Before any soldier goes to war, he puts on his
armor. He gets his weapon ready. He knows how
to protect himself, and he knows how to fight
effectively. Here's my question. Do you have
your spiritual armor on? Do you even know what
it is and how to use it? Today, I want to tell
you about the protection and the weapons that
God has provided for you to win the spiritual
battle that you face each and every day. Stay
with me. Welcome to this edition of Living on
the Edge with Chip Ingram. Our mission is to
inspire Christians to be genuine followers of
Jesus and to empower them to be active disciple
makers in our world. Thanks for joining us as
we pick up in our series, The Invisible War.
In the last couple of programs, Chip's been in
Ephesians chapter 6, unpacking a basic foundation
for what believers need to know about spiritual
warfare. Today he'll begin in verse 13 with a
lot of ground to cover, so get your Bible and
notes ready as we join Chip for his message,
How to Prepare Yourself for Spiritual Battle.
My father was in the South Pacific, Guam, Iwo
Jima. He had a purple heart. When I get to be
around fellow Marines, it is just exciting, the
camaraderie they have and the respect and the
bond that they have. I once accidentally said
my dad was a former Marine, and a Marine came
up to me and said, there are no such thing as
former Marines. And I have stand corrected. But
if you know anything about the South Pacific
and World War II, and it'll date some of you,
but there was a treaty signed, the bomb was dropped,
the war was completely over, but on multiple
islands, there was guerrilla warfare. I have
a friend, his name is Soturo, his grandfather,
actually fought for the Japanese. And this is
not well known probably for many of us, but during
that era, the emperor in Japan was thought to
be God. And Soutour was a professor there in
California. We became good friends. And he said,
my grandfather was a very, very good man. And
from the time he was a little boy, he was taught
the emperor was God. And he thought he was fighting
for a just cause. And after the treaty was signed,
he said the emperor literally went public and
just said, I am not God. But you think about
the deception. You think about really good people
with the right intent trying to be loyal to their
country and what they've been taught. And then
my father was fighting on those islands. And
part of the Japanese culture, especially at the
time, was it was far better to die than to go
back as a coward. And so my dad talked about
his role as a .50 caliber machine gunner, and
they wanted to clean up these islands. And here's
what you need to get. The war is over. Treaty
has been signed, but they're still fighting.
Before the treaty is signed, bullets, mortars,
and young men die. The treaty's signed. The war
is over. There's guerrilla warfare. There's still
bullets. There's still mortars firing, and young
men are still dying. The war is not in question,
but that doesn't mean the battle's over. And
what I want you to know is that is your position
in Christ. The war is over. Satan was defeated
at the cross. Sin's penalty was paid for for
all time since power was broken. Yet Satan and
his host of fallen angels engage in guerrilla
warfare. Now notice the goal, to discourage,
to deceive, to divide and destroy God's people
and God's program. And what you need to understand
is that believers were commanded to equip and
prepare ourselves in the strength of the Lord
and his mighty power. so that we can stand firm
against the enemy's schemes, and that in these
battles, though the war is not in question, we
can repel his multifaceted attacks and engage
and defeat in these very specific battles. Here's
what I want you to get. When you study Ephesians
chapter 6, Paul is giving an example in his day
because he lived in a world where there was Roman
soldiers all over the place. There's not some
mechanical, I'm going to pray on the helmet,
I'm going to pray on this, and I go through some
rigmarole. He's talking about how you actually
live the life preparing for a spiritual battle,
and he's giving them a picture or a metaphor
so it's practical in their day. The best insight
I can give you before we jump in is this. When
we look at each piece of the armor, Just ask
yourself, where does Satan attack, so why this
piece of armor? So by way of overview, if there's
a belt of truth, deception. If there's a breastplate,
it's about the heart, condemnation. If it's about
stability, it's doubts. What the enemy wants
to do is he wants to deceive you. He wants you
to live under condemnation and guilt, and he
wants to cast doubts. about you, your worth,
your relationship to Christ, doubts about God,
doubts about God's will. Does that make sense?
So I kind of want you to get that overview. So
listen in that way. See, you're asking, Lord,
what are you saying to me? Where do I wrestle
with these issues? Rather than stuck in the grammar
or the picture of a Roman soldier, because I'm
going to go through the grammar and we're going
to get a picture of the Roman soldier. So if
you're ready, notice this. The question is how
it works, and here's the answer. First, we must
become aware of the battle. Aware of the battle.
Second, we must learn to appropriate the ongoing
protection for daily living. We have to, how
in the world do we put on this armor? Third,
we need to learn to engage the enemy. with supernatural
weapons that God has given us. And then finally,
we want to utilize God's means of deliverance
when spiritual attack occurs. So with that, how
do you prepare yourself for satanic attack? The
answer to that is Ephesians 6, verses 13 through
15. Therefore, since you're strong in the Lord
and the strength of his might, since you are
to put on the full armor of God, Since you are
to take your stand and having done everything
to stand, therefore take up the full armor of
God that you may be able to resist the devil
in the evil day. And having done everything to
stand firm, stand firm therefore, then notice
the tense of these verbs, having girded your
loins with truth, having put on the breastplate
of righteousness, and having shod your feet with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. Verse
13 is a command. I want you to think of a military
battle going on, and I want you to think of Jesus
not just as the Savior and friend and lover of
your soul, but like a military commander, and
we're in the army of God, and he is saying, okay,
you're in a battle. I've defeated the foe, but
I urgently command you to pick up your spiritual
armor and put it on. Here's what you need to
get. I could go through the grammar, but the
issues are this. you're responsible to put your
armor on. God has provided it, but he will not
put it on for you. It's in a tense of the verse
where this is provided, this is what God does,
but this is what you need to do. And it's also
a tense that has the idea of urgency. This isn't
a passive lollygagging when it feels good. This
is get ready, be alert. And then he gives us
the reason. For the purpose of being fully prepared
and able to withstand the grave and difficult,
literally the dark times when the enemy attacks.
Circle that little word where it says resist
the devil and underline the evil day. That word
resist is when there's difficulty, when it's
challenging, when it feels almost impossible.
You have to stand up. You have to resist. And
then it says the evil day. Do you remember when
Jesus was tempted? And you know the story, he's
tempted in those three ways. It is written, it
is written, it is written. And then the text
says in Mark chapter four, and he departed from
him until a more opportune time. So what I want
you to get is that in different seasons and times
in your life, you're more vulnerable. Satan is
finite. He can only be at one place at one time.
He's not all -knowing, but he's a student of
human behavior. And so I would like you to just
write the word H -A -L -T in your notes. It's
not in there. Halt. I think there's four predictable
times in every human being's life when temptation
will feel more powerful. And if you're not aware
that this is when you're vulnerable, you'll give
in. The H stands for when you're hungry. You
know, when you're hungry, you haven't had something
to eat and you're vulnerable. Even when you're
hungry, notice your temper is a little bit shorter.
The A is for when you're angry. In fact, you
might put a little star by this one. The scripture
says that be angry, but don't sin. Don't let
the sun go down on your anger, lest you give
the devil a foothold or an opportunity. There's
probably no more common way that we allow deception
and condemnation the enemy to get into our lives
when we have unresolved anger. The L is for lonely.
Maybe you're traveling on a business trip. Maybe
you miss kids. Maybe you find yourself surrounded
by people, but you feel lonely. When you're lonely,
Satan will come up and provide some opportunity
for some companionship. It might be on a screen.
It might be a person. It might be an activity,
but he'll provide something that says, I can
solve that loneliness problem. And it might even
be a good thing, but it might be a good thing
in a bad way or at the bad time. So when you're
hungry, when you're angry, When you're lonely
or when you're tired, you're vulnerable. You
will do things, say things, watch things, and
give in to temptations. And what he's just warning
us is, look, you have this equipment. I want
you to pick it up. I want you to get ready. But
I want you to know, because there are different
windows of times and different days, and are
you ready? And different seasons of your life.
There's different temptations for a single person.
There's a different temptations for the early
years when there's got all these kids and diapers
and there's no time for anything. There's different
temptations when it's the empty nest. And of
course you love one another, but the kids are
gone and the focus has been work. And all of
a sudden you're with this person that you love
very much, but you didn't realize that most of
the time you talked about either the kids or
work. And you kind of look at each other and
go, ooh, we got a gap here. And if there's unresolved
wounds, then it goes to, you know, if you're
ever going to find someone new, you better do
it pretty quickly because you're not getting
any younger. And then the enemy whispers, and
pretty soon there's lies. And then you go to
the gym and someone talks to you, or you're at
work and someone really listens way better than
your husband. And you would never, ever think
of doing anything. I mean, you're active in your
church and you love God. You even read the Bible
a couple times a week. And you find yourself
thinking thoughts and going down a path. And
by the way, and it's almost like, it's like getting
in the water and it feels kind of good and you
would never intend to do anything. And have you
ever been like either at the ocean and you're
out playing or your kids are out playing and
then you look up and you're like 300 yards down
and you didn't even know it because the current
took you? That's how the enemy works. That's
what he's warning against. Wake up, be alert.
Notice verse 14. After picking up our armor in
preparation, we're commanded to consciously and
vigorously make a decisive act to stand our ground
firmly and fearlessly against the enemy's assaults
as he seeks to deceive, accuse, and discourage
us. So I'm going to take up the whole armor of
God. And then don't think so much of staying
firm of things coming up against you by yourself.
Think of, let's say this line right here is that's
the kingdom of darkness. And beginning right
here, this is the kingdom of light. And you've
been born again and you've received the gifts
of God and the spirit has entered you and you're
sealed with the spirit and you have this new
inheritance and he's deposited spiritual gifts
and he's redeemed you and he's got a plan for
your life and a purpose and a meaning and you're
a part of this whole, he's saying, you have been
given all this position. Now, what I want you
to do is hang on to what you have. If you would
read Ephesians chapters 1, 2, and 3 carefully,
you would realize you are wanted. You are valuable.
You are redeemed. You are a son. You have an
inheritance. You have a purpose. You matter.
And he says, don't let them. I want you to stand
firm against the lies that say God doesn't have
your best in mind. You'll never get married.
Unless you have this or that, you'll never. He
wants you to stand firm and hold on to the position,
the reality of who you are in Christ. That's
why spiritual warfare, first and foremost, is
about understanding this is who I am in Christ.
This is my new identity. Yes, I was dead in my
trespass and sin. I've been born again. The old
things pass away. Behold, all things become new.
And that's what he wants us to hold on to. You're
listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram,
and we'll get you back to today's program in
just a second. But first, I want to tell you
that this insightful teaching from Ephesians
chapter 6 is also in a helpful small group format.
So if you're not in authentic community, or you
and your friends are looking for something else
to study, order the resources for The Invisible
War small group today. Stick around after the
message to learn how. Well, with that, here again
is Chip to continue his talk. And so now using
the metaphor of this Roman soldier, he's going
to give us three pieces of armor that are a prerequisite
for standing firm. There's one verb and there's
actually four participles, but we'll cover three
of them. The verb is, and the command is, stand
firm. And then the participles are something,
the picture is, you've already done this and
you need to actively do it. Stand firm having.
And I love this phrase. Girded your loins with
truth. Anybody been girding your loins lately?
I remember. And I actually, I'm using this translation
on purpose. Because if you understand the phrase,
it really makes a lot of sense. So let me, each
time I'm going to give you the metaphor. I'll
explain what the metaphor is. Then I'll look
at the word, explain what the word is. Then I'll
talk about the actual attack, and then we'll
talk about how to practically work it out. So
if you were a Roman soldier, the belt would be
put on here, and the rest of the armor connects
to the belt. If you were a Roman soldier, you
would do a lot of different things, but they
would have a long robe. They traveled. They were
a fighting machine. And when you were off duty,
the belt was loose. If you were on duty and your
belt was loose, capital offense. If you fell
asleep as a soldier, capital offense. In other
words, there's part of this metaphor that if
you were a first century Christian, it would
be like, whoa. When he's talking to us like that,
this must be a very serious battle. But girding
your loins is, you might be off duty and, okay,
guys, get ready. We're going to go into battle.
Well, what does a soldier need to do? We need
to gird our loins. I just say that. It just sounds
funny, doesn't it? And what they would do then
is, okay, they're going to tighten their belt.
And because many parts of the Roman Empire were
cold, they had a long robe that they would wear,
like a tunic type thing. Girding your loins is
you lift it up and you tuck your belt in. Because
now it's just like when I taught basketball.
Now you're ready for movement. Are you ready,
guys? I want you to tighten the belt, and I want
you to get ready. And how do you tighten your
belt as a Christian? Truth. It's about truth.
Notice in your notes, the word truth here means
candor, sincerity, truthfulness. Now, it's rooted
in the objective reality of the truth of God's
word, but the reference here is to subjective,
practical application of truth. He's really talking
about, it's just being honest with God. See,
the attack is deception. He wants you to believe
a lie about God or yourself. And so the very
first deception, remember, with Eve. And it's
interesting. He mixes truth with lies. In fact,
the enemy, he knows the Bible way better than
you do. And so Eve, you know, surely you won't
die. That's a flat -out lie. No, this is going
to make you wise. That was the truth. Sure did.
And so he's going to come with a mixture of truth
and a mixture of lies, and the goal is to deceive
you. And he's the master of shortcuts. He's the
master of making shortcut look good. He's the
master of getting you to believe that no one
will ever find out or that there's nothing really
wrong with this. The belt of truth is the man
or woman whose mind will practice no deceit and
no disguises in their walk with God. Let me give
you a couple pictures. I have a friend that some
of you know, and I've had some struggles with
my back. And, you know, I did all the kind of
things you could do and found out during church
service, a guy came up and he was kind of the
big guy. He looked like he could still play linebacker
for Michigan State. And that's what he did. And
he's a doctor and he's a physiatrist. He's a
pain doctor. And he said, you know, I think I
could be of some help. He goes, you know, a couple
years ago I let it go, but I was the doctor for
the 49ers and I was the doctor for the Sharks.
I'm thinking, well, those guys have a lot of
pain. This could be really helpful. And so, you
know, we kind of became friends and I got this
epidural and, you know, he shot stuff in my back
and the first time it really worked and really
helped. And, you know, you can't have... someone's
sticking needles in your back that if he misses,
you're like paralyzed without becoming friends.
And so one, he was really good, and we got talking,
and hey, why don't we have coffee? And at our
church, one of the things we do with everyone
who comes, we talk about discipleship, becoming
a Romans 12 Christian. We have a book called
True Spirituality. So every visitor, anyone who
comes, we always give them that book to say,
you know, it's just a gift, but... This is the
kind of Christians we want to be. We're very
imperfect, and we're going to be messed up like
you, and we all have our struggles, but this
is the kind of people we want to be. And so I
said, hey, Bob, you got that? He goes, no, I
don't think I ever pick one up. So I gave that
to him, and he read some, and then we'd have
coffee, and how are you doing? And so I realized
Bob was a cultural Christian. He was smart, wealthy,
good -looking. Lived in the very, very nice part
of town and came to church semi -regularly. Sort
of, if you grade it on the curve, a better moral
person, much nicer than most people. And yet
I sensed, you know, I don't think Bob has a personal
relationship with God. And so he read that book
and then he said, can we get coffee? I said,
sure. He read about being surrendered to God
and separate from the world's values. And he
said, you know, he said, he read it. I said,
I've read it twice. And he goes, and then I started.
He goes, you know, I've never done this before.
He goes, could you tell me, is there like a,
this is really a big book. Is there, is it a
place to start? So I gave him one and, you know,
so he starts reading the Bible. And so this is
now two years, you know, you know, and he'll
just say, hey, I'm ready for coffee. And he'll
name the spot and we'll go there. And I just
got with him recently. And I'll never forget
one day. And this is a good guy. He goes, you
know, if anybody would ask me, are you a Christian?
I would have said yes. Are there any big issues
in your life? I would have said no. And he had
this phrase, I'll never forget it. He goes, you
know, there's a really big difference between
being a church -going Christian and a word -centered
Christian. I'd never heard anyone use it, a word
-centered Christian. I said, well, Bob, what
do you mean? I mean, this is a really smart,
esteemed. doctor. I said, well, what do you mean
by that? He goes, well, man, I thought I was
good. And he goes, man, I look back. I mean,
the idols in my life, the idols of success, the
idols of money, the idols of do I look good,
the idols of what people think, the idols that,
I mean, I had a crazy life, but I wanted to be
the 49ers doctor, you know? And then he says,
you know, my family and his guys, what happened
to dad? He said, I read the Bible every single
day now. And he goes, every single day, it's
just like God actually speaks to me, a regular
person. And here's his line. Isn't it amazing?
I was absolutely convinced I was okay doing the
right thing and following the God that I perceived.
And this is a line. I was completely deceived.
Wow. And this is like a really intelligent person.
You see. It's not about how smart we are. It's
about really being honest with yourself. I read
again a little word from Dallas Willard because
I think sometimes when we talk about this, part
of our minds can go to, I want to keep the lights
on and there's these powers. And that's true.
But I think we so miss the way... About 90 %
of all the enemies work. In this one little paragraph,
I think Dallas says it. He says, God always looks
at the heart for two reasons. First, our heart
is the source of our actions in life. Remember
Proverbs 4 .23, watch over your heart with all
diligence. Why? For from it flow the issues of
life. But more important here, second, our thoughts
are where Satan... So this is the arena where
Satan focuses his tasks. It's all so very, very
subtle. It's not like weird things. He says,
again, I remind you, human beings cannot be forced
to do evil, nor can they be forced to do good.
They must choose to do evil or good. Well, how
do they choose? Listen carefully. By being persuaded
that one course of action is better than the
other. So Satan works upon the heart through
the mind as he did with Eve and as he still does
today. And I just share that because I think
it's so important for us to get a sense of the
subtlety. and where the battle is, and not make
it about weird creatures or all the scary movies
or all the images that come to your mind. And
the application here for me is Psalm 139, verses
23 and 24. I would like to say I pray this daily,
but I pray the Lord's Prayer or Psalm 23 almost
every single morning just as I'm waking up. I
just know that the very first thing that I allow
to go into my mind and... And there's something
about, you know, and when I pray the Lord's Prayer,
because, you know, I knew it growing up. I mean,
I could pray the Lord's Prayer in probably under
10 seconds thinking about whether Magic Johnson
or Larry Bird was on at 2 o 'clock or 4 o 'clock
in the afternoon. Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done on earth. Right? That's not exactly what
I think Jesus had in mind. But I do think when
you pray, Lord, search my heart. Psalm 139, 23,
and 24, David is a man after God's own heart,
and what I love about this is that he's a man
after God's own heart despite incredible failure.
See, we tend to think that God always looks at
our history, and I think God looks at the intent
of our heart. We mess up, and when we're humble
and genuine and vulnerable and ask for forgiveness,
he is a God who loves. We don't have to twist
his arm for him to be merciful. He longs to not
give you what you deserve. He longs to give you
grace. He longs to do what is ever necessary
to forgive and to restore and to pull his children
back close to him. But the prerequisite is that
we're honest. See, the spiritual armor, as unfancy
as it sounds, the spiritual armor, you know what
the belt of truth is? Being honest with God and
honest with yourself. and honest with others.
It's nothing more. It's nothing less. And so
it's knowing. Here's the thing. It's so funny
when we talk about being deceived. When you're
deceived, guess who doesn't know it? We kind
of forget that. I mean, when you're deceived,
it's not like, oh, wow, I got to really work
on this deception stuff. This deception is really
messing with my life. When you're deceived, you
don't have a clue. And so he prays, search me,
O God, and listen to his words, and know my heart.
Test me and see if there be any anxious, any
division, or any wicked way in me, and then lead
me in the everlasting way. That's the very end
of Psalm 139 where he says he knows God has intricately
made him. He knows God is before him and behind
him. He knows God is aware of all things. There's
no playing games with God. There's no positioning.
There's no bargaining. And he just comes really
humbly and says, I just want to be real. I just
want to be honest if there is anything that I
don't see. In fact, in another psalm, David,
it's interesting. He says, forgive me for these
things. And then he says, and forgive me for
any presumptuous sin. In other words, I'm sure
I've messed up other places that I don't even
know about. Could you forgive me for them as
well? And you might jot down Psalm 34, verse
17, and it goes on to verse 18. But this has
been such a comfort to me. The Lord is near to
the brokenhearted, and he saves those that are
crushed in spirit. Psalm 145, 18 says, the Lord
is near to those who call upon him. to all who
call upon him in truth. For years and years,
I felt somehow like when I really did something
wrong and I thought wrong and I had lust over
here and I did this here and I lied about that.
And, you know, as a good Christian, of course,
that, okay, now I've got to sort of, I've got
to feel really bad for a while and I won't read
my Bible for a couple of days. And God's going,
Chip, do you think any of that surprised me?
Just. Just come the millisecond that you get
real. The millisecond that you say, oh, God,
I don't want to be like that. And here's the
deal. You own it. You know what the word confession
means? It means to acknowledge. It means I gossiped
about her. shaded the truth, and I presented
myself like this, and the truth is I was really
like that. I made myself out to be the hero of
that story, and that was just all about me. And
you know, when you see that, isn't it ugly? But
what happens, it's so painful to see, our temptation
is to push it down, push it down, push it down.
And you know, like a thin little layer followed
by another thin little layer, followed by another
thin little layer. Pretty soon, your relationship
with God, the light, it gets more and more opaque.
And then instead of being an authentic, genuine
follower, you start faking it. And you know,
if you've been around the game for a while, you
know a few verses, throw out a praise the Lord
here, read the Bible now and then. You've got
five or six verses that can keep you going. And
you can kind of, right, all the while while your
soul is shrinking. And the enemy, you're neutralized.
You're neutralized. And that was the goal. And
then you don't feel worthy of praying, right?
Then you don't feel worthy of being used. Then
you don't feel worthy. So here's the thing. The
enemy is so shrewd. He gets you deceived, and
then we mess up, and then he condemns you for
messing up. But he's the one who tempted you
to do the very thing that's wrong. You know,
he's got a real business going on, and it's been
very, very effective. So the first step is to
be honest. I think this is the most challenging.
Because it's often painful and it leads to brokenness.
But brokenness is where we meet God. It's where
you experience his compassion. By the way, when
the Spirit, or sometimes, obviously, he uses
people. This is a little thing I put a little
asterisk for me. If I'm deceived, it would be
nice if we had a little light on the dashboard.
that when you were being deceived, it would go
beep, beep, beep, beep. Or you're like when our
car's back up. You know, I like these cars now,
you know, because I get carried away. I'm thinking
about something and putting it in reverse. Beep,
beep, beep, beep. Boy, I'm glad I didn't hit
them. Here's a little beeper for me. Just write
the word defensiveness. When someone says something
to you, When you're praying and you feel sort
of a little barrier come up, when you're defensive,
when you have to explain your behavior, when,
oh, that's not really true. The moment I'm defensive,
it tells me, you know what, Chip? There's probably
a little something to this that you need to take
a look at. Doesn't mean it's all true. But the
moment you find yourself defensive. You know
the position God is looking for? He's looking
for a man or a woman who... Remember when Samuel
was a little boy and he went to the prophet and
he didn't know what was going on? And the prophet
said, I'll tell you what, Samuel, here's what
you do. The next time you hear that, you just
go back in there and say, speak, Lord. Your servant
is listening. And God may speak to you through
someone you don't like. God may speak through
a boss that really is unfair. God may speak through
circumstances. But when you start to feel that,
I think that's the response. Lord, speak to me.
I want to be open. And then the devil uses a
second strategy. You've put on the belt of truth,
second, and having put on the breastplate of
righteousness. This was made of bronze. If you
were a more affluent officer, it was a chain
mail. If you've seen one of the Gladiator movies,
you know the shield, the round shield that they
have? That's not the shield. This is a shield
that went from the neck down to the knees, and
it had a hook on both sides. This was the most...
formidable fighting machine on the face of the
earth. And so what they would do is they would
be in long, long rows and they would put the
shield here and they had a helmet on and they
would hook up together and they would just march
in mass. And we'll learn about the shield. It's
interesting, the shield was actually made in
such a way that when an arrow came in, they left
the gap so a fiery arrow could come in and there
would be a gap of air so it would extinguish.
And so what he's saying is... this breastplate
of righteousness that would be in front of them.
And then the shield would be the faith that we'll
talk about a little bit later. But this breastplate
that's underneath all of that, it's the upright
living. It's the integrity in one's lifestyle
and character. It's conforming our will to God's
will. And again, We already are righteous positionally,
chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Ephesians, but this is
talking about practical righteousness, the application
of truth to our lives. And so the darts are going
to come in, and we're going to learn about the
shield of faith, but he's saying you have to
protect your heart. This is the breastplate.
This is what went over your heart. This is Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. You've been listening
to part one of Chip's message, How to Prepare
Yourself for Spiritual Battle, from our series,
The Invisible War. Chip will be back shortly
to share some helpful application for us to think
about. Right now, there's a spiritual battle
happening all around us. We can't see it, but
it's an epic struggle for our hearts and minds.
So what are we as believers supposed to do? Well,
through this eight -part study, Chip shares some
insights from Ephesians chapter 6 for how we're
to think about, prepare for, and respond to spiritual
warfare. Learn why we don't have to be afraid
because of the armor God's given us to fight
back and fight well. To learn more about this
series, visit livingontheedge .org or the Chip
Ingram app. Well, Chip's back in studio with
me now. And Chip, you know, a lot of people coming
into this series may have thought spiritual warfare
is more prevalent on the mission field or in
notable churches or ministries. But as you've
been teaching us so far, our battle against Satan
is much closer than we may realize. Well, that's
absolutely right, Dave. And where it's happening,
and I think... It's going so unnoticed. It's
inside people's homes. It's that moment when
one kid goes one direction, another goes another
direction, and they turn on screens or they open
up their phone. And messages and lies and comparison
and all the things bombarding. It's a movie here.
It's someone at school that says this to your
kids over there. Lies that tell them you're not
good enough. You don't measure up. Life's not
worth living. We're living in a day where 30
% of female middle schoolers have considered
suicide. There is a real battle. And parents...
You need to not just say no and set boundaries
around things that impact your kids. You need
to teach them the truth. I want to encourage
you to get the small group study, The Invisible
War, what every Christian needs to know about
Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare. It's not
scary. It's not weird. It's teaching your children
of all ages you're in a battle. Here's the belt
of truth. Here's how you guard your mind. When
weird things happen or you don't understand,
here's how you have authority in Jesus' name
to deal with these things. Our kids are bombarded
each and every day. We as parents need to equip
them and teach them, have times around the table
where we discuss what's going on in their lives,
and teach them how to deal with the spiritual
warfare they're facing. Let me encourage you,
mom or dad. Take the time, make the commitment,
get the small group, and do it with your family.
To learn more about the Invisible War small group,
go to livingontheedge .org. Join Chip in this
vital study and uncover the biblical weapons
and armor we've been given to withstand Satan's
attacks and stand victorious over him. Place
your order for the Invisible War small group
by visiting livingontheedge .org. App listeners
tap special offers. Here again is Chip to share
some additional application to what we heard
today. So often when we think about Satan and
demons, we think of TV shows and things moving
and scary feelings. But the fact of the matter
is that when Satan is doing his best work, we
rarely know it because his number one tactic
is deception. And deception by definition means
you don't know or I don't know what's going on.
Can I ask you to make a very specific application
today? I'd like you to open your Bible, listen
carefully to Psalm 139, and I want you to read
that one psalm, but when you get to the very
end, pray the prayer. Pray the prayer that David
prayed. Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Test me and see if there be any hurtful or wicked
way in me. And as we close today, ask yourself,
could it be you're deceived about yourself? or
about the character of God? Could you be deceived
about your work relationship, a marriage relationship?
Could it be that you think that things are going
in one direction, but God wants to show you there's
a blind spot in your life? Today's application
is, Lord, show me the truth. He will always respond
to this prayer. Today could be a breakthrough
day in your life. Pray the prayer, search me,
O God, and know my heart, and he will answer.
That's right, Chip. Great reminder. We'll listen
to next time as Chip picks up in his series,
The Invisible War. Until then, I'm Dave Drewy
saying thanks for joining us for this edition
of Living on the Edge.