Shane Idleman emphasizes the necessity of engaging in spiritual warfare using God's weapons, reminding believers that they are soldiers on enemy territory. He explains that while God is sovereign, the enemy has temporary influence, and Christians must be vigilant and equipped with spiritual armor as outlined in Ephesians 6. Idleman stresses the importance of truth, righteousness, faith, and prayer in standing firm against the enemy's attacks, which often target our faith and diligence. He encourages believers to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and to actively engage in prayer and worship to combat spiritual laziness and compromise. Ultimately, he calls for a life of vigilance, perseverance, and reliance on God's might to overcome the challenges of spiritual warfare.

The title is Engage the Enemy with God's Weapons. Engage the enemy with God's weapons because a soldier of Christ, I know you're not used to being called that, but you are a soldier for Christ. You are actually on enemy territory. Isn't that interesting? But I thought God's sovereign. Yes, it's all God's. Everything rests in God's sovereignty, but the prince of this world, the prince of the air, is given temporary influence of where we live. So we are actually on enemy territory. So you can't really change the battlefield. The battlefield has been given. But you can bring in the correct weapons. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not physical. They are spiritual. And that's what we're going to talk about this morning. Martin Luther, many of you know who that was. He was a reformer in 1517. He challenged the church on many different issues. He said this, where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is tested. Where the battle rages, it's raging right now, that's where the loyalty of the soldier is tested. And we do forget, myself included, we think that Christianity is just kind of waiting for heaven and just kind of going through life and waiting until that day. But the Bible reminds us that we are soldiers engaged in spiritual warfare. We don't like that all the time, but that's just the way it is. And I can't remember who said it. I heard it on the radio recently. It was a great point. But that when we go into battle or when we live our lives, it's a continual battle until the day we die. Try not to bring bad news. I'm trying to equip you. Because think about the children of Israel trying to get out of Egypt. Trying to cross the Red Sea. Trying to cross the Jordan. Then they go to Jericho. The walls are there. And then they come to another battle, and another battle, and another battle, and another battle, and another battle. Giants, obstacles. It's just a constant battling. And that's the way warfare is in the spiritual realm. Because as a believer, you're wanting to live for Christ. The enemy doesn't like that. So you're going to get hit at work. You'll get hit in your family life. The enemy will go after two key areas. Your faith, where maybe cause doubt, unbelief to creep in. Or he'll go after your diligence. And it will become lazy. And when you become spiritually lazy, that's a bad spot to be. Because you begin to put down the weapons. And then the enemy can enter in. So we're going to look at, obviously, Ephesians 6.10. And this could have been broken up better for you. I apologize. Because I didn't know where the breaking points were. Until last night, I was changing things. So I've learned over the years to just go with that change. And not try to, well, you know, the sermon's done, Lord. I'm not going to touch that again. Because it's usually on the points that change or the points that come alive during the message. Ephesians 6.10. Let's put this in context. Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus. He's encouraging them. He's building them up. He's talking about, in chapter 1, election and how they've been chosen by God. He talks about marriage and children, obeying your parents. And if you have 20 minutes, just 20 minutes, read Ephesians. It's an incredible... See, you can get through the Bible quicker than you think. If we're diligent about it. Right? We see our favorite series on Netflix. We can be very diligent about watching it. But when it comes to reading the Bible, well, we get a little spiritually lazy. So, Ephesians 6.10. Paul says this, finally. My brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of, what? His might. His might. This is a wonderful reminder for me. Remember, before I preached to you, God's preaching to me, by the way. In case you didn't know that. I was just hit by this this week. The power of His might. Because here's what happens many times in the life of a believer. We say, hey, God, thank you. I got this now. Right? Oh, there's a lot of head shaking. Good. Have you ever said, God, I got this now. Thank you. Thank you for last week. Thank you for last month. Thank you for handling that. I got this now. I got this now. And then we go into battle unprepared, unarmed. And so, the first thing we have to recognize in engaging the enemy with God's weapons is you go in the power of His might. You continue in the power of the Holy Spirit. See, the only thing making the difference in this church right now is the power of the Holy Spirit. The only thing that's going to really make a difference is the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul actually wrote to the church in Galatia. He said something very interesting that's always stood out to me in the last 20 years. I think of it often. He asked them a question. He says, who has bewitched you? Who has tricked you? Oh, foolish Galatians. Who has bewitched you? It wasn't a TV show. It was bewitched. Tricked. Deceived you. Are you going to finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit? So, this church that began in the Spirit is now trying to finish in the flesh? What he means by that is the Spirit comes in to anoint something, transform something, relying on the Spirit. The Spirit is directing in praise and worship. But now we say, okay, God, I got that. The church is a good size now. We've accomplished things. Now we're going to get into a business model. Now we're going to have certain methods and certain machineries to keep the church going. I wish I would have brought this quote from Ian Bounds. I read it this week. He said the church does not need better methods. It needs better men. God's Spirit doesn't fall on machinery. He falls on men and women filled with the Spirit of God. So, one of the biggest areas the enemy goes after us is to get us back in the flesh. That was a rebuke in case you didn't get it by Paul. Who has bewitched you? What about if I told you that? Who has bewitched you, oh foolish West Sidians? Are we going to finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit? But that has practical application to our own lives, doesn't it? We know, many of you, you know, remember what God did in my life. Remember how he was working. Why don't I go back to that? Why don't I go back to that power, back to that anointing? Do you remember when you would cry during prayer? Or maybe some of you haven't done that. Remember when God was working, I was so excited to tell people about Jesus. Remember, I wouldn't even make a decision without taking it to prayer if it was a major decision. But now I'm doing everything in my own strength and I've got nothing but problems. Life is confusing. Things are falling apart. I'm trying to finish in the flesh what began in the Spirit. So remember that. We have to do this in God's might. And it's a lifelong struggle. The enemy looks for opportune times, for perfect times where he can come in. And it's often when we let our guard down. That's what he's looking for. When we let our guard down. He says, ah, there's an open door. And that usually begins with compromise. We begin to compromise. And let me just give an example I've seen so many times. Maybe it's a man, usually. And they're going to get a job, a different job, a better job with more pay. And I'm not against it. I think we have to make wise decisions. But that more pay comes with a cost. I'll no longer see you on Sundays. I used to get up and read the Bible, but I don't have time for that now. And I've got, off the top of my head, five, six friends who are still working, who told me ten years ago, but I'll just make quick money, I'll be able to retire. Or I'll be able to change then. I'll be able to give time back to my family. Just a few years of this. That's all I need. And it doesn't happen that way. We get deeper and deeper when we allow compromise to come in. In the power of His might. Always remember this. This has helped me a lot. The shed blood of Jesus Christ is more powerful than your sin. His might. His might. The psalmist said something interesting. He said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. What is he talking about? I will lift up my eyes to the hills from where my help comes from. God, the maker of heaven and earth, who never sleeps, who never slumbers. You've got me. And to us, we might think, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Well, let me refresh your memory about the Old Testament. They often fought where? In a valley or atop of a mountain? In a valley. So it's this view here. Here comes my enemy. Here comes my enemy. But I look to the hills. I look to the hills. Where does my help come from? It comes from God, the maker of heaven and earth. That's why that new song that's out that says, when I'm surrounded, I realize that I'm surrounded by you. So no enemy is so great that it can take you out if you're surrounded by God. So look to the hills, church. Look to the hills. Not to the stock market. Not to your bank account. Not to the circumstances. I look to the hills. That's where my help comes from. And it's this wonderful image of God just coming. The angels of heaven coming down off the hills and saying, oh, I've got this. And we just step back and we allow God to fight our battles. So engage him with God's weapons. Let's talk about those. Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the honesty of the devil. That didn't even sound right. That you may be able to stand against the wiles. You know, we know what that word means, don't we? The trickery. The deceitfulness. He's a trickster. He's a con artist. He's a liar. So there's trickery that's involved when he gets us away from the good shepherd. There's trickery. It's deceit. And then verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. And I like this passage for one reason and one reason only. Paul tells me that this is serious business. Just look at that arsenal. You're fighting against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. And it's a picture here. Wrestling. You know what wrestling is, I'm sure most of you. Right? You're actually, what's the point of wrestling? Grappling. You grab your opponent. You throw that opponent to the ground and you get the upper hand. Mercy, right? Help. You know, an uncle. All those things. In real wrestling, you pin them. Your shoulders and there's a difference. But you can't do that with the devil. There's nothing to grab onto. So we don't wrestle. There's something to grab onto bodily. You're not going to grab onto something. You're not going to fix this through anger. You're not going to grab on and fight this with your hands. It's a spiritual battle. So who are the spiritual hosts of wickedness? Well, let me introduce you to them. And of course, commentaries. I mean, everybody's got opinions. And really, you should just look up the root word and what it means in the Hebrew or the Greek in this case. But principalities are rulers over certain areas. There's a principality. The prince of Persia, we read about in Daniel, obviously withstood the angel. And principalities are over a certain area. Now, I don't want to get too off here on a rabbit trail. Because many have. There's not a demon over California. And an angel over Texas. And an angel over a different state that you want to be in. And Maine up there. That's a demon of Maine. I don't think he's talking about that. But you do know when you walk into an area. And I mentioned last week. When you walk into an area of spiritual darkness, say in Africa. Where there is voodoo. And you can feel it. There's an oppression. There's a principality over that area. There's darkness there. And have you ever went into somebody's house? And you can feel that? I mean there's been apartments I've been into. And I just walk in like, Lord, I need a shower after this. Even though it's not dirty. There's just darkness. There's this oppression. Nobody knows exactly how it works. But that's what principalities are. They rule over a certain area. And then powers. When it says here that our fight is against powers. You need to know this. The world's power is controlled by a spiritual influence. The world's powers are controlled by a spiritual influence. That's why you will rarely see a God honoring government. Is there one in China right now? North Korea? Middle East anywhere? Our nation vacillates. We call good evil and evil good. And then we try this and try this. And there's always that jockeying for position of power. There's a power there. Now, again, I truly believe that God has called us to be the salt and the light amongst that darkness. And that doesn't mean that all government has to be bad. People believe that. I've had people tell me that. All aspects of government are bad. But, you know, that's an area of power. The world's power that we need to be careful of. Because remember this. If the world's power is under the control of the enemy, what influence are you listening to? Especially young adults. And I'll be careful here. I'll qualify it in a minute. But if it's popular, you might not want to follow it. In all cases. The most popular movies? You might want to not be watching them. The most popular music? With vulgar things? You might want to reconsider your iTunes choices. The most popular things to do? What's the most popular is often under the control of the enemy, is it not? So rulers of darkness. That's what they are. They are rulers of darkness. Paul told the church in Corinth. The God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. To keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. So that's what they're... There's two roles, I believe. The God of this world, the powers of darkness are trying to blind the people to the truth of God's word. That's clear. But then he works against believers to try to get them to lose the battle. To lose the warfare. Is there anything more embarrassing than a testimony that falls apart? I mean, look at... Is anybody following Christian news? All these mega church pastors having to resign because of sexual sin and women in the congregation and hitting on them. What's more terrible than that? This organization, this large denomination, these large churches in our nation. These things are coming out. And that's what the enemy... He brings a testimony against us to hurt the testimony of Christ. And I believe that's one of the ways that we win people, if you want to use that term, to believing in Jesus. Is they see the Christ they read about or hear about in us. Not a perfect Christ. Because you've done it before, I've done it before. We apologize to people and they're like, oh, no problem. I appreciate that humility. I appreciate that asking for forgiveness. And so they see Christ in us. But if you ruin that testimony, it sends the wrong message to so many different people. That's why also the testimony of that big homeschooling family. That Christian, I guess, that locked up their kids. Fourteen kids. It's in the news. Maybe I shouldn't have said it if you don't know about it. But, you know, now let's go against homeschooling. Now let's go against Christians. No, no, no. Wrong. Well, I will just say it. That family is not... The parents are not believers to treat kids like that. There's a name there, but not the correct relationship with God. And so the enemy will use things to tarnish the testimony. And that's one of the reasons we need the spiritual warfare. Verse 13. Because of all this. Now that I've told you where the battle is. You are leaving here fighting principalities. Everyone in this room, if you are a believer, you are leaving here fighting the demonic realm. It's not very encouraging, is it? Okay, well, we're going to get encouraged here. That's my dilemma. Do I encourage or do I tell you the truth? Or both? We need both, of course. I'm joking. You know me by now. Verse 13. Therefore, because of this, because of all this darkness, take up the whole armor of God. And that word whole kept standing out all week. Whole armor of God, not pieces. Well, I've got this, Shane. I'm in this every day. Well, wonderful. But what about the other armor? Because you have this, he's just going to come in the side. He loves Bible thumpers. He loves those who are in this but don't have humility. He loves those who are in this but wouldn't dare come to a worship service. Worship? I'm beyond that. Really? I've had people tell me, I don't need that. Oh, okay. Well, I stand corrected. You actually do need that. Because the Bible isn't to be worshipped. It points us to the person that we worship. Now, this is coming from somebody who loves the Word of God. But it's not the Father, the Son, and the Holy Word. It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So the Word is life to me. The Word, drink deep in the well of God's Word. But that points you ultimately to the Master. This is a means to get to the relationship with God. To better understand His character and His nature. So this is just one aspect of it. And on that flip side, worship is just one aspect. If all you do is come to worship, you know, and you just worship, and it's just worshiping only, worshiping only, it's all about unity, brother. I don't care what the Word of God says. That's wrong, too. Because the Word of God checks your feelings. It checks your experiences. There are new age worshippers that would put Christians to shame. They could come in and worship a higher being. Looking to their inner self. They would be up here. They'd just be standing, chanting. You wouldn't even know it. You'd think they're speaking in tongues or something. And they're just, they're worshipping. And they're really worshipping the trees and themselves. So you see, worship alone. Worship alone isn't the answer either. Because there are many people, and I know people, they love to worship. They'll spend two hours worshipping God, but never in the Word. They're unbalanced. Because the heart is deceitful. Jeremiah said, your heart, my heart, is desperately wicked. My heart, the side of me, the fleshly side of me, that doesn't know God, is desperately wicked. Who can know it? That's why God says, I will test the mind. I'll test your actions. I'll show you where your heart is. So you need worship to line up with this. And that's just another aspect. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all, stand. Stand. So that's how we fight. We stand. We don't run into battle all the time. We definitely don't back up. We stand and hold the ground. And then verse 14. Stand therefore, having gird your waist with truth. Here we go. See, that's the first thing. What is girding your waist? Well, I can take this off. My pants are gonna be down to here eventually. Right? It holds everything together. Your truth is gonna hold it all together. What I talked about coming up on the 30th. What are we gonna hopefully go back to? The truth. Because true unity in the body of Christ is unity of the Spirit. It's not, aw shucks, can't we all just get along? Yeah, if you're my neighbor, we're gonna get along. Right? You have pit bulls, I don't. We're gonna get along. But when it comes to church things, we have to agree on the essentials. So we can't all just get along if we're not agreeing on the essentials. I actually had a young lady recently in the prayer room challenge to me, and I love it when they do if their hearts are sincere, and just could not see for the life of her how homosexuality is wrong. And say, why can't the church, why can't you just love them? Why do you have to say something? And I begin to explain that, well, saying something is loving them if that lifestyle is not pleasing to God. Because God wants freedom for all people. So what I would encourage anyone to do is just what does the Bible say? And here's what many times people say, well, I know that, but. I know that, but isn't that culture? No, it's creation, how God created us. Well, isn't that? Yeah, but aren't things changing? Truth doesn't change. Well, what about if they were born that way? Well, I was born to lie. Is that okay? Come on, let's be honest here. Born to cheat, born to lie, born to steal, born to be sinful. So see, we have to have the truth of God's word. It holds everything together. That's why a lot of these controversial issues really aren't controversial. If we look to God's word, what does God's word say about things? So here's the first key. I mean, I don't know if Paul did it in order, but we see that truth is the first key after we stand. So here's what you need to understand. First, it's your positioning, right? Your position, first and foremost, is in Christ. If you're a believer, that's your position. Christ's righteousness, you're a believer. You stand in that authority. This is all I do, I stand. And it's funny. People say, well, Shane, you're pushing these things, or you're being pushy. Actually, I'm really not, at least in my mind. I'm standing. You're pushing this way, I'm pushing that way. I'm standing, I'm holding the ground. You say these things aren't wrong. I say they are. I'm holding the ground. Why are you being pushy and challenging the public school system? Well, when they stop teaching perversion, I'll stop pushing and standing. See, you're pushing. I have to hold the line and stand against it. See, that's the difference. And people say this. They say, why is the church always against something? We'll stop trying to pervert truth, and we'll stop being against it. See, the church, how can I not be against same-sex marriage when I want to stand for God's word? I'm against abortion when we're talking about murdering children. I'm against getting away from truth when you're trying to remove it. So I have to be against something to stand and hold the line for truth. A Christian who isn't standing the line, what are they doing? Okay, we'll allow that. Yes, we'll allow that. Before you know it, they can have the cross. And then we'll just have a potluck next door and talk about good, cozy things. But that's our position. This is how we go to war. We worship. We stand. We hold the truth in love. See, that's the enemy's going to come and try pushing against the truth. It holds everything together. It girds. It secures. And the old adage is true. If you tell a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it. That's what's happening now. I mean, 30 years ago, the morality, at least the thought of it, was much higher, a higher standard. I remember talking about God in schools and all these things have shifted. But if you begin to tell a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it. That's why you see so much racial disunity coming up because there's a lot of lies out there on either side sparking, fueling the flames, fueling the flames of hatred instead of what? Quenching them. Because the news, isn't it funny how they'll show you all the bad things? Why don't they highlight the good things? To foster unity because the prince of this world doesn't want unity. Debbie, I hope I don't put you on the spot here. I was just reminded of it today that it was an African American who donated some of his liver to help you. It was one of our deputies at works here who stopped on the 101 to revive an African American girl who overdosed in his squad car. Why don't you hear these things? With that silence, with that foster unity, it should. So that's the church's job to fight for unity. God says exalt truth. Fight for peace. Fight for unity because the Holy Spirit's not divided. The Holy Spirit's not Hispanic or Asian. I'm thinking he's leaning that way though the more I read about revivals in China. I mean, it's amazing. I've got a book on the revivals happening in China. It's amazing. They go from, I don't know, it was a million believers to a hundred million or more in a short amount of time? Prayer meetings? I don't even tell you how long they are because you'll be very humbled. They'll start Friday at four in the morning and they'll probably end there by lunch. But here's what we say. Well, that's boring. That wouldn't work. Oh, when you're filled with God's Spirit, you have to worship him. It will keep you on this altar when you're filled with God's Spirit because God's Spirit worships God. The flesh wants to get out and not worship God. So that's the problem with many of us, including myself, is when the flesh begins to dominate, we don't want to have anything to do with the things of God. And it's really going to, if you live there and they said you can go to, can you imagine this? Technically, the government could come in right now and haul us off to prison. Hard labor camps. That would cut out the wheat from the tare pretty quick, wouldn't it? Oh, I'm not playing church anymore. That's not for me. And so when you get real believers like that that are willing to go to jail, willing to die for their faith, you can't stop that kind of worship service. And I guarantee it's not let's get through a song or two, let's have some announcements, let's do a quick message, and let's leave. It's the Spirit of God taking over and running that service in an orderly way, of course, but people are hungry for God. So I start saying that telling a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it, but let me encourage you in this. If you reinforce the truth enough, you'll begin to believe this as well. You'll come back. Because our mind is something I've talked about before, neuroplasticity and how the mind is changing. Ask brain surgeons, if you know any, or those who study, and they'll say it's the most amazing discovery ever discovered when it comes to the mind. How can I see how far you are and process that information with a million things going on, neurons clicking and electrons and different things, and process that. See how I feel. Not to get too close to this, but to stay around. Not make sure right now I'm thinking of things I better not say, and go off on a rabbit trail. How is the mind doing all that? The mind is conformed either to the prince of this darkness or to the God who rules and reigns. So you have to reinforce the truth. You have to tell your mind, that's right, that's right, that's not right what I've been thinking. This is right. This is God's Word. So you reinforce it on a daily basis, if not every other hour or two if you need to. That's why I don't think those people that have scriptures all over their house are too crazy. They're trying to reinforce, right? They're trying to reinforce. Well, listen, you either you got scriptures on your mirror up there, or you have American Idol contestants. I mean, whether you're worshiping one or the other. I'll stay away from that one too. But isn't that so true? So you have to reinforce the truth, even myself. Reinforce it, reinforce it. When I'm having a hard week, if I just meditate on where does my help come from? When I look to the hills, Lord, I'm looking to the hills. I see all these hills. I see Mountain High. I see Bakersfield. I see Tehachapi. And I need something now. I need an ever-present help in my time of need. You're not sleeping. You're not slumbering. The God who holds Israel will never sleep. He will never slumber. That's who I'm calling on, Lord. I need you to come right now, and I'm just gonna stand. That's how we go to battle. The truth is so important. I remember I was reading the Yale Lectures on Preaching, written in 1891. The Yale Lectures on Preaching, and the person by the name of James Stalker was putting it all together. He quoted Martin Luther. He said there's two qualifications that are vitally important for being a minister. I think he actually listed ten. But two of the top ten for this, for being a pastor, is this. He should be sure of what he means to say. In other words, well, I don't know. You know he needs to be sure of what he means to say. And number two, and be ready to stake his body and his soul, his goods, and his reputation on its truth. Goes back to this. And that is so true. If you don't believe the truth, a person has no right to be a pastor of a church who does not embrace the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. You should go be a motivational speaker. Sign up with Tony Robbins and just have a fulfilled day. Right? Go be a life coach. Encourage people. But to stand from the pulpit and say this is what God's Word says, you better be sure of its truth. So that's why the truth is the first thing I believe he mentioned. It keeps everything together. And then with the truth, you have this. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now I will tell you, each of these could have been its own sermon. I had a lot, because we can talk about the righteousness of Christ. Putting on that righteousness. What does that mean? Righteousness, holy living. To be righteous before God. God blesses the righteous, but the wicked he will put down. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And even when the righteous falls, God will uphold them by the palm of his hand. But let's talk about both angles here. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. What is the breastplate guarding? Why do you have to guard your heart? Proverbs says, because it is the wellspring of life. It affects everything. Your heart affects everything you do. So put on the breastplate of righteousness. So let's cover both. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. Do you know Jesus Christ? Because without that, we have nothing. So whether the author is talking about the breastplate of righteousness in Christ, or holiness, both are true. So I go to battle with Christ protecting my heart. Christ, you have my heart. With all of my heart, I will praise you. I will lift you up. That's vitally important. Or, breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is right living versus wrong living. So one of the ways to come against the enemy, and I believe this has a lot to do with holiness, is you don't just have the word. You don't just have this, and shoes, and a helm. You actually live a certain way. You live righteous and holy. When the Bible says, be separate and come out from among them, it's a holiness. Because see, when I live according to God's standard, I don't become easy prey for the enemy. When I live according to the world's standard, I'm an easy target. Because I open myself up to those things. So holiness is not a bad word, it's a very good word. That's why you'll say Christians do live differently. And people say, but why don't you watch these things? Because I don't want to be tempted to do those things. Does that make sense? And maybe it's just me, and I've done this before, I know you think I haven't. But I've watched movies that people recommend, when I shouldn't have. Right, not bad ones, don't get carried away. But like, all these dark and demonic horror movies are different things in the past. Right? You begin to watch those, I feel a certain way. I don't feel good inside. Well, there's adrenaline, maybe it's adrenaline increases, or I don't know, gosh, I've got to watch that. And you start to open yourself up to horror. And that's why I write about vampires, the occult, witchcraft, and this current craze for all these things. It's not a good thing. So to live holy and righteous, you come out from that, you start to fill your mind with things that glorify Christ. But if you're busy watching things that don't, you'll be led in that direction. What's that popular movie now, Stepdads or something? Don't act like you don't know what you're talking about. Will Ferrell, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg and different things, and people are just loving these things, loving these movies. I love it, I love it. Okay, do you leave there a better father? Or now do you feel like cussing? And buying a Harley, getting a 12-pack of beer and leaving your wife? See, it's programming. So to come out from among them and be separate, yes, it's hard. Why is it hard? Because my flesh wants everything the spirit doesn't want. So that's why righteousness is so important. We live a certain way to protect and guard what God has entrusted to us. And then having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That basically means shod is to cover, the cover of your feet. And if we had time again, we could talk about the Roman soldier and what his footwear involved. And sometimes the spikes underneath, like cleats, so he could hold and stand. See, they often wouldn't go running and fighting. What would they do? They would stand, right? The shield, the sword, and they're standing, they're holding in their position. So shodding your feet, where your feet go, your body follows. So you're covering your feet with the gospel of peace. One element of warfare involves bringing peace to the situation. Are we called to bring peace to our families or anxiety? What are we called to do? And I had a little bit of this on, many of you know what happened at Highland High School, so I was actually on the street there and I got, when I was coming, sheriffs were coming from all over for the shooting and they're pulling over and they're pulling out tactical gear from the trunk of their cars and he's like, oh Lord, help me. So when I get home, do I foster this fear into my kids? Or do you avoid it? Maybe tell them about life and things, but are you bringing peace? Did you hear? Did you hear what Trump's doing? He's gonna blow up the world. Did you hear what this person did? They're gonna destroy and we're always bringing negativity, not peace. And what happens, you'll become critical. You'll have a critical heart. And the enemy loves that because a critical heart turns up into a gossip. And they go around, they're always looking for the, you know that person, they're always looking for the wrong and everything? Well yeah, but what about, oh, here they go, Mr. Negative. Mrs. Negative. It's critical. And that's fertile ground for the enemy to work because a critical spirit is not a healthy spirit. So part of the warfare is covering. Where you go, you bring peace. Are you a peacemaker? Or do you fuel the flames of division? Then verse 16, above all, taking the shield of faith. It's interesting, he said above all. Above all, taking the shield of faith, which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. So what we see here is faith as a shield, right? It's holding up complete trust or confidence in is what faith is. Now here's the interesting thing. Do you know that faith by itself has no power? You're actually, the person who has the power is God. So you're putting your trust, your faith in God. So what's at the end of your faith? That's where the power comes from. Because I'll talk to people who don't know God, and they're saying, well, I'm just having faith that it'll all work out. Well, when I die, I'm having faith that evolution's true. Well, when I die, then I guess I'll talk to God then. I'm having faith that He'll see my good works. See, that's not faith. That's passivity. That's making excuses. Your faith is only as strong as your relationship to God. Because faith points me to my Creator. So faith is just the access to God. Okay, Lord, I'm trusting in You. Or are you trusting in the economy? Are you trusting in retirement? Are you trusting in 401Ks? Are you trusting in our leaders? Who are we putting faith in? So faith's power is always linked to our relationship with God. It's who you trust in. And it gives a picture here of darts coming in, right? Faith shield. Well, you know what a windshield is. What does a windshield do? Try driving 60 on the freeway without a windshield. It's not going to happen. But think of faith as the same thing. Faith is the faith shield. When darts come in, either through circumstances or where else do darts come from? This is where sin starts. The darts come in here. So faith, trusting in God, puts up that shield and holds it back. And then taking on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So at this point, this is a good time to ask, do you have the helmet of salvation? Whether you're watching this later, listening on radio, here right now, do you truly know Christ? Do you have the helmet of salvation where your mind is guarded? If you believe on the only name that saves, the peace of God will guard your mind and your soul. Have you truly repented and believed? Is Christ your Lord and your Savior? Do you have on that helmet of salvation? It's really that simple. Everything else I just talked about is pointless if we don't have the helmet of salvation on. So make that decision this morning. Believe and repent and trust in the only one who will never leave you or never forsake you. He will be an ever-present help in time of need. He will not fall asleep. He will not lose money. He will not be not like Social Security that might not be there. Trust in Christ. And it's interesting. Finally, he said, the sword of the Spirit. I got a little excited on this one too. All these things we talked about are for defense. But the sword of the Spirit is for, what is the sword for? It's for offense. So we have this picture of standing, shield, right? Faith, we're shielding. But then there comes a time and place where I'm done standing. You ticked me off. Now, devil. I talked about this about a month ago. You go after him. People say, Shane, the devil's after me. Turn around and go after him. He can't chase you. He can't chase you any farther than you want to be chased. If the devil's chasing me, I'm going to say, okay, game over. I'm after you now. And he has to flee. He has to tremble. Because when he sees a believer, he sees the Christ in you. So don't think so highly of yourself. It's not you. He's not saying, Shane, that preacher. He's saying, Shane, that man filled with God's spirit. So you come at him with the sword of the what? Sword of the Holy Spirit. The sword of the Holy Spirit is a believer filled with God's spirit. That person can cast out demons. That person can heal the sick. That person can run after the demonic realm. And sometimes, but we do, but Shane, people say, but Shane, that person's filled with a demon. I don't know what to do. No, you go in the authority of Christ. I know you, such and such, and okay, I know you too, and you're a son of hell. In the name of Jesus Christ, begin, remove, come out of that person. The devil's harassing my family. He's coming after my kids. Then get on the altar before God and pray and fast and worship. He hates that. The enemy will turn. Many of you know this. I played the video, I think, a couple years ago. But the story of Jim Cimbala at the Brooklyn Tabernacle and his daughter was walking away, was not in a good spot, and the whole church prayed for her that night. And Jim got home and he said, if there's a God in heaven, our daughter's coming home. Because that place sounded like a labor room. By the way, that's true prayer, in case you didn't know. True prayer is not just, Oh, Heavenly Father. What was it? Oh yeah, my job, opportunity, and my wife. Lord, I hope you give me that raise. I mean, prayer really is warfare. It's travail. It's travail. So long story short, she came home soon after and was crying on the floor and said, Dad, what did you do? God showed me a dream where I was almost falling over into the abyss, into hell. And he reached and grabbed me and held me back. And Lord, Dad, now I just want to serve God. I just want to serve. See, that's the power of prayer. That's the power. That's how you snatch things back from the enemy. But Shane, the enemy took my family. Go to prayer. True prayer. True prayer, heart-wrenching, life-changing prayer. So the sword of the Spirit is offensive. And then he says, praying always, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Now people get confused, well, how can I pray always? But see, it would be like me saying, breathe always. Heartbeat, would you keep beating always? See, there's an underlying motive in the heart of a believer. You don't have to be always praying and not working, but there's an undercurrent. There's a motor that's still going. There's a Holy Spirit fire that's not being quenched and put out. So I can be in that spirit of prayer throughout the whole day even though I'm not stopping and praying only. It's the fire's there. It's ready to be sparked at any moment. So you keep that fire going. Does prayer saturate your life? Are you consumed by the presence of God? Remember, an hour with God can break down what Satan has been building for years. One hour with God can break down what Satan has been building for years. Listen, that's what we're talking about, the weapons of our warfare. In case you didn't know, and I'm serving notice on you, the enemy's coming after you, especially after a service like this. The enemy's coming after your family. He's coming after your children. He already has. How do you position yourself? An hour with God will destroy plans of the enemy. I know this because the enemy wants to take me out. He wants to take you out. An hour with God will do more even than a year's worth of sermons. His spiritual fortress, the enemy's spiritual fortress, is no match for the breadth and depth of God's power. Satan's principalities tremble when Christ comes into battle. See, the demons actually... I could preach right now. I could preach right now if it wasn't time for that second service. But listen, this is so true. It's so true. It's not just, let me just get fired up. But the demons tremble in the name of Jesus Christ. So you can walk into Hollywood. You can walk into demonic activity. You can talk to a person who's demon-possessed. And the demons literally tremble at the name of Jesus Christ. So what do you have to do? You have to call in reinforcements. Hello, I'm calling in reinforcements. I love what Leonard Ravenhill said. This has helped me so much, too. A lot of this has helped me so much, as you know. But he said, what in the world, Christian, is your problem? You have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and two-thirds of the angels on your side. Isn't that true? So why do we go back into a position of defeat and fear and woe is me? It's falling. The enemy, oh no, he's after my... Oh no, God, what's... You call in reinforcements. You change the battlefield. Maybe we can go back to that sermon title. You change the battlefield. The enemy has to come after... When you say, enemy, you're coming after me and my children, you've got to come through me first. You've got to... The enemy hates a bold, powerful believer. He loves cowardice. He loves the weak pulpit who doesn't know what right and wrong is. I can't really say, I don't want to offend this person, I don't want to offend this person. The enemy loves that. You can actually boldly, boldly, but filled with love, stand up for the things of God because he's called us to do that because you're holding back that spiritual wickedness in heavenly places by pulling down heaven. So I'm going to close, but I need to remind you of everything we talked about. You have to trust in his power, number one. Watch out for the trickery. Don't begin to compromise. Get back up if you fall and you stand your ground. Gird your waist, gird your life with truth. I know this applies to many people. You need to get back into the Bible. Let's just cut to the chase. Many of you need to get back into the Word. Love the Word of God as much as you love Facebook. Love the Word of God as much as you love Netflix. Let's throw out a challenge out there. Why don't you disconnect? Disconnect the TV for 30 days. Oh, I couldn't live like that. Well, then I know where the enemy is going. Those strongholds that are built up in our lives we don't like to get rid of easily. Righteousness. Pursue righteousness and holiness. Pursue peace instead of chaos. Take up the shield of faith to block the fiery darts of the enemy. Put on the helmet of salvation. And if you're a believer, what I believe this can mean as well is guard your mind with the fact that you are a child of God. Allow the salvation. Allow the fact that you are a child of God. The child of the living God to guard your mind. And the God who guards your mind will bring peace. And then praying always. A life of prayer. A life saturated in prayer. And also to be watchful and persevere. That's a sentence I didn't read. At the end it says, Be watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. So there's a watchfulness that takes place. There's a persevering that must take place.