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[695.30 --> 697.16] And now the news gets worse,
[697.20 --> 697.50] by the way,
[697.54 --> 698.12] in Ephesians 6.
[698.18 --> 698.72] If this is sort of
[698.72 --> 699.84] feeling pretty heavy for you
[699.84 --> 700.94] and it's feeling close to home,
[701.02 --> 701.90] which I hope it does,
[702.38 --> 703.16] it gets worse
[703.16 --> 704.36] because what Paul wants you
[704.36 --> 705.44] to know unequivocally
[705.44 --> 706.72] is that you and me
[706.72 --> 707.72] in our own strength
[707.72 --> 709.00] cannot fight
[709.00 --> 710.78] this kind of spiritual work,
[711.10 --> 712.72] this kind of force of darkness
[712.72 --> 713.34] and the powers
[713.34 --> 714.14] and the principalities
[714.14 --> 714.80] that come at us,
[714.92 --> 715.72] not just personally
[715.72 --> 717.10] through spiritual attack,
[717.34 --> 718.38] but systemically
[718.38 --> 719.70] in the normalizing of sin
[719.70 --> 720.42] in our society
[720.42 --> 721.36] and all the temptation
[721.36 --> 722.16] that comes with it.
[724.14 --> 726.74] Satan is a very smart person,
[727.32 --> 728.38] a being, I should say.
[728.82 --> 729.44] He's been around
[729.44 --> 730.80] a lot longer than you and me.
[731.10 --> 732.76] He understands how God is working.
[732.88 --> 734.52] He understands the plan of God.
[734.74 --> 736.06] He understands the work of Jesus.
[736.22 --> 737.08] And isn't it interesting,
[737.20 --> 738.72] as Pastor Jonathan mentioned last week,
[739.10 --> 740.62] Satan knows the scriptures.
[742.12 --> 742.96] You ever thought about that?
[742.96 --> 744.78] He probably knows the scriptures
[744.78 --> 746.28] a whole lot better than us.
[746.72 --> 748.00] And his tempting power,
[748.36 --> 749.58] the ways he works insidiously
[749.58 --> 750.34] in society,
[750.54 --> 752.72] we do not have the strength
[752.72 --> 754.60] to battle that on our own.
[756.06 --> 757.64] And once that hits you,
[757.70 --> 758.88] I hope you start to see
[758.88 --> 760.44] how Ephesians 6 is good news.
[761.72 --> 763.08] Because what Paul says
[763.08 --> 763.68] in the beginning,
[763.80 --> 764.82] and then he works it at the end,
[764.88 --> 765.02] is,
[765.26 --> 765.80] hey church,
[766.74 --> 767.84] you can stand.
[767.84 --> 771.24] You now have the ability
[771.24 --> 773.46] to resist the fiery arrows of Satan.
[773.70 --> 774.48] You have the ability
[774.48 --> 775.42] to stand against
[775.42 --> 777.12] what might be normalized in society,
[777.12 --> 778.32] but you know is sin
[778.32 --> 779.44] because of Jesus.
[780.22 --> 781.18] Can I read the beginning
[781.18 --> 782.92] and then how Paul works this out
[782.92 --> 783.46] in the end?
[783.56 --> 784.24] Listen to what he says
[784.24 --> 784.78] in verse 10.
[785.16 --> 785.48] Finally,
[785.62 --> 787.44] be strong in the Lord
[787.44 --> 789.96] and in his mighty power.
[790.40 --> 792.04] Put on the full armor of God
[792.04 --> 794.02] so that you can take your stand
[794.02 --> 796.08] against the devil's schemes.
[798.26 --> 799.22] Good news, church.
[799.80 --> 800.74] There is a power
[800.74 --> 801.60] greater than Satan.
[802.30 --> 803.88] There is a man stronger,
[804.08 --> 805.04] as the scriptures put it,
[805.12 --> 805.98] than the man who comes
[805.98 --> 807.08] in to plunder and kill
[807.08 --> 807.60] and destroy,
[807.70 --> 808.34] and that is Jesus.
[809.08 --> 810.00] There is an authority
[810.00 --> 811.16] higher than the forces
[811.16 --> 813.00] of evil and demonic realms,
[813.36 --> 814.46] and that is our Lord
[814.46 --> 815.00] and Savior,
[815.20 --> 815.86] Jesus Christ,
[815.96 --> 817.90] who rules supreme.
[819.58 --> 821.56] A very moving story for me
[821.56 --> 823.06] is I was working
[823.06 --> 824.00] through the book of Mark
[824.00 --> 824.38] with a number
[824.38 --> 825.50] of international students.
[826.28 --> 826.82] Many of them
[826.82 --> 827.86] were sort of just figuring out
[827.86 --> 828.40] reading the Bible
[828.40 --> 829.26] for the first time,
[829.80 --> 830.50] and one of them,
[830.58 --> 831.44] as we were reading through Mark,
[831.50 --> 833.36] was noticing over and over again
[833.36 --> 834.82] how whenever Jesus encounters,
[835.06 --> 835.46] first of all,