Video Transcript: Dressed And Ready To Go (Crawford Loritts preaching on Ephesians 6:10-18)

Video Transcript: Dressed And Ready To Go (Crawford Loritts preaching on Ephesians 6:10-18)

If you have a Bible, I want you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter six. And I want to read verses 10 through 18. Some I'd say I have a tad bit of an unusual closing of the year message. But I'll explain that in a second 

Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 18. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up a whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand firm, stand, therefore, having fasten on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times and the spirit with all prayer and supplication. 

I've been titled My message today dressed and ready to go. You might say Crawford this is a that's a little heavy passage. Well, I I do have somewhat some, I think, an ominous message as we step into 2013. In recent years, I think we have under emphasized or under and I put quotes around this term valued the role of a devil in our walk and our relationship with Christ. And I think many Christians have been sideswiped and blindsided by the enemy's tactics, and the reality that we're living in the context of spiritual warfare. Those of you who are longtime fellowship attendees know that I'm a little bit leery of people who go to one extreme or the other when they come  to the devil, there is a brand and a bunch of Christians who so heightened the role of Satan that in a very weird sense, this seduced into worshipping Him. They don't mean to, but they give him inordinate attention. And I don't think we need to do that. But I don't think we need to go to the other extreme as well, where we act like he does not exist in that we act as if his presence is not real. And I just feel led to give you this message. As we launch into this next year 2013, our church and our leadership, we have some things in our hearts that we believe in God to do for us. There's some significant changes that will be made. There are some things in which we believe the Lord is leading us to do. And never forget this. If there's one thing that I've learned in all these years that I've walked with Christ, anytime you do what God tells you to do expect hell to be unleashed. The enemy's there, he's not happy about spiritual transformation. The enemy is not happy about your growth and not happy about your development, not happy about my growth and my development in the Lord. There's a reality of warfare that we live in and that we need to be made known up aware of. 

Now, I'm going to say this in a second again, but I want to say this Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 18, is not to be read with shaking hands and fear is we read with a smile on your face. Because this text is our confidence. It is our competence. Paul did not write these words to scare us. He did not write these words to frighten us he wrote these words, as they stand up and keep moving. This is our hope and our confidence. World war two on you may have heard the story on a remote island in the South Pacific. There were some Japanese soldiers there, that had not gotten the word that the war was over and they lost. And so they were still fighting. While the bullets were real, even though they lost, the bullets were real. And so it is with Satan. He was he was defeated at Calvary, his power was broken at Calvary. His prevailing strength was broken a coward when Jesus died on the cross in our place in for our sin and then rose again from the third day he defeated the enemy, defeated death. 

However, however, the enemy is still very, very active, very active, although he has been defeated. His major attack, particularly among Christians, is to take us out. He wants to discourage us. He wants to divide us, you know, he wants to make us depressed, he wants to do all these things. And so he's coming after us with with real warfare. And that's why the apostle Paul wrote Ephesians chapter six verses 10. Through a tee I carry with me in my pocket, and all the time this is always with me, a very generous member of our church several years ago gave me this coin, it is amazing coin, I use it to mark my golf ball with it's really a conversation piece. It's illegal is too big the market golf ball with but I want people to see it. It really has it has really the the the wardrobe or the equipment that we wear, as those of us who are in spiritual battle. It says put on the whole armor of God on this one side. And on the other side, it lists what that armor really, really is. I carry this with me not as a good luck charm, I'm not into that that can become an idol. But I carry it with me as a reminder, as a reminder that the enemy is not hiding, that the enemy is real, that he's around us. And that he seeks to destroy us. He seeks to do whatever he can to knock us out of the game. 

I want to walk through Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 18. I want to take my time and walk through this text. Because I really believe that this passage, although known by a lot of Christians, the truth of this text are virtually ignored by us. And yet, here's how we win the fight and we win the battle. The way to hang what Paul is saying in this passage. It's very simple. Paul, you can outline it either way. My son, my youngest son preached a message on this and we were talking about this text and he gave me his outline. And I'd already put mine together. I said you're not plagiarized. If you could have saved me some work boy. But he talked about the exhortation the equipment, the enemy and the equipment. I said that'll work. And but I've outlined in this way, the warrior, the war and the wardrobe. And I just want us to walk through this text and listen really closely to what the Apostle Paul is telling us. 

Again, he's passing on the focus that we need to have as we're engaged in this battle. First the nature of a warrior verse 10 says, be strong in the Lord and in The strength of his might. And don't miss that. He says Be strong in the Lord. And the strength of his might. I think he's saying several things here, probably three, number one, acquire his strength, acquire his strength. Be very careful of Christians who always walk around talking about, you know, I say to you, Satan, I said, What are you gonna say to him? What do you what are you gonna say? What? What are you going to do with the devil? None of us in here is a match for the enemy. Not one of us here. He will blow us away. You're talking about one of the highest of all the Archangels. He is an angel, but he has supernatural power. So Paul begins not by talking about well, you know what your background is, and your experience, may me and all of this other he says, Now, I want you to be strong in the Lord. Number one, you've got to acquire strength from him. Get your strength of him utilize the resources available to you. And we're going to talk a little bit about that later on. Because I think he unfolds that. I think the second thing he says is use his strength, be strong in the Lord. 

This is a reference opposition in Christ. This is consistent in the book of Ephesians. If you go back to the first paragraph, are they really that second long paragraph and chapter one he talks about in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ? We use his strength. It's not Crawford to know how it's not what I've done before. It's not the books that I've read, neither is it you, you will never win spiritual warfare. If you think you bring a lot to the table. Our strength is not found in us it is found in him. And then thirdly, he says, stand in his strength. Stand in his strength. It's interesting. I mean, Paul just repeats himself over and over again. And this is part of what the New Testament tells us the primary way that the devil The devil is defeated, is by resistance. Notice he says in verse 11, stand, verse 13, withstand verse 13. Again, stand firm, verse 14, stand, therefore, I think Paul wants us to stand. Think he wants us to stand. And again, the word stand means to resist, to resist. Now, now see this, again, connect the dots here connects the dots. He tells us that we're to be strong in the Lord and then the strength of his might. 

My ability to stand comes from the strength of his mind, I stand in the Lord and the strength of his might. And so my ability to stand doesn't cover my little cute Christian formulas, doesn't come from the things that I know. It becomes from who I know and my position in Jesus Christ. He is the power that I have to stand I am a woose, I'm a weakling, I can't I can't withstand the devil apart from my covering in Christ, and you need to hear that. It's a strength of his might. And by the way, by the way, Stan needs to resist the devil James four seven says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. First Peter, chapter five tells us resist him, the devil firm in your Faith. When you do that, the enemy comes and gets you and you don't move. And he begins to realize I did, I underestimated what I was coming up against. That's the reason why I'm going to share some things at the very end of the semester. That's the reason why fellowship as a pastor is one of the things that frustrates me so much about some of you. I just got to tell you the truth. Some of you get the spiritual snot knocked out of you time and time again.

You don't get it. Your lazy about your time in the word, inconsistent in your prayer life, and a fema (failure to effectively manage anything) knocks us over. When are we going to get it that Christ is our life. You're not going to stand in 2013 unless there's a deep foundation. And that's the only way we can resist the enemy. This is no playground stuff here. I call this past week things that happen in our body. But devil is real. It's not a joke. Not a joke. Yet remember that he is with us in Second Kings chapter six verses 11 through 17. I love this story. Elisha servant was really scared to death when he saw the army Assyrians, surrounding them. Go sure Mama. I mean, it's just me and Elijah, Elisha. And this army is, Elijah said, God opened his eyes. Open is eyes. And as he looked on the hillside, he saw Chariots of Fire surrounding them. So I want to give you I want to give you hope, here, there and for every demon that's around us, they're angels that around us to is the very presence of God around us. And we don't need to be fearful. We don't need to be afraid. However, our keeping is not automatic. So therefore we have to run, grab a hold of his strength. Well, that's, that's the warrior. Okay, let's talk a little bit about the war. He spends the bulk of his time talking about the war in which we, we are engaged. 

I want to look at verse 11. And verse 13, because he says something in these, he says, He repeats himself in these two verses, he says in verse 11, put on the whole armor of God, and then down in verse 13, therefore take up the whole armor of God. Point being in this text, he says, you do not have the privilege Crawford, you don't have the privilege to pick and choose what piece of the armor you want to wear. This ain't styling and profiling. You this, this is not selecting what you want, you have to pick up every piece of this armor. And if you leave one of these pieces off, you are vulnerable. Every piece needs to be picked up. And every piece needs to be put on. His armor is given to us by God, he says put on the whole armor of God. He bought the clothes, he bought the wardrobe. This is what he is designed for each one of us to wear if we're going to defeat the enemy, and and and his attacks against us. So you put on the entire armor of God's given to us by God and, and every piece I mean it you needed to be successful in battle. Now some of us think that our armor is better than God's armor. Some of us do. That's the reason why I'm a bit paranoid as a pastor and allow me to go tilt a little bit in this direction. I'm a bit nervous about making sure that we have people who speak up here that will handle this book. 

I don't want people up here talking about the latest, you know, motivational stuff, and the Hot Tips and the nice little topical stuff that we can do to navigate through life. Because this is some serious business. It's not our armor that we put on. It is the armor of God that he's given to us. And it's not my opinions about the Christian life. It is not my strategies in the Christian life. It is not just a good advice that I get from listening to, you know, pop speakers in this kind of thing that's not going to cut it that might help me feel better might motivate me for the day. But we're talking about substantive stuff. We're talking about spiritual warfare, and we're talking about a garment that God has given to us and we need to put that garment on. Got to wear it we're engaged in this warfare. Now we neglect to put a piece of the armor on we're just actually saying to God. Lord, I don't want to be protected today. I'll take my chances. Kind of like driving without a seatbelt, taking chances. Get T-boned. blindsided, it could kill you, a maniac. And there are many Christians who have been maimed in their spiritual lives because of arrogance and pride and an unwillingness to submit to what God instructed for us to do. 

Now, having said that, I want to say two things about this enemy that orchestrates this warfare. Number one, the text says that he's a cunning enemy. Verse 11, verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Look at the word scheme there. That speaks of cunning trickery, cunning, trickery. One of the things I've learned in life and learn through my own failures and being knocked off and knocked down by the devil is this evil rarely looks evil, until it accomplishes its goal. Evil rarely looks evil until it accomplishes its goal. Don't you ever forget that, really looks evil. It looks attractive, desirable and legitimate. Satan almost always comes at us first of all in an indirect way. He almost always will come at us in a very indirect way. Very subtle way. He's very incremental and getting us off track. He doesn't come at us diametrically opposed to what we're thinking or what we're believing where it's so obvious that this is wrong. That's his ultimate goal. 

But he comes to us very, you know, just very close to what is right. You know, young lady's looking for a man. She's a wonderful believer, but he's not, these very moral, everything that she wants. You know, just good guy, good dude, really nice. So we do this evangelistic dating, hearts are one, It's almost as if we're married, let's move in together. Happens all the time. Happens here in this church. The enemy very seldom knocks us off with a frontal attack. Very seldom. I don't want to be giving 10%. I'll just do this. I'll catch up. And what ends up happening is that the fatal attack usually takes place when we're too weak to resist. That's when the attack the fatal attack takes place. But headshot comes later. The revelation of who he really is, is when we have no strength whatsoever to resist, we've compromised. And so he takes us out of the game. I just want to tell all of us here, don't be spiritually naive. If it's wrong, it's always wrong. Don't compromise what is true. Don't compromise what it's right. It's never just a little wrong.

If it doesn't look right. Don't fool with it. There are seasonal attacks, strategic attacks and seasonal that's what do you get that from? Look at verse 13. It says, Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. Now, some scholars have gone on to say, Well, you know what Paul is really talking about here is is the future evil day or this kind of thing? I don't think so at all. I look at the tone of the paragraph itself what he's talking about. I mean, he's talking about seasons of severe spiritual attack. How many of you ever been there? Yeah, yeah. How many? Have you ever been in place, you know, your mind, you ain't thinking any bad thoughts or anything at all. It's just wonderful. And everything's cool. And out of nowhere, you hit this stretch where your your mind is going to crazy places. or whatever it might be. No, get involved in this. It loads asleep. Some of us get our time alone with the Lord, because we're doing so good. And having old personal private worship time isn't the one to skip, skip, skip a few days, and then we get a spiritual call. And the enemy says, Okay, here you go, buddy. I like that. There's seasons, and some of you are in a season right now. Two years ago, Karen and I went through a season.

All we could do is live in a moment. That right now. And it's going to happen again, it's going to happen in my life is going to happen in your life. It's going to happen in this church. churches have personalities, churches have assignments, and this is going to be a seasons of attack in our church. We went through that and part of our history seven, eight years ago. And there are seasons and this is a reason why the the leaders here in the church and those of us on staff and and the members in the body here, we've got to be consistent. We've got to have more beneath the waterline that we show on top. You have to have more under the counter then you put on display. Because there are seasons. And some of us may walk into that season, this this year. Well, that's he's a cunning enemy, but he's also an unseen enemy. Verse 12, tells us, what we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers over the present darkness against the forces of evil in the heavenly places. I've read some commentaries and listen to them people who've got more deep about this than what I think what Paul is saying here, they say. 

Well, you see, Paul is actually outlining the four realms of demonic activity. You could go there, I guess, but I don't think that's what he's talking about. I think the bigger thing that he's talking about, he's just giving places where they work. The emphasis here is that there are demonic forces at work that permeate virtually every area of our existence. You hear me on this, hear me on this, don't you miss this. Don't miss this. There are demonic forces at work that permeate every area of our existence. They are under the power of the evil one. And they form a united forefront. Demons are everywhere, everywhere. They're here in this church. Right now, they're in this service. They're surrounding all of us. Demons are everywhere. Evil permeates everything. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is in the context of spiritual darkness. The hell that was unleashed up in Connecticut. Yeah, there are certain levels of human responsibility in this kind of thing. I don't want to be that superficial, but don't. Don't dismiss the presence of the devil itself. Those demons are on your job, those demons are in your household. Those demons are among your family members. Those demons are among us. Now they can't in dwell us. 

My theology teaches me that they cannot dwell us. But boy, they can influence us. So the Apostle Paul is telling us that look, you have an unseen enemy. And that enemy is everywhere. The word wrestle is a very interesting term that he uses. It's amazing. He doesn't use bots, when you hit at a distance, he uses a term wrestle wrestle. And it refers to the closeness of our struggle with the power of evil. The closest our struggle with demons, I don't know if you've ever had an oppressed mind. I don't know if you've ever been so overwhelmed by temptation that you thought it was going to destroy you. You know exactly what Paul is talking about here. He's not talking about something out there away from you. He's talking about the wrestling that is there. It is close contact. I wrestled a little bit and in junior high school, that's a wears you out. You're intertwined. And that's what he's saying. Look, look, look, look, this is not at a distance. There's seasons of attack, and they come at you. They're there. So he sets up a wardrobe. Bills his case, the warrior, hey, hey, no, go around here saying be gone, Satan. By whose authority? No, no, no, you stand in the strength of your position in the Lord Jesus, and you draw upon that strength to fight the enemies that are there. 

Then he underscores the reality of the struggle. Here's what here's the war. You got a cunning enemy, and he is invisible. If you knew who he was, you can take him out. But you can see him. He's all around us, right next to us. He works through our family members, works through our colleagues, works through us. He's there. Well, how do you deal with him? I want to suggest to you that he gives us and I'm just going to briefly walk through this he gives us seven pieces of armor here. Seven pieces of our wardrobe. The first five are the things that we were that defensive, and the last two are offensive. 

Number one, here's what he or she is what we wear verses 14 through 17. And I'm just going to give a brief description of each one. Verse 14 says stand there for having fasten on the belt of truth. Now, unlike what we think we think about when we say belt of truth, we think it's just a thick belt right here. No, no, no, he's thinking of Roman soldiers. It wasn't just a thick belt, but it was a leather apron that was attached to a thick belt that went down and protected the thighs and the grown area. There's another reason for that thick belt and also cause you were you were able to fasten the loose parts of your garments and tuck them in. I what he's saying about this is is that look, look look. Truth is foundational. It's interesting that he begins by making a statement about truth because he understands that the devil is a father of Lies. If there's a lie, there's a work of demons. If there's lying there's a work of a devil. The Bible says that Satan is a father of lies. what Paul is saying is that truth matters. Now I think that this is truth, not only logic in the Word of God, but truth, generally truth in all things. Make sure that there is a commitment to truth and tell the truth. Tell the truth. Truth matters, evil cannot flourish apart from lies, and the distortion of the truth. So he begins with truth first, trim your garments, protect yourself, embrace truth. That's the reason why I tell parents all the time all the time, all the time. Do not ever, ever let your child get away with telling a lie. It's not cute, is the foundation for satanic activity. In fact, that's how the fall came by the perpetuation of a lie. Put on truth.

Number two, the breastplate of righteousness. It was a piece of armor that covered the chest to protect it from blows and arrows. But as you consider how Paul talked about righteousness and justification, in the book of Romans in the book of Ephesians, here it is really what Paul is really saying is that we are forever secure in Christ and justified in God's sight. He is our righteousness is a statement of confidence, put on the breastplate of righteousness. Don't be shaky about your position in Christ. You got it, you're covered. thank him for keep that on you. It protects your heart. He can't, he can't get to your heart. He can't knock you out. If he gives your chest shot. You got on the breastplate of righteousness, you know that you're in Christ, you know that you've been declared righteous by him. You are His child. You're never stopped being his child. You've been declared righteous by him. 

Thirdly, He says, Put on the shoes, shoes. And as shoes for your feet have having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. Shoes circle gospel of peace, shoes gospel of peace. What is he saying here? Well, Roman soldiers wore what they call Collega Collega. What is that? It was it was a half boot that was used in especially long marches. The imagery speaks for itself doesn't it. Speaks for itself. What Paul is saying is this. The Gospel gives us sure footing number one, it gives us stability in life. But number two, he saying just as this colliga this book was worn for these long journeys, life is a long journey. And bringing the Gospel to wherever you are is your mission. It is the message that tramples and triumphs over Satan's kingdom. You want to give Satan a deadly blow, keep talking about the cross. You want to give Satan a deadly blow, keep telling people about how they can have a relationship with him. What he is saying he's just reciting the Great Commission. You just keep walking and stepping on the gospel. That's your foundation. And you share that gospel, the gospel of peace. He's contrasting that with enmity and warfare. Satan's kingdom is separated from God, they're at war with him, we're bringing people hope. And that's what you put on, on your feet. 

Number four, the shield of faith. This is particularly emphatic here in the text. He says, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith. And the reason for that is so that you may be able to extinguish all the firing darts of the evil one. The Roman soldiers typically had two shields, one was a smaller shield that was used in hand to hand combat and very, very light. But the other one was the whole body shield. And that's what he's talking about here. There's a whole body shield. And when they got close to an area which they would be fighting and they would be arrows and what the enemy would do with dip the arrow and pitch and a light it on fire. They would often drench these big shields with water. That's what he meant that you might be able to quench the fiery darts of the enemy. So they would drink these shields and water and they would get behind them it would cover their whole body and they would hear the thought of these arrows some of them sticking into the shield but it wouldn't catch on fire. What Paul is saying here, look, you got to believe God, not theoretically believe in. He says in all sorts circumstances not in your small group not in your Bible study not just in, you know, Sunday morning community and in this kind of thing not in your men's fellowship or your women's fellowship. No, no, no, no, out there in the middle of warfare in that household where all hell is breaking loose on that job in which you're being unreasonably and irrationally attacked. in your own mind, where you're being bombarded by thoughts and this kind of thing, whatever you might be on to lift up a shield of faith, lift it up. Me, surely will believe in apply the promises of God on your behalf. confident that he will protect us in the heat of the battle. Sometimes that's all you had their moments in the battle where you can't fight back. We have to keep your mouth shut, all the time, but you can't do anything. And you feel the heat. What do you do you just keep believing? I will tell you as you've heard me say this before, but listen to me fellowship, most Christians get discouraged because they're trying to believe God for tomorrow, or this afternoon. No, no, what what he's saying is in all circumstances, right now, you just got to believe him. You have to believe in this afternoon because you ain't in this afternoon. You are believing right now. You don't have to believe in tomorrow because you haven't seen the mountain yet. You got to believe right now. And sometimes you just got to hold that shield up and duck behind it. Keep quoting the promises of God and trust him to see you see you, see you through.

The fifth piece of this wardrobe is the helmet of salvation. Now, the helmet of salvation was that the helmet itself was made of bronze and had cheek pieces to protect the head completely. And I think what he's talking about here is that he's speaking of primarily our complete confidence in our relationship with God, that we have been delivered. And God has and will save His people. Let me say it two ways here. I don't just think that what Paul is talking about in this text, some commentaries that I've read, will just skew this to the side where what he's saying is that you put on the helmet of salvation, meaning, the assurance of your salvation. I think that's true. But I think he's using salvation in a broader sense here. in a broader sense, I think it's the assurance in my head that I am saved, and I'm going to be with Him forever. But also the assurance that literally that he will deliver me. He will deliver me from the situation or he will deliver me in the situation or he'll Deliver me through the situation. Whatever it is, he's going to deliver me so it salvation in its comprehensive sense. He's talking about not being intimidated. In fact, this is calling theology because he said that if Ephesians chapter one in no means by no mean, intimidated or frightened by your opponents, so it's talking about a mindset. When you get up in the morning, you should go out there and think. Oh, this is gonna kill me and I can't handle this anymore. I'm overwhelmed by my circumstances, then what am I gonna do? I'm just not gonna make it today. It's gonna be overwhelming. This I said, Put the helmet on. Put your helmet on. You don't make it gonna be fine. I need to say to somebody this morning, you're gonna be fine. You might get some water in your mouth, you are not going to drown. You will be fine. Put your helmet on. He saved you. Think about what you've watched through your safe forever. Think about the mess that he's delivered you from. Put the helmet of salvation on. 

Then he talks about the weapons we use, these other two. Verse 17, the last part of the verse. He says and the Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God by the way the word sword here you don't see it in the English text is not a long sword but this was the word for sword that that was a short handle sword that was used in close combat. It goes it goes with a goes with the fact that we don't engage in battle with the devil from a distance. It's always up close and personal number he said we don't wrestle with he chose the word wrestle. By the way. That's the only time the New Testament that word is used is right here. We wrestle with the devil. You're up close and personal with evil so you use that short handle sword Use it closely. And I think I think there is Yeah, I don't want to I don't want to go get too deep here. There's a Greek word, the word of God, it's a Greek word "Raima". It's used interchangeably. But I do think the interpretation skews this way, where he's talking about when he says sort of the space summit, a relevant word for your situation. A relevant word for your attack. My problem with a lot of Christians is that we're so blasted biblically illiterate, we don't know what to claim for what situation. So when he says, you take the Sword of the Spirit, you take that short handle sword, and you know how to use it. You get a promise. The temptation, there's no temptation that's taken such as common amendment, God is faithful not allowed to be tempted above that, which are you whatever the situation is, you get that word. It's appropriate for that. Jesus modeled that for us, didn't he? In Matthew chapter four, when the enemy came in? And how did he handle the enemy? This is where I tell some of my friends who get a little excessive in the spooky in their spiritual warfare language. There really is a lot of pride as I've heard Christian, stood up against the devil. Really? You did? I think he got you. Jesus model that, didn't he? He modeled an approach. Now he's a lot of history. But what did he appeal to? When the devil came to him? Jesus, a lot of history didn't say I stand against you what Jesus did said, It is written. It is written, it is written. You see, the truth of God's word is a deadly blow to the enemy. So it's the sword of the Spirit, we use that sword. 

And then second offensive weapon is praying at all times. Praying at all times. Verse 18, says praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication. This implies several things even in the midst of our battle. 

Number one implies an attitude at all times. Praying at all times. Our attitude is a prayerful attitude. When you're in the midst of attack, sometimes the very last thing you want to do is pray. You start trying to figure things out but know our attitude is to pray. 

Second implication is that it's a constant contact with God. Spiritual Attack, spiritual warfare is a call to deepen your worship. If you do what I said, spiritual warfare is a call to deepen your worship. It is a call into the throne room is a call to stand under the cleft of the Rock. Remember, several weeks ago, I was talking about Moses surrender. You know what he was going through, he was under attack. During that time, he was all by himself. He was alone. Remember that message. He was all alone. He got his stand by me. And when you're under attack, don't run, don't run from people don't run from God, don't withdraw, now's the time to run to him, praying at all times. 

And I think the third thing that applies is this supernatural supply line. God's power and miraculous intervention is available to you as we continue to pray. God, I don't know what to do about this. I don't know what to do about this job. I don't know what to do about this job situation. I don't know what to do about these thoughts that are just pulling me in the wrong direction. I don't know what to do with these random things that I'm concluding. I don't know what to do. God, please help me please step in. I can't tell you the number of times that I've been driving down under attack and the tears flowing down my cheeks pleading for God to show up, God show up, God show up, God show up, and He does.

Sometimes he changes me before he changes my circumstances, but he shows up. So when you're under attack, that's what we're all about. Let me give you an application and we'll get out of here. 

So, 2013 what I need to think about are offered this has not been a very positive message and I was thinking about you give me some nice friendly goals, but this is a reality check here. I want us to put our minds around this before I give you six suggestions real quickly. Keep in mind that predators always prey on the weak. Predators prey on the weak. Predators don't want to deal with somebody who's gonna fight back. So it is with the enemy if you're weak, spiritually You're being set up. So the point being is don't be a sick soldier. And I want us to keep these six things in mind as we walk through 2013. And this will be a gift to your walk with Christ, that gift to this church. Keep these six things in mind. 

Number one, pay attention to your weaknesses. Pay attention to your weaknesses. Whatever they might be, because our weaknesses are the gateway for the devil to exploit, whether you're a fearful person, perhaps you have some weaknesses in the area of lust and whatever that might be. Maybe it's anger, but you need to pay attention to your weaknesses. face them, face them. 

Number two, I want to suggest to you pace and rhythm. Say what Yeah, pace and rhythm. I find that there is an unusual relationship between my, my my my well being my emotional mental refreshment, and my spiritual life. Pace and rhythm is very important. Something The devil is blindsided me, quite frankly, when I've been exhausted and tired. And frankly, I've been exhausted and tired in ministry, I've said yes to too many things. I'm worn out. Before you know it, all sinful habits right there on the surface, my impatience and reaction and all of that kind of stuff. And the way that I know that I'm getting close to an unhealthy place is when I stopped responding, and I start reacting. When I react to situations and react with people, that's, that's when I know I'm over the edge. So I want to suggest you watch your pace and rhythm in 2013. Get your rest and refreshment. You got hobbies, you got things that you like to do that you park your brain in neutral, make time for those things that invigorates you. 

Number three, consistency is your friend. Consistency is your friend, consistent around the right things. I don't want to sound legalistic about your prayer life or legalistic about your Bible reading. But we need to do better. We need to do better maintain a deeper reservoir of a knowledge of God's word that you can call up to the surface when you're being attacked by the enemy. 

And then four, this is the biggie obedience. Do what God tells you to do. We don't read for we don't read for information we read for transformation. And the difference between the two is personal application and obedience. Do it, change, make it real. 

The fifth one is community. We're part of an army. Christians are dysfunctional if they're not connected with other believers. And I'm not just trying to promote our small groups that yeah, I mean, great. But if there's another group apart from our church, I'd rather you be here, groups in our church, but hey, look for your own growth and find that group. But we need to live in community because community gives us perspective in this spiritual drafting, and it aids our growth and relationship. 

And the six of the final one is this ministry. Ministry, what do you mean by that? share the gospel makes make it a part of your life to look for opportunities to share the gospel with other people. And then the second part of that is serve others. It is in the giving of our lives away. That makes the difference. 

Soldiers go through boot camp and receive training so that in the heat of the battle, they can act with instinct. They don't have to think about it. They act with instinct. And I think that's why Paul outlined this passage. If every day we put on this armor every day we mentally dress ourselves after a while it becomes instinct when the enemy comes after us and we don't have time to think it's. 

I'm gonna pray but I also Well, I'm gonna do this. Is anybody here that senses they're under severe attack. I want to pray for you. In fact, I want to do this, this is all audible here. I'm not doing this to embarrass you. But everybody that raised your hand, I want you to come up front right now. Couple of weeks ago, I would have been up here with you. Just come on up, and I want some elders and other folks to come up to and surround these people who are coming. When all of you all know, I know exactly how it feels. To have a function. We keep moving, sometimes given hope and help the other people you walk away, you don't want to need to help them help the most. So let's just place our hands on these folks and you can extend your hand toward them and let's just pray. 

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your goodness and your grace. And thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are with us. Lord, there are times in our lives in which all hell breaks loose and we don't know top from bottom in from our we get terribly confused. We don't know what to do. Lord in the name of your son, I pray that you will come alongside of my brothers and sisters who have come up here today. Will you whisper hope in their ears, Father? Will you whisper encouragement in them? Will you let them know that you won't leave them that you won't forsake him? That you won't give them anything that they cannot bear that you are the great burden bearer? That the tomb is empty and that you were with them? Lord may they feel that today? May they feel that? Will you raise up people to come alongside of them and to love them and to exercise faith on their their behalf even when they don't have the faith themselves to exercise? Lord, may they be strengthened? See them through and I pray that what the enemy meant to destroy them you will use to leverage their lives to make an impact for the glory of God. Oh great Redeemer redeem these situations we pray, strengthen them. Bless this church and bless everybody that comes to fellowship Bible Church in 2013. Lord explode this place with joy, your presence, strength and hope we pray, dismisses as we pray in Jesus name, Amen.