SUNDAY (LIVE) - Feb 15, 2026 | Ephesians 6:14-18 - Sword of the Spirit

So here's what Satan is offering. Jesus today, it all ends. All the pain ends. The fact that every thirty seconds a child dies from malaria, that ends today. The children that get assaulted, that ends today. The women that get assaulted, that ends today. Sickness ends today. Dorne Becker's hospital in Portland, the saddest place I've ever been in my life, watching five, six year old kids walking around with stuff dangling off of them. That place empties out today. All the pain stops today if you bow down and worship me. I think there's no greater temptation for the very nature of God. [01:09:39] (44 seconds)  #EasyWayOutTemptation

Because have you ever wondered, like, when you have a thought or an idea, or maybe you hear a voice and you wonder, is that God speaking to me? You ever had that? Like, is God talking to me right now? Or do I just have a really overactive imagination? Or is it because of aunt Dorothy's triple cheese enchiladas and I got indigestion? Or was it a conversation I had with somebody or a dream I had for some right? There's there's how do you know? The number one tool that we have been given is scripture. God's spirit and God's word will never contradict each other. We're to know the bible so well that what happens is it's just second nature. [00:40:55] (51 seconds)  #DiscernGodsVoice

Science can't tell you what's right or wrong. Do you know that? Science can tell you how much strychnine to put into your grandma's tea to get the inheritance, but it cannot tell you if that's right or wrong. That's in another realm. Science can't decide beauty or value. If I've got two books up here, science can't tell me which book is gonna be good. It can tell me how much the paper is worth, how much the ink is worth. That's all it can tell me. It can't tell me if that book is going to bore me and put to sleep, or if that book is going to transform my life. That's outside of science. [00:46:32] (32 seconds)  #MoralityBeyondScience

every one of us in this room has received Jesus as Lord and as savior. We've been given a new heart, a new spirit. The old has passed away. And with that, we have new desires. We want to be a certain kind of husband, certain kind of wife, certain kind of mom, certain kind of dad, a certain kind of employer employee. We want to be a neighbor that loves our neighbor as ourself. We wanna be an able ambassador of your kingdom, and we know that we cannot do that apart from you. [00:33:26] (58 seconds)  #NewHeartNewLife

Why do we meditate on God's word every day? Because the fortieth day is coming for all of us. And we need it. We'll need it. We'll need it is written. Jesus resists by it's it is written. He rebukes, and then he gets renewed by angels. That's it. We resist by scripture, by being in scripture, knowing scripture. Every person that's a believer in Jesus Christ, greater is he that's within you than he that is in the world. You have the ability to rebuke Satan. Get out of here with your lies. You have that power. [01:12:25] (36 seconds)  #ResistWithScripture

In fact, if you look at the prophets of old, even John the revelator, they are told to eat the scroll. What scroll is that? The only scrolls that they had were the bible. It was literally telling Ezekiel, John the revelator, eat this book. Consume it. Let it become part of you. Let the word transform you. Eat this book. Let it become flesh. Because anything that you handle a lot changes you. [00:41:46] (28 seconds)  #ConsumeTheWord

But if you really think about life, not a lot of the most important decisions you and I ever make that affect us come from science. They're outside of that. When you decided who you were going to marry, what did you turn to? Did you go get your biology book and look up reproduction? If you did, you're not getting married. Grab your math book and calculate things out? No. That that's not how you do that. Like, they're really important decisions. They lie outside of science. [00:45:55] (37 seconds)  #LifeChoicesBeyondScience

He says this, my felt needs do not define me. I am defined by the promises and the word of God. When you get to that point, you are a spirit, spiritual giant. I'm not defined by how I'm feeling right now, or even how I'm thinking right now. I'm defined by the word of God. I'm more than just a cultured animal or a hairless ape. That's not what I am. I require the word of God. I require the purpose, and the information and the renewing and the strength and power of the promises of God. [00:59:46] (39 seconds)  #DefinedByGodsPromises

And, something amazing happens when you do that. You'll have this moment that's just incredible. You'll have a conversation with somebody, and the bible will come up, or a question will come up, Or God comes up, or Christianity comes up, and you'll start talking to them, and all of a sudden, you'll be saying things that you cannot believe you're saying. You're like, man, this is really good. Someone should write this down. Where is this coming from? [00:44:48] (27 seconds)  #ScriptureSpeaksThroughYou

It all ends today. And you don't have to go to the cross. You can have it the easy way. That's huge. I think there's still that temptation. You can have morality without the cross. Just keep the 10 commandments, you don't need Jesus. You can have justice without Jesus. Just do good things. Be a good person. [01:10:23] (24 seconds)  #MoralityNeedsTheCross

That it is finished. That our sins and our iniquities, you'll remember no more. They've been nailed to the cross. And we don't need to listen to the lies of the enemy anymore. Wants to dig up our past. Wants to beat us down with it. We need to say, it is written. My sins and my iniquities are remembered no more. [01:20:58] (34 seconds)  #ItIsFinished

And a sword is not like a gun because a sword can both be defensive and offensive. Unlike last week's Super Bowl, it can be defensive and offensive. You can block an enemy's sword blows, but then you can also attack an enemy as well. It's both. It's offense and defense. And the Bible talks about how it's to defend us. [00:50:29] (28 seconds)  #SwordBothDefenseAndOffense

That's what God's word is to us. Hey, Matt. Come 15 feet this way. Hey, Matt. Look out. There's a rapid ahead. Hey, Matt. Be careful. It's like the bumps on the side of Interstate 5. That's what God's word is. That it just, hey, hey, wake up. Hey, hold on. Get back. You're ready for destruction. You're heading off. Look out, Matt. That's what God's word is to be. It's defensive. [00:54:24] (27 seconds)  #BibleLikeRoadSigns

And what you see is verse one, the devil. Verse three, the devil. Verse five, the devil. Verse 10, Satan. The very first thing that Jesus takes care of, being led by the spirit, is the kingdom of darkness. Put that in a file. Jesus' very first public ministry is spiritual warfare. It's why Genesis three fifteen, Jesus is gonna come and he's gonna crush the chaos monster's head. Step one. [00:56:59] (36 seconds)  #JesusFightsDarkness

Satan is, if questioning, if what's happening to you, man? God took care of the rebellious, sinful, complaining, grumbling children of Israel, and you got nothing? You ever thought that way? God, why are you blessing him? Don't you know how sinful, how rebellious, how complaining, how bad he is? How are you blessing him? Where's my blessing, man? I've been obedient. [00:58:25] (32 seconds)  #EnvyOverBlessings

I bet you this text right here, Matthew twelve thirty one, I bet 50 people in twenty years of ministry at Edgewater have come into me and quoted this verse to me. Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven you, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven. They come into my office, and they say, I have committed the unforgivable sin. I'm going to hell now. Satan grabs the word of God and cuts them with it, and now they're bleeding out. [01:01:24] (38 seconds)  #FearOfUnforgivableSin

Me growing up, what whatever happened to me first twenty five years of my life, that the view I had of God was this, anything bad that happened to me was because God was mad at me. I get sick, God's mad at me. My car has trouble, God's mad at me. It's not that I forgot to do an oil change, because God's mad at me. Alright? I can't get a job, God's mad at me. Drama, relational, God's mad at me. And I knew this, I deserve it. [01:02:22] (25 seconds)  #GodIsNotMadAtMe

Why is Jesus being attacked here? Because he's the brightest light on the planet. That's why. Why is Paul attacked in second Corinthians 12 verse seven? Because of the manifold revelations given to him, he gets attacked. Why was Job attacked in Job chapter one? God, the father, says, there's no one on the planet as good and as righteous as Job. He was number one. [01:03:59] (23 seconds)  #AttackedBecauseYouAreLight

See, I think people that are all in the dark junk and garbage, Satan isn't even worried about them. He's like, they're doing exactly what I want them to do. Who did Satan attack? Light. He wants to darken the light. It's almost a badge of honor. I think it almost means, like, you're heading in the right direction. You're doing the right thing right now if you're gonna attack by the enemy. There's good things in store when you get attacked. [01:04:22] (24 seconds)  #SatanTargetsTheLight

Do we put God to the test like they did? If God doesn't get us some water, then God's not with us. Do we put God to the test like that? If God doesn't, fill in the blank, then I'm out. If God doesn't give me health, I'm out. If God doesn't give me a spouse, I'm out. If God doesn't give me a job, I'm out. If God doesn't give me some money, I'm out. If God doesn't, fill in your blank. That's the test right here. That's the attack of the enemy, putting God to the test. [01:06:13] (27 seconds)  #DontTestGod