Our last study for knowing, obeying, and taking the Word of God, and our application is the Word of God and spiritual warfare. O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart this day for your service and your glory. Show us now great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you are sending it out and for which you have drawn us together. Protect us from Satan who will snatch your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests which enter in and choke your word. Rather give us good soil, O Lord. Plow now the hard ground of our hearts, that your sown word would send roots downward and bear fruit upwards. Unsheathe now the sword of your spirit, O LORD. Cut to the dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intention of each heart gathered here. Spread your word before us as a banquet table, O LORD. Grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to you. Thy words were found and I did eat them, and thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart. From call by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Oh Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts, that in loving you we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, O Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. Grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and promptly forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your Holy Word. O Lord, because of our fealty to you, because of our undying love and devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior, We pledge to you this day our total submission to your holy, eternal, inerrant written word and we pledge to you our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay, guys, Looking forward to a great time in the word. This morning, let's look at spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6.17 says, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Unfortunately, when talking about spiritual warfare, I always have to mention things which spiritual warfare is not. And you should, you should have these notes that came in your email and I'll resend them to you at the end of the lecture. Talking with demons and passing on the teachings or doctrines of demons to others is not spiritual warfare. 1st Timothy 4, 1 and 2, but the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits, doctrines of demons, and by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. Nothing could be stronger as a statement by God the Holy Spirit that we are not to engage in any interaction with demons. We are not to command them to speak, we are not to listen to what they have to say, and we most certainly are not to teach their doctrines or their teachings to other people. But this is a common form of spiritual deception that that those who have been deceived and false prophets, so-called apostles, false apostles, false teachers, engage in. And that is commanding demons to speak, interacting with them, and then passing on their teaching to others. Miracle contests. This is another area uh... that is a false uh... a false aspect of spiritual warfare matthew seven twenty two and twenty three many will say uh... to me on that day uh... did we not prophesy in your name in your name cast out demons in your name perform many miracles and i will say to you I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And we've learned before that any demon can do a miracle. So the ability to do miracles or engage in some sort of miracle contest is not a form of spiritual warfare. It proves nothing. Avoiding the will of God for our lives is not spiritual warfare. 1 Thessalonians 3, 3 and 4, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. for indeed when we were with you we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction and so it came to pass as you know and it's important for us to realize 2nd Timothy 3.12 in fact all who desire to live devotedly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted and the fact that we are being persecuted or even killed is not a sign of spiritual defeat In fact, I'm going to add that. Number four, I'm going to add, avoiding death is not a form of spiritual warfare. Hebrews 9.27 says, it is appointed for men to die once. and after that comes judgment. So to say that we are going to avoid death by spiritual victory is simply not true. The objective of faith is not to stay out of heaven. The objective of faith is to go to heaven. So-called spiritual victories are not spiritual warfare. Revelation 13, 4-8, and they worship the dragon, and this is Satan, because he gave his authority to the beast. And they worship the beast, saying, who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war with him? And there was given to him, notice this is what it says, it was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and this was also given to him and he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God to blaspheme the name and his tabernacle and that those who dwell in heaven it was also what else was given him it was also given to him to make war with the Saints and what? Overcome them. And authority over every tribe and people and tongue was what? Given to Him. And we know in Job chapters 1 and 2 that God does give over certain powers and certain authorities to Satan. We know in 1 John 5.19 that the whole world lies under the power of Satan. So if you are in a spiritual contest for Satan and the result is you die and go to heaven, that is not spiritual defeat for you. Overcoming the onward march of prophecies for the church, the people of God, is not a form of spiritual warfare. Matthew 24 9-12 Then they will deliver you to tribulation and kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. because lawlessness is increased and people's love will grow cold. No form of faith, so-called claiming the promises of God, spiritual power, is going to overcome the onward march of prophecy as it applies to the Church and the people of God. That's not a form of spiritual warfare or a sign of spiritual defeat when it happened. Who does Satan hate? So the revelation 12, 17. So the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimonies of Jesus. And hold to the testimony of Jesus. Satan hates men who are committed to the word of God and committed to witnessing. Satan hates them and makes war on them. We do not have to worry about the ultimate conclusion of this spiritual warfare. Revelation 22, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Hell is not ruled by Satan. Satan is in hell being tortured and tormented for eternity with all of the others who have rejected Christ and all of his fallen angels, his fellow fallen angels, the demons and false spirits. So that's what spiritual warfare is not these things and that's what Satan would want us to think it was. He wants us to think it's talking with demons and passing on their teachings in so-called deliverance crusades. He wants us to think it's becoming involved in miracle crusades and getting involved in miracle contests. Which false prophet, which false teacher, which false miracle worker can do the most miracles? It's not being able to gain victory so that we are not persecuted and afflicted. It's not the ability to avoid death, to heal all diseases. It's not so-called spiritual victories over Satan. It's not in this temporal world. We will always lose that battle. If Jesus does not return, sometime within the next 10 to 20 years, I'm going to die. Will Satan still be around? Richard, I'm going to die. Is Satan going to still be around? If Jesus doesn't return? Yeah, yeah, he will. So it's not a spiritual victory. It's not a spiritual defeat to die and go to heaven. It's the objective. We are not going to, by engaging in spiritual warfare, overcome the onward march of prophecies for the persecution of the Church, nor is it a sign of the defeat of the Church when the Church is persecuted. Satan hates two classes of people. Those who keep the commandments of God, the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, and those who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Satan's ultimate end is already determined. That is Revelation 20 verse 10. He is going to end up in hell for eternity. So, what we want to know is what is the spiritual weapon of choice of God the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 6.17 says, and take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. What does that sound like? Sounds like Revelation 12.17, doesn't it? the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit." Does that sound familiar? So, if you write in the margins of your Bible next to Ephesians 6.17, you can write Revelation 12.17 right next to Revelation 12.17, right Ephesians 6.17, if you take up the helmet of salvation and then you take up the sword of the Spirit, you automatically become an enemy of God. Just know that. I'm not, I'm sorry. You automatically become an enemy of Satan. What spiritual warfare is, taking up the sword of the spirit, engaging in witnessing. Satan will be happy to supply all the alternative weapons if we will only lay aside the sword of the spirit and take up miracles, mysticism, and spiritism. He'll be happy to do that. Satan doesn't want us to go forth into spiritual battle with the weapon of choice of the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit goes into his arsenal. He sees the battle acts of miracles. He sees the javelin of visions. He sees the war club of prophecies. But what does he take up? He takes up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, not these other things. And we would do well to go out with Him, taking up the sword of the Spirit, since that is what He has chosen. You see what spiritual warfare is? It is the battle for the souls of men and women. Now it's much more enjoyable to rent a venue, to rent an auditorium or go to a church, fill it full of people who are cheering and shouting and praising you, and then talking to demons, performing miracles. That's a lot more fun, isn't it? But 1 Peter 1.23 says, For you have been born again, not of a seed which is perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and enduring Word of God. And we take up the sword of the Spirit in the battle for the souls of men and women. You see, what does God the Holy Spirit say in 1 Timothy 2, 24-26? It says here that the bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, kind to all. What does it say here? Able to teach. Able to teach. My mouse is not responding this morning, so I'm just going to lay it aside. I'm not sure what the issue is. So he's able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to what? A knowledge of the truth. and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil having been held captive to do his will. If we are going to be to engage in witnessing, we have to be able to teach and we have to be able to lead people in knowledge of the truth and that comes from the living and enduring Word of God. Acts 26.18 says, our goal is to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. Colossians 1.13 For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, the word of God, and the souls of men. That is spiritual warfare. the word of God and the souls of men. Ephesians 2 1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the ear of the spirit, now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." And our engagement on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis is to take up the Word of God and engage Satan in battle for the souls of men that he has taken captive. And in doing that, we use the Word of God, 1 Peter 1, 23. We are able to teach and lead men to a knowledge of the truth, 2 Timothy 2, 24 and 26. And as such, we transfer them out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light and free them from the power of Satan. In fact, Satan would much rather play miracle games and miracle contests than have us engage in true spiritual warfare whereby he loses members of his kingdom. Isn't that true? The fact is that Satan would rather engage in miracle spiritist crusades and spectacle crusades rather than Jesus crusades. The Gospels in the Book of Acts know of no miracle crusades, no freeing of bondage crusades, no fire from heaven crusades. They only know of one type of crusades, preaching Jesus. And it's a It's an indication of the state of the church that we have moved from the great evangelistic crusades of godly men such as Billy Graham to where our churches and our cities are full of false prophets, false teachers, false spiritists who are doing miracle crusades. And it's all about them and the people coming, not about Jesus. in terms of so-called deliverance crusades, Satan is all for it. In fact, he will even join in, won't he? Matthew 7, 22 and 23. Remember, he can do miracles too. He can cast out demons. Yeah, let's do it. Let's have a big miracle party. anything to keep us from preaching Jesus from the Word of God and freeing his slaves. What spiritual warfare is? Spiritual warfare is the battle for the Word of God. both in our lives, to be in the Word, and in the lives of the lost, that we would preach Jesus with the Word. Remember 1 Peter 1.23, For you have been born again, not of a seed, which is perishable, but imperishable, through the living and enduring Word of God. So, when the churches read that passage, from peter's letter and later when it was added to the canon of scripture and passed around in the churches. And he said, and Peter was, through God the Holy Spirit, was reminding them that they were born again, not of a seed which is perishable, that is the works of men, but imperishable through the living and enduring word of God. What would they think? Oh yeah, we remember when Peter preached to us. We remember him quoting Bible verses. We remember him taking us to the Word of God. Yes, we remember hearing and believing the Word of God. Yes. So we'll do the same thing. But in the church today, where people are told good works is the same as witnessing, and tell your story, don't quote the Bible verse, that passage in 1 Peter 1.23 has no meaning to them. but it should, so let us determine to remain faithful." That is why Satan is battling the Word of God, because it is the power of salvation. The Gospel of Christ is always in Holy Scripture assumed to be part and parcel with the Word of God. Both of these things, obeying the Word of God and witnessing, are opposed by Satan. Both come under his attacks. Remember, who does Satan hate? I want to share this with you again, just so you won't be surprised. The dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children, the bride of Christ. who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That's who Satan hates. Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal in which you become engaged. Satan hates you. The Word of God has always come under satanic attack. What is the first spiritual contest revealed to us in Holy Scripture between man and Satan. Genesis 3.1. Has God said? Satan began with that and has continued on that line throughout in history. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord had made, and he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said? And that's what Satan said. Has God said? Bishan, you're a minister. You have to be the husband of one wife. Has God said that? Richard, you're a husband. You're to be the spiritual leader of your wife. Has God said that? Matthew, you're married with children. You're to bring your children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Has God said that? Pastor. Greg Hudson. First Timothy 3, you are to have a good testimony and teach sound doctrine. Really? Has God really said that? And we must be ready to say, yes, God has said these things. Yes, God has said that. But that's where Satan's attacks begin, aren't they? Rennie, Hebrews 9, 27, it is appointed for men to die once and after that comes judgment. Has God said that? Do I really have to die? Yes! And Rennie has embraced it. Rennie just told me this morning that his slight momentary affliction that comes with aging is producing for him an everlasting weight of glory, 2 Corinthians 4. Rennie, he's not listening to the whispers of Satan. Matthew 4, 1 through 10. We have the first Adam, Satan. I mean, we have the first Adam, as given to us in Holy Scriptures, attacked by Satan. Now, in the second Adam, in which Jesus is described as in Romans 5, Romans 4, 1 through 10, Satan is attacking again, isn't he? The Word of God. So if you write in the margins of your Bible, next to Genesis 3-1, you can write Matthew 4, 1-10. And next to the statements in Matthew 4, 1-10, you can write Genesis 3-1. What does it say? If you are the Son of God, verse five if you were the son of god four verse three if you will worship me has god said has god said are you jesus are you jesus the word of god in the testimony that is what satan attacks revelation twelve nine Revelation 13, 14. We've looked at Revelation 12, 9 and Revelation chapter 13, verse 14, and he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which were given him to perform. He will not deceive those who are committed to obedience to the Word of God because signs are neither here nor there. Richard, if it rains, do you obey God's word? Yes. How about if it's sunny, do you obey God's word? Yes. It doesn't matter, does it? When the sun comes up, do you obey God's word? Yes. How about when it goes down at night, do you obey God's word? Yes, always. Yes, neither here nor there. When the wind blows in Oklahoma, do you obey God's word? How about when it doesn't blow, do you obey God's word? Well, it's neither here nor there. And when these miracle workers come through with false teachings that accompany miracles, do you obey God's Word? Oh, yes. How about if there are no miracles? Do you obey God's Word? Oh, yes. Yeah, it's neither here nor there. Doesn't matter. We don't care. 2 Corinthians 4, 1 through 6. If you would join with me in turning to 2 Corinthians 4, 1-6 in the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, since we have this ministry which we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. Now, I sign all my letters off with this. Because I do not receive what I deserve, I can continue on in the ministry. God will always grant me mercy no matter how many mistakes I make. And when I sin, I repent, I will always receive God's mercy. But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in the craftiness or adulterating what? The Word of God. We don't fix our witness, do we? In 2nd Corinthians 4.2, what do we center our witness around? The Word of God. So why are you told witnessing is telling your story and not quoting Bible verses? How are you going to obey 2nd Corinthians 4.2 if you're not using the Word of God when you witness? We live in an age when not only is the Word of God not adulterated, it's not even used. but by clear manifestation of what? Truth. The Word of God. Committing ourselves in every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, so here what is the gospel equated with? The Word of God. the truth so when you say I'm not ashamed of the gospel is the power of God for salvation Romans 116 you are not simply saying you are not ashamed of the proclamation of the gospel you are not ashamed of the presentation of the gospel centered upon the word of God and many people are not ashamed of the proclamation but they are ashamed of the presentation but we need to be bold in both areas. In verse four, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they may not see the light of the gospel, the glory of Christ who is in the image of God. So their minds are blinded. What do we want? Well, what is our response to the fact that men's minds are blinded to the gospel? Well, they don't believe the Bible so there's 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ this Lord, with ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus' sake. We're going to preach Jesus anyways, from the Word of God. It's the only place Jesus is revealed in all of history. God has jealously guarded over. the revelation of his son. He has not allowed any secular historians of the first century who may have written about Jesus for those writings to have been preserved. He has jealously guarded the reputation of his son and only allowed God the Holy Spirit to give testimony concerning him. John 16, 14, Jesus said of God the Holy Spirit, He will glorify me. And God the Holy Spirit did that by devoting four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to Him, and the rest of the New Testament in terms of the instruction on how to be a Christian, how to be a disciple, how to be a disciple maker, how to be a pastor. Verse six, for God who said, light will shine out of darkness. Brother Bashan, when did God say, let there be light? Yes. The world was dark, formless, and God said, let there be light. He is the one who has shown us our hearts to give light to what? What does it say there? The knowledge, doesn't it? So it's centered around the Word of God. Of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So no wonder the prevalent teaching I'm witnessing is not to use the Bible, not to quote the Bible. Just talk about yourself all day. and do good works all day. Don't be quoting the Bible. But that is not spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is witnessing, using the Word of God. Spiritual warfare is defending the Word of God. The truth is that Satan will be happy to engage us in miracles and mysticism as long as we do not take up the sword of the Spirit, Ephesians 6.17, and preach Jesus from the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 4.5, 1 Peter 1.23. But we defend the truth, don't we? What spiritual warfare is, it is taking up the shield of faith. We can pray over the Word of God as it relates to Satan and his works. Ephesians 6.16, in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith which will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. I'm going to send you a spiritual warfare sheet. In my prayer notebook, every morning, I pray over some promises of victory over Satan, and then I pray against Satan's evil works for that day. So, Satan knows I'm around, doesn't he? Because every morning I get up and stick my thumb in his eye. And Satan and I do not engage in conversations. If Satan is walking across the street, I don't say, oh, there's some demons with you. What are their names? What do they look like? What do they do? Like in these false Holy Spirit deliverance crusades. No! I knock him down, he knocks me down. I get back up, he crosses the street, I cross the street. I re-engage him. And that is my relationship with Satan. I hate him, I battle him, I pray against him, I witness, I teach the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit is always next to me. I'm not ashamed of having my Bible with me wherever I go. Whenever I have the opportunity, I quote a verse, I share a verse, I teach the Bible, I memorize it, I meditate upon it, I rebuke myself with it, and then I'm going to die and go to heaven. And Satan may think he's gotten the victory, but he's going to die and go to hell. So he hasn't got the victory. what spirits and how i will send you my spiritual warfare shield of faith prayer sheets and i would encourage you to do the same thing but let me assure you of this if you begin witnessing from the word of god if you begin seeking to obey god's word and taking it literally if you begin praying against satan Before you begin doing that, read Job chapter 1 and 2 and see what could come upon you. Make sure you're ready for that. But I encourage you to do it. Job said in Job 15, 16, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Are we ready to say that? The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Job 16, 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1. 21. Can we say that? Are we prepared to say that? What spiritual warfare is, is taking up the shield of faith and resisting and standing firm in face of His attacks upon us. Ephesians 6 10 through 12 tells us to be ready to stand firm. Ephesians 6. 10 through 12, finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Now, if you write in your Bible, next to Ephesians 6, 10 through 12, in the margin, write 2 Timothy 2, 24. The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wrong, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, and perhaps that God may grant repentance, leading to a knowledge of this truth, and they come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil. So man, flesh and blood, is not our enemy. The Muslims, the homosexuals, the spiritists, the Satanists, the secularists, the communists, the humanists, they are not the enemy. They are the enslaved population. Satan is the enemy. We attack him through personal evangelism and prayer. And then we resist his attacks on us because we are doing that. When we are witnessing, when we are obeying God's word, when we are praying against Satan over God's word, we are attacking him. But it is not spiritual warfare until there are incoming rounds. As long as it's just outgoing, it's called target practice. When you shoot at a target, it does not shoot back. When you shoot at your enemy, your enemy shoots back. Satan will shoot back. 1 Peter 5, 8 and 9. Let's turn in our Holy Scriptures to 1 Peter 5. 8 and 9. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert, your adversary the devil prowls around like a warring lion, seeking someone to devour. That's what he does. That's his job description, isn't it? What do we do? But resist him firm in your faith. That's our job description, to resist Him. What two pieces of armor after salvation would Satan most want us to lay down so that he might attack and devour us? The sword of the Spirit, the Word, and the shield of faith. What is evidence of the shield of faith besides prayer? Remember, James 5 says the prayer of faith. James 1 says we must ask believing. But in addition to prayer, what is the evidence of faith in our life? The evidence of faith in our life is not the ability to get God to do what we tell Him to do. Bishan, look at Romans 1.5, please. Brother Dan, if you will look at Romans 16.26, please, and read that. Faith is not the ability to get God to do what we tell Him to do. Heal, perform miracles, you name it. What does Romans 1.5 say, Brother Bishan? We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations. We bring about what of faith? Do you see that? We have received apostleship to bring about what? The obedience of faith. Yeah. The shield of faith is not the ability to get God to do what we want Him to do. It's the ability for us to do what God wants us to do. The apostles were never, the apostle Paul said, we never came to give you faith to get God to obey you. We came to give you faith that you might obey God. Romans 16.26, brother Dan. but now is manifested and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations leading to obedience of faith. So what does the gospel lead to? Obedience. it's the book in verses of the great book on faith the book of romans god the holy spirit starts out now keep in mind though when we talk about faith i'm talking about obedience then he closes out the book with the other bookend now keep in mind romans sixteen twenty six we're talking about obedience here when did faith change from the spiritual power to obey God to the spiritual power to get God to obey us. That's a great coup on the part of Satan, wasn't it? We resist Satan by manifesting moral excellence in contrast to our previous spiritual state. Remember our previous spiritual state was Ephesians 2, 1, and 3. We were dead in our trespasses and sins and involved in all sorts of immorality. Our new spiritual state is found in Ephesians 5, 1-5 Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which is not fitting, but rather the giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of God, Christ in God. Moral excellence is a form of spiritual warfare and it is no wonder that these false apostles, false prophets, false teachers, false bishops are so often engaged in fleshly pursuits. 1 Peter 2.11 1st Peter 2.11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts. Which wage war against your souls? That wage war is the Greek word stradivonia and it means a military campaign. We manifest spiritual victory through moral excellence in speech and conduct. And it's no wonder in an age in the church when men are taught not to use the word of God in witnessing, that they're also taught to smoke and drink and use coarse language and gamble and all these other things in order to relate to non-Christians. Don't be deceived. These licentious behavior in witnessing goes hand in hand with not using the Holy Scriptures in witnessing. Ephesians 5, 1-5 states clearly what moral excellence is. 1 Timothy 6, verse 9, if you would turn with me in scripture too. 1 Timothy 6, verse 9, But those who want to get rich fall into temptation, and I stare at many foolish and harmful desires and plunge men into ruin and destruction. Satan, it should say here, Satan would much rather engage you in a miracle contest. Satan and those he have deceived would much rather engage you in a miracle contest than living a life of trusting God rather than seeking riches. Galatians 2.20 For what we preach is not ourselves Galatians 2.20 I've been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. You can get rich during miracle crusades but no one gets rich preaching Jesus and repentance. You get persecuted for doing that. You can get rich doing deliverance crusades, miracle crusades, holy spirit crusades, but no one gets rich obeying the Bible. You can have books written about you by claiming to have seen Jesus, by claiming to have died and come back, by claiming to have talked to demons and telling people what demons have taught you, all sorts of things. But no one writes books about you because you're obeying the word of God and witnessing. No, instead they laugh at you. 1 Corinthians 10.13 says clearly that we will be attacked but we can overcome. The Holy Scripture says that where temptations and attacks by Satan increase, so does God's grace. It does not say where irresponsibility increases, so does God's grace. Rather than witnessing, mastering the Word of God, and maintaining a high standard of moral excellence, Satan would rather us become preoccupied with miracle contests, interacting with demons, and mysticism. But don't do that. The Word of God, the witness of the saints, the verbal witness, and a high standard of moral excellence. These are the true areas of spiritual warfare. And no wonder we live in an age when rather than the Word of God, it's miracles. Rather than witnessing crusades, it's deliverance crusades, rather than moral excellence, it's visions and prospecies and dreams. But don't be deceived, that is what God the Holy Spirit has revealed to us as spiritual warfare. And I encourage you to engage Satan daily by spending time in the Word of God, by being alert to who you can witness to and by maintaining a standard of moral excellence. May God add his blessing to his holy work. In Christ's name we pray.