Speaker 1: Today on Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren, we continue
Speaker 1: in our riveting journey through the series The Invisible War.
Speaker 2: In it will explore.
Speaker 1: The unseen world of good and evil and see how
Speaker 1: it impacts our day to day existence. Join us for
Speaker 1: eye opening biblical insights into the spiritual dimensions that influence
Speaker 1: our lives in ways we never imagined. Right now, here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren with part two of a message called
Speaker 1: never fights your battles undressed.
Speaker 3: Now, the second piece that a Roman centurion would put
Speaker 3: on is they would put on over the tunic some
Speaker 3: body armor, some body armour, and they would have a
Speaker 3: breastplate which would cover the heart, and then the other
Speaker 3: part of the body armor would cover the rest of
Speaker 3: their vital organs, the lungs and the liver and the
Speaker 3: kidneys and all of those things. And so oh, soldier
Speaker 3: is going to go out into battle without body armor on,
Speaker 3: without the breastplate and the body armor. Now the Bible
Speaker 3: Paul says, what you need for your spiritual battle is
Speaker 3: what he calls the breastplate or the body armor of righteousness.
Speaker 3: And notice the next verse he says, put on the
Speaker 3: belt of truth. And then he says with the breastplate
Speaker 3: of righteousness protecting your chest. What's in your chest, your heart.
Speaker 3: He's talking about your heart here. Now, what is righteousness?
Speaker 3: Righteousness is purity of heart. That's what it is. And
Speaker 3: so the piece of the second piece you have to
Speaker 3: put on in your life is purity. First integrity, knowing
Speaker 3: and doing the truth.
Speaker 2: And second you have to put.
Speaker 3: On purity, which means keeping my motives clear, keeping my
Speaker 3: motives clean, having a pure heart. That's what rights and
Speaker 3: he says, when you put on the breastplate of the
Speaker 3: body armor of righteousness, you're saying, God, I want a
Speaker 3: pure heart. I want to have pure motives. Let me
Speaker 3: show you a couple verses. The Bible says in Psalm
Speaker 3: chapter twenty four, look at this, who may ascend to
Speaker 3: the hill of the Lord, who may stand in his
Speaker 3: holy place? What does that mean?
Speaker 2: Who can?
Speaker 3: It means who can get close to God? That's what
Speaker 3: it means. Who can get close to God? And here's
Speaker 3: the answer, he who has clean hands and a pure heart.
Speaker 3: Now that doesn't mean perfection, because none of us are perfect.
Speaker 3: But a pure heart means that even when you do
Speaker 3: the right wrong thing, you want to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: That's a pure heart.
Speaker 3: Even when I do the wrong thing, I regret it
Speaker 3: because I want to do the right thing.
Speaker 2: That's a pure heart.
Speaker 3: And Jesus said, blessed or blessed are the pure in heart,
Speaker 3: for they shall see God. Only the pure in heart
Speaker 3: get to be close to God. Now, if you want
Speaker 3: to be blessed, you want to be blessed in your family,
Speaker 3: you want to be blessed in your business, and you
Speaker 3: want to be blessed in your finances, you got to
Speaker 3: have a pure heart. God will not bless and impure heart.
Speaker 2: And so you need to.
Speaker 3: Put on not just the belt of truth integrity, but
Speaker 3: you need to put on the breastplate of righteousness, which
Speaker 3: is purity. Keeping my motives clear. Now, is your heart pure?
Speaker 3: You don't have to have a lot of talent in
Speaker 3: life to succeed, but if you want God's blessing, you
Speaker 3: do have to have pure motives. Now, Satan always wants
Speaker 3: to attack you with impurity.
Speaker 2: And the reason he.
Speaker 3: Wants to attack you with impurity is if he can
Speaker 3: get his foot in the door, you're a goner. And
Speaker 3: so he'll attack you with moral impurity, pornography, movies, books, songs.
Speaker 3: I mean if I said get a drink of water,
Speaker 3: go out here and drink out of the gutter, none
Speaker 3: of you would go out and drink out of the gutter.
Speaker 3: So why are you watching all those gutter shows on television?
Speaker 2: You see?
Speaker 3: Mind pollution is far worse than physical pollution because your
Speaker 3: mind is all you've got, and when you allow anything
Speaker 3: to go in your mind, you are polluting. You say, well,
Speaker 3: that's kind of stuff. I watch that stuff. It just
Speaker 3: doesn't bother me. That's the problem. That's the problem. If
Speaker 3: it doesn't bother me, it means your conscience has already
Speaker 3: been seared. You know, if your conscience was clear and pure,
Speaker 3: it would bother you. The fact that you can hear
Speaker 3: all that kind of language and it doesn't bother you
Speaker 3: means you don't have a pure heart. Now if you
Speaker 3: want to, if you don't have a pure heart, a
Speaker 3: brave heart. If you don't have a brave heart, dad
Speaker 3: a pure heart, you're a pushover for Satan. You don't
Speaker 3: have to be strong, but you do have to have
Speaker 3: integrity and purity. You have to have the belt of
Speaker 3: truth and the breastplate of righteousness. Now, another way Satan
Speaker 3: will try to gets you to be impure is through greed,
Speaker 3: because if he can gets you greedy and wanting more,
Speaker 3: He'll get you to cheat on your taxes. He'll get
Speaker 3: you to accept the shady business deal to shave the edges.
Speaker 2: He will try to get a door.
Speaker 3: A jar in your life to success through praise, to applause.
Speaker 3: So you don't depend on God anymore. You have to
Speaker 3: keep your heart pure. If you don't, you're going to
Speaker 3: lose the.
Speaker 2: Battle in life.
Speaker 3: But on the other hand, if you keep the pure heart,
Speaker 3: your motive is pure. Satan fears the person with a
Speaker 3: pure heart, not the perfect person, but the person with
Speaker 3: a pure heart who wants to do the right thing.
Speaker 3: Now you don't have to be afraid of him. He
Speaker 3: then is afraid of you.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: The third thing that a soldier would put on are
Speaker 3: the shoes, and the a Roman soldier's shoes had hobnails.
Speaker 3: If you can see these in the bottom, there were
Speaker 3: little nails that were nailed in there to make the grip.
Speaker 3: It's kind of like cleats cleats on a football shoe
Speaker 3: or cleats on a golf shoe. Because you needed these
Speaker 3: shoes with hobnails so you didn't go slip sliding away
Speaker 3: on the battle. You need to be able to take
Speaker 3: a stand and hold your ground. You didn't want to stumble.
Speaker 3: You didn't want to slide, you didn't want to fall.
Speaker 3: No Roman centurion would go into a battle and crocs, okay,
Speaker 3: because you're gonna go slip, sliding away. So you would
Speaker 3: put on these shoes, and Paul says, this represents peace
Speaker 3: in your life. He calls them the shoes of the
Speaker 3: good News of peace. Look at this next verse. He says,
Speaker 3: on your feet, wear the shoes of good News. There
Speaker 3: was the good News shoes. Somebody should start that brand,
Speaker 3: good News shoes prepared to share the gospel of peace. Now,
Speaker 3: as I said, a Roman soldier, he needed to have
Speaker 3: good footing so he could stand his ground so he
Speaker 3: wouldn't slip. Now for you to stand spiritually so you
Speaker 3: don't slip, so you don't slide, so you don't stumble
Speaker 3: in the next ten years and lose everything you've got,
Speaker 3: so you don't fall away. You're gonna need the shoes
Speaker 3: of good News prepared to share the gospel of peace.
Speaker 3: Circle that phrase, the gospel of peace. Now, what is
Speaker 3: he saying? If you want to stand in life and
Speaker 3: stand up under the storms. You're gonna have to be
Speaker 3: at peace.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: He's talking here about relationships. There are three kinds of peace.
Speaker 3: Peace with God, peace with myself, and peace with everybody else.
Speaker 3: It's called reconciliation. Peace with God, peace with myself, and
Speaker 3: peace with everybody else. Jesus called it the Great commandment.
Speaker 3: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor
Speaker 3: as yourself. Make peace with God. Make peace with your neighbor,
Speaker 3: make peace with yourself. Be in harmony God, be in
Speaker 3: harmony with your neighbor, being harmony with yourself. He's saying,
Speaker 3: be reconciled to God, be reconciled to other people, and
Speaker 3: be reconciled to yourself. He said, if you got conflict
Speaker 3: in your life, you have just opened the door to
Speaker 3: Satanic attack.
Speaker 2: He said.
Speaker 3: If you don't have peace in your heart, if your
Speaker 3: mind is not at peace and your heart is at peace,
Speaker 3: then you're going to be wide open. You're a pushover
Speaker 3: for Satan when you're not at peace. When you're not
Speaker 3: at peace, Now where do I get this peace that
Speaker 3: gives me my solid ground? Obviously, if I get up
Speaker 3: in the morning and I'm at peace, I'm at peace.
Speaker 2: With God.
Speaker 3: I'm at peace with you, and I'm in peace with
Speaker 3: the world. I've got a strong footing I can stand.
Speaker 3: If I don't have peace relationally in any of those relationships,
Speaker 3: I'm a pushover. How do I get that kind of peace?
Speaker 3: Look at you might write this down. The third thing
Speaker 3: you need is serenity. Serenity Serenity is living and speaking
Speaker 3: the Gospel of peace. If I'm going to get dressed
Speaker 3: for battle, I need integrity, living and doing the truth.
Speaker 3: I'm going to need purity, and that is having my
Speaker 3: motive is clear, and I'm going to need serenity, living
Speaker 3: in peace and speaking peace to other people. I live
Speaker 3: it and I speak it. Now, where do I get
Speaker 3: that kind of peace? If you don't have serenity in
Speaker 3: your life, you're a pushover for Satan. If you're anxious,
Speaker 3: you're worried, you're irritable, then you're a pushover for Satan.
Speaker 3: So you need the Gospel of peace in your life.
Speaker 3: How do I get it? The Bible says this in
Speaker 3: Psalms and says in Psalm one nineteen, great peace have
Speaker 3: they who love your law? And what is the law
Speaker 3: of God? It's the Bible, Great Peace to those who
Speaker 3: love this book.
Speaker 2: And nothing can make them stumble.
Speaker 3: I love other translations that it says, great peace have
Speaker 3: they who love your law, and nothing can offend them.
Speaker 3: In other words, the more I love this book, the
Speaker 3: less I'm offended by what you say. The more I
Speaker 3: love God's word, the less I'm offended by what happens
Speaker 3: to me. I'm not offended by all the things that
Speaker 3: people try to be offensive to me. Why because I
Speaker 3: love God's word more than I love myself or more
Speaker 3: than I'm worried about what you.
Speaker 2: Think of me. Now follow me on this.
Speaker 3: Satan is going to attack your integrity with lies, and
Speaker 3: Satan is going to attack your purity with lust. But
Speaker 3: Satan is going to attack your serenity with worry. Every
Speaker 3: time you worry, you are open. It's like leaving yourself vulnerable.
Speaker 3: It's not wearing the shoes of peace. When you're worried,
Speaker 3: you're not at peace. And Satan can you just push
Speaker 3: you over because you're anxious, You're fearful, you're worried, and
Speaker 3: so he's going to cause that lack of relational peace
Speaker 3: is going to cause you to be anxious. Now, the
Speaker 3: Bible tells us that We're to do two things with peace.
Speaker 3: We are to live it and we are to speak it.
Speaker 3: We are to live peacefully, and we are to speak
Speaker 3: peacefully to everybody else. Look at these verses. Romans twelve
Speaker 3: eighteen says this, as much as it is possible, as
Speaker 3: far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.
Speaker 3: God says, I want you to be a peacemaker, not
Speaker 3: a trouble maker. I want you to build harmony, not conflict.
Speaker 3: I don't want you to be critical. I want you
Speaker 3: to be a peace builder and a bridge builder. And
Speaker 3: he says, as much as possible, I love that part.
Speaker 3: As far as it depends on you, some people, have
Speaker 3: you learned it's impossible to live at peace with them.
Speaker 3: May have been your mother, or your dad, or somebody,
Speaker 3: or your boss. And you go, no matter what I do,
Speaker 3: I just can't please her. No matter what I do,
Speaker 3: he is unpleasable, no matter what I say. You know
Speaker 3: what the Bible says, as far as it depends on you,
Speaker 3: you take care of your part. There's some people you
Speaker 3: just can't please. There's some people you just can't be
Speaker 3: at peace with.
Speaker 2: But he says, as.
Speaker 3: Far as it depends on you, you are to live
Speaker 3: in peace. That's reconciliation. And if you have unreconciled relationships, friend,
Speaker 3: you are wide open for Satanic attack because you're not
Speaker 3: wearing the shoes of peace. You don't have peace in
Speaker 3: that area, in that unreconciled relationship. That's the one area
Speaker 3: Satan can put that spear into your side.
Speaker 2: The other thing he wants you to do. God says
Speaker 2: you need to speak it. You need to speak peace.
Speaker 3: Look at this verse Tewod Corinthians five says God was
Speaker 3: in Christ making peace between the world and himself. That's
Speaker 3: why we call our outreach the Peace Plan, because we're
Speaker 3: to go make peace between the world and Christ. In Christ,
Speaker 3: God did not hold the world guilty.
Speaker 2: Of it's sin. That's good news.
Speaker 3: In Christ, God didn't hold the world guilty of at sin,
Speaker 3: and he gave us this message of peace. We share
Speaker 3: the message of peace through the Peace Plan. So we
Speaker 3: have been sent to speak for Christ. Now, notice it
Speaker 3: says sin. When you're sent somewhere, that means you either
Speaker 3: got to walk or run or do something.
Speaker 2: You got to move. Can you understand now why peace are.
Speaker 3: Shoes Because shoes you gotta wear shoes to walk. If
Speaker 3: you're being sent somewhere, you need to wear shoes. And
Speaker 3: he says, if you're going to share the message of peace,
Speaker 3: you need to wear the shoes of peace because you're
Speaker 3: being sent to speak for Christ. It is if God
Speaker 3: is calling to you through us and we speak for Christ,
Speaker 3: when we beg you to be at peace with God.
Speaker 3: Now you can't do the peace plan without going. That's
Speaker 3: why the Bible says, go into all the world. But
Speaker 3: the problem with a lot of people is this. They
Speaker 3: want to live in peace, but they don't want to
Speaker 3: speak peace. A lot of people are scared to death
Speaker 3: to talk to other people about.
Speaker 2: Jesus, who is the Prince of peace.
Speaker 3: And a lot of times you have friends and neighbors
Speaker 3: who need to hear the good news of peace, and
Speaker 3: you chicken out, you lose your nerve, you.
Speaker 2: Take the shoes of peace off.
Speaker 3: And because you take those shoes of peace off, you
Speaker 3: want to live in peace without speaking peace. The Bible says,
Speaker 3: everybody around you, you need to tell them about the
Speaker 3: good news. The God's not mad at you. He's mad
Speaker 3: about you. And God wants you in his life, and
Speaker 3: God wants you in his family, and he died for
Speaker 3: you so you can have peace with God. What you
Speaker 3: need to do is to speak up and speak up and.
Speaker 2: Say what you believe.
Speaker 3: Now, Paul says, the fourth thing you need in the
Speaker 3: spiritual battles what he calls the shield of faith. Look
Speaker 3: at this verse verse sixteen. And at all times, circle
Speaker 3: all times, just some of the time.
Speaker 2: He said, you don't go to the grocery store.
Speaker 3: He says without this, at all times, you carry the
Speaker 3: shield of faith, for with it you will be able
Speaker 3: to put out all the burning arrows by the evil one. Now,
Speaker 3: he says, you need the shield of faith in order
Speaker 3: to protect yourself from the burning arrows that Satan's gonna
Speaker 3: gonna throw at you. Now, what is the shield of faith.
Speaker 3: It is the fourth quality you need in life, and
Speaker 3: it is certainty. Certainty is the shield of faith. And
Speaker 3: certainty is trusting the promises of God when everything is
Speaker 3: going wrong in my life. That's the shield of faith,
Speaker 3: the certainty of I know what God has said and
Speaker 3: He's going to help me through this. So I'm going
Speaker 3: to trust God when all these arrows are coming at me.
Speaker 3: I saw a bumper sticker many many years ago, and
Speaker 3: it said God said it. I believe it. That settles it.
Speaker 3: That's okay. But really the bumpersticker should say God said it.
Speaker 3: That settles it, whether I believe it or not. Because
Speaker 3: God's truth isn't based on whether you believe it or not.
Speaker 3: It's still true even if you don't believe it, because
Speaker 3: God cannot lie. God said it. That's settled it, whether
Speaker 3: you believe it or not. What God said about sex
Speaker 3: is true, whether you believe it or not. What God
Speaker 3: said about life is true, whether you believe it or not.
Speaker 3: What God said about money is true, whether you believe
Speaker 3: it or not. And when you put your faith in
Speaker 3: the shield of faith, you have the certainty that God's
Speaker 3: promises are true, even when it appears that they are
Speaker 3: not happening in your life at that moment. Now, the
Speaker 3: Bible says, all all these burning arrows come at you.
Speaker 3: I love the King James version of this, It says,
Speaker 3: the fiery darts. What are the fiery darts that come
Speaker 3: at you? Well, they're all mental. They're all mental. They
Speaker 3: are things that Satan puts in your mind. Let me
Speaker 3: give you what some of the fiery darts.
Speaker 2: Are doubt and write that one down.
Speaker 3: Doubt is a fiery d Did God really say, can
Speaker 3: you really trust God? Isn't that just your interpretation? Well,
Speaker 3: maybe that's for another time. Did God really mean that
Speaker 3: when he said and he creates doubt?
Speaker 2: That's a fiery dart.
Speaker 3: Discouragement is a fiery dart, and Satan goes, You're never
Speaker 3: going to get any better. Things are never going to change.
Speaker 3: It's only going to get worse. Why do you even try?
Speaker 3: That's a fiery dart. Discouragement, doubt, delay, Why is this
Speaker 3: taking so long? I wanted it to happen by now,
Speaker 3: but it hasn't happened. Delay is a fiery dart. Difficulty
Speaker 3: is a fiery dart.
Speaker 2: Why is this so hard?
Speaker 3: Why is it so hard to make my marriage work?
Speaker 3: Why is it so hard to get a job? Why difficulty?
Speaker 3: Depression is a fiery dart. I just feel like giving up.
Speaker 3: I feel like it's not worth it. I feel like
Speaker 3: it's I can't even put any effort into it, delay, defeat,
Speaker 3: all of these things. When those things happen in your life,
Speaker 3: you need certainty, And when life is totally uncertain and
Speaker 3: it's thrown up in the air, you need certainty more
Speaker 3: than anything else. You need the shield of faith in
Speaker 3: your life. And the shield of your faith will help
Speaker 3: you handle those darts like the dart of doubt. Now,
Speaker 3: what do you do with the dart of doubt? Here's
Speaker 3: what you do. You doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.
Speaker 3: Whenever you used to a right believing your doubts and
Speaker 3: doubting your beliefs. Satan has just cracked the door open
Speaker 3: in your life and you're open for Satanic attack.
Speaker 2: And you need that certainty.
Speaker 3: And the reason why he says always carry the shield
Speaker 3: of faith is because he's always shooting at you. He
Speaker 3: wants to create doubt in your heart. Now, the Bible says,
Speaker 3: without faith, it is impossible to please God. So you
Speaker 3: have to have the shield of faith. You got to
Speaker 3: carry it with you. I'm gonna trust God no matter
Speaker 3: what my feelings say. I'm gonna trust God, no matter
Speaker 3: what my eyes tell me. I'm gonna trust God, no
Speaker 3: matter what I'm hearing. I'm gonna hold on to the
Speaker 3: shield of faith. That is certainty.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy
Speaker 1: you've chosen to study along with us today. Here's Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.
Speaker 3: Today, I want to share with you a note I
Speaker 3: got the mail from a list up. She wrote, Hi,
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick. I'm a thirty three year old living in Jamestown,
Speaker 3: North Dakota, and I'm married with three kids. I just
Speaker 3: want to thank you so much for your Daily Hope broadcast.
Speaker 3: I listened to them regularly, and I've learned so much.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: I realized very quickly that I needed to have a
Speaker 3: notebook journal available to write down all the notes as
Speaker 3: I listened to you. I love the convenience that the
Speaker 3: podcasts have, and I turned them on as I'm getting
Speaker 3: ready in the morning, while I'm cooking, or I'm in
Speaker 3: the car traveling, and even when i'm working out, which
Speaker 3: is great. I've also been sharing them with several people.
Speaker 3: I often think of specific people that I want to
Speaker 3: share your podcast with after I've heard your message. I
Speaker 3: don't know if they've listened to them or not after
Speaker 3: I've shared them, but I do know that one of
Speaker 3: my friends has been regularly listening to you now and
Speaker 3: I ran into her at the park when she was jogging,
Speaker 3: and when she stopped to say hi, I could hear
Speaker 3: your voice and her earbuds.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 3: She's been struggling with a verbally abusive relationship for many years,
Speaker 3: and I know that your Daily Hope has helped her.
Speaker 2: Rick.
Speaker 3: God has really used you to reach so many people,
Speaker 3: and I thank you for being obedient to Him and
Speaker 3: He is calling to you. I will continue to pray
Speaker 3: for you. Thank you for impacting my life, Alissa. Well, Alissa,
Speaker 3: thank you for sending this message. You know we live
Speaker 3: to hear these stories, and I'm so glad to hear
Speaker 3: how God is using Daily Hope not only in your life,
Speaker 3: but in the life of your friends because You've cared
Speaker 3: enough to pass it on. So thanks for sharing that
Speaker 3: podcast with others. I know you're being a blessing to them,
Speaker 3: and I want to say to the rest of you,
Speaker 3: have you shared the news of Daily Hope with anybody?
Speaker 3: Would you find one person today and recommend that they
Speaker 3: start listening to Daily Hope, either on the radio or
Speaker 3: on a podcast or getting the daily devotional through the email.
Speaker 3: We are here to help you fulfill your mission in
Speaker 3: sharing Christ with other people. So tell one person today
Speaker 3: about Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to bless Pastor Rick by letting him
Speaker 1: know how much this broadcast has helped you, Please send
Speaker 1: him an email at Rick at pastorick dot com. That's
Speaker 1: Rick at pastorick dot com. Be sure to join us
Speaker 1: next time as we look into God's word for our
Speaker 1: daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily
Speaker 1: Hope and your generous financial support