Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Spiritual Warfare Pt.6

Aren't you glad for that blood that's cleansing us continually? 1 John makes it clear that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with Him, and His blood cleanses us from all of our sin.

You know, Larry's got such an appreciation for the Lord's work in his life. It's great to see the outreach that goes on from that. Many of you that are working in different areas of outreach--the prison ministry is just growing phenomenally for us. We have about forty in our attendance now down in the prison that are seeking the Lord actively, and it's a good church going on down there. We thank God. Most of you are glad you're here, but it's a good church down there. We could send you there if you would like and outreach, but a good time, some great things that are happening. Other areas of outreach--I understand that yesterday we had a good opportunity. We kind of got into a Muslim neighborhood yesterday. That was a good time, I understand, of ministry and different outreach. The rest home up here--we had opportunity. There was word that came back to us from people that are doing the restoration on our townhouse, the company that's doing that. One of the family members--I believe it was the father is--was it the father? Or the mother? Okay. They were in the rest home, and just word came to us that, so thankful for the ministry to their loved ones there in the rest home. Word had come back that there was just real peace in some ministry that had gone on, but one of the neat testimonies--Larry was there with some of you that go consistently, and Cody was there with him. There was a lady that had a large growth on her body, and the doctor said it was a very serious situation. As they were going to pray, that Larry just felt the faith of a little child and he asked Cody just to lay hands on this lady and pray for her. It was very interesting that as the doctor came back, the growth was totally gone. The doctor didn't have a clue, and it was just a very quick and manifest miracle of the power of God. Can you say praise God for that?

This is what we need to teach our children. The reason it's such a blessing to me, as I was sharing with you, that it's that next generation that's going to see their own signs and wonders, amen? That can go out in the name of Jesus and lay hands on the sick, and see them recover and cast out devils. That's what we're training this next generation for. We need to not just teach them about it but give opportunity for our kids to be involved in that ministry, not only of sharing the Gospel but of demonstrating it in power with signs following. That's what we're going to be talking about this morning as we continue our study on spiritual warfare and understanding the weaponry that is at hand, and how we need to begin to very proficient in the use of this weaponry.

Let's look again at Second Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 4, and also Ephesians, chapter 6. We'll take just those few minutes in review of where we've been in our last sessions. Second Corinthians 10:4, of course, puts into perspective for us that our weapons are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We don't use our own wit and our own natural ability and our own personal resolve and discipline and our ability to be resilient, but the Scripture says it's when we realize our weakness that we're strong. Amen? How many of you have realized that God's been able to use you more when you get out of the way? You stop trusting in your own knowledge and your own ability and your own agendas, and you just begin to allow the Spirit of God to order your steps with absolute confidence that the steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord. We've been called into warfare, and our weapons are not carnal.

We saw in Peter that our adversary, the devil, goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We took a long time last Wednesday to talk about how to prepare for that encounter with the powers of darkness. That's that there must be a humbling of ourselves first, a humbling of ourselves under the mighty hand of God. If you don't humble yourself, the devil will defeat you. He cannot defeat a humble believer, but your pride will bring you down. Your trust in your own strength and in your own knowledge and in your own past victories will bring you down. It doesn't matter how successful you were last week, last month, last year. Today is the day of our salvation. What have we done this morning to prepare ourselves for the warfare? You know one of the most dangerous places to come is to church because when we come here and gather, Satan knows why we're here. We're here to be edified, built up, prepared to go out and bring destruction to the kingdoms of darkness.

We ought to come in here knowing because we're not ignorant of his devices, that as soon as the Word of God goes forth, Satan comes--say the next word--immediately to try to take it out of your heart. The moment the Word of God begins to flow into our hearts this morning, Satan is going to be present to try to deal with that. Your mind's going to try to begin to wander. You're going to begin to think about all the stuff that has to go on this afternoon or Monday; all the things that didn't go right last week. How your poor body is aching, and you just don't feel quite right--anything to keep the Word of God from taking root into our hearts, transforming our minds, and realizing what it is that's taking place.

What we want to look at this morning, beloved, is to see that all of those aches and pains, all of the thoughts that come into your mind that may be plans of going and doing things in your own strength. Those are Satanically inspired. We are at war, and everything that the enemy can do to take your mind from what's at hand--the exaltation of the Lord, the establishing of the kingdom of God--is part of his agenda, part of his methodology, and we need to be aware of it. We can only resist it one way, and that's with spiritual weaponry. Our weapons are not carnal. They are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Here it is. We're warring with principalities and with powers. Once you realize that--that that's our warfare. We're not warring against flesh and blood but principalities, powers, wickedness in high places. Your mind is going to continually be inundated with all of the natural thought processes and all that the world is taken up with and cares about. Therefore, Ephesians 6:11 says, You need to "put on the whole armor of God that ye might be able to [stand]." We've been talking about spiritual warfare and the need of putting on the armor of God. We talked Wednesday night about the helmet of salvation, and that the helmet of salvation was really having the sound mind, the whole mind, one that was governed exclusively by the wisdom of God, free from all of the wisdom of the world. We said that Satan's greatest tactic in this arena--the war for your soul--is in your very mind, as he wants to implant natural wisdom and thoughts.

We went over to Corinthians where we ended up on Wednesday night, you remember, and we said that to be naturally minded was death, Romans tells us. To be spiritually minded, life and peace. We saw that the carnal mind was not only on a different avenue but was enmity or in opposition to God. We saw then the carnal mind in Corinthians cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God because they're [What?] foolishness. That's where we ended up on Wednesday.

We were talking about whether or not we're receiving the natural wisdom, the carnal mind. We said all the carnal mind was, was worldly wisdom. All that's in the world is lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. We talked about the wisdom that came, or the knowledge that came, from the fruit in the midst of the garden, pleasant to the eye, to be desired, the Scripture says, that we might obtain wisdom. Turn over to Genesis 3 for just a second, and take a look at that. Let's remind ourselves that this is exactly what Satan's doing to you this very moment as we're sitting here in the presence of God, desiring to be transformed by His Word, cleansed by His Word, enlightened, empowered--and only one source for that, and it's the Word of God-- and watch what your mind does in these next forty minutes. Keep an eye on your mind this morning, and see if there's not some visitations that we've so gullibly been told are natural by the one that's putting them in there. "It's only natural; everybody does this."

Let's see if we can recognize that voice in this third chapter. "Yea," the subtle one says in chapter 3 of Genesis. That word "subtle" means shrewd, crafty, cunning. He was more subtle than all of the creatures. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And Eve responding naturally and thinking, "No, I'm going to defend God. God wants to bless us. God's allowing us to eat of all the other trees. No, He didn't say we couldn't eat of all of the trees; He just said we couldn't eat of the one in the midst."

You see it's that little seed that's planted. "Has God said you can't have any fun?" "God said you can't enjoy life." "Has God said that you just have to spend the rest of the your life in a monastery?" Whatever it is--always the accuser of the Father and the brethren. Oh, no, we can eat of the trees. "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden [verse 3], God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." You won't die doing it your way. What's going to really happen is this, and what God's afraid of is this--that God knows that the day that you eat of the wisdom of the world, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman then turned to look at that fruit and "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." "A tree to be desired to make one wise."

There's no debate that the wisdom of the world works, and that you can be very successful in it. In fact, turn over to Luke, chapter 4, for just a second. We'll see how successful you can be with this kind of an agenda. In Luke, chapter 4, of course, we're looking at the temptation of Jesus. Now, Satan's going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's after you this morning. How many of you know that the devil hasn't taken the day off of trying to kill you today? Every day he's after your soul. Every day all of those satanic wiles, those demonic imps are out after your soul. It's relentless. There's not a moment--listen to me--there is not one minute of the day that there's not a stumbling block being put before you. If that's not bad enough that we have to contend with that without, what do we have within? Sin in our members.

How many of you think we ought to put on the whole armor of God? How many of us, we just take little moments and days and little spurts off to where we're just going to kick back because, I mean, surely you can't pray without ceasing. "Surely we don't always have to carry the sword of the Spirit drawn, and the Word of God hidden in our hearts where in a moment we can speak and resist the devil and watch him flee from us. Surely there's some time to relax." That's not what the Scripture says as we prepare for this war that's before us. These temptations that come--and we realize that they are more obvious, and they intensify at times such as it did here in Jesus' life. It says in chapter 4 of Luke, "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." I like that phrasing, don't you? "Full of the Holy Ghost." How many of you realize that if you're going to go into some type of spiritual warfare, that's what we're talking about? You better be full of the Holy Ghost. How many of you here this morning have not been filled with the Holy Spirit? Endued from on high with power, confirmed by the evidence of speaking in other tongues, so that you could pray in the Spirit and intercede--not only to edify yourself, but to do war in the heavenlies as you pray in that heavenly language.

Oh, beloved, the day that we're coming into, those of you that have been here for years, and you've never received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, don't just sit back and say, "Well, I guess it's not for me." It is for you and for your children and all that are afar off, even as many of the Lord our God shall call. It's no time to just say, "Well, it's not for me." It is for you. What are you doing to press in and receive the fullness of God's Spirit, so that you can stand in these last days? Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost, the Scripture says, returned and led by the Spirit into the wilderness. "Being forty days tempted of the devil."

The Matthew account's kind of interesting. Just keep your finger here, and go back quickly to the Matthew account of the temptation. There's one phrase there, just one phrase that I'd like to point out. Chapter 4, verse 1. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said..." You see, there's a vulnerability. He had fasted forty days and forty nights. The Luke account just says, "...being forty days tempted of the devil."

We see that the first temptation came based upon the immediate circumstance. He'd been fasting for forty days and forty nights. Satan always observes where we are at the moment, our weakest point, the weakest link, the chink in our armor at the moment. He knows when you're strung out physically. He knows when you're strung out emotionally and mentally on the job or whatever. He knows when you've not prepared yourself. He knows exactly where to attack. He'll let you come along and it's going to be smooth sailing. You're going to think, "Well, praise God, I'm actually doing pretty good for not doing my devotions anymore." "Things are moving along pretty slowly, I mean, pretty smoothly." "You know, I haven't been going to prayer, but I just feel closer to the Lord than I ever have before. I kind of feel good about myself." "Things have been going along here real well, doing good on the job, family--I haven't been fighting with my wife. Things are looking good." All he's doing is allowing this road to stay smooth to wait for the right time to pierce you with one of those fiery darts.

You don't base your preparation on the immediate intensity of the trial, but on the knowledge of the imminent presence of the destroyer of your soul. Why do you think Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us, if we're not momentarily, every moment of our lives, in jeopardy? Watch what happens here, and look at the temptation. Let's see what we can learn in this for just a moment. First of all, Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost. The armor is on. As He's praying and fasting, and He's tempted of the devil. He's out there in an environment to where He is so inundated with demonic oppression and temptation that there was not even time to eat. Jesus wasn't out there praying and fasting just to build Himself up. He was being tempted those forty days. The temptation didn't start with these three little incidents here. This was the culmination of the temptation. Jesus was not out there praying and fasting for forty days to deal with these three assaults on His life. He was being tempted. He was being oppressed. He was suffering every temptation ever known to man in these forty days and forty nights as He warred with principalities and powers.

The Scripture goes on in this fourth chapter of Luke, and it says "...in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread." Of course, Jesus responded and said, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Here's the point that I wanted to emphasize this morning that we made reference to just a moment ago. "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time." Remember we're talking about the wisdom of this world. We said it's real, and this world's wisdom can cause you to be a success. It can bring you everything your heart desires. There are certain laws and principles in the wisdom of the world, that tree of the knowledge of good and evil that you can apply and use. When you begin to understand, you can use it against him. A couple of our men were just at a sales school they went to on sales and different areas. Oh, beloved, I want to tell you something. The best salesmen are the people that know how carnal people are, and how the lust of the eye works and the pride of life. You begin to play on those things in people and use it against them for your own gain. It's the way the world operates.

I love to watch it. One of my recreations periodically is when we go out--if we happen to be out somewhere--I like to go in and sit down with a salesman somewhere, knowing I have no intent to buy, and just watch them work. Get the best item they have, the most expensive thing that's there, and "Dollar signs!" and they think they got you. You say, "That doesn't sound like something nice to do." It's entertainment. It's just something that you know how men work and what their thoughts are, and I love playing the little mental games with them. Because you're not ignorant of their devices, you can see them trying to set up all of these little traps; and you act like they're there. They can't really believe that you've got enough discipline after they've made you a deal you can't resist to get up and say, "Have a nice day" and walk off.

Look how it works, Chapter 4, "And the devil said unto him, All this power..." He showed him the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. I want you to understand our foe, beloved. We recite so quickly, "Oh, we're not ignorant of his devices." No, we're not. We understand his subtlety. We understand his methodology, but let me ask you this. Do you really know his power? Do you understand the power of sin that's at work within your members, that is so easily solicited by these foes that we're talking about? We're not warring against flesh and blood. Principalities and powers! "...All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it." It's his to give. You can sell your soul to the devil. That's all he's asking here.

Over the years, we've all seen little cartoons and little movies that were made of people selling out to the devil, but I want you to understand something very clearly--you can. He makes these offers to individuals. A lot of people think they're doing what we do when we're playing with some of these salesmen, that they play with this enemy and use him for awhile, and then just step out of it when they want; but they don't understand the power of sin. They don't understand that once their appetites have been fulfilled, and they begin to taste of this wisdom and this power and this affluence and all that's with it; and they become drunk, and they become bound, that there is no way of escape. This isn't a power to play with. When Satan stands and says, "It's given to me and to whomever I will give it, and there's only one requirement." Look at it. We talked about in Corinthians the fact that you can't, we understand you can't serve two masters; that you're going to love the one and hate the other. We saw in Corinthians, the first chapter, that to imbibe the spirit of the world is to be at enmity with God or to be in opposition to God. Let me even show you a little more in that area that takes it one notch higher. Look at this. To embrace the world's wisdom, according to this passage is what? Verse 7. To worship me. Worldly wisdom is satanic worship. There's no other way around it. All of the world's wisdom and power is his to give to whom he will. He has one requisite. What is it? Worship.

Turn back to Corinthians, and let's look at that for just a moment. "All you need to do is worship me, and I'll give you wisdom to make you successful. You want to be a success? You don't want to be one of the weak and despised of the world? You just want to be one of the boys? All you have to do is worship me." First Corinthians, chapter 2. Look at verse 12. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth; but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

We begin to realize that there's a natural wisdom. The keener you become in natural wisdom, the duller your spiritual senses are. Every time you choose to do something according to the world's system and its wisdom, spiritual brain cells die. It's very important for us to realize that you can't serve two masters. You're going to love one and hate the other. These decisions to take things into our own hands many times--that we seem to think are very innocent--if you want to take it to the nth, if you want to take it out here to the full spectrum as we're looking at the difference between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, we see then that it's to worship the devil. "But, Pastor, my intent isn't to worship the devil. My intent, really, is just to use these laws for personal gain." Well, let me understand then. What we're saying here is you want to use the world's system and methods so that you can benefit and prosper exclusive from God. Isn't that the original sin?

We've shared with you now. We've taken a long time, and we keep hammering this principle home, beloved. The original sin is the sin of willful independence. Eat this; your eyes will be opened. You won't have to depend on God. You will be as gods. It's desired to make one wise. Anything we do that is not bringing into a greater reliance upon God, upon a greater trust in God--these two words I just used, reliance and trust, are English words that go back to another Greek word pistos which is the Greek word for what? What is it? Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We walk by faith and not by sight. Our faith is the victory.

You see, beloved, we got to begin to come. If we're going to successful in this spiritual warfare, if we're going to put the whole armor of God on, everything we're doing is to be more dependent upon God, to try to empty ourselves of all of this solicitation that's going on around us of reliance upon self or reliance upon the natural, reliance upon a principle, reliance upon a company, reliance upon a government. "I'm going to rely in my investments. I'm going to rely in my... (What do you call them? The portfolio that you might have, and your five... No, no, what are they? Yeah, I was going to do a 501C3, but that's tax-free organizations.) Whatever all the initials are: your C02s and your H20s and your IRA's. (That's what I was looking for.) The Scripture says that these things will take wings and fly away. Ask PSINet. They got their name on the champion's--world champion's--stadium and they can't pay for the light bulbs. What happened? It's the gods you trust in. I want you to understand something. He's a hard taskmaster. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be making decisions that I think are really sharp, and God say, "You fool! You're a fool!" For the fool has said in his heart, "There's no god. I got to do it myself. I'm a god unto myself. My eyes have been opened. I've been to the Sterling Annex School of Finance. I'm ready for this world."

Oh, beloved, that we would come as little children, that we would return to our innocence and look to walk with Him in the cool of the garden; and not--as you read on in that third chapter of Genesis--hide ourselves from the presence of God because we're naked. Oh, beloved, when you're clothed with the righteousness of the blood of Jesus Christ, you run to His presence. You come as a dependent child. There's no greater sign of spiritual maturity than seeking advice from your Dad. We want to run independent. "I'm a man now!" That's assuming that your dad's sharp, that his wisdom's coming from his Dad. Children relying upon their parents, wives subordinating to their husbands in the wisdom of God. But no, we all want to be independent. Got to watch out for ourselves. What's this coming from? We saw that it's the original sin, and our topic is spiritual warfare. What we're sharing is this. There's the war for your mind. There's the war of trying to cause you to become independent, to divide this house, so that you can't stand. Now, how are we going to practically see God work in our lives and affect His power on our behalf in the midst of temptations and trials and all of these other adversities? Our weapons are not carnal. They're mighty through God. We're to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able to stand.

First Timothy 6, turn over there for just a moment. It tells us to fight the good fight of what? Faith. What we're doing here then is we're having to deal with warring against self-reliance and infuse ourselves with biblical faith. As we're putting on the helmet of salvation, putting the mind of Christ upon ourselves, it's done by fighting the good fight of faith, that we can lay hold on eternal life. Where does faith come from? "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God."

For the young people right now, we have a great memorization program going on for our junior high and high school. I trust that we do for our elementary children, either in children's church or in the day school, one of those places where the children can be memorizing Scripture. "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." You need to know what the Word of God says, the Gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation.

We went up to the townhouse the other day. As you know, the fire was there, and they're beginning to repair it some. We went in there. We were kind of looking around, and then this guy walks in. This was interesting. This guy was one of the most obnoxious people I think I've run into in a long time. He's that type. I mean, after like one sentence, you want to slap this guy. We're standing in there. It was Chuck, and Star and I. We're standing in there and this guy comes in, and he says, "What are you guys doing here?" I can't remember. I made some kind of a comment. He made some smart remark. I saw he had his lunch, so I told him we were having a meeting on what we were going to eat for lunch; and we were eyeing his. He made some other kind of comment and some kind of a nasty remark, and whatever. It was interesting to see what kind of disposition this guy was of, so we were going on; and we were making some observations of things they needed to change and do differently. Of course, he wasn't real happy about that. Try to condense this into a shorter period of time, but he made a comment about, just kind of wanting to know, well, how we knew what we were talking about. I shared with him that Jim had been a builder, and Chuck has worked and done some construction, different things. He said, "Well, why don't you just do it yourselves?" I said, "Well, we're just out preaching the Gospel now instead of doing the carpentry part that Jesus did. We're out preaching." Talked about... He'd asked something about Jim. I said, "Well, he's preaching up in Baltimore." He said, "Baltimore! I'm surprised he's still alive, if he's in Baltimore." Made the comment--I think Chuck made the comment, "Well, God, if He sends you, He'll protect you." "Who said that? Where's the Bible say that?" I said, "Well, the Scripture says, that if God's for us, nobody can be against us. That He's given us all power and all authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm us. No weapon formed against us will prosper. Every tongue that rises against us in judgment we'll condemn. That's the heritage of the servants of the Lord. Our weapons aren't carnal. They're mighty through God." I began to quote Scripture and this guy, he kind of stopped. He looked for a minute, and he said, "Are you a preacher?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "I want to ask you something."

For about fifteen minutes I killed this guy. I mean, I destroyed this guy. Every question he asked, I killed him. The sad part was he had... The guy that was in charge of the thing was a Baptist deacon. He didn't have a clue and good guy, good man, but he really didn't have Word to bring to this individual. He was a guy that loved the Lord. You could tell. I just started sharing the Word and just quoting the Scripture. This guy would just kind of, "Yeah, that's right." He said, "You know those Ten Commandments?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "I can't keep those things." I said, "Well, you're not supposed to be able to." "Really?" "Yeah." I said, "Jesus came and kept them for us. For us to be right with God, we just have to believe that that was sufficient. The price was paid." "So, all I have to do is believe that Jesus did it?" "Yeah." "Do you believe in Jesus?" "Yeah, I believe in Jesus." I said, "He said, If you believe in me and love me, you'll keep my commandments." "See, I knew there was more to it than just..." I won't go through the whole thing, but we went on like this. Finally, this guy said, "The one thing I don't understand..." I talked to him about original sin. He said, "You know, that makes sense. I've never heard that before." About the difference between good works and evil works, and that doesn't have anything to do... He said, "I can't keep those things." He said, "I can only keep one of them." I said, "Which one's that?" He said, "Don't kill." I didn't want to get into letting him know he was a killer, but... He said, "The other ones I can't keep." The one guy said, "Well, do you commit adultery?" He said, "I don't think so." He said, "I do that other one. What's it called?" I said, "Fornication." He said, "Yeah, that's the one I do." He said, "There's something in there about not drinking; right?" He said, "I get drunk every Friday night."

We shared a few things with him and told him that fornication and drunkenness isn't going to send him to Hell, that it's just the rejection of the lordship of Jesus. This went on for awhile. I'll get back on course here. The point I'm making is that you need to be able to speak the Word. All I did was quote the Word to this guy, and he'd just hang his head and say, "Yeah, that's right, man." Finally, he ended with this; he said, "You know, what I don't understand is this." He said, "I didn't want to be born. I hate my life, and I didn't ask to be born. God created me to go to Hell." He said, "Is Hell real?" I said, "Yeah, it's real." He said, "Is it forever?" I said, "Man, there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You're going to be cast into outer darkness. It's a place where the worm dieth not. The remembrance of you is going to be wiped off. Nobody will ever know that you existed, and you'll scream in terror for eternity; and nobody will hear or care." He said, "That's not good. That's not good." He said, "I didn't even ask to be born, and God created me to send me to Hell." I said, "No, somebody's given you some wrong advice there." You could see this guy's been around Baptists too long. I said, "Whosoever will may come."

Right there I said, "Wait a minute, now." I said, "I want to tell you something." I said, "You told me you believed in Jesus." He said, "Yeah." I said, "You know, listen to yourself." I'd explained the trinity to him a little bit earlier. He said, "I like that." He said, "That makes sense." He was asking questions about the trinity. I said, "You told me that you believed that Jesus is the Son of God." "Yeah, I do. I believe that." I said, "The Bible says that God Himself in the person of the Son came down here and took your sin upon His body and was tormented by men and died on the cross for your sin, to appease a holy God, to buy your salvation." I said, "You stand here and slap Him in the face by saying God created you to go to Hell, when He came and died for you to go to Heaven. All you're taken up with is your own pity and your own self-righteousness." I said, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." He dropped his head. I went on and shared a couple of other things with him. He said, "You're right; I'm wrong." He turned around to the electrician. He said, "You hear what this guy's been saying?" The guy said, "I'm trying not to." He said, "He's right; I'm wrong. What he's saying is the Word of God. I'm guilty. God's innocent!" I told him, "You're judging God." We turned to walk off. I said, "I'll be back in a couple of days. See if you can come up with any more questions." We started off across the parking lot, and I heard him turn to his Baptist friend. He said, "That's a baaaddd, man. That's a baaaaaaddd man," he said. Just like that, "That's a baaaaaaddd man." He said, "I'm wrong."

Beloved, our weapons are not carnal--the anointing, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God that's the power of God unto salvation. As we speak and bring forth the truth, there will be those who will hear it. Who knows where this seed will go that was planted in this man, but isn't God merciful? I wasn't going--I didn't plan on going over there. We were up here doing some other stuff, and I said, "Well, let's go. Why don't we just run over there real quick." From the time we walked in, this guy, probably wasn't a minute, and he showed up. As God orders our steps and has compassion for the broken and the lost, what do you have to give them? Tragically, what he was being given by this other individual was human empathy. "God understands." What do we have to present to a world whose eyes have been blinded lest they should believe the light of the glorious Gospel? All we can give, the Scripture says, is what we have in us, what we freely received.

Now we're at war. We're fighting the good fight of faith, Timothy 6:12 says, laying hold on eternal life. Have you got a hold of it? Paul goes on and says, "Be careful that nobody steals your crown." Ah, beloved, the greatest danger that you and I have is this inundation with the wisdom of this world, the world's methodology. To begin to trust in the economics and the sciences and everything else instead of the holy name of Jesus. The power and the authority of that name and being able to, in communion, to go represent Him, knowing that those then that have heard us have heard Him, the Scripture says. Being able to speak as Jesus spoke as one having authority. Never a man spoke like this man. You see, that's what this guy had run into. He hadn't heard anybody talk like this before. He's never heard anybody stand and represent God properly without apology and absolute confidence and authority. Our weapons are not carnal. They're mighty through God.

Here we are being called to prepare ourselves. What are we trusting in today? The greatest illustration of this, of course--and we'll end with this for this morning--is in the life of David, isn't it? Let's turn over to Samuel for just a moment, back to 1 Samuel. Don't you all love this passage of Scripture? As you look at young David and the call of God on his life, back in chapter 16, the call goes out. In verse 17, and Saul says, "Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me." He said, "...there's a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him." David came and stood before him, and he loved him greatly. He became an armor-bearer. Then there was the gathering of the Philistines. We realize that David's life had been exemplary, and his worship was what caused him to receive the anointing of God. We see the challenge of Goliath, this great, mighty warrior. It depends upon what measurement you use for a cubit or a span, but he could have been as tall as 11 feet. The coat of mail, his armor, was 200 pounds. The head of his spear weighed 10 pounds. Anybody ever throw a shot put? I remember I used to throw shot put. In junior high, you always used an eight-pound shot put, and then you went to the 16 pound when we went to high school and threw it. You're looking here at a 10-pound spearhead. This is a baaaaaaddd man. He caused fear to come into hearts of all of the warriors, and Israel fainted.

Then we see this. Verse 11, "When Saul and all Israel heard those words... they were dismayed, and greatly afraid." There was a call that went out, and David responded. The response of David is seen in his battle cry. The thing that was interesting though, was this. First of all, they wanted to put David in the armor of the king. The response in verse 33 was, "[How can you go?] ...for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." I want you to see this. It says it as plainly as can be. God has chosen the weak things, the despised things, the base things, in the world's eyes. This guy's a warrior from his youth. You're just a youth. How can you expect to go up against him and succeed? David said to Saul, There's some things you don't know. "[...I kept my] father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him." Talk about a baadd man. Here's a guy that knew the anointing in his youth. He was faithful in the small things. He wasn't trying to vaunt himself into national prominence. Anointed king and yet sitting at home watching his father's flock faithfully, singing psalms in the back side of the desert, worshipping His God, building a relationship so that when the day came that God was going to put him on the forefront, he was ready. What are you doing in the secret places? What are you doing now in your prayer closet to prepare? Most of us think that, "If I get a chance to show my stuff, man, I'll start training." You train and you pray in private, and God exalts you.

We're looking to see what the Lord has for us, and he gives him his testimony. "Thy servant [verse 36] slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God." What's the key to David's victory? He saw what the battle was all about. It wasn't David, heavy weight champion of the world. How can this guy be left alone defying the living God? How can this reproach on the name of God... How can this opposition to the kingdom of light be unopposed? Somebody's got to do something about it.

Let me ask you this morning. What are you doing about it? We're all talking about the bondage of this community. Everybody bound by lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life, bound by our prosperity. Kids going to hell with their black fingernails and pierced noses and black lipstick and freaky hairdos. There's only one thing that's going to set them free, man. It's somebody praying in the Spirit. It's somebody going out and representing the power and the authority of the name of Jesus, somebody that goes out and understands what it's all about. It's not about fads; it's about satanic powers and the ability to go in the name of Jesus and speak words in season and see the captives set free. Oh, beloved, that we would begin to pray and ask the Lord to help us lift up our eyes and look on the fields that are white to harvest. That we, like the Lord, would be smitten in our hearts as we see them wandering as sheep without a shepherd. You see, the warfare that I'm talking about, and that we're going to be dealing with in the next weeks as we go on in this study isn't just about us finishing the course, but it's about setting out against the powers of darkness and seeing the captives set free. You see, Jesus, following His great personal victory, descended into the pit, and He led captivity captive.

It's not enough for us just to be free, beloved. We need to take some people with us as we go out into the highways and the byways and compel them to come. Lord, give us that compassion and that love for the lost and realize that it's not going to be by words. You're not going to talk anybody into it. Your words need to come out of your spirit as a hammer to break the rock in pieces. The words of God need to be so alive in your hearts and in your mouths that it's like a fire that consumes those that stand before you. That's the armor of God, and that's found in the secret place, the prayer closet. What we hear in secret, then we proclaim from the housetops.

This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing that he defies God. You realize what you're dealing with. When I was talking to this guy, beloved, the judgment this man was placing on God just caused everything inside of me to rise up. I killed this guy. I took him by the beard and I smote him. Are you jealous for your God? Not just your comfortable living. "We want a moral environment and atmosphere. We don't want crime in our neighborhood, prefer that they wouldn't be on drugs." What's that got to do with anything? What's at hand, the issue at hand, is people are going to Hell, and they've been in church. They know about Christianity, "Constantine Christianity," but so few have ever encountered the power of the Gospel. We take for granted that because they've heard, that they've heard the Word. Beloved, have they heard it come from the messenger of God? Someone that speaks with a relationship and an anointing. Have you spoken the Word to them, and they've said, "I've heard it, but I've never heard it on this wise before"? Let's put on this armor. Let's prepare ourselves for the battle that's at hand.

"[And] David said [verse 37] moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." You see, the assurance that your armor is on, beloved, is that you know that you're invincible. If God's for you, nobody can be against you. You go in absolute confidence, as we talked about Gideon earlier. Go in this the power of thy might, Have not I sent thee? When you know God's sent you, you go in absolute confidence; and God will deliver us. He will deliver me. "Amen, David," Saul says.

Now, look. The kid's out there fighting lions and bears, tigers and lions and bears. "I took him by the beard and killed him, and I'm going to go do the same to this guy." Saul says, "Amen. Put on this armor." He didn't have any armor out there. He had the anointing. He had the jealousy for God's little flock. Saul says, "Okay, I hear what you're saying. You've sold me. God's for you; here, put on my armor." "And he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them." I can't do things the way you've done it. Can't you see him? Saul, a man head and shoulders above, and David's got this helmet of brass on, and kiiinnnkkk, thing, this coat of mail, and this sword that's dragging the ground. He's trying to, ooppp, go, kiiinnnkk, kiiinnnkk, you know, he's trying to get out there. He probably couldn't get the sword out of its sheath without using two hands. God uses the little things. He's looking for the young men. He said, "You're just a youth, and he's been a warrior from his youth." He's the most successful man in the world system that there is. "Now, I've been the most successful," Saul says, "in our group of cowards. So take my advice, now, I'm the most successful guy of all these losers." I don't know about you, but I don't want to listen to losers. I want to listen to the wisdom of God. I don't want to listen to the men that are cowered over in the corner afraid of the roaring lion. I'm not interested in hearing all the evil reports of science and of the institutions of higher learning. Not interested in eating the meat of the king's dainties but eating the porridge of God and separating ourselves and staying holy that we might be ten times wiser.

Oh, beloved, if we're going to know the power of God and know the deliverance of God like Daniel of old, there has to be innocency found in us. It said, "Innocency was found in him, and, therefore, God delivered him." Oh, that we would return to the Garden of Eden, to the time of innocence of total reliance upon God and not the world's methodology. I haven't proven these things. I don't know how to use this kind of stuff. All I know is that God's anointing makes the rock go straight. All I know is that when I sing my songs in the desert, God sets up ambushments against the enemy when I worship Him. I can't go with these.

I can't tell you how many times over the years, regardless of whether it's outreach or land acquisitions or whatever it is, all of the world's wisdom's coming in; and the bean counters are saying whether you can or can't do it. I said, "I don't want to hear it, man. Don't even talk to me about budget." Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. You better count the cost before you start the building. You better count the cost before you go to war. Now, I'm not talking about being presumptuous or stupid. I'm talking about knowing God said, "Go!" If He said go, I'm not concerned with the numbers because if God's for us, who can be against us? If God said go, then I'm not concerned with the natural laws of physics, but I step out of the boat; and I walk on water, and I speak, and the winds and the waves are stilled. Aren't you hungry for that wisdom, beloved? Isn't that the power that you want to move in daily and know that you're not dependent on what everybody else is drawing upon and has their confidence in?

David, then, the Scripture says, "took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook." Most people wonder why he did that. Thought if he was going in faith, man, wouldn't one be enough? 2 Samuel tells us in 21:22 that he [Goliath] had four brothers; that's faith. A lot of people thought he thought he was going to miss. No, just in case his brothers show up, I'll take them all out. He took his sling [humorous; isn't it?]. Goliath saw him, verse 42 says, and "disdained him: for he was a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance." Disdained him--the way the world looks on you and I when we stand in faith. When we say, "Yeah, we understand what all the great scientists are saying and the political scientists are saying and the economic experts are saying, but all I know is God said, 'Go in this thy might; have not I sent thee?'" Satan begins to whisper and says, "Listen to everything that can go wrong, and if you'll do it my way, I'll give you this success; for it's mine to give."

Verse 45 says, "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of Lord..." The name of Jesus at which every knee will bow. The name which is above every other name. Philippians says He got that name because He humbled Himself. He came to represent the one that sent Him, and because of it, He was given a name; a name in which we cast out devils, heal the sick, raise the dead, or do we? You see, what's up here, Goliath, is this. You've defied God. See it, verse 45? "I come to thee in the name of the Lord... whom thou hast defied. You see, all of these things that you and I are having to make decisions on, beloved, it's not about us. It's not a personal thing. It's about Satan defying God through the world system, playing with your mind, seducing you through all of its evil thoughts and all of the fears that he keeps trying to throw on you that God is not going to be sufficient. He's going to fail you. You need to have your eyes open and to draw on all the resources of these successful people over here. I'd like to encourage you as we close this morning to spend some time in the back side of the desert praying and proving yourself faithful and perfecting your slingshot, as the Word of God comes out of your mouth through obedience. When this day arises, you'll be as prepared as David was, and you'll say, "And I will smite thee, [devil, verse 46] that all the earth may know that there is a God in [Heaven]. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's..." And David ran at Goliath.

Father, make it real to us this morning. Cause that armor that we've placed upon ourselves to create a confidence that would cause us to run at the battle, to be able to come against principalities and powers with a confidence that we go in this, the power of having been sent. Father, there's so great a temptation today to be lulled to sleep with the ease and the comforts of this environment that we live in. Help us to begin to discipline ourselves in spiritual warfare. We've taken our young people, and we've begun to work on their physical prowess, but what about the spiritual war? Some of you young people, and you've seen what you could do; and you didn't realize it, in being able to do your pushups now and your pull-ups. That's all fine; that's great. You need that physical discipline and strength because the lack of it is just an indicator of a lack of character, but you'd better spend more time spiritually than you're spending physically. You'd better start doing your spiritual pushups and your spiritual running because you have an adversary who's seeking you, to destroy you with all of the world's methodology, a seducing with the power of economics, the promise of all of these riches that will take wings and fly away. They'll cause you to think they're invincible, and in a moment God brings them down. Where's your trust this morning? Jesus is not an addendum to your life, but He's Lord. Jesus is not a blip in your resume; He's your life. "You won't surely die." "Everybody else is doing it." "Everybody's doing it. There's only a few fanatics that are doing what you're advocating this morning." Few there be that find it. Make it real, Father, in Jesus name. Let's stand before the Lord this morning.

As Gary plays, how equipped are you at the battle that you face daily? Can you walk in from having gone to work, can you walk home instead of being all out of sorts and beat down and whipped, can you walk into your home in peace and joy and refreshed and strong? You've come through the waters, and they've not overflowed you. There's not even a smell of smoke upon your garment, or do you get so whipped during the day, you come home, and you can't even do your real job? I want to tell you something. You don't have enough armor on if you come home and can't minister to your family. You don't have enough armor on if you take it out on your kids, Moms, at the end of the day. You need some armor on. Barely surviving is not what walking in the Spirit is all about. It's being an overcomer. It's resisting and watching the enemy flee. It's bringing back the head of the foe. Make it real we ask, Father. Do you have enough confidence to run at him? Let's sing it together. Oh, we thank You, Lord. Let's worship Him as we sing it again. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Let's do away with that misconception that just putting armor on is what it's all about. Look at my armor. The crest is all shiny, and perfectly airbrushed on, high-polished armor, jeweled sword. That's not what this is all about, beloved. I want you to see yourself standing there with your shield raised, and darts smoldering in it. The sword chipped and broken, looking out the earhole of your helmet; and standing and seeing everyone around you defeated, and the devil resisted! A thousand have fallen at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, and having done all. Make it real, Father, and we will praise You, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah! Before you go, turn to somebody, say, "Keep the armor on." Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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