September 3, 2025 • 44 mins
In this message from Ephesians 6:17, David Platt urges us to take up the sword of the Spirit—God’s Word—in our warfare with Satan.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
So let me start with two truths.
You might write them down.
I'm going to put up here on thescreen.
Here's the first one the deviland his demons are actively and
always working to destroy yourlife.
Now, if you haven't been herethe last six weeks, you might
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feel like we're diving into thedeep end from the start, but
this is what we've seen over andover again.
There is a devil and there aredemons.
They exist.
There are spiritual forces ofevil, cosmic powers over
darkness that are activelyworking with one goal to destroy
your life and your family, yourfriends, everybody you love.
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They want to wreck your futureforever.
They want and are working foryour eternal destruction, right
where you're sitting right now.
And this is happening whetheryou realize it or not.
Whether you realize it or not,you wake up every single day in
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the middle of a spiritual warand you go throughout your day
engulfed in that war, whenyou're alone, when you're with
others at work, at school, atthe gym, when you're on your
phone, when you're in your home,and you go to bed in this war,
and it keeps going while you'renot even conscious.
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The devil and his demons arealways working, even right now,
in this moment, tempting some ofyou to believe that this isn't
true, that they're not real.
Really, you believe in a devilwith a pitchfork over your
shoulder?
Are you serious?
In his classic screw tapeletters, cs Lewis depicts an
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older demon saying to a youngerdemon I do not think you'll have
much difficulty in keeping thepatient in the dark.
The fact that devils arepredominantly comic figures in
the modern imagination will helpyou.
If any faint suspicion of yourexistence begins to arise in his
mind, suggest to him a pictureof something in red tights and
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persuade him.
Since that he cannot believe inthat.
He therefore cannot believe inyou.
I'm about to show you this istrue in God's word, but that's
just it.
So write down this second truththe way they work is by keeping
you from hearing, believing andobeying God's Word.
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So follow this the way theywork.
So this truth is the secret totheir entire strategy.
This is the way they work bykeeping you from hearing,
believing and obeying God's word.
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In other words, god's word isat the center of spiritual
warfare.
All spiritual battle revolvesaround what God has revealed in
his word.
So let me show you this.
This is why we're in Genesis,chapter two.
Look at verse 15.
This is the very beginning ofcreation.
The Lord God took the man, puthim in the garden of Eden to
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work it and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded theman, saying you may surely eat
of every tree of the garden, butof the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die.
So get the scene.
At this point everything in theworld was perfect.
Creation was perfect.
Right after this we see thecreation of woman alongside man,
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we see marriage, and it was allperfect.
Perfect relationships with God,with each other, with creation
around them.
The Garden of Eden, and Godcommanded the man.
God spoke his word to Adamsaying you can eat from all
these trees in the garden andenjoy them all and live forever
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with me, with your wife and yourfamily and all who come after,
in perfect harmony and goodness.
But if you eat from this onetree and decide to make yourself
the arbiter of good and evil,then you shall surely die.
But God says I don't want youto die, I want you to live,
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which is why I'm telling youthis.
I'm giving you my word Don'teat from.
Want you to die, I want you tolive, which is why I'm telling
you this.
I'm giving you my word Don'teat from this tree and die.
Instead, enjoy every other treeand live forever.
So what happens in Genesis 3?
Now the serpent was more craftythan any other beast of the
field that the Lord God had made.
Enter the devil Three chaptersinto the Bible.
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The spiritual war is on.
And watch the strategy.
He said to the woman did Godactually say you shall not eat
of any tree in the garden?
It's the first question ever tobe spoken into creation,
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intended to sow confusion anddoubt about what God has said.
And the woman said to theserpent you may eat of the fruit
of the trees in the garden, butGod said you shall not eat of
the fruit of the tree that is inthe midst of the garden.
Neither shall you touch it lestyou die.
But the serpent said to thewoman you will not surely die,
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for God knows that when you eatof it, your eyes will be opened
and you'll be like God, knowinggood and evil.
In other words, don't believeGod's word and don't obey it,
because you know better than God.
This is the strategy, plain andsimple, and it plays out in
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millions of ways in our lives.
The devil's saying to you andme God's word and God's ways are
not best for you.
You trust yourself instead ofGod.
So when the woman saw that thetree was good for food it was a
delight to the eyes.
The tree was to be desired tomake one wise she took of its
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fruit and ate, and she also gavesome to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate, and thussin and death were introduced
into the world, and it allrevolved around God's word.
The devil and his demons areactively and always working to
destroy your life, and the waythey work is by keeping you from
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hearing, believing and obeyingGod's word.
And the rest of the Bible isthe story of this spiritual war.
In our church's Bible readingplan we just finished walking
through the whole story of theOld Testament, and over and over
again it's Satan pulling peopleaway from God's Word.
And then when you get to theNew Testament which we're
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starting today.
So let me show you two placeswhere we hear this straight from
the mouth of Jesus.
First, turn with me to Mark,chapter 4, or I'll have it up
here on the screen.
But Jesus tells us a parable inMark, chapter 4, the story with
a point.
And starting in Mark, chapter 4, verse 3, jesus says listen,
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behold.
So picture it.
A sower went out to sow.
As he sowed, some seed fellalong the path and the birds
came and devoured it.
Other seed fell on rocky groundwhere it did not have much soil
, and immediately it sprang up,since it had no depth of soil,
and when the sun rose it wasscorched.
Since it had no root, itwithered away.
Other seed fell among thornsand the thorns grew and choked
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it and it yielded no grain.
And other seeds fell into goodsoil and produced grain, growing
up and increasing and yielding30 foldfold and 60-fold and
100-fold.
And he said he who has ears tohear, let him hear.
So that's the story.
And then, a couple of verseslater, he explains it.
Listen to what he says.
Jesus says the sower sows theword.
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So that whole story is aboutGod's word.
And what happens?
These are the ones along thepath where the word is sown.
When they hear, satanimmediately comes and takes away
the word that is sown in them.
Did you catch that when God'sword is spoken, satan is acting.
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He's working to take away God'sword immediately.
Don't miss this.
The devil is doing this rightnow, like in this very moment,
satan is working to distract somany of you.
Right now, he's tempting you tolook at your phone instead of
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listening to what God is saying.
Right now, he's tempting you tothink about a million other
things in your life besides whatGod is saying right now.
He does not want you to hearthe word of God.
He is trying to keep you fromhearing and believing God's word
that's straight from the mouthof God.
He is trying to keep you fromhearing and believing God's word
that's straight from the mouthof Jesus.
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And then watch this and theseare the ones stoned on rocky
ground, the ones who, when theyhear the word, so they hear it,
they immediately receive it withjoy.
So some people receive God'sword with joy.
So Satan's like okay, step twokeep attacking God's word in
them.
They have no root in themselves, but endure for a while.
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Then, when tribulation orpersecution arises on account of
the word, they immediately fallaway.
In other words, when faith getshard, which it inevitably does,
satan swoops in and says youdon't really believe this word,
do you?
When you face tribulation,trials, suffering, things are
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falling apart, not working outthe way you desire, ways you
don't understand, or evenpersecution.
And so immediately people startleaving God's word behind
because of Satan's work intribulation and persecution and
then not just tribulation andpersecution and others, the ones
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sown among thorns.
They are those who hear theword Again, they hear it, but
the cares of the world, thedeceitfulness of riches and the
desires for other things enterin and choke the word and it
proves unfruitful.
Satan is having a field day herewith us today.
The cares of this world.
He is entertaining us throughhours of time scrolling through
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social media and playing sillygames.
He is enticing us with what isan epidemic of anxiety and worry
and fear in this world.
He is deceiving us with riches.
Do we really think we are notwho this is talking about?
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We live in five of the top 10wealthiest counties in the
United States, which is thewealthiest country in the world.
The devil is all day longdeceiving us with promises that
more comforts and newer thingsand nicer possessions and better
stuff will satisfy us and ourdesire, our affection, any zeal
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for God's word is being drownedout by desires for all kinds of
other things Approval,achievement, acclaim, success,
sports, sex, including all kindsof sex outside of marriage, or
sexual indulgement throughscreams of marriage, or sexual
indulgent indulgement throughscreams, and all of these, don't
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miss it.
All of these involve satanicattacks to choke God's word out
of.
You see what's happening?
But Jesus says but there'sanother way to live.
Those that were sown on thegood soil are the ones that hear
the word and accept it and bearfruit 30-fold, 60-fold,
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100-fold.
Here's life Hearing andbelieving and obeying God's word
.
Do you see it?
Now turn to one other place andthe gospel's here from Jesus.
Look back at Matthew, chapter 4.
Matthew, chapter 4.
So this will actually be in ourBible reading tomorrow, where
Jesus is specifically temptedthree times by the devil.
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And listen to the language.
Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1.
Jesus was led up by the Spiritinto the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil.
After fasting 40 days and 40nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came and said tohim if you're the Son of God,
command.
So here's Jesus himself face toface with the devil.
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The devil tempts him to makefood for himself.
Jesus responds with three words.
It is written, and then hequotes a verse from Deuteronomy,
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chapter eight, about the wordof God.
Then, right after that, thedevil took him to the holy city,
set him on the pinnacle of thetemple and said to him if you're
the son of God, throw yourselfdown, for it's written.
So here's the devil using theBible, twisting it.
He'll command his angelsconcerning you On their hands.
They will bear you up lest youstrike your foot against the
stone.
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Jesus said to him again, it iswritten you shall not put the
Lord, your God, to the test.
This time Jesus quotes fromDeuteronomy, chapter 6.
And then the devil took him toa very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of theworld and all their glory.
He said to him all these I willgive you if you will fall down
and worship me.
Jesus said to him be gone,satan, for it is written you
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shall worship the Lord, your God, and him only shall you serve.
He quotes again.
This is stunning.
Three times Jesus is tempted.
All three times he says thesame three words.
It is what Written.
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Then he quotes scripture.
So here's the question DidJesus have to do that?
Did he have to quote scripture?
No, jesus could have saidanything at this point and it
would have become what Scripture?
He had that kind of power.
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But this is Jesus himselfshowing us that spiritual war
revolves around God's word.
And don't miss the point whenyou hear and believe and obey,
when you wield God's word inspiritual war, you win.
How do you get the devil toleave?
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Oh, hold on to that word.
We're going to come back to itlater.
How do you get the devil toleave?
You give him the word of God,you stick it to his face and he
leaves and you live.
That's how spiritual war works.
So you take all that and now.
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So now come to Ephesians,chapter six.
This passage we've beenstudying the last six weeks.
We're talking about spiritualbattle.
It's no surprise, then, to readEphesians 6.10,.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godso you may be able to stand
against the schemes, thestrategy of the devil, for we
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don't wrestle against flesh andblood, but against rulers,
against the authorities, againstthe cosmic powers over this
present darkness, against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the wholearmor of God so that you may be
able to withstand in the evilday and, having done all to
stand firm.
Stand, therefore, havingfastened on, and this is the
armor that we've looked at everyweek the last few weeks the
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belt of truth.
Having put on the breastplateof righteousness as shoes for
your feet, having put on thereadiness given by the gospel of
peace In all circumstances,take up the shield of faith, of
which you can distinguish allthe flaming darts of the evil
one, and take the helmet ofsalvation.
And so now we come to thispiece of the armor today and the
sword of the Spirit, which isthe what Word of God?
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You see it, how do you fightspiritual war With God's Word,
which is the sword of God'sspirit?
This is amazing imagery on acouple of different levels.
One, well, the word that's usedhere for sword is not actually
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like a long sword, like youmight have in your mind, but
more of a short sword, almostlike a dagger that you would use
very precisely in hand-to-handcombat.
And two, this is the onlyoffensive weapon in all the
armor that's mentioned here,which means it's the only piece
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of armor that can actually goafter the enemy.
All the other pieces of armor,you're defending yourself,
you're keeping yourself frombeing defeated, but we all know
that's not how you win a battlewith defense alone.
At some point if you're goingto win, you have to go on the
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offense.
You don't triumph just bywearing a belt and a breastplate
and shoes and a shield and ahelmet.
You triumph with a sword.
You go into offense.
And this is where God in hisword today, is calling us, not
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just to defend ourselves againstthe devil's attacks.
This is God in his word rightnow, calling us to go on the
offense against the devil'sattacks.
This is God in his word rightnow calling us to go on the
offense against the devil.
And that's what I mean by RockyBalboa, adonis Creed, or if
you're the real thing, you'relike the real thing.
So Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, like no good boxer, just sits
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back and guards against punches.
At some point a boxer has gotto start throwing some jabs.
In all those movies, rockyAdonis, they're taking blows.
But then I mean those scenessomething happens, something
gets into them and they startbusting this other guy up and
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they take him down and by theend and this is why I think my
wife should have been a boxershe is up on her feet in the
room punching like she's in thering, not at me or any of our
children, but just shadow boxing.
She's going at it and ready totake in.
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None of us want to be near herin that moment, my sweet,
precious little wife just goingfor it.
This is the picture that thislast piece of the armor is
giving us.
Christian, this is you on theoffense.
On the offense, no longersitting back in fear, but
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fighting in faith in the one whoconquered sin and crushed Satan
.
His spirit is inside you and meand he's given us a sword, the
sword of his spirit.
It's his sword, to fight withit and don't miss it.
This is so key.
We don't have the Bible so thatwe can defeat the devil.
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We have the Bible to remind usthat the devil has already been
defeated.
We have the Bible to remind usthat he who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world.
You don't have to be afraid.
We have the Bible to remind usthat no weapon that is fashioned
against a child of God shallsucceed.
We have the Bible to remind uswatch this when you resist the
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devil, he will flee from you.
You go on the offense,resisting the devil, and he goes
running, just like we saw withJesus.
You say it's written and youstick God's word in the devil's
face.
He leaves and you live.
This is how it works, becauseyou have the word of the one who
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took him down.
You say it is written becausehe said it is finished.
Sin and Satan have beenconquered.
You have victory in Christ,with his sword, with his word.
We so need to realize this.
So many Christians are livingfearful, timid lives, wondering
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if you can stand against Satan'sschemes, and some of you have
even started believing thatyou'll never be able to get past
this sin or that struggle.
You're not going to get throughthis suffering, this suffering.
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But, christian, this is not howyou fight.
Wake up.
You are no longer a victim ofSatan.
Jesus Christ lives in you.
You have victory over Satan andall his schemes in your life.
You are no longer a slave tofear.
Hear this from God.
You're a son or daughter of God.
You are not powerless.
You have the power of the HolySpirit inside you.
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So be strong in the Lord and inthe strength of his might and
take up the sword he's given youand fight.
That's coming straight from Godto you today.
Amidst whatever attacks you'refacing in your life, you say
well, what does that mean?
How do I take the sword of theSpirit.
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Well, practically it means whatwe talk about all the time.
It means math, the sacrostic weuse to describe the journey of
walking with God through HisWord.
Think about it.
This means meditate on andmemorize God's word.
Just think about it.
Just like you can't fight witha sword you don't have, you
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can't fight with a word youdon't know.
So meditate on this word dayand night.
Your victory in spiritualbattle depends on it.
Wake up in the morning and,first thing, pick up the sword
and go to battle.
Wake up on the offense.
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I think about this week.
Without going into details,it's been a hard week and my
heart's been really heavy, goingto sleep one night a really low
point in tears and some of youmay think that's weak and I
don't care what you think but Ijust a really low point.
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And I woke up the next morningvery vulnerable with questions
about why this is happening andwhat to do.
In other words, the battle wason before I was getting out of
bed.
The first thing I did is Iopened up our Bible reading for
that day and here's what I readPsalm 77, verse one I cry aloud
to God.
Aloud to God and he will hearme.
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In the day of my trouble I seekthe Lord In the night.
My hand is stretched outwithout wearying and right there
amidst Satan's 6 am attack forme to question where God is and
why this is happening.
I've got a sword that's sayingit is written.
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I cry out to God, out to Godtwice, desperately, and he will
hear me.
In the day of my trouble hewill be with me.
And I just keep reading.
I get down to verse 10.
It says then I said I willappeal to this to the years of
the right hand of the most high.
I will remember the deeds ofthe Lord.
Yes, I will remember yourwonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,meditate on your mighty deeds.
God has shown himself faithfulover and over and over again in
my life.
He's going to be faithful today.
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He's shown himself faithfulover and over in his word.
He's always faithful to hispeople.
Then I see your way.
O, god is holy.
Your way is good.
I trust your way.
I don't understand it, but Itrust your way.
What God is great, like our God.
You're all powerful.
You are not weak.
You have all power over thesituation.
You're the God who workswonders.
God work wonders.
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You've made known your mightamong the peoples.
You, with your arm.
You with your arm, redeemedyour people.
You're the redeemer, you're theone who can take the lost and
the broken and make it right inways far beyond what I could ask
or imagine.
I'm trusting you by the end ofPsalm 77, I'm punching and the
devil is running.
I'm worshiping God and Satan isgone.
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This sword has power to do thatin your life, every day, every
day, all day long, when youmeditate on it, when you read it
, you soak it in, you memorizeit.
You can't say it is written ifyou don't know what it says.
When you're tempted, when youface this or that challenge from
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the adversary, you've got toknow what God has said in your
mind.
Your victory over Satan hingeson your intimacy with Scripture.
Can I say that one more time?
Your victory over Satan hingeson your intimacy with Scripture.
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I do not know anyone who isexperiencing abundant life and
love relationship with God, whodoesn't love the word of God and
meditate on it day and night.
You need, I need, this word Ifwe're going to experience life
in this world.
It is written Deuteronomy,chapter 32, verse 47.
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This is Moses, right beforehe's about to die, talking about
God's word, saying it is noempty word for you, but your
very life.
By this word you shall livelong in the land that you're
going over the Jordan to possess.
This word, see, it is your verylife.
By this word you live.
By this word you live.
Without this word you can'tlive.
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It's more important to you thanfood in the morning.
It's more important to you thananything in this world the
grass withers, the flower fades.
Only this word's gonna standforever.
You need this word to live andthere's an adversary right now
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doesn't want you to hear that,doesn't want you to believe that
and does not want you to putthat into practice, which leads
to A apply God's word.
Do you remember James chapterone?
James chapter one be doers ofthe word and not hearers only
deceiving yourselves.
Follow this If all you do ishear the word and you don't do
it, then you're deceivingyourself, and deception is the
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work of the devil.
So think about it.
There is a sense in which thedevil is totally fine with you
reading the Bible every morningand sitting here right now
listening to it and then walkingaway and just moving on with
your life, because he knowsthat's actually fueling your
deception.
It can be a very dangerousthing to listen to sermons and
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to read your Bible.
If you just leave it there,it's leading you into total
deception.
Jesus says the same thing inMatthew 7.
Everyone who hears these wordsof mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man whobuilt his house on the sand and
the rain fell and the floodscame and the winds blew and beat
against that house and it felland great was the fall of it.
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Jesus says hearing my word andnot doing them doesn't just lead
to deception, it leads todestruction, great destruction.
So there's a way to read theBible Listen to a sermon right
now that leads to your deceptionand destruction.
That's what Satan wants.
He's working to do it right now.
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This is why we must ask everytime we hear or read God's word
how does this apply to my life?
And then put it into practice,which leads to P pray.
So we're going to talk moreabout prayer and spiritual
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warfare next week.
But suff-A-Y praise, that'sspiritual battle when you get on
your face alone with God, whenyou come into a gathering like
this and lift your hands andsing out to God.
This is spiritual warfare.
We are declaring there is onlyone God who's worthy of all our
worship.
All the other gods of thenations are idols and he is Lord
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over Satan.
Satan doesn't want that to besung.
He doesn't want that to bedeclared from your mouth every
morning.
Praise him in spiritual battleand then repent Confession of
sin, sorrow over sin, turningfrom sin according to God's word
.
The devil doesn't want you doingany of that.
He wants you hiding sin,keeping going in sin, just
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overlooking sin not that big adeal.
Ask intercession is spiritualwarfare.
Praying for your life, prayingfor others' lives, praying for
our city, praying for thenations this is spiritual battle
.
Asking, and then why?
Yielding to God's word is willfor our lives.
The whole goal of Satan is tokeep us from yielding to the
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only one who can give us life.
So pray in spiritual battle andthen S share, share God's word.
Now you want to talk about goingon the offense.
You pick up the sword of thespirit, this word from God.
You start sharing it with otherpeople, with brothers and
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sisters in Christ.
Build them up in God's Word.
Speak truth into their lives.
They're being bombarded by lies.
Speak truth, equip them forspiritual war With people who
don't know Jesus.
You have words, sword of thespirit.
You have words that you canspeak this week to a classmate,
to a coworker, to a neighbor, tosomebody you just so happen to
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meet in the sovereignty of God,and this sword in your mouth has
power to bring people fromeverlasting death to everlasting
life.
That's amazing.
I was thinking about it thisweek.
So years ago it was the firsttime I ever preached at NBC.
I told a story and it came backto my mind this week about this
brother in Christ who wassharing the gospel in another
country.
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He was on the streets of thiscity and he's walking around
with a New Testament in his handand he walks up to this guy and
he starts sharing the gospelwith him.
And this guy, he starts sharingthe gospel with him and this
guy doesn't seem like he'spaying attention, but he keeps
looking down at the NewTestament in his hand.
Finally, when there's a pausein the conversation, this guy
says that book looks like it'sgot really good paper for
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rolling and smoking cigarettesand the brother in Christ is
like okay, and then just kind ofthought comes into his mind.
So he looks back at this guyand says I tell you what.
I'll give you this book withall its good paper, if you'll
promise me that before you tearout a page to roll it and smoke
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it, you promise me you'll readwhat's on that page.
And this guy was like you'llgive me the whole book.
He's like I'll give you thewhole book.
It's got a lot of good paperbut you gotta promise you gotta
read every page before you rollit.
And this guy was like deal.
So he gives the guy the NewTestament.
A few weeks later he's back onthe same street and he runs into
the same guy.
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The guy actually comes runningover to him.
He says I got to tell you whathappened.
And the guy was like did youkeep your promise?
He said oh yeah.
He said I smoked my way throughMatthew, I smoked my way
through Mark, I smoked my waythrough Luke, all the way to
John, chapter three.
I got to this verse and it allstarted to make sense.
God so loved the world that hegave his one and only son.
(32:58):
Whoever believes in him willnot perish, have everlasting
life.
I want to put my trust in Jesus.
The guy trusts in Jesus.
And then the story goes on andhe begins training to become a
pastor.
So I'm not necessarilyrecommending this particular
strategy, but I am saying thisthis is the sword of the Holy
(33:20):
Spirit.
It has power to say when it'sspoken, when it's shared.
You know this Christian.
You know what this word hasdone in your life and you're
surrounded by people every daywho need the power of this word
in their lives.
So speak it, share it, don'tkeep it to yourself.
(33:40):
This is what Paul prays Rightat the end of this passage.
Again, we'll get to it nextweek.
He says pray for me.
The words may be given to me inopening my mouth boldly to
proclaim the mystery of thegospel for which I'm an
ambassador in chains, and I maydeclare it boldly, as I ought to
speak.
Oh, what happens when God'sword is spoken the sword of the
(34:03):
spirit.
I've got one more illustration.
One year ago today sing aboutthis week.
One year ago today, I stood onthis stage and I preached a
sermon from Psalm chapter 10 onGod's care for the fatherless
and our call to do justice ontheir behalf, and we talked
about the foster care crisis inour counties.
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That day and I distinctlyremember because my back I was
having major back pains.
I'm confident.
The sermon was not good, butthe word was good.
The word was good.
That word went out that day andfrom one chapter in God's word,
thousands of you committed topraying for vulnerable children.
(34:44):
Hundreds of you since then havebeen trained to foster children
, to care for foster children,to be mentors, to host events
for youth who are aging out ofthe system.
We have given collectively,across all our locations,
hundreds of thousands of dollarsin partnerships with ministries
who are doing this work.
So we're gonna share more inthe days to come about the
(35:05):
specifics of what's happened,about the plan for the coming
days, but I just wanna show youall that happened.
Because of the word of Godproclaimed in the people of God,
the sword of the spirit wentout and Satan's attacks on these
kids went down.
See it, this is not just aboutyour life, your victory or my
life.
Satan is at work in the worldaround us.
(35:25):
He's telling kids all acrossour city who don't have parents
that they're not enough and theydon't matter, they don't have
hope.
And we're going out with thesword of the Spirit and the love
of God to cut through the liesand say to them.
God is for you, he is father tothe fatherless and we're here
for you as a reflection of whohe is.
The point is, let's do this.
Let's go on the offensive inour lives as the church in this
(35:52):
city, around the world, amongpeople who have never heard the
gospel in all nations.
Let's take up this sword, let'smeditate on, memorize this word
, let's apply it, let's live,let's pray it and let's share it
and lead others to life.
We are not in this crushed orconfounded position before Satan
.
We are more than conquerors,through the one who loves us and
(36:13):
lives inside of us and hasgiven his sword to us.
So here's how we're gonna applythis right now.
We would miss the whole pointif we didn't.
Okay, god, what are you tellingus to do right now Before we
leave?
So, two questions and onechallenge.
So first, the two questionsthat I want to give you to start
thinking about praying through,but they're going to need some
(36:35):
more time beyond just right now.
So this is to take with you.
Here's the first one how isSatan specifically tempting you,
right where you are sittingright now, to sin, doubt, worry
or fear?
Right where you are sittingright now, to sin, doubt, worry
or fear.
What are the ways Satan isattacking you specifically?
How is he tempting you to sinright now?
(37:00):
Where are the doubts?
Where are the questions he'sputting in your mind right now,
just like he's been doing sinceGenesis, chapter three?
What are the things he'stempting you to worry about, to
not trust God with or to beafraid of?
So identify those specificallyand then ask this question what
(37:22):
verses from God's word will youmemorize to fight those
temptations?
You need to be able to say toevery one of those attacks from
the adversary it is written soyou can speak it and he goes
running.
That's how you're going toresist.
You cannot fight Satan withoutscripture.
(37:43):
You can't fight spiritualbattle without the sword of the
Spirit precisely attacking theadversary.
So find scriptures.
If you need help, reach out toanother brother or sister in
Christ, one of our pastors, orjust Google it, for that matter.
It'll take a little work.
That's what battle is about.
(38:03):
You can do this.
You have the Word of God, swordof the Spirit, this.
You have the word of god, swordof the spirit, which then leads
to the challenge.
I want to challenge every one ofyou to commit to doing maps
every morning this week.
So start your day meditating onand finding something to
(38:24):
memorize in god's words.
You turn it over in your headall day long the word of god,
sword of the spirit.
Apply it, think through.
What does this apply to my life?
Pray through it, look foropportunities to share God's
word with others.
And I've mentioned our church'sBible reading plan.
You can jump in today.
Today we are starting the NewTestament.
It's a perfect time to jump in.
(38:44):
So just go to mcleanbibleorgslash Bible reading.
It's a couple chapters inMatthew right now and then a
Psalm.
Just wait and see what God hasfor you every morning in his
word.
And we all do this this week.
The devil will be running thisweek Now, to be sure.
He'll keep coming back, but youjust keep sticking it to his
(39:06):
face with the sword of thespirit, which is the word of God
.
So if you're a follower of Jesus, I want to invite you to start
answering those two questionsright now.
So I'm going to keep talkingfor a minute.
You just check out and startanswering those two questions.
If you're a follower of Jesusand if you're not a follower of
(39:26):
Jesus, then I want to speakdirectly to you for just a
moment and I want to invite youActually, that's not the best
way to say it, because it's notmy invitation.
Ultimately, this is God himselfinviting you to life in
relationship with him.
(39:49):
The reality is you, like everyother person on the planet, have
turned from God and his ways toyourself and your own ways.
It looks different in all ofour lives, but we've all sinned
against God.
You have sinned against God andyour sin separates you from God
.
It's been the story of everyperson since Genesis 3, except
(40:14):
one.
His name is Jesus.
He is God in the flesh who cameto live the life we couldn't
live, a life of no sin, and thento die on the cross, to pay the
price death, judgment for oursin, for us, and then three days
later, he rose from the gravein victory over sin and Satan
(40:39):
and death, so that anyone,anywhere, no matter who you are,
no matter what you've done,anyone who turns from their sin
in themselves and trusts inJesus as Savior and Lord will be
forgiven by God of all your sinand restored to relationship
with God for eternal life.
Starting today.
(41:01):
And there is an adversary whodoes not want you to hear that
the Holy Spirit of God isspeaking to your heart right now
, saying trust in God, trust inhis love for you.
And there's an adversary who'ssaying you got this on your own.
He's telling you don't believethis word that God is speaking
personally to you right now andI want to invite you to resist
(41:25):
the devil.
He might run and you mightexperience life in this moment.
So, as others are still workingon this, particularly if you're
not a follower of Jesus, I wantto invite you to just bow your
heads with me and let's pray,and I want to give you an
opportunity, spiritual battle,to say yes to Jesus right now,
(41:52):
all across this room, otherlocations.
Don't let Satan steal, chokeGod's word out of you in this
moment.
Just look to God and say yes,yes, yes, god, I trust in you.
Yes, I have sinned against you,god, I've turned from your ways
(42:14):
to my ways.
I've trusted in myself, not inyou, but today I believe that
Jesus died on the cross for mysin.
He rose from the dead so that Icould have life, and so today I
turn from my sin and myself andI trust in you, jesus, as
Savior and Lord of my life.
Please forgive me of my sin,restore me to relationship with
(42:37):
you, god forever.
And the Bible says you pray thatto God.
He does exactly what you'veasked.
It is written you confess withyour mouth Jesus is Lord.
Believe in your heart that Godraised him from the dead.
You will be saved.
(42:57):
Everyone who calls on the nameof the Lord will be saved.
So, god, we pray.
We pray for salvation to risein hearts, lives all across
these gatherings right now andall the different places we are,
and individual lives.
I praise you, jesus, forconquering sin and Satan and
(43:19):
death for us and for inviting usto eternal life with you.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
So let me start with two truths.
You might write them down.
I'm going to put up here on thescreen.
Here's the first one the deviland his demons are actively and
always working to destroy yourlife.
Now, if you haven't been herethe last six weeks, you might
(00:31):
feel like we're diving into thedeep end from the start, but
this is what we've seen over andover again.
There is a devil and there aredemons.
They exist.
There are spiritual forces ofevil, cosmic powers over
darkness that are activelyworking with one goal to destroy
your life and your family, yourfriends, everybody you love.
(00:56):
They want to wreck your futureforever.
They want and are working foryour eternal destruction, right
where you're sitting right now.
And this is happening whetheryou realize it or not.
Whether you realize it or not,you wake up every single day in
(01:18):
the middle of a spiritual warand you go throughout your day
engulfed in that war, whenyou're alone, when you're with
others at work, at school, atthe gym, when you're on your
phone, when you're in your home,and you go to bed in this war,
and it keeps going while you'renot even conscious.
(01:41):
The devil and his demons arealways working, even right now,
in this moment, tempting some ofyou to believe that this isn't
true, that they're not real.
Really, you believe in a devilwith a pitchfork over your
shoulder?
Are you serious?
In his classic screw tapeletters, cs Lewis depicts an
(02:04):
older demon saying to a youngerdemon I do not think you'll have
much difficulty in keeping thepatient in the dark.
The fact that devils arepredominantly comic figures in
the modern imagination will helpyou.
If any faint suspicion of yourexistence begins to arise in his
mind, suggest to him a pictureof something in red tights and
(02:25):
persuade him.
Since that he cannot believe inthat.
He therefore cannot believe inyou.
I'm about to show you this istrue in God's word, but that's
just it.
So write down this second truththe way they work is by keeping
you from hearing, believing andobeying God's Word.
(02:48):
So follow this the way theywork.
So this truth is the secret totheir entire strategy.
This is the way they work bykeeping you from hearing,
believing and obeying God's word.
(03:09):
In other words, god's word isat the center of spiritual
warfare.
All spiritual battle revolvesaround what God has revealed in
his word.
So let me show you this.
This is why we're in Genesis,chapter two.
Look at verse 15.
This is the very beginning ofcreation.
The Lord God took the man, puthim in the garden of Eden to
(03:33):
work it and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded theman, saying you may surely eat
of every tree of the garden, butof the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die.
So get the scene.
At this point everything in theworld was perfect.
Creation was perfect.
Right after this we see thecreation of woman alongside man,
(03:55):
we see marriage, and it was allperfect.
Perfect relationships with God,with each other, with creation
around them.
The Garden of Eden, and Godcommanded the man.
God spoke his word to Adamsaying you can eat from all
these trees in the garden andenjoy them all and live forever
(04:18):
with me, with your wife and yourfamily and all who come after,
in perfect harmony and goodness.
But if you eat from this onetree and decide to make yourself
the arbiter of good and evil,then you shall surely die.
But God says I don't want youto die, I want you to live,
(04:41):
which is why I'm telling youthis.
I'm giving you my word Don'teat from.
Want you to die, I want you tolive, which is why I'm telling
you this.
I'm giving you my word Don'teat from this tree and die.
Instead, enjoy every other treeand live forever.
So what happens in Genesis 3?
Now the serpent was more craftythan any other beast of the
field that the Lord God had made.
Enter the devil Three chaptersinto the Bible.
(05:03):
The spiritual war is on.
And watch the strategy.
He said to the woman did Godactually say you shall not eat
of any tree in the garden?
It's the first question ever tobe spoken into creation,
(05:24):
intended to sow confusion anddoubt about what God has said.
And the woman said to theserpent you may eat of the fruit
of the trees in the garden, butGod said you shall not eat of
the fruit of the tree that is inthe midst of the garden.
Neither shall you touch it lestyou die.
But the serpent said to thewoman you will not surely die,
(05:48):
for God knows that when you eatof it, your eyes will be opened
and you'll be like God, knowinggood and evil.
In other words, don't believeGod's word and don't obey it,
because you know better than God.
This is the strategy, plain andsimple, and it plays out in
(06:12):
millions of ways in our lives.
The devil's saying to you andme God's word and God's ways are
not best for you.
You trust yourself instead ofGod.
So when the woman saw that thetree was good for food it was a
delight to the eyes.
The tree was to be desired tomake one wise she took of its
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fruit and ate, and she also gavesome to her husband, who was
with her, and he ate, and thussin and death were introduced
into the world, and it allrevolved around God's word.
The devil and his demons areactively and always working to
destroy your life, and the waythey work is by keeping you from
(06:57):
hearing, believing and obeyingGod's word.
And the rest of the Bible isthe story of this spiritual war.
In our church's Bible readingplan we just finished walking
through the whole story of theOld Testament, and over and over
again it's Satan pulling peopleaway from God's Word.
And then when you get to theNew Testament which we're
(07:19):
starting today.
So let me show you two placeswhere we hear this straight from
the mouth of Jesus.
First, turn with me to Mark,chapter 4, or I'll have it up
here on the screen.
But Jesus tells us a parable inMark, chapter 4, the story with
a point.
And starting in Mark, chapter 4, verse 3, jesus says listen,
(07:40):
behold.
So picture it.
A sower went out to sow.
As he sowed, some seed fellalong the path and the birds
came and devoured it.
Other seed fell on rocky groundwhere it did not have much soil
, and immediately it sprang up,since it had no depth of soil,
and when the sun rose it wasscorched.
Since it had no root, itwithered away.
Other seed fell among thornsand the thorns grew and choked
(08:04):
it and it yielded no grain.
And other seeds fell into goodsoil and produced grain, growing
up and increasing and yielding30 foldfold and 60-fold and
100-fold.
And he said he who has ears tohear, let him hear.
So that's the story.
And then, a couple of verseslater, he explains it.
Listen to what he says.
Jesus says the sower sows theword.
(08:26):
So that whole story is aboutGod's word.
And what happens?
These are the ones along thepath where the word is sown.
When they hear, satanimmediately comes and takes away
the word that is sown in them.
Did you catch that when God'sword is spoken, satan is acting.
(08:51):
He's working to take away God'sword immediately.
Don't miss this.
The devil is doing this rightnow, like in this very moment,
satan is working to distract somany of you.
Right now, he's tempting you tolook at your phone instead of
(09:15):
listening to what God is saying.
Right now, he's tempting you tothink about a million other
things in your life besides whatGod is saying right now.
He does not want you to hearthe word of God.
He is trying to keep you fromhearing and believing God's word
that's straight from the mouthof God.
He is trying to keep you fromhearing and believing God's word
that's straight from the mouthof Jesus.
(09:38):
And then watch this and theseare the ones stoned on rocky
ground, the ones who, when theyhear the word, so they hear it,
they immediately receive it withjoy.
So some people receive God'sword with joy.
So Satan's like okay, step twokeep attacking God's word in
them.
They have no root in themselves, but endure for a while.
(09:58):
Then, when tribulation orpersecution arises on account of
the word, they immediately fallaway.
In other words, when faith getshard, which it inevitably does,
satan swoops in and says youdon't really believe this word,
do you?
When you face tribulation,trials, suffering, things are
(10:21):
falling apart, not working outthe way you desire, ways you
don't understand, or evenpersecution.
And so immediately people startleaving God's word behind
because of Satan's work intribulation and persecution and
then not just tribulation andpersecution and others, the ones
(10:43):
sown among thorns.
They are those who hear theword Again, they hear it, but
the cares of the world, thedeceitfulness of riches and the
desires for other things enterin and choke the word and it
proves unfruitful.
Satan is having a field day herewith us today.
The cares of this world.
He is entertaining us throughhours of time scrolling through
(11:09):
social media and playing sillygames.
He is enticing us with what isan epidemic of anxiety and worry
and fear in this world.
He is deceiving us with riches.
Do we really think we are notwho this is talking about?
(11:31):
We live in five of the top 10wealthiest counties in the
United States, which is thewealthiest country in the world.
The devil is all day longdeceiving us with promises that
more comforts and newer thingsand nicer possessions and better
stuff will satisfy us and ourdesire, our affection, any zeal
(11:53):
for God's word is being drownedout by desires for all kinds of
other things Approval,achievement, acclaim, success,
sports, sex, including all kindsof sex outside of marriage, or
sexual indulgement throughscreams of marriage, or sexual
indulgent indulgement throughscreams, and all of these, don't
(12:14):
miss it.
All of these involve satanicattacks to choke God's word out
of.
You see what's happening?
But Jesus says but there'sanother way to live.
Those that were sown on thegood soil are the ones that hear
the word and accept it and bearfruit 30-fold, 60-fold,
(12:36):
100-fold.
Here's life Hearing andbelieving and obeying God's word
.
Do you see it?
Now turn to one other place andthe gospel's here from Jesus.
Look back at Matthew, chapter 4.
Matthew, chapter 4.
So this will actually be in ourBible reading tomorrow, where
Jesus is specifically temptedthree times by the devil.
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And listen to the language.
Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1.
Jesus was led up by the Spiritinto the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil.
After fasting 40 days and 40nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came and said tohim if you're the Son of God,
command.
So here's Jesus himself face toface with the devil.
(13:19):
The devil tempts him to makefood for himself.
Jesus responds with three words.
It is written, and then hequotes a verse from Deuteronomy,
(13:41):
chapter eight, about the wordof God.
Then, right after that, thedevil took him to the holy city,
set him on the pinnacle of thetemple and said to him if you're
the son of God, throw yourselfdown, for it's written.
So here's the devil using theBible, twisting it.
He'll command his angelsconcerning you On their hands.
They will bear you up lest youstrike your foot against the
stone.
(14:01):
Jesus said to him again, it iswritten you shall not put the
Lord, your God, to the test.
This time Jesus quotes fromDeuteronomy, chapter 6.
And then the devil took him toa very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of theworld and all their glory.
He said to him all these I willgive you if you will fall down
and worship me.
Jesus said to him be gone,satan, for it is written you
(14:28):
shall worship the Lord, your God, and him only shall you serve.
He quotes again.
This is stunning.
Three times Jesus is tempted.
All three times he says thesame three words.
It is what Written.
(14:50):
Then he quotes scripture.
So here's the question DidJesus have to do that?
Did he have to quote scripture?
No, jesus could have saidanything at this point and it
would have become what Scripture?
He had that kind of power.
(15:13):
But this is Jesus himselfshowing us that spiritual war
revolves around God's word.
And don't miss the point whenyou hear and believe and obey,
when you wield God's word inspiritual war, you win.
How do you get the devil toleave?
(15:34):
Oh, hold on to that word.
We're going to come back to itlater.
How do you get the devil toleave?
You give him the word of God,you stick it to his face and he
leaves and you live.
That's how spiritual war works.
So you take all that and now.
(15:54):
So now come to Ephesians,chapter six.
This passage we've beenstudying the last six weeks.
We're talking about spiritualbattle.
It's no surprise, then, to readEphesians 6.10,.
Finally, be strong in the Lordand the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godso you may be able to stand
against the schemes, thestrategy of the devil, for we
(16:17):
don't wrestle against flesh andblood, but against rulers,
against the authorities, againstthe cosmic powers over this
present darkness, against thespiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the wholearmor of God so that you may be
able to withstand in the evilday and, having done all to
stand firm.
Stand, therefore, havingfastened on, and this is the
armor that we've looked at everyweek the last few weeks the
(16:38):
belt of truth.
Having put on the breastplateof righteousness as shoes for
your feet, having put on thereadiness given by the gospel of
peace In all circumstances,take up the shield of faith, of
which you can distinguish allthe flaming darts of the evil
one, and take the helmet ofsalvation.
And so now we come to thispiece of the armor today and the
sword of the Spirit, which isthe what Word of God?
(17:02):
You see it, how do you fightspiritual war With God's Word,
which is the sword of God'sspirit?
This is amazing imagery on acouple of different levels.
One, well, the word that's usedhere for sword is not actually
(17:24):
like a long sword, like youmight have in your mind, but
more of a short sword, almostlike a dagger that you would use
very precisely in hand-to-handcombat.
And two, this is the onlyoffensive weapon in all the
armor that's mentioned here,which means it's the only piece
(17:44):
of armor that can actually goafter the enemy.
All the other pieces of armor,you're defending yourself,
you're keeping yourself frombeing defeated, but we all know
that's not how you win a battlewith defense alone.
At some point if you're goingto win, you have to go on the
(18:05):
offense.
You don't triumph just bywearing a belt and a breastplate
and shoes and a shield and ahelmet.
You triumph with a sword.
You go into offense.
And this is where God in hisword today, is calling us, not
(18:27):
just to defend ourselves againstthe devil's attacks.
This is God in his word rightnow, calling us to go on the
offense against the devil'sattacks.
This is God in his word rightnow calling us to go on the
offense against the devil.
And that's what I mean by RockyBalboa, adonis Creed, or if
you're the real thing, you'relike the real thing.
So Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, like no good boxer, just sits
(18:50):
back and guards against punches.
At some point a boxer has gotto start throwing some jabs.
In all those movies, rockyAdonis, they're taking blows.
But then I mean those scenessomething happens, something
gets into them and they startbusting this other guy up and
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they take him down and by theend and this is why I think my
wife should have been a boxershe is up on her feet in the
room punching like she's in thering, not at me or any of our
children, but just shadow boxing.
She's going at it and ready totake in.
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None of us want to be near herin that moment, my sweet,
precious little wife just goingfor it.
This is the picture that thislast piece of the armor is
giving us.
Christian, this is you on theoffense.
On the offense, no longersitting back in fear, but
(19:59):
fighting in faith in the one whoconquered sin and crushed Satan
.
His spirit is inside you and meand he's given us a sword, the
sword of his spirit.
It's his sword, to fight withit and don't miss it.
This is so key.
We don't have the Bible so thatwe can defeat the devil.
(20:23):
We have the Bible to remind usthat the devil has already been
defeated.
We have the Bible to remind usthat he who is in you is greater
than he who is in the world.
You don't have to be afraid.
We have the Bible to remind usthat no weapon that is fashioned
against a child of God shallsucceed.
We have the Bible to remind uswatch this when you resist the
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devil, he will flee from you.
You go on the offense,resisting the devil, and he goes
running, just like we saw withJesus.
You say it's written and youstick God's word in the devil's
face.
He leaves and you live.
This is how it works, becauseyou have the word of the one who
(21:09):
took him down.
You say it is written becausehe said it is finished.
Sin and Satan have beenconquered.
You have victory in Christ,with his sword, with his word.
We so need to realize this.
So many Christians are livingfearful, timid lives, wondering
(21:35):
if you can stand against Satan'sschemes, and some of you have
even started believing thatyou'll never be able to get past
this sin or that struggle.
You're not going to get throughthis suffering, this suffering.
(21:58):
But, christian, this is not howyou fight.
Wake up.
You are no longer a victim ofSatan.
Jesus Christ lives in you.
You have victory over Satan andall his schemes in your life.
You are no longer a slave tofear.
Hear this from God.
You're a son or daughter of God.
You are not powerless.
You have the power of the HolySpirit inside you.
(22:19):
So be strong in the Lord and inthe strength of his might and
take up the sword he's given youand fight.
That's coming straight from Godto you today.
Amidst whatever attacks you'refacing in your life, you say
well, what does that mean?
How do I take the sword of theSpirit.
(22:40):
Well, practically it means whatwe talk about all the time.
It means math, the sacrostic weuse to describe the journey of
walking with God through HisWord.
Think about it.
This means meditate on andmemorize God's word.
Just think about it.
Just like you can't fight witha sword you don't have, you
(23:03):
can't fight with a word youdon't know.
So meditate on this word dayand night.
Your victory in spiritualbattle depends on it.
Wake up in the morning and,first thing, pick up the sword
and go to battle.
Wake up on the offense.
(23:23):
I think about this week.
Without going into details,it's been a hard week and my
heart's been really heavy, goingto sleep one night a really low
point in tears and some of youmay think that's weak and I
don't care what you think but Ijust a really low point.
(23:45):
And I woke up the next morningvery vulnerable with questions
about why this is happening andwhat to do.
In other words, the battle wason before I was getting out of
bed.
The first thing I did is Iopened up our Bible reading for
that day and here's what I readPsalm 77, verse one I cry aloud
to God.
Aloud to God and he will hearme.
(24:07):
In the day of my trouble I seekthe Lord In the night.
My hand is stretched outwithout wearying and right there
amidst Satan's 6 am attack forme to question where God is and
why this is happening.
I've got a sword that's sayingit is written.
(24:29):
I cry out to God, out to Godtwice, desperately, and he will
hear me.
In the day of my trouble hewill be with me.
And I just keep reading.
I get down to verse 10.
It says then I said I willappeal to this to the years of
the right hand of the most high.
I will remember the deeds ofthe Lord.
Yes, I will remember yourwonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,meditate on your mighty deeds.
God has shown himself faithfulover and over and over again in
my life.
He's going to be faithful today.
(24:50):
He's shown himself faithfulover and over in his word.
He's always faithful to hispeople.
Then I see your way.
O, god is holy.
Your way is good.
I trust your way.
I don't understand it, but Itrust your way.
What God is great, like our God.
You're all powerful.
You are not weak.
You have all power over thesituation.
You're the God who workswonders.
God work wonders.
(25:10):
You've made known your mightamong the peoples.
You, with your arm.
You with your arm, redeemedyour people.
You're the redeemer, you're theone who can take the lost and
the broken and make it right inways far beyond what I could ask
or imagine.
I'm trusting you by the end ofPsalm 77, I'm punching and the
devil is running.
I'm worshiping God and Satan isgone.
(25:33):
This sword has power to do thatin your life, every day, every
day, all day long, when youmeditate on it, when you read it
, you soak it in, you memorizeit.
You can't say it is written ifyou don't know what it says.
When you're tempted, when youface this or that challenge from
(25:58):
the adversary, you've got toknow what God has said in your
mind.
Your victory over Satan hingeson your intimacy with Scripture.
Can I say that one more time?
Your victory over Satan hingeson your intimacy with Scripture.
(26:19):
I do not know anyone who isexperiencing abundant life and
love relationship with God, whodoesn't love the word of God and
meditate on it day and night.
You need, I need, this word Ifwe're going to experience life
in this world.
It is written Deuteronomy,chapter 32, verse 47.
(26:42):
This is Moses, right beforehe's about to die, talking about
God's word, saying it is noempty word for you, but your
very life.
By this word you shall livelong in the land that you're
going over the Jordan to possess.
This word, see, it is your verylife.
By this word you live.
By this word you live.
Without this word you can'tlive.
(27:04):
It's more important to you thanfood in the morning.
It's more important to you thananything in this world the
grass withers, the flower fades.
Only this word's gonna standforever.
You need this word to live andthere's an adversary right now
(27:26):
doesn't want you to hear that,doesn't want you to believe that
and does not want you to putthat into practice, which leads
to A apply God's word.
Do you remember James chapterone?
James chapter one be doers ofthe word and not hearers only
deceiving yourselves.
Follow this If all you do ishear the word and you don't do
it, then you're deceivingyourself, and deception is the
(27:50):
work of the devil.
So think about it.
There is a sense in which thedevil is totally fine with you
reading the Bible every morningand sitting here right now
listening to it and then walkingaway and just moving on with
your life, because he knowsthat's actually fueling your
deception.
It can be a very dangerousthing to listen to sermons and
(28:15):
to read your Bible.
If you just leave it there,it's leading you into total
deception.
Jesus says the same thing inMatthew 7.
Everyone who hears these wordsof mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man whobuilt his house on the sand and
the rain fell and the floodscame and the winds blew and beat
against that house and it felland great was the fall of it.
(28:35):
Jesus says hearing my word andnot doing them doesn't just lead
to deception, it leads todestruction, great destruction.
So there's a way to read theBible Listen to a sermon right
now that leads to your deceptionand destruction.
That's what Satan wants.
He's working to do it right now.
(28:56):
This is why we must ask everytime we hear or read God's word
how does this apply to my life?
And then put it into practice,which leads to P pray.
So we're going to talk moreabout prayer and spiritual
(29:17):
warfare next week.
But suff-A-Y praise, that'sspiritual battle when you get on
your face alone with God, whenyou come into a gathering like
this and lift your hands andsing out to God.
This is spiritual warfare.
We are declaring there is onlyone God who's worthy of all our
worship.
All the other gods of thenations are idols and he is Lord
(29:40):
over Satan.
Satan doesn't want that to besung.
He doesn't want that to bedeclared from your mouth every
morning.
Praise him in spiritual battleand then repent Confession of
sin, sorrow over sin, turningfrom sin according to God's word
.
The devil doesn't want you doingany of that.
He wants you hiding sin,keeping going in sin, just
(30:03):
overlooking sin not that big adeal.
Ask intercession is spiritualwarfare.
Praying for your life, prayingfor others' lives, praying for
our city, praying for thenations this is spiritual battle
.
Asking, and then why?
Yielding to God's word is willfor our lives.
The whole goal of Satan is tokeep us from yielding to the
(30:24):
only one who can give us life.
So pray in spiritual battle andthen S share, share God's word.
Now you want to talk about goingon the offense.
You pick up the sword of thespirit, this word from God.
You start sharing it with otherpeople, with brothers and
(30:44):
sisters in Christ.
Build them up in God's Word.
Speak truth into their lives.
They're being bombarded by lies.
Speak truth, equip them forspiritual war With people who
don't know Jesus.
You have words, sword of thespirit.
You have words that you canspeak this week to a classmate,
to a coworker, to a neighbor, tosomebody you just so happen to
(31:10):
meet in the sovereignty of God,and this sword in your mouth has
power to bring people fromeverlasting death to everlasting
life.
That's amazing.
I was thinking about it thisweek.
So years ago it was the firsttime I ever preached at NBC.
I told a story and it came backto my mind this week about this
brother in Christ who wassharing the gospel in another
country.
(31:30):
He was on the streets of thiscity and he's walking around
with a New Testament in his handand he walks up to this guy and
he starts sharing the gospelwith him.
And this guy, he starts sharingthe gospel with him and this
guy doesn't seem like he'spaying attention, but he keeps
looking down at the NewTestament in his hand.
Finally, when there's a pausein the conversation, this guy
says that book looks like it'sgot really good paper for
(31:50):
rolling and smoking cigarettesand the brother in Christ is
like okay, and then just kind ofthought comes into his mind.
So he looks back at this guyand says I tell you what.
I'll give you this book withall its good paper, if you'll
promise me that before you tearout a page to roll it and smoke
(32:14):
it, you promise me you'll readwhat's on that page.
And this guy was like you'llgive me the whole book.
He's like I'll give you thewhole book.
It's got a lot of good paperbut you gotta promise you gotta
read every page before you rollit.
And this guy was like deal.
So he gives the guy the NewTestament.
A few weeks later he's back onthe same street and he runs into
the same guy.
(32:34):
The guy actually comes runningover to him.
He says I got to tell you whathappened.
And the guy was like did youkeep your promise?
He said oh yeah.
He said I smoked my way throughMatthew, I smoked my way
through Mark, I smoked my waythrough Luke, all the way to
John, chapter three.
I got to this verse and it allstarted to make sense.
God so loved the world that hegave his one and only son.
(32:58):
Whoever believes in him willnot perish, have everlasting
life.
I want to put my trust in Jesus.
The guy trusts in Jesus.
And then the story goes on andhe begins training to become a
pastor.
So I'm not necessarilyrecommending this particular
strategy, but I am saying thisthis is the sword of the Holy
(33:20):
Spirit.
It has power to say when it'sspoken, when it's shared.
You know this Christian.
You know what this word hasdone in your life and you're
surrounded by people every daywho need the power of this word
in their lives.
So speak it, share it, don'tkeep it to yourself.
(33:40):
This is what Paul prays Rightat the end of this passage.
Again, we'll get to it nextweek.
He says pray for me.
The words may be given to me inopening my mouth boldly to
proclaim the mystery of thegospel for which I'm an
ambassador in chains, and I maydeclare it boldly, as I ought to
speak.
Oh, what happens when God'sword is spoken the sword of the
(34:03):
spirit.
I've got one more illustration.
One year ago today sing aboutthis week.
One year ago today, I stood onthis stage and I preached a
sermon from Psalm chapter 10 onGod's care for the fatherless
and our call to do justice ontheir behalf, and we talked
about the foster care crisis inour counties.
(34:24):
That day and I distinctlyremember because my back I was
having major back pains.
I'm confident.
The sermon was not good, butthe word was good.
The word was good.
That word went out that day andfrom one chapter in God's word,
thousands of you committed topraying for vulnerable children.
(34:44):
Hundreds of you since then havebeen trained to foster children
, to care for foster children,to be mentors, to host events
for youth who are aging out ofthe system.
We have given collectively,across all our locations,
hundreds of thousands of dollarsin partnerships with ministries
who are doing this work.
So we're gonna share more inthe days to come about the
(35:05):
specifics of what's happened,about the plan for the coming
days, but I just wanna show youall that happened.
Because of the word of Godproclaimed in the people of God,
the sword of the spirit wentout and Satan's attacks on these
kids went down.
See it, this is not just aboutyour life, your victory or my
life.
Satan is at work in the worldaround us.
(35:25):
He's telling kids all acrossour city who don't have parents
that they're not enough and theydon't matter, they don't have
hope.
And we're going out with thesword of the Spirit and the love
of God to cut through the liesand say to them.
God is for you, he is father tothe fatherless and we're here
for you as a reflection of whohe is.
The point is, let's do this.
Let's go on the offensive inour lives as the church in this
(35:52):
city, around the world, amongpeople who have never heard the
gospel in all nations.
Let's take up this sword, let'smeditate on, memorize this word
, let's apply it, let's live,let's pray it and let's share it
and lead others to life.
We are not in this crushed orconfounded position before Satan
.
We are more than conquerors,through the one who loves us and
(36:13):
lives inside of us and hasgiven his sword to us.
So here's how we're gonna applythis right now.
We would miss the whole pointif we didn't.
Okay, god, what are you tellingus to do right now Before we
leave?
So, two questions and onechallenge.
So first, the two questionsthat I want to give you to start
thinking about praying through,but they're going to need some
(36:35):
more time beyond just right now.
So this is to take with you.
Here's the first one how isSatan specifically tempting you,
right where you are sittingright now, to sin, doubt, worry
or fear?
Right where you are sittingright now, to sin, doubt, worry
or fear.
What are the ways Satan isattacking you specifically?
How is he tempting you to sinright now?
(37:00):
Where are the doubts?
Where are the questions he'sputting in your mind right now,
just like he's been doing sinceGenesis, chapter three?
What are the things he'stempting you to worry about, to
not trust God with or to beafraid of?
So identify those specificallyand then ask this question what
(37:22):
verses from God's word will youmemorize to fight those
temptations?
You need to be able to say toevery one of those attacks from
the adversary it is written soyou can speak it and he goes
running.
That's how you're going toresist.
You cannot fight Satan withoutscripture.
(37:43):
You can't fight spiritualbattle without the sword of the
Spirit precisely attacking theadversary.
So find scriptures.
If you need help, reach out toanother brother or sister in
Christ, one of our pastors, orjust Google it, for that matter.
It'll take a little work.
That's what battle is about.
(38:03):
You can do this.
You have the Word of God, swordof the Spirit, this.
You have the word of god, swordof the spirit, which then leads
to the challenge.
I want to challenge every one ofyou to commit to doing maps
every morning this week.
So start your day meditating onand finding something to
(38:24):
memorize in god's words.
You turn it over in your headall day long the word of god,
sword of the spirit.
Apply it, think through.
What does this apply to my life?
Pray through it, look foropportunities to share God's
word with others.
And I've mentioned our church'sBible reading plan.
You can jump in today.
Today we are starting the NewTestament.
It's a perfect time to jump in.
(38:44):
So just go to mcleanbibleorgslash Bible reading.
It's a couple chapters inMatthew right now and then a
Psalm.
Just wait and see what God hasfor you every morning in his
word.
And we all do this this week.
The devil will be running thisweek Now, to be sure.
He'll keep coming back, but youjust keep sticking it to his
(39:06):
face with the sword of thespirit, which is the word of God
.
So if you're a follower of Jesus, I want to invite you to start
answering those two questionsright now.
So I'm going to keep talkingfor a minute.
You just check out and startanswering those two questions.
If you're a follower of Jesusand if you're not a follower of
(39:26):
Jesus, then I want to speakdirectly to you for just a
moment and I want to invite youActually, that's not the best
way to say it, because it's notmy invitation.
Ultimately, this is God himselfinviting you to life in
relationship with him.
(39:49):
The reality is you, like everyother person on the planet, have
turned from God and his ways toyourself and your own ways.
It looks different in all ofour lives, but we've all sinned
against God.
You have sinned against God andyour sin separates you from God
.
It's been the story of everyperson since Genesis 3, except
(40:14):
one.
His name is Jesus.
He is God in the flesh who cameto live the life we couldn't
live, a life of no sin, and thento die on the cross, to pay the
price death, judgment for oursin, for us, and then three days
later, he rose from the gravein victory over sin and Satan
(40:39):
and death, so that anyone,anywhere, no matter who you are,
no matter what you've done,anyone who turns from their sin
in themselves and trusts inJesus as Savior and Lord will be
forgiven by God of all your sinand restored to relationship
with God for eternal life.
Starting today.
(41:01):
And there is an adversary whodoes not want you to hear that
the Holy Spirit of God isspeaking to your heart right now
, saying trust in God, trust inhis love for you.
And there's an adversary who'ssaying you got this on your own.
He's telling you don't believethis word that God is speaking
personally to you right now andI want to invite you to resist
(41:25):
the devil.
He might run and you mightexperience life in this moment.
So, as others are still workingon this, particularly if you're
not a follower of Jesus, I wantto invite you to just bow your
heads with me and let's pray,and I want to give you an
opportunity, spiritual battle,to say yes to Jesus right now,
(41:52):
all across this room, otherlocations.
Don't let Satan steal, chokeGod's word out of you in this
moment.
Just look to God and say yes,yes, yes, god, I trust in you.
Yes, I have sinned against you,god, I've turned from your ways
(42:14):
to my ways.
I've trusted in myself, not inyou, but today I believe that
Jesus died on the cross for mysin.
He rose from the dead so that Icould have life, and so today I
turn from my sin and myself andI trust in you, jesus, as
Savior and Lord of my life.
Please forgive me of my sin,restore me to relationship with
(42:37):
you, god forever.
And the Bible says you pray thatto God.
He does exactly what you'veasked.
It is written you confess withyour mouth Jesus is Lord.
Believe in your heart that Godraised him from the dead.
You will be saved.
(42:57):
Everyone who calls on the nameof the Lord will be saved.
So, god, we pray.
We pray for salvation to risein hearts, lives all across
these gatherings right now andall the different places we are,
and individual lives.
I praise you, jesus, forconquering sin and Satan and
(43:19):
death for us and for inviting usto eternal life with you.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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