want the devil of hell to quake in his boots every Thursday and every Sunday. Because he knows that hundreds, even thousands of people in campuses all over the place and watching online that they gather intentionally not to just say a prayer. Now I lay me down to sleep. But we go to war in the heavenlies on behalf of the gospel and our families and the people that we love. Paul continues to that end. Keep alert with all perseverance. This is not a one round fight. This is a long fight. Making supplication for all the saints. Supplication just means pray for. So pray for all the saints. And then Paul says, and also would you pray for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the Mystery of the gospel. Please continue to pray for me. Pray for your church, okay? For which I am an ambassador in chains. That I. That I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Yeah, a couple things here. I've told you before, man. There's no pain like kid pain. Cause there's no love like kid love. And I told you how when we found out we were having a boy, I was just through the roof called my daddy, said, dad, I made a boy. He says, I knew you had it in you, son. That's what he said. And I was real nervous when I found out we were having a girl. You know, it's just extra, man. Just the world we live in. But like, that video showed you. Ain't nothing like being a girl, dad. Just unlock some stuff in here I didn't know we had in us, okay? And JP's about three and a half years older than Reagan. And when we brought her home, he's little, you know, he's, however, just that tall. And I sat him down, I brought Reagan home. Just this little burrito of perfections, you know? And I said, look here, buddy. I mean, he's this big. I was like, look here. Your number one job is to protect Reagan. He was like, okay. And then consistently, consistently, I'd say, what's your number one job? To protect Reagan. As they got a little bit older. One time, we were at the. At the town center for my annual mall trip, and we were waiting in line for Santa Claus. Santa Claus had to take a break, and there's a bunch of kids playing, and I hear a kid crying, but it doesn't really register because it wasn't a Martin Cross, you know, it's not my kid. And so I'm like, all right, whatever. And then JP comes running up. I don't know, he's six years old or something, and he just got that, like, saucer eye, like, hey, dad. And I'm like, are you the reason that kid's crying? And he's like, he pushed Reagan. I was like, why is he crying? I pushed him off the slide. High five. There you go. Let's go to Dick's Sporting Goods. Get whatever you want. Okay? Why? Because. What's your number one job? Protect Reagan. She got to high school when they were both at Providence together. I'm like, look, boy, you were on the same campus. You keep an eye out, you understand? And I'm telling you, if some dude crosses the line, somebody mistreats her, I'm telling you, you handle it. He's A football player now. He trains mma. Okay? So I'm like, snap nap or I don't care. Tap it. Don't matter. Try not to go to prison. But here's what's going to happen. They gonna kick you out of school, and I'll take you to Disney World. I don't care. Because your number one job. Protect Reagan. Gentlemen, for every single one of us, your number one job. It's your number one job on this planet, is to provide and to protect those people that God has put under your provision and protection for the glory of God. You get that? And that means we gotta go to war. That means we gotta fight. Not against flesh and blood. That's not our fight. But we have an enemy who's trying to kill, trying to steal and trying to destroy. And I'm trying to tell you, I'm calling our entire church to the fight. Men. It starts with us. CS Lewis has got this great quote. When I die, I want hell to rejoice that I'm out of the fight. That's what I pray. I want to put my finger in the chest of the devil. I want him to be so aggravated with me, I want him to lose so many to the kingdom of God because of the fight I'm in. I don't know if you know, in the Book of Acts, there's this event called the Sons of Sceva. How many of you know this? Their dad was an itinerant Jewish exorcist. He would cast demons out of people. And these boys are kind of dumb. They're like, we're going to try to do what dad does. And they heard that Paul was. Was casting out demons. So they find this demon possessed guy and they roll up on him and they say, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, come out. And you know what? The demons. The demons talk back. This ain't a good idea. If you're trying to cast out a demon and the demon starts talking smack. Anybody remember? I'll tell you, you don't remember. Here's what they say. And the demons replied, jesus, we know. Paul, I've heard of, but who are you? And then they beat the pants off of them. That's what the Bible says. All right, here's the only reason I tell you that I want to be in the war for the sake of you, for the sake of my wife, for the sake of my children, for the sake of the people that God has called us to go the war on their behalf. I want to cause so much havoc against the enemy. That they're like Jesus. We know and we've heard of that crazy preacher in 1122. And I want you to join that fight. Listen, here's the point. The Bible says the Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. Genesis 1:27 says, God created man in his own image. And Ephesians 6:12 says, for we do not fight or wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present day darkness. So to stand up and act like men, we must dress ourselves for battle and go to war to defend and protect our loved ones. And we stand firm because our victory is in Jesus. And listen, I know some of you are like, well, pastor, that's easy for you to say. I mean, you're the pastor. But if you know what I've done, if you know who I am, I got some really good news. God is in the habit of using some of the least qualified people to do some of the greatest things on the planet. And like my guy Jim Bergen says, listen, in the kingdom of God, we don't need second chances. We need the blood of Jesus. And from now on, I mean, look in the Bible and throughout history, some of the people that God used. Are you ready for this? Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a terrorist, Gideon was insecure, Jesus, Thomas was a doubter, Elijah was moody, Jeremiah was depressed, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was short, Abraham was old, Lazarus was dead, Samson had long hair and Tebow was a gator. God can use anybody. So if you were ready to lock arm in army men, for the sake of the women and the children, for the sake of an upcoming generation, for the sake of the spread of the gospel, you may not feel equipped. But if God has called you to be a man, then listen. His divine power has given you everything you need for life and godliness. One of the most famous events in the Bible is about a boy who really becomes a man before our own eyes. He was ill equipped. People didn't think very highly of him for years. He's just sitting out in the fields watching sheep, playing his harp and writing in a journal. You don't look at harp players and journal writers as like, yeah, there's a warrior. Meanwhile, there was a giant named Goliath and he was cursing the people of God day after day after day. And yet this boy walks out on the field and he did not put his hope in his own strength and he did not put his hope in his circumstances. And even though it looked like he was facing impossible odds, he knew that we served the God of the impossible. And when David walks out to face Goliath, one of the things I used to read with JP over and over and over was David's declaration against the enemy. Now again, man, I don't want this to be a pep talk. The ultimate understanding of David and Goliath is that Jesus is the greater David and that Goliath ultimately is sin. And through Christ, he conquered sin and death. And because he did that, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. But some of us are facing some giants. And the giant that we are facing is the enemy of hell itself. You got it? Amen. If you're ready to fight, if you're ready to fight not against flesh and blood, not against people, but against principalities of evil, against an enemy that wants to steal, kill, and destroy, then I right now, I want you. We did this over the summer, but we're going to do it again. Men, if you're ready to join the fight for the glory of God, for the sake of your family, for the advancement of the kingdom, whether you're young or old, I want you to stand up where you are, and I'm going to give you the opportunity to declare what David declared. And, ladies, here's what I need from you. If your guy standing right now or some guy you know is standing right now, man, I need you to pray for them. Oh, my gosh. The encouragement on the lips of a woman in our life is like gold in the heart of a man. You get this. You know what encourage means? It means to put courage in. You got it? Cause the moment he walks out of here, what's gonna happen is the devil's gonna start whispering in his ear and be like, who do you think you are? Oh, you might be tough, but you ain't righteous. You don't know verses. If everybody knew. You understand? That is the enemy that we are facing now. And so, fellas, with everything you got, I want you to repeat after me what David said to Goliath. And the thing I want you to focus on is this is. I want you to see where David says his strength comes from. It's not himself, but it's in the Lord. Are you ready? You sure? All right, repeat after me. You come against me, that's pretty good. But that'll get you tail kicked. All right? If you walk against an enemy with a little bit of timidity, all it's going to do is incite him you understand what I'm saying? I need you to say this so loud that the demons in hell go, oh, God, this is serious. You understand? I need we to say this so loud that everybody knows that we're serious about this. You ready? You come against me? Yeah. With sword and spear and javelin. But I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied this day. The Lord will hand you over to me and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. And the whole world will know that there is a God in 1122. And the whole world will know that there is a God in my house. And all those gathered here will know that it's not by sword or spear that the Lord saves for the battle of is the Lord's. And he will give all of you into our hands. Amen. Amen. Amen. If everybody would please join me in standing. And we are going to go to war. We're going to sing because worship is war. And we're going to bring to fuel the advancement of the fight against the enemy in the declaration of the gospel today, the ends of the earth. And we gonna pray. Husbands, maybe you've never prayed out loud over your wife and that would be the very first time. Or maybe you would gather your family and you would come down here or singles. Maybe you would join up together and you would come and pray that we would be in the fight for the glory of God and for the provision and the protection of people that he has given for us to steward. Let me pray for us. Our good and gracious heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. Jesus, I thank you that you are a warrior and you came to do battle. God, you didn't just come to teach lessons. You didn't just come to be a rabbi. You didn't just come to tell stories to teach a theology class. You came for a fight against sin and death and shame and separation from God. And you came on a rescue mission behind enemy lines to put the devil of hell to death so that we would be rescued. God and I thank you that the moment we get rescued, we become a part of the rescue team. God, I pray that you would fill us with the spirit of your courage and that we would fight not against flesh and blood, not against other people, but that we would fight against the principalities of darkness for the sake of your glory and those whom you love. We cannot do it without you. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. So, church, let us sing, let us bring, let us pray, let us respond.