In this sermon, Steve Mays emphasizes the importance of standing strong in the face of spiritual warfare. He highlights the fact that many believers are walking away from God in these challenging times and urges listeners to remain committed to their faith. Mays discusses the weapons of spiritual warfare mentioned in Ephesians 6, including the Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Gospel of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, and Sword of the Spirit. He emphasizes the need to be strong in the Lord and rely on His power. Mays also reflects on his own journey and expresses his desire to finish the course with joy and fulfill the ministry God has given him.

It's the 2010 Summer of Sermons with Steve Mays. I gotta tell you, we are living in the most exciting days. But we are also living in a day that brothers and sisters are walking away from God. And if there's ever a time that you and I need to stand, it is now. Light of the world, light of the world Hope that shines in darkness, a voice that will be heard Light of the world, light of the world Hope that shines in darkness, so follow the light of the world There's a spiritual war that's raging. And every day, countless men and women are falling to the enemy. So we need to do all we can to ready ourselves for battle. Our best defense comes with the use of some well-made weapons. Check out the list. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. As you can tell, these are no ordinary weapons, and this is no ordinary war. But make no mistake about it, this spiritual battle is real. Pastor Steve shares insight into this conflict and how we can be victorious over our enemy. Let's listen. Spiritual warfare is the most important area of your life as a Christian. That we are to take a stand. And we are not to back up or to be complacent within our Christian walk. That you are, yes, a son or a daughter. You are definitely called to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you also have been chosen by God to be a soldier in the army of God. And one of the tragic areas that bothers me more than any other area about this generation is we look at Christianity and it is just a lot of wimps. We get hurt so easy. We get offended so easy. We want to leave. We're looking for ways to break commitments. We're looking for ways to get out of really a dedication to the Lord. We're looking to how close we can get into the world without missing the rapture. Looking for certain things that I can do. The do's and don'ts of Christianity rather than fully consecrated my life unto the Lord. Serving the Lord and being willing to burn out for the Lord if that's what it took. And I think that if Jesus Christ would come today, the message that he would simply would declare is pick up the cross and follow me. Don't whine about it. Don't complain about it. Don't make an issue out of it. If you lose everything in your life, you are called by God to serve the Lord with all of your heart, with all of your mind, and with all of your soul. And so God has given to us here in Ephesians in chapter 6 through Paul the apostle, some incredible warnings and great exhortations of things that we need to do in order to make it to the very end. Some are so tired. And yet Jeremiah declared, if you're tired running with a footman now, what happens when the chariots come? And if you're tired of swimming in the Jordan now, what happens when the Jordan overflows? And so when you begin to look at the world in which we live, it's not going to get any easier. The Christian walk doesn't become easier. Things become more difficult because God is using many of you. And the more that God uses you, the more you will be attacked. And the more that God uses your life to influence others and to make a difference in the kingdom of God, you are on a direct head-on collision with Satan. And he is seeking to destroy you, to distort, to discourage, to just defile your life. He is a murderer. And he was that from the very beginning. He has come to rob, to steal, and to kill your faith. But Jesus Christ came to give you that life and that more abundantly. And you are not, and I am not, to be ignorant concerning Satan's devices. We find that Paul declared that he was an angel of light. We find that we are to understand the warfare. We are not to worship or be afraid of the enemy. We understand that there are powers and principalities and dominions and certain rulerships there within the kingdom of Satan. And there are demonic forces within the room and within the world in which we live. But we are not to be afraid, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. And just like I could put up a TV and tune in to a TV program this evening or some other AM 98 to listen to the news, I could simply tune in to what I would want to hear, though those waves are going through this room, through our bodies, it's just moving. Well, within the realm of the Spirit, it's the very same thing. Satan cannot possess you. He can oppress you. He can make your life miserable if you're not going to trust God. He can whip you at any area you think you can conquer him in the flesh, but the weakest saint trusting God can destroy the kingdom of Satan. One little drop will destroy the power of Satan, but no blood is a serious thing and you will be devastated by his power. I was reading the other day concerning the great reformer Martin Luther, and though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fall him, that word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth. The Spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with his sideth. Let good and kindereth go this mortal life also. The body they may kill, God's truth abides still. His kingdom is forever. Well, that tells me that Martin Luther, who was used by God to nail the indictments against the Catholic Church there in the 15th century, was in a head-on collision with the enemy. But it has always been that way in the universe. In the book of Job, we find that there came a day when the sons of God came together concerning God, and Satan came himself. So Satan has access into the throne of God. We find later on in the book of Daniel that when Daniel began to pray, that the angel was sent to give Daniel a message, but the prince of Persia did hinder and Michael the archangel had to come himself to get Daniel the message and to hinder the work of the enemy. We find at the very beginning of time in the Garden of Eden, it was Satan seeking to destroy the life of Adam and Eve and he took the paradise and just destroyed Adam and Eve and their fellowship with God. In the New Testament, we find that Satan was seeking to destroy Christ in Matthew 4. And throughout the Bible, throughout the world, throughout humanity, throughout the universe, throughout the whole everything, Satan has been at odds with God and you and I are upon seeking to get even with God. And Jesus Christ came into this world that he might redeem me, that I would be saved, that I might begin to serve in the kingdom of God and begin to serve for the wisdom of God himself. Jesus, you remember, was attacked there in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Then you remember when Jesus was beginning to pray, he began to sweat great drops of blood. But then you remember at the very end of his life, he was crucified to a cross. And so as he walked with his father, it went from the wilderness into the incredible temptation, then into the garden with the incredible heaviness upon his life. Finally, it nailed him to the cross. But he laid his life down. And he triumphed, made a public affair of the whole thing and mocked Satan, but it didn't get easier. It got more difficult. And I've got to tell you, as your pastor, we are living in the most exciting days, but we are also living in a day that brothers and sisters are walking away from God. The intensity of the battle is beginning to arise. Brothers and sisters are no longer walking with God. They have been shaken from their foundation. And if there's ever a time that you and I need to stand, it is now. If there's ever a time that we need to make a commitment to last out until Jesus Christ comes, it's right now. And I do believe that God is speaking in my own heart just about a new commitment to Him. After 30 years does not guarantee that you're going to make it to the very end. And I want the Lord to finish in my life that I might finish the course with joy the ministry that God has set before me. But I can no longer look back on what God did 30 years ago. What is God doing in my life today? And what does God want me to do ahead of time? And so I need to get apart before we begin to fall apart. And the enemy is seeking to destroy everything in my life, in my wife, in our ministry, but we need to make a stand. And you need to make a stand in your marriage. You need to make a stand in your single life. You need to make a stand as a grandpa, as a grandmother. You need to make a stand for what you believe, what you don't believe, and having done all, stand against the wiles of the devil. I think it's important that you and I understand that we are not to fear. God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Look with me before we look to Ephesians to 2 Chronicles 20, verse 17. If you have your Bibles, you'll want to turn. Jehoshaphat was concerned about the battle that he was about ready to get into there in 2 Chronicles 20. And he was going through a very difficult time and he was overwhelmed and about ready to be overtaken when the word of the Lord came to him in 2 Chronicles 20, verse 17. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Would you underline that please? You will not need to fight in this battle. Can you say amen? Amen. You are not going to win this battle in these last days. I can tell you now. It has nothing to do with your commitment, your strength. It has everything to do with your love for God and your commitment to Christ. The battle is too strong. The warfare is too intense. We become too overwhelmed and here he declares ye shall need not fight in the battle. Set yourself. Stand ye still. See the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord and worshipped. That's the key. And it is in worship that we become warriors. It is in worship that we learn to watch. It is in God fighting the battles. It is in us understanding that it's not our battles. Turn with me over to 2 Chronicles in chapter 32 verse 7. Hezekiah had the very same problem. In chapter 32 verse 7 it declares, Be strong, Hezekiah. Be courageous, Hezekiah. Be not afraid nor dismayed. For the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him, for there be more with us than with him. With him is the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord, our God, to help us and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. So in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, ye have no need to fight this battle, but you are to rest here in 2 Chronicles chapter 32. Be courageous. Be strong. Be mighty. Understand what God is doing. And the problem when it comes to warfare is that many, many Christians do not believe in the devil. Or they go to the other extreme and they see the devil in everything. Well, let me tell you that oftentimes Satan gets accused in things he hasn't done. It is the work of the flesh, not the devil. And oftentimes people that say, well, I don't believe in the enemy. Well, then you have a problem. A serious problem. You remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 4, verse 10. Then Jesus said unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only. So Jesus Christ declared there was a devil and Jesus Christ was talking to that devil. Peter, you remember, in 1 Peter chapter 5 declared the very same thing. Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may destroy. So Peter declares the enemy to be walking, seeking, to jump and to get in and to attack and to lure you and to snare you. And Peter said, be vigilant. Never take your eyes. I read of a man 85 years old a couple weeks ago that committed adultery. I just died when I thought that. I thought when you hit 70, it's all over, you're OK. But at 85, you still can have a problem of committing adultery. I think, oh Lord, we're never safe in this world. The flesh is alive. And of course, I don't know why I thought that. Abraham was 100. And Sarah was 90. So you're never going to be safe. But you are to be vigilant. You are to be looking. You remember James, in chapter 4, verse 7, declared, Submit yourself, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Verse 8, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. And the ploy is that a double mind, a lack of humility, is the work of the enemy. And because the enemy is working, humble yourself and get rid of the work of the enemy around your life. And then you remember what Jew declared in chapter 1, verse 9, Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, did not bring rallying accusations, but said, The Lord rebuke you. And then this evening, Ephesians, in chapter 6, verse 10, Finally Paul declares, My brethren, be strong in the Lord. Why? Because he's an adversary. Be strong in the Lord. Why? Because he's seeking to lift you up in pride and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, having then all to stand. Now I want you to notice in verse 11, not against flesh and blood, but underlying against principalities, underlying against powers, the word against, against the rulers of darkness and against spiritual wickedness in high places. That is one of the incredible keys. So in verse 10, if you miss this, I believe you have missed everything. I have taught this just all kinds of times, but never have I understood it like I have this time. I've always kind of jumped over verse 10 and went right for verse 11 and 12. And that was to my own mistake. He declares in verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Now what is the greatest need that you have? If I was to ask you, maybe over a cup of coffee or tea, and it was just you and I having table talk, and I was to say to you, what is the greatest need in your life right now? What would you tell me? Well, many of you would say a new car or a new wife or just something new or some new clothing or maybe just to look different or to be taller or to be thinner or to be more educated. But the greatest need in your life is power. The greatest need that you have this evening is power in the Lord and in Christ. Notice he declares his power. Here, be strong and underline in the Lord. And then he declares it again, in the power of His might. So finally, brethren, in other words, to miss this is to miss everything, to ignore what he is declaring. And Paul is simply declaring that they were not trusting or they were going to have a difficult time trusting God. So he had declared in chapters 1, 2, and 3 that they were predestined. They were chosen. They were adopted. They were part of the family of God. And you remember the book of Ephesians in chapters 1, 2, and 3 is all that God does for you. The wonderful things that God is doing in your life. Then in chapters 4 and 5, we are to walk worthy of the vocation wherein we are called. And we're going to have to walk with a newness of life. And we're going to be married and we're going to be single and we're going to be working. And as children, we're walking in the light and we're obedient to authority. And Paul begins to lay out the whole book of Ephesians. And when he gets all done, he says, Finally, brethren, if you're going to make it to the very end, if you're going to understand what it is to have a great marriage, to have a great single life, if you're ever going to understand what it's like having your own business or having employees or submitting yourself one to another in the fear of God or redeeming your time, if you're ever going to understand that, finally, you need to understand there is One who every day does not want you to be successful nor victorious in your life and He is seeking to take you out. So therefore, be strong. Make a commitment that you're going to be in Christ because you don't have it within yourself. And what a great, great insight this is for us. It is God's power. It is God's strength. Turn with me over to Ephesians 1. It is His power. It is His truth. It is His joy. So He supplies all that I need in Ephesians 1. But what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places? Oh, this is a bad day today. I can't believe what I'm going through. Someone hit my car. I'm so bummed out they didn't have tofu today in the store. I'm just going to quit. The exceeding greatness of His power. What was that greatness? The resurrection. The power that brought Christ back from the dead lives in you. You have this evening the power that destroyed the power of darkness in you. That God has given that power to you when He raised Him from the dead and set His own right hand in the heavenly places. Now turn over with me to chapter 3, verse 16. The exceeding greatness of His power. Ephesians in chapter 3, verse 16. That He would grant you according to the richness of His glory underlying to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Now unto Him, verse 20, that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. But go back for a moment to verse 16. To be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man. So the inner man is what you need to go after. If you would feed the inner man as much as you feed your physical life you would be the most awesome Christian in the world. You would be just giant stuff. You'd be able to walk almost on clouds because of the greatness of the God in your heart and nothing could ever come against you. But because we feed our flesh and we starve our spirit, the inward man is weak. And though Christ has granted to us His power, we have not learned how to apply the power that God has given to me to victory in my own life. You remember it said in Joshua 1, verse 7, this is kind of neat. Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou may observe to do all the law which Moses thy servant commanded thee. It dawned on me if I'm going to be obedient, I need God's power. I cannot be obedient with my own will. I don't have the strength in my own flesh to do the work of God. That which I don't want to do, that I do. That which I want to do, that I don't. O wretched man that I am, who is going to deliver me? So God was speaking through Moses to Joshua, be strong in the Lord because there are commandments that you need to follow Joshua. So the strength of God was his ability to fulfill the word of God and the will of God within his life. He willed to obey because he was in fellowship with God. So you and I cannot live the word apart from God's strength. So Lord, make me obedient. No, God, give me you. Lord, I hope I can have joy. No, give me Jesus Christ. But why? Why is it so hard to trust God? I think first of all, very simply, is we underestimate the power of Satan. I think a lot of times we underestimate spiritual warfare. I think when there are divisions within a church, we look for people doing it. It's the work of the devil. When we look at areas of defilement within our lives, we're looking to people, but it's the work of the enemy that caused us to leave the Lord and to head towards pornography. When we look at the message being distorted and people compromising their position, we look to someone when it's really the enemy speaking to that person. And Satan desires to distort. Satan desires to defile a life Ananias and Sapphira. Satan desires to destroy a vision or to distort a message. But not only do I think that we underestimate the power of the enemy, but I also think that we oftentimes overestimate our own ability. And I think that's the truth, why we don't trust God. I can do it. What can you do? I can do it. What? I don't know, but I can do it. You can make a mess out of things. That's what you can do. Well, I can do it. I can trust God. Well, great. How you been doing? Well, I'm going to trust him now. You're going to trust God. Oh, help us. Now, God will help you to help you trust him. Lord, have you ever said, I can do it. Okay, well, go ahead. And I have so much confidence in my flesh. Now, think about this. If I really understood spiritual warfare, amen, I mean, I really understood it. And I knew that every moment of my waking hour, Satan is looking, luring, seeking to take me out. Every moment. If I really believed that, I would never, ever take off the armor of God, ever. If I would really understand that it was God's power and Satan's undermining that wants to take me out and send me to hell, that I would never take my eyes off Jesus Christ. But I don't believe that. Though I teach it, yet I don't believe it. Though I understand it, it's not deep within my heart. And the problem is, is when I look at the areas, I can do it, but I don't go to prayer. I can do it. And so I try to solve a relationship. I can do it. And because I'm looking at my own confidence, because I'm looking to myself, I'm not looking to the Lord. And Satan is thrilled to death. Oh, he wants you to take your eyes off the Lord and put your eyes on me. He wants you to understand things are going on in the world so you look at the White House and you don't look at Jesus Christ. He wants you to realize how mixed up families are within the fellowship, but he doesn't want you looking to Jesus Christ. That's just a ploy of the enemy. And in fact, do you realize that the problem isn't anyone in this room? Your warfare is not against flesh and blood. So even that fight you got into on the way to church doesn't count. The warfare is between Jesus Christ and the power of the enemy. And the moment I understand this, the war, the struggle is in me, the inner man, yielding my life. It will never be you. Oh, you can push the buttons and you can try to do certain things, but the bottom line is that it will always be against the power of darkness. It will never be against flesh and blood. But do we believe that? Well, if we did, we would pray for our children daily that God would bind the work of the enemy, keep them safe, and shelter them through school, and we would be more protective of the satanic warfare going on in the world. If I was truly aware of that, then I would give much more time to prayer and to the study of God's word. If I get apart, then God will fill me up. And so I realize that we underestimate His power, and yet we overestimate our ability. Peter, I will never forsake you. Peter, walking afar off. Peter, swinging the sword of the flesh. Peter, taking his eyes off the Lord and sinking. Peter, did you catch any food? No, but I've labored all night. Peter, you are in the flesh. You are refusing to listen to what I'm telling you. Peter, I told you Satan's coming after you, but you don't believe me. You're bragging how you're not going to stumble. I'm telling you, he's stronger than you are. Peter, unless you look to me, you're in trouble. And so we don't look to the Lord. And that's what it means to trust God. The only way you and I will ever trust God, the way that God is wanting us to trust Him, is to come to the end of yourself, and you have no answers. And you cry out to God, Lord, what would you have me to do? Lord, where would you have me to go? Lord, help me in this situation. But as long as it's in your power to do it, why cry out unto the Lord? I also believe that we are ignorant of His tactics. I think we are ignorant of His tactics. You remember the Bible declared that Eve looked. The lust of the flesh. She looked. Ah, wow. God said, don't even go there. She looked. That's a tactic. And then you remember it declares that Eve not only looked, but she desired the lust of the eye. Man, that looks good. And then we read that Eve took the pride of life. She saw. She wanted. She took. The lust of the eye. The lust of the flesh. The pride of life. And we find that we are ignorant to His devices. And we fail, I think, to apply the resources of God. Let's close in turning over with me to Ephesians in chapter 3, verse 14. I want to lay a little bit of a foundation before we jump into all this. But the resource that you have tonight to overcome the enemy is that mighty power of the resurrection. And Paul declares in chapter 3, verse 14 through 21, his prayer to the church of Ephesus. For this cause, I bow my knee unto the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Now, maybe you might miss the point, but this is the resource that I need to have victory in my life. Paul said, I bow my knee before God. You have access before God this evening. That you can go before God in prayer and be sitting in the throne room of God, laying your burden, laying the situation out before Him. Much like Hezekiah. Much like Jehoshaphat. That we have access. That we have boldness to come in a life of prayer. It opens the door. So one of the great resources I have is simply beginning to pray and to seek the Lord. The second thing I read in verse 16, that He would grant you according to the richness of His glory to be strengthened with might by the spirit in the inner man. Underline the word spirit. The second great reservoir or resource you and I have is the spirit of God. Not only do I have access to my Father, but I have His spirit now living in me. And it's not by works, but by His spirit, saith the Lord. So God has granted to me the spirit in the inner man. Then notice in verse 17 that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that ye be enrooted and grounded in love. In verse 17, not only do I have prayer and the presence of the spirit, but in verse 17 I have the peace of Christ, that Christ may dwell in your heart. In Colossians 1.18, and He is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence, that He wants to have first place within my life. And then lastly, in verse 17 through 20, I notice that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that ye be enrooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breath, the length, the depth, the height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fullness of God. And He's talking here about the power of love. So your resource is a life of prayer, that you have the option of bowing a knee any time you need to before your Father. In the midst of battle, you can go before God and worship the Lord. You can take a walk around the street and begin to turn the tide of the battle, because it's too big for you. You need help. You can go down on the beach and sit there and just cry out to the Lord, Lord, I need an open door. I need Your hand. The enemy is pressing in. He's beginning to press me down. I'm being troubled on all sides. I had this sentence of death in myself that I would not trust in myself. But Lord, You have delivered me, and You are delivering me, and yet You will deliver me. Lord, I need You. You are my refuge. You are my strength. God, I need You. I can't do it. And He opens a door for You to pour Your heart and He exchanges Your weakness for His strength. You also need to understand that You have the spirit of the living God in You. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead now dwells in You. And You are a powerhouse. You just don't know how to flip the switch on. Application, Lord, help me to learn how to allow Your spirit to work through my life, to mortify the deeds of the flesh, to bring my body under subjection, to yield my life to the realm of the spirit. Lord, You are my peace. Jesus, You're in my heart. I am in Christ. I am in the spirit. Everything that's about You is the fullness of God. Lord, I am in You tonight. As righteous as You are, so am I. I have peace in my heart that You have forgiven all of my sins, and Lord, You have given me the power of love to love people with the fullness of God. Be strong in His power. And I wonder if you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 40, verse 28. Let me just end this thought. Be strong in His power. The requirement, you say, well, Steve, okay, what's the requirement? Okay, I got one for you. Because I know you want one. And verse 28 of chapter 40, Isaiah. Has thou not known, has thou not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the earth, ends of the earth, fainted not, neither is weary. Does that sound like us? Have you not known, Pastor Steve, is weary and fainting? That would fit. Has thou not known, have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainted not? Neither is weary. There is no searching of understanding. So He's not worried about you. He's not stressing over you. He's not worried about what you're going to do this afternoon. He's just enjoying who He is. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But the conjunction they that wait under line upon the Lord shall renew in the Hebrew is to exchange their weakness, which in the Hebrew means no strength. They shall mount up on the wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. So the English has taken a word which means to be weak. We have a little bit of strength left. In the Hebrew it is, it's gone. It's just gone. And the word renew means to exchange. And they that wait, I will exchange. They that come to me, I will exchange. Those that come to me and place the armor of God on, shall never ever be afraid. Now I wanted to go out of my way to nail this down as best I could. So when we talk about the enemy, you do not get weird. If you get weird, I'm going to come down and talk to you right in the middle of the message. You are not to fear him. You are not to be worried about him. You are not to give him place in your life. You are not to do anything except resist him, reject him, and release him to Jesus Christ. You and I are to stand. That's all that God said. Now you can do that. I know you can do that. You can make a stand in your heart and the word stand means to be unmovable in the Hebrew and the Greek. Do not move. So if I was to say stand, it means do not move. Do not let Satan take you away when your marriage is going through difficult times. You stand. Do not be moved when your children go through difficult times. You stand. Do not move when the church goes through difficult times. You stand. Having done all, stand. And four times, stand. And verse 10, verse 11, against all, stand. Verse 13, having done all, stand. And verse 12, stand. Stand, stand, stand. Do not be afraid of the enemy. This battle is not yours. It is the Lord's. He destroyed Satan 2,000 years ago, and it's time that many of us make a commitment that we're not going to whine, and we're not going to quit, and we're not going to play games, but we got saved, and that's where we start. It breaks my heart that everything that God has given to us, so many don't enjoy. They don't understand the importance of being out in Bible studies. They think that television is more important than the Word of God. They think that vacations and buying things are more important than the kingdom of God. We are duped. We are deceived. Unless this whole thing is a joke, and we're just kind of trying to be good, hoping that the Lord's coming. Well, I personally believe that Jesus Christ is coming, and Satan is seeking to take me out. And if he can take me out, he can scatter you. And I need to be willing to stand against the wiles of the devil. And the word wiles in the Greek means methods. All the different methods he has, I need to stand. Pastor Steve Mays with insight into the power we possess in a relationship with the Lord. One of Steve's most requested messages last year. A message called Be Strong in the Lord. Now, for a deeper understanding of the weapons of warfare Steve mentioned today, go to lightoftheword.org and check out the series called Taking a Stand. Today's message comes out of that series, along with 11 more studies that will show you how to stand strong against the evil that threatens you. It's the kind of good information to keep you a step ahead of the enemy. Again, it's called Taking a Stand. And we'll give you all the details you need when you call us at 1-800-339-WISE. 1-800-339-WISE. Or order it right there online at lightoftheword.org. Well, that's going to do it for now. But we hope you'll join us again as we look to the Light of the Word. Light of the Word. Light of the Word. The hope that shines in darkness. So we'll follow the Light of the Word.