The Fight We Must Win!

Notes: The Fight We Must Win!

Ephesians 6

Pastor Greg Laurie

SERIES: Live, Love, Fight

Thursday, July 23, 2015 — 7:00 p.m.

Have you ever been going through life with God and then all of a sudden, you are attacked with a barrage of crazy problems? That is how spiritual warfare can work.

You don't need to be a sitting duck for the devil. Victory is not won by evacuation.

How do we take back what is ours? Its in Ephesians 6

Sometimes we can say the devil is doing this, and the devil is doing that, when we should be saying what God is doing in our lives.

We need to know the devil's strategies so we know how to defeat him. The battle will never stop, in some ways the battle will intensify for those serving God.

Ephesians 6:10-17 NLT

[10] A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. [12] For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. [14] Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. [15] For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. [16] In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. [17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

There are six pieces of armor there to keep on at all times and three for attack and utility purposes.

1. The utility belt of truth.

The fact that as followers of Jesus Christ we need to live truthfully before the Lord.

2. The breastplate of righteousness.

This protects the vital organs of a soldier.

We need to stand in a position of righteous before God. Giving us the want to live righteously before God.

3. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Giving you a good foothold in the Bible, and the Gospel of peace.

Romans 10:14-15 NLT

[14] But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? [15] And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"

Are you using your life to bring others to Christ?

4. The shield of faith

Ephesians 6:16 NLT

[16] In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

These fiery darts are what we should protect ourselves from. Flaming arrows from satan are aimed in our direction.

These arrows can be an impure thought, it could be anxiety, and it could be a bad thought against God.

That is not you, that is an attack. You need to be protected in the word.

1 Peter 5:9 NLT

[9] Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

The word of God is ours to use.

We have partners and fellow soldiers in the Bible that we can join together with. We can pray with and lean on to fight off these attacks.

We are stronger together then we are alone. It is hard to be a single Christian alone in this battle.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

[8] Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. [9] Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

5. The helmet of salvation

Ephesians 6:17 NLT

[17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We need to protect our minds.

Don't feed yourself bad thoughts. Nip those bad thoughts at the bud.

Thoughts feed ideas and that may lead you to think you can just get away with it sometimes. If you think you can get away with it, then you might just do it.

If you acknowledge you are standing in front of God then you probably won't do it.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NLT

[4] We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. [5] We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

You can't think two thoughts at the same time. You can't have an impure thought if your mind has a pure thought in it right now.

Tomorrow will be 7 years that Greg lost his son Christopher in a car accident. Pastor Greg says this kind of pain can bring many bad thoughts. So the Bible is so important to keep you pure.

Philippians 4:8 NLT

[8] And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

The word of God is the best thing to go back to in a time of pain.

Train your mind to think properly.

Natural reflex is like pulling your hand away from a burn. Conditioned reflex is taught, like typing or driving.

As a Christian we need to have the pure conditioned reflex.

6. The sword of the Spirit

This is the only offensive weapon in his armor.

Ephesians 6:17 NLT

[17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Sin will keep you from the Bible and the Bible will keep you from sin.

The word of God needs to be how you start everyday. Don't let the devil keep you from it.

The Holy Spirit will bring scripture to your mind.

God will apply the word to specific times and places in your life.

When Jesus Christ was in the desert and the devil is tempting Him, Jesus Christ refuted the devil with scripture.

Is your sword polished with daily use or is it rusty or dulled with disobedience?

The Bible is a great place to carry the word, but your heart is even a better place to carry the word of God.

Ephesians 6:17-18 NLT

[17] Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [18] Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Pray always, the word of God and prayer are inseparable.

One of the secrets of answered prayer is knowing the word of God.

The word of God enlightens us while prayer enables us.

You are a sitting duck for the devil if you are not a follower of Christ.

We all need Jesus Christ. He has a plan and purpose for our lives.

A Line in the Sand

Notes: A Line in the Sand

Matthew 6:33

Pastor Jeff Lasseigne

Sunday, July 19, 2015 — 10:00 a.m.

We have all had the experience of being lost and frustrated.

So many believers are walking around in circles instead of living a fruitful life.

This message has been on Jeff’s mind for over a month now. It’s time for all of us to get serious about our faith.

Matt 6:33 ESV But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

8 Essentials:

1.     Priorities:

Seek first God and His righteousness.

We need to live our lives with eternal values and eternity on our mind.

God not being your first priority can be the source of many struggles.

Get your priorities straight; we need to follow Jesus, not just ask Jesus to follow us.

While God is a part of many lives, He is not the priority in many people’s lives.

Phil 3:13 ESV Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

2.     Boldness:

Rom 1:16 ESV For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Better to be hated for telling the truth, then to be loved for sharing a lie.

The great commission has become the great omission.

Nothing is politically right when it is morally wrong!

We have churches caving in to unbiblical chaos.

Isa 5:20 NKJV Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

For many, Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the Bible is no longer right.

In the 21^st century we must go forth, and share that the Bible and church is a lifeboat for sinners, not a cruise ship for Christians.

It appears that everybody is worried about offending each other and not worried about offending God.

We need the Gospel everyday as Christians. The truth that God loves you can sustain you. He died for us. The earth is not our home.

3.     Readiness:

Rom 13:11-Rom 13:12 NKJV And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

It appears very clearly that we are living in the last days.

Ask the Holy Spirit to examine yourself, is their a habitual sin in your life that is damaging your relationship with the Lord?

4.     Scripture

2Tim 3:16 NKJV All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

The Bible is to us spiritually, as food is to us physically. It is our daily bread, our food for our spirit.

The Bible is worth every minute you spend in it.

Every book, chapter, verse and word is God breathed and good for us.

Doctrine tells and shows us what is right, reproof tells us what is not right, correction shows us how to get right, instruction shows us how to stay right.

Hos 4:6 NKJV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

When you feed your faith, your doubts will starve to death.

Main excuses and challenges of reading scripture daily; not enough time, don’t understand, reading makes me sleepy, get distracted, struggle to be consistent.

We make time for what is important; there are several easy to understand translations, read when you wake up. Every excuse has an answer.

We have truths put into the Bible against things and are explained why they are wrong, like abortion and same sex-marriage, yet people today are trying to claw them out of the Bible.

5.     Empowerment!

Eph 5:18 NKJV And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

A continuous filling of the Holy Spirit is what the Bible describes to us.

We need to pray for a continuous filling of the Holy Spirit.

We have to plug into the power of the Holy Spirit.

3 types of people in regards to the Holy Spirit:

1.     Those who do not have the Spirit, the Unsaved.

2.     Those who do have the Spirit, the Saved.

3.     Those that the Spirit has, Empowered Christ Like Believers.

Gal 3:3 NKJV Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

We are in desperate need of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit filled life is not a deluxe version of the Christian, it is part of a Christian’s life.

6.     Prayer

Phil 4:6 NKJV Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

It seems impossible to not worry. Yet this is a command, so it requires the Holy Spirit for us to hold this commandment.

Worry can feel as if we are being strangled or choked, it can actually feel like these things are physically happening to us. So we must pray during these times.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrow, but empties today’s strength.

Paul’s prescription for worry is prayer.

Isa 26:3 NKJV You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

7.     Assurance

Rom 8:39 NKJV nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing can separate us, when you became a Christian, God wrote your name in the Book of Life and He didn’t use a pencil.

Assurance is not based on what you have done, but what God has done.

Eph 2:8-Eph 2:9 NKJV For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Eph 1:7 NKJV In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Our salvation is based on His Blood and Grace.

Eph 1:13 NKJV In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

As a believer we have the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:9 NKJV But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

The Holy Spirit is a guarantee to you that you will receive your inheritance in Heaven.

8.     Perspective

Phil 3:20 NKJV For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Eternal perspective. We are to set our hearts and minds on things above.

We are not going to disengage from this world, but we should understand with the right eternal perspective.

This world is passing away and we need to live with that perspective.

We are to be salt and light, and you can’t be that if you disengage.

This life is a drop in the ocean of eternity. Eternity if forever, more than a trillion years!

We chose Christ now and live in Him now to prepare us for eternity.

Eccl 3:11 NKJV He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

God has put eternity in our hearts, we all know there is more, no matter how bad someone wants to deny it.

Be serious about your faith; seek God first above everything else. Be bold in your faith; ready for Christ return. Grounded in His Word. Empowered by His Spirit, always praying, with full assurance and a Heavenly perspective.

No more excuses. We live in a day where there is clear line in the sand. Lets be on the right side of it.

John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16 is how you get on the right side of that line!

Do What You Can, While You Can

Notes: Do What You Can, While You Can

Matthew 26

Pastor Greg Laurie

SERIES: God Came Near

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 — 8:00 a.m.

How many of you have ever wasted your time? Maybe you are wasting time on your phone.

70% of the world has smart phones; 5.3 Billion people have a smart phone.

Maybe you waste time with your TV.

Worse than wasting your time is wasting your life.

The woman in Matthew 26 was accused of waste, yet she was doing the exact opposite. Good in this world may be seen completely differently in Heaven.

What do you want more in life, the approval of God or the applause of men?

Proverbs 29:25 NKJV The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

Matthew 26: 6-13

6And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”

10But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

As Jesus said, 2000 years later we are telling this woman’s story.

At this time it was Passover time, there would be all kinds of people around them in Jerusalem now. People who love Jesus and hate Him. A resurrected Lazarus, would have been there also.

Every time we read of Mary she is at the feet of Jesus.

If we sit at His feet maybe we would be bringing more people to Him.

It is revealed to Mary that Jesus is going to die. She decided right then and there that she wants to do something for Jesus.

Matthew 26:13Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

The great thing Mary did, was she did what she could, while she could.

What is the most precious thing to you in this world? Family, appearance, career? Have you presented it to Jesus?

The value of a gift is not how much it cost, but how much it cost you.

In today’s economy, the gift Mary gave Jesus would have cost between $25k to $30k.

Most people look at how little can we give and still be a Christian. Mary gave her most valuable possession.

Tithing is not the standard it is the entry level.

Tithing is a form of worship.

Acts 4:13 NKJV Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

We should live with a sense that nothing is too good for Jesus.

When is the last time you did something bold for the kingdom of God?

Jesus never said He was going to establish an earthly kingdom.

Mary decided to bring her flowers now. Is there someone that you should be bringing your flowers to right now?

Church should be like filling up gas for your car, filling up with the Spirit and heading out to the world.

The Lord’s work should be a joy, not a burden.

Luke 17:10 NKJV So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

What Mary did was not waste.

Matthew 26: 8But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?

Judas said this because he was a thief, not because he cared about anyone else.

Judas means, “the son of waste”, Judas threw it all away for some coins.

We are not to judge MOTIVES but to judge actions of one another.

Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

Judas, on the surface, looked very spiritual and Mary looks wasteful. The opposite is the truth, though.

Nothing is ever wasted when it is done with the right motive for the glory of God.

What may looks like waste to some, like our Christian lives, can be compared at the end and see which life was wasted.

What we do in this life is past on to our future generations. It would be nice to look back on life and having the only regret of not having done more.

 The choices we make in this life will impact us and generations to come.

1 Corinthians 3:11 NKJV For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

You should care what crowns you are getting in Heaven. Getting to Heaven should not be your only goal.

We need to do what we can while we can.

A person’s actions form an infallible index to his character.

We all need to give what we can. God gave His only Son for us.

Are you sure Jesus Christ is living in you? It will give you purpose and inner peace and so many other fruits.