Get in the Fight

ADULT WING OPENING Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church. If you didn’t happen to notice on your way in today, our new Adult Wing opened this morning! We would love for you to tour it and check it out after the service today! It includes a new, larger, Parent/Child Room, 5 Adult Classrooms/Meeting Rooms for Renovation U and other meetings, 3 conference rooms, our new offices (which are open today for you to walk through and see), and our new library. And listen, we went all out on the library. Not only is it open on Sunday mornings, but it will be open during the week with a self check out system. We have an online catalog which you access through our website or app. You can even reserve books on there to be held until you come and pick it up. And our library collection can still more than double in size as we learn what you like and what you check out. If you have suggestions, you can let our library team know. And I wanted to say one more thing about our Rooms in that wing. The 5 classrooms (or Meeting Rooms) are named after different periods of our church history. Amplify Room Harvest Room Illuminate Room Northpoint Room Raintree Room Amplify was the period when we were raising money, and then acquired, this land. Harvest was when we were preparing for building Phase 1 of this building. Illuminate, is what we are in right now, the expansion of this building. Northpoint is named after the elementary school in which we met for the first 11 years of our history. And Raintree is named after the Raintree professional center which is where, for 7 years, we had our church offices, our youth group, and our Renovation U classes. And what’s really, really cool is that each of these 5 rooms has a history sign…like this one (Show Amplify History Poster) Each sign tells the story of what was happening in that era of our church and the miracles God did, along with photos from that time. We want these rooms to be like the 12 stones that Joshua set up after the Israelites crossed through the Jordan River. We want them to be a reminder to us, and a testimony to future generations, of the amazing things God has done for and through our church body. So I encourage you to tour through those rooms after the services and take a look at what God is doing. INTRO/KNOW YOUR ENEMY (Series Slide) All right, let’s get into today’s message. We are continuing in our teaching series through the letter of Ephesians in the Bible, and today we’ve come to a fairly famous passage about how we should battle against spiritual evil. That is, the devil, and his demons. Now, timeout, for a percentage of you, right away, that maybe raises your eyebrows. Like, is that even real? I think of it this way. Outside of atheists, I find that people never have a hard time believing in the existence of angels. And if there are good spiritual beings, then it stands to reason, that there are also bad ones. And if evil spiritual beings exist, and if they are waging war against you (like the Bible says), then the worst possible thing you could do would be to pretend like it’s not happening. So let’s take a look at our passage today Ephesians 6:10 17 Page 801 The Bible actually has a lot to say about the devil. He appears first in the 3rd chapter of the 1st book, and the last time in the 3rd to last chapter of the last book. Jesus encountered the devil and spoke about him often. And in fact, every New Testament writer mentions him. Including Paul here in Ephesians, so let’s take a look. (Ephesians 6:10 13) – NIV 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  (Title Slide) So we’re told to put on the full armor of God to take our stand against the devil’s schemes. Jesus says in John 10 that the devil’s aim is to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to do things like steal your joy, kill your marriage, and destroy your faith. He’ll do whatever he can to draw you away from God and from your mission to glorify God. Now, sin doesn’t only come from the devil, or demons. Sin can come from 3 places #1: From inside of us (our sinful nature) #2: From around us (the “world”) #3: From outside us (spiritual evil) And if you want to have a Biblical understanding of sin, you have factor in all 3 of these systems. And in fact, Paul tells us that while the devil can’t make you sin (only we can do that), we ought to see his tempting evil system as our primary opposition. This is verse 12: Paul says: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood (people), but against the powers of the dark world and spiritual forces. What does this mean? It means that as we think of all the dark things happening in this world, and in our country the main source of the darkness…is a spiritual evil, not a human evil. So your main opposition is NOT an evil politician, or country, or company, but the spiritual forces that lie behind those things And this is true even on a more micro level. If there is a wedge growing between you and your spouse, or a hatred growing between you and a sibling… We are to remember that our battle is not primarily with that person, but our battle is a spiritual battle first. (Title Slide) And I fear that way too many Christians in the West aren’t even in the fight. They either don’t believe in the devil or the demonic, or if they do, they really only give lip service to it. And plenty of Christians haven’t thought much about the armor of God, and they certainly aren’t putting it on. They’re not in the fight. And here’s the problem with that. You may feel ambivalent towards this spiritual fight, but the devil doesn’t feel that way. He doesn’t care that you’re not throwing punches, or that you don’t have your armor up. In fact, all the better, because now he can knock you down before you even get your hands up And listen, spiritual warfare, as it’s called, can come in all sorts of ways. It may be in the form of difficult temptations. Or, a season of intense doubt Unexpected discouragement Bitterness that won’t seem to leave you Or, often the devil will just distract you with money, success, relationships, or apathy or laziness. And so FOUR times in this passage Paul tells us to stand. God wants you to stand firm, and not get knocked down by the Devil… …because God has work He wants to do through you. But you gotta get in the fight. And so as we start walking through the actual pieces of the Armor of God, let me point out that these 6 pieces of the Armor of God aren’t as spiritually fancy as you might think. You’re not reciting a spell, or magically placing a helmet on your head or anything silly like that. No, in fact: Putting on the Armor of God means applying the Gospel and actually putting it to use And so as we walk through these 6 parts of the armor, I want you to run a diagnostic on your spiritual life. Which parts of the armor do you need to upgrade? THE FULL ARMOR Okay, grab your Bible again, verse 14. What’s interesting here is that Paul wrote Ephesians while in the custody of Roman soldiers. And so he’s literally looking at the Roman armor when he writes this. In fact, the order in which he describes the armor was the order in which they would put their armor on. (Ephesians 6:14 17) – NIV 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. THE BELT So the first of 6 items is the Belt of Truth. The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth The old King James Version said you were supposed to “gird your loins” with the truth. And the imagery here is that the Roman soldiers had a loose fitting outer shirt…and often it would go all the way down to their ankles. And so if you just started running to battle, you’d probably even trip on it. So before you did anything else, you needed your belt. And Paul says the Christian, firstly, needs the belt of TRUTH. Because your enemy the devil is hellbent on deceiving you. And this is a major problem in our churches in America today. We are significantly less educated in Christian truth than our parents or grandparents’ generation. The majority of our American churches spent the last generation teaching “Christian life hacks” instead of the Bible, and we are now paying the price for it as many people in our churches have fallen for ideologies that are completely antithetical to Scripture And so if you are going to stand against all of the lies the devil and his minions are going to throw at your mind… …it’s so important that you are learning God’s TRUTH. Read this (hold up Bible) every day Study it. If you don’t have a Study Bible, get one. I love the NIV Study Bible. NIV STUDY BIBLE It’s so great to go deeper every day. The “Belt of Truth” is also why we believe so deeply in our Renovation U classes we offer every summer so you can grow deeper in your knowledge of God’s truth. And if you look closely back at verse 13, you’ll see that you’re supposed to put on this kind of armor, Paul says, so that WHEN the day of evil comes, you’re ready. See, you put on the armor before the battle, not during. And so study, and go deeper, on the normal days when you feel fine. Because you’re preparing for battle in the harder seasons. BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth #2: Breastplate of Righteousness The breastplate is the piece of armor that is going to cover your vital organs…like your heart. And Paul says what you need to protect your heart is righteousness. Now, righteousness means that your moral standing is right, or good, with God. So how do we get that? Well, remember, this is God’s armor, so this is the righteousness you receive from God when you believe in Jesus. Remember we always say that Jesus gets your sin on the cross, and you get his righteousness, His goodness, His perfection. And so when God looks at you, now He sees his Son, and so you no longer will be guilty of your sin. And this matters A LOT! Because when Satan comes after you, one of his key tactics is to make you doubt your salvation. He’s going to say: “You messed up…big time. There’s no way God will forgive you, or loves you. He’s embarrassed by your hypocrisy!” And see, this is where you can’t find the big battles of your mind and heart with your own armor or strength. Willpower…or meditation…or yoga or deep breathing… cannot conquer guilt…or shame. You’ve got to put on God’s armor! And you say to your enemy the devil, “No! You’re wrong!” “Yes, I messed up, but Jesus died for that too! And look, I’m covered with his righteousness.” “Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Remember: Putting on the Armor of God means applying the Gospel and actually putting it to use GOSPEL SHOES The next piece of the armor is our Gospel Shoes. The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth #2: Breastplate of Righteousness #3: Gospel Shoes A good soldier can’t truly fight if they are constantly slipping. The roman soldiers actually had shoes that were thickly studded with sharp nails. These were like cleats before there were cleats. And Paul tells us in verse 15, that we are to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. That means that you are engaged in mission. That you are not only fighting back against the enemy’s schemes, but that you (and your gospel shoes) are going on the offensive You are out there illuminating the darkness with the Gospel Use the gifts God gave you. But I worry, that in our American consumerism, our shoes are glued to the ground. Because we’re more apt to just think of our spiritual life through consumeristic filters: Study the Bible…for me. Worship music…for me. A class…for me. “I’ll do something in my faith if it helps me” Listen, yes, by all means grow spiritually, but grow so you can go! Because if you don’t go, and you don’t have a mission, you’re actually putting spiritual life at risk. Because they say, “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.” So get involved in ministry, share the gospel, lead, let God use you. Get in the fight. We’ve got Easter coming up, and people are SO open to this particular invite to church because of all the work our team does to do the Largest Egg hunt in the twin Cities. So take advantage of it… get in the battle. Get out there and start inviting people and watch what God will do! SHIELD OF FAITH The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth #2: Breastplate of Righteousness #3: Gospel Shoes #4: Shield of Faith Paul tells us in verse 16, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Listen, the forces of evil are launching fiery arrows at your mind. Timothy Keller has a great phrase for this: He says that the devil’s attacks are basically an: Infection of your imagination Because what, after all, is worry? It’s an infection of your imagination. You’re imagining all of these horrible pictures about what could go wrong. The same with anxiety. Or when you start feeling like everyone is against you Or that nobody cares about you Or that you can’t be happy unless you engage in a certain sin…. What’s happening? The devil’s fiery arrows are infecting your mind…with lies. And this happens to us every day. So how do you get in the fight? You take up the shield of faith. Remember: Putting on the Armor of God means applying the Gospel and actually putting it to use My prayer is that you don’t just come here to take notes, but that this Godly information changes how you live your life! So here, you’re speaking God’s truth against Satan’s lies. One of Satan’s most common tactics is to ask the question he asked to Eve in the Garden of Eden: “Did God really say?” “Did He really say He’s in control? Doesn’t seem like it” “Did He really say His way was better. Sure seems painful to me” That’s coming at you every day, so daily, you’ve got to put up the shield of faith. You’ve got to say, “No! BLOCKED! That’s not true and I won’t entertain it” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (2 Corinthians 10:5) – NIV 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. That’s what the shield is doing. Let me show you this image: (RomanSoldier) This Armor of God diagram is actually a pretty accurate version of a typical Roman solder. You can see here that the Roman Shield was actually an oblong slab…four feet by 2 feet! And often they would soak its leather lining in water so that it could extinguish flame tipped arrows. That’s how you fight: You hold up the shield when the arrows come in! And some of you need to get in the fight again. Lately, you’ve just been letting Satan shoot these fiery thoughts at you…and your shield is down. He has free reign on your mind. That ends today! You’re putting up the shield again! (Title Slide) But also, I gotta tell you this too, the more you get in the battle, the more it’s on, and the more you have to fight. This reminds me of when I was in Rwanda in 2018. We started reaching thousands upon thousands for Christ, and then, things started to go wrong. Within one hour’s time: One of our team members had to go to the hospital with kidney stones A piece of a brick ceiling almost fell on our team members while they were eating breakfast And 3 of our team members got in a jeep on the slightly slanted hotel parking lot, but the driver forgot to put the emergency brake on…and once they got in, the vehicle rolled backwards about 30 feet down the hill towards a 25 foot drop off…with all 3 of them in it. And it was only stopped by a garbage can and one lone tree trunk on the cliff. And my friend, and longtime Renovation attender, Rene Louthan, was in the vehicle. Rene had recently been in a horrific car accident a few years earlier, got out of the car and she screamed, “Not today Satan, Not today!” And we gathered, and we prayed, and we went out…and reached THOUSANDS more for the Gospel. Get in the fight. THE HELMET OF SALVATION The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth #2: Breastplate of Righteousness #3: Gospel Shoes #4: Shield of Faith #5: Helmet of Salvation The 5th item in the Armor of God is the Helmet of Salvation. No one went into battle without a helmet. And again, the symbolism here is the protection of your mind. And Paul actually gives us a bit more on this in 1 Thessalonians where he says to put on the “hope of salvation” as a helmet. And so when he is talking about salvation here, he’s really talking about the fact that you will one spend eternity with God. And here’s why that’s important. One of the devil’s strongest weapons is discouragement. He’ll come at you and say, “Why are you doing this Christian thing anyway? You’re kind really bad it. Do you know how much happier you’d be if you just gave into your flesh?” “Just quit” But one of the best ways you can fight back is to focus on the ultimate fulfillment of your salvation! And so when life gets hard, you preach to yourself, and you say: “listen, self, life is hard and it’s a tiring battle. But the battle won’t last forever. Christ has already won and you will enjoy the fruits of His victory. You’re going to reign with Christ on the new heaven and new earth. You remind yourself that the ecstasy of even the first 5 minutes of heaven will make a lifetime of struggle worth it. Get in the fight. This is why Hebrews 12 tells us to run the race with perseverance while fixing our eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on the prize. THE SWORD The Armor of God #1: Belt of Truth #2: Breastplate of Righteousness #3: Gospel Shoes #4: Shield of Faith #5: Helmet of Salvation #6: The Sword And lastly, the 6th piece of the armor is actually an offensive piece: It’s the Sword. Paul says, verse 17, take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (the Bible) If you’re going to win a fight, you can’t just play defense. You have to go on the offensive. And we fight back against our spiritual enemy with God’s Word. And we see Jesus do this in Matthew 4. Satan himself comes to tempt Jesus, and EVERY TIME, Jesus says, “IT IS WRITTEN,” and He answers the devil from the Word of God. And eventually, the devil gives up and leaves him. This is where I would encourage you to memorize some Scriptures. There are some great Bible memorization apps out there that you can try. And here’s what I would encourage you to do. Find a Bible verse that applies to the area where you feel most attacked. Maybe that’s worry, or bitterness, or discouragement, or lust. And then memorize that verse of hope, truth and power. And then the next time those evil thoughts come. Get in the fight. Quote Scripture with your Sword. Fight back! Remember, the Armor of God means that you’re just taking all of these Christian truths you’re learning, and you’re actually using it! You’re in the fight Let me pray