SUNDAY (LIVE) - Feb 1, 2026 | Ephesians 6:14-18 - Helmet of Salvation

``You will not control me. You will not rob me. I am going to hope in God and I'm gonna praise his name. I'm gonna put words to my thoughts, in fact. Emotions are great to have in the car. They just can't drive it. That's what the psalmist is doing right here. Get back in the passenger seat. You're not gonna drive my life anymore. You're not gonna make me depressed anymore. No. That is the helmet of salvation. When you've got crazy, worried, fearful, dumb thoughts, the believer has a choice. Believe those thoughts or believe in God. [00:43:17] (42 seconds)  #PutGodInTheDriverSeat

We're in a battle, Ephesians six twelve tells us, and you've got to protect your brain. Cults will always do this. They'll say, don't think, just obey. Bad fundamentalists will do this. Don't think, just believe what we say. Eastern religions are don't think, empty your mind. Contemplate your navel. Come to nirvana. Nirvana is literally the state of no desire, the stuffed out candle. You empty yourself. You do not think. That's not the bible. That's not Christianity. Christianity says, think. Read the gospels. How many times does Jesus say consider as a thinking term? [00:38:07] (54 seconds)  #FaithMeansThinking

Think about the birds. Look at the way God has designed the world. It works. So why are you so worried? We can get all worried. Oh, AI is gonna replace everybody's job. We're gonna be all homeless. And really? The world's gonna end tomorrow. Really? Listen to me carefully. The world will work the way the heavenly father wants the world to work until he's done. That's the truth. That's what Jesus is saying to you and me. It's not your job. The heavenly father will make sure the world works the way it's supposed to work until the heavenly father says, time's up. And happy day that will be. [00:48:03] (39 seconds)  #HeavenlyFatherProvides

And then number two, you gotta choose your masters. You gotta choose your thoughts master. Either I'm gonna be my thoughts master. Either you're gonna be your thoughts master. And when I'm my thoughts master, here's what happens. It's my rights. It's my insecurities. It's my fears, it's my failures, it's my inabilities, it's my prejudices, it's my self hatred, it's my shame, it's my guilt, it's my perversions, it's my habits, it's my addictions because it's my thoughts. And when I do that, then they master my life. Everything is filtered through my pain, my problems, my weakness, and it cripples my ability to be a follower of Jesus. So the Bible says, take every thought captive to obey Christ. [00:55:49] (65 seconds)  #ChooseYourThoughtsMaster

He said, how do I do that? I said, let me ask you some questions. I said, number one, you born? Okay. Great. Number one, are you still a believer in Jesus Christ? He said, yes. I said, okay. Number two, are Jesus' promises the same for you today as they were yesterday when you were succeeding? Yep. Did Jesus promise you that this morning when you woke up, you had a brand new set of mercies from him? Yep. Did Jesus promise you that if you ask, he will give you your daily bread? Not your monthly supply, not your yearly supply. He'll give you what you need to be successful today. Did Jesus promise that to you? Yes. [00:58:16] (51 seconds)  #DailyMerciesFromJesus

A prayer that you and I prayed twenty years ago, is that salvation? Because I think we have narrowed down salvation to just those things. But when you read read the Bible, here's what you find. The bible is about God and his greatest work of salvation from the garden to the garden city of New Jerusalem. From Genesis three to Revelation 22, it's about God saving us. So let me just try to show this because I think we've narrowed it down to our detriment. [00:34:37] (31 seconds)  #BibleIsSalvationStory

Jesus says, if a man strikes you on your right cheek, what are you supposed to do? Turn the other cheek. No. I ain't doing that, man. Jesus says, if the occupying Roman Empire that has put you under their thumb, taxing you into bankruptcy, if that soldier says, carry my armor for a mile, when you do it, go an extra mile with him. Oh, no way. They don't make any sense because they're spiritual. [00:54:52] (33 seconds)  #RadicalJesusWay

That the Bible says that moment you believe, first Corinthians two, you're given the mind of Christ. And we're supposed to be thinking and taking our thoughts and forcing them to obey Jesus. I say this all the time. It takes no faith to obey to obey and to believe demonic lies. It takes faith to say, I'm gonna capture these thoughts and force them to obey Jesus. [00:56:54] (29 seconds)  #GivenTheMindOfChrist

So when the enemy came and started knocking on my door to try to entice me back to old friendships and bad habits, you know what I said to the enemy? You got the wrong address. That Matt heavily lives in the cemetery, dies in the cemetery. Go visit him there. That's not who I am anymore. I took that thought captive to Jesus Christ, to the truth of what has happened to me. That's gone. That's not who I am anymore. I've been resurrected into a new life in Christ Jesus. I don't engage in that junk anymore. [01:01:09] (31 seconds)  #ResurrectedIdentity

do you know something but still don't do it? Like have you found knowledge isn't enough? So if knowledge was enough, nobody would smoke cigarettes. No one would do drugs because we've had campaigns against them for decades now. Sometimes you need something more than knowledge, something bigger than that to change your life, make you a different kind of person. [00:26:50] (35 seconds)  #KnowledgeAloneFails

Because what does a helmet do? Protects your brain. The moneymaker. It protects you. If there's one thing that you really need, it's your head. You can lose a finger? Be okay. Lose a toe? Be okay. Lose a hand? Be okay. You lose your head? It's over. We've learned how to replace kidneys and replace hearts and replace livers. But guess what they cannot do? Head transplant. Very, very, very important to have a helmet on. [00:33:29] (37 seconds)  #HelmetProtectsTheMind

You gotta choose the right weapon, number one. Our weapons are not of the flesh. You think about a battle. If you bring the wrong weapon to a battle, what happens? If I bring a knife to a gunfight, what's happening to me? I'm doomed. I think the American church today chooses a lot of the wrong weapons. We look to a lot of fleshly things, what's popular, what's cool, what's trendy, what's easy, what's current, that a lot of Christianity today is, I call it, physiological and not spiritual. We're choosing the wrong weapons. [00:53:28] (38 seconds)  #UseSpiritualWeapons

if you step back for a second and think about where does sin, where does failure start? Is it my circumstances? Because we all know people that have gone through worse circumstances that I'm going through that I've done it better. Is it my DNA? I'm just predisposed to these things. Look at studies on twins, how different their lives are based on their decisions, based on thinking. Is it just stupid people? There wasn't so many stupid people around me doing stupid things. We've all seen people react with grace to really stupid people. We've all seen these things. [00:50:11] (45 seconds)  #SinStartsInTheMind

So imagine for a second, I could give you a pill. And this pill, if you took it every morning, would decrease anxiety, increase your contentment, increase your self esteem, increase your empathy, increase your trough trust, and actually improve your memory. And the best part about this pill is it's 100% natural and it's free. Would you take that pill every morning? You know what that pill is? Meditation. [00:44:26] (38 seconds)  #MeditationIsThePill

Where does sin start? In your synapses. That's where it starts. It's why Jesus says, listen, it's not about adultery. Who cares? It's about the lust that was the seed in your head that led to the adultery that you gotta get out. Jesus says it's not about murder. It's about the angry that anger that was in your head that then led to the murder. Because sin starts in your synapses. It's what James says in James one fourteen. Don't say God's tempting you. God doesn't tempt people with evil. No. Sin begins with your desires. You want something. You want it, and you're saying, I'm going to get it. That's where it starts in your brain. All of it starts in the head. [00:50:56] (51 seconds)  #GuardYourMind

I think we're weak and anemic today because we've stopped actually using the right weapons for the battle. And so Sundays and Wednesday, part of what we try to do is we're trying to equip the saints. Last week, Danny did a great job. Peace and rest. Equip the saints that this thing is spiritual, and you gotta take up the right weapons in this battle. [00:55:26] (24 seconds)  #EquipForSpiritualBattle

and I'm like, man, these taste salty. And I'm thinking to myself, why are they salty? Were these over the coast or something? Like, what is the deal? And I and I'm just keep going, keep going. And after like fifteen minutes of this, I'm like, this is just weird. So I go back over to the container of screws, this clear plastic container, and I pick it up, and there is this dark brown fluid in the bottom of it. So I smell it. Cat pee. Yep. My wife has not kissed me for two years. I am personally grossed out by myself right now, like just, oh. Oh. That changed me. [00:28:31] (41 seconds)  #SmallRevelationsChangeUs

Paul is saying, using first century warfare, because in a battle in the first century, the first thing you had to do was take out the stronghold. They have a wall around them. They have some kind of fortress. You gotta demolish the wall, and then you gotta take the enemy captive. Those are your two steps. Paul says they're strongholds. Jesus Christ has taken out the stronghold. You and I don't have to sin anymore. You and I have been freed. You and have been given the power of God's spirit. Jesus has triumphed over the kingdom of darkness. So strongholds are taken care of. Our job is what? Take the enemy thoughts captive. The enemy has no more power over you and me like he did in the Old Testament. He's been defanged. [00:51:51] (50 seconds)  #StrongholdsDestroyed

You have to take your thoughts. You have to take your deceit. You have to take these lies from the enemy, and you've got to make them obey Jesus Christ. Who's the master of your thoughts? Maybe the most important lesson you can learn in the armor of God, who's the master of your thoughts? Your pain, your problems, your weakness, your experience, or is Jesus the master of your thoughts? I think the goal of the Christian life is for you and me to think like Jesus. I think that's the whole goal. That our mind gets renewed, Romans chapter 12. Our mind gets renewed so it begins to think like Jesus. And Paul has given us a brilliant weapon, take him captive. [00:59:28] (40 seconds)  #ThinkLikeJesus

Don't give me doctrine. Don't give me theology. Don't give me bible verses. I want a TED talk. It makes a lot more sense. I want a pill I can understand that. I think there's a lot of that in Christianity today, that it's invaded us because spiritual weapons, they do not make sense. [00:54:05] (20 seconds)  #PracticalFaithOverTheory