(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

So today, what I wanna do is I wanna kinda talk in the vein of God's got more in 24.

And we're going to pick up in Ephesians chapter three today, if you brought your Bibles with you.

And we're gonna be looking a little bit at this letter that a writer wrote the early church of Ephesus and he began to remind them about how to live out the life that God called them to live.

How once they were dead in their trespasses of sin, but Jesus has come along and made them alive so that they could be all that God created them to be.

And he wants to encourage them to live that out, not only here on earth, but in an eternal way.

And so he writes this letter.

And today, what we're gonna focus on is living out our life with the love of Jesus in our life over the lie of the enemy.

Living out of the love of Jesus in our life over the lie of the enemy.

And the lie of the enemy comes at every single one of us.

The enemy lies to us.

The Bible says that the enemy of our life is the father of lies.

In other words, he will whisper thoughts, circumstances, challenges in your life, whether you're at work, whether you're sitting in a worship center like this, whether you're at home in your bed, he will whisper lies to defeat you from living who God called you to be.

But the love of Jesus can triumph over that if you will begin to walk in the love that Christ offered you on a cross.

The Bible says that Jesus came to seek and save that, which is lost.

In other words, he came to restore us into a right relationship with our creator.

The cross of Christ, the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ is a love sign and a power sign to us that God is who he says he is, and he is for us and not against us, and he wants us to walk in the fullness of who he says we are.

But the reality of it is, is there's an enemy at work in the world, and that enemy works in our hearts and in our minds oftentimes to keep us from living the life that God called us to live.

And today we're gonna talk a little bit about how to live out of the love of God over the lie of the enemy.

Ephesians chapter three, verses 10 and 11, the writer reminds us of God's purpose of calling anyone to himself.

And in this context, it would, whether God called the Jews or the Gentiles, that would be all of those that weren't Jewish, the writer reminds them that God's purpose in calling people to himself was because he loves them, but also he has a purpose for their life.

And he says this in Ephesians chapter three, verses 10 and 11.

Says God's purpose in all of this was to use the church, the diverse church, to display his wisdom and its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

So the Bible here is declaring that God has brought people from different backgrounds, different walks of life together to begin to display his wisdom and its rich variety to the unseen, that means you can't see them, to the unseen rulers and authorities that are in the heavenly places.

The Bible goes on in verse 11 and says, this was his eternal plan.

This was the creator God.

This was the most high God.

This is his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so what God did through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is a display to the unseen rulers and authorities of his amazing wisdom by redeeming people from all walks of life back to himself.

The Bible says that the powers in the heavenly places, they stand in awe of what happens every time someone turns away from their sinful lifestyle, turns towards the love that God offered through a cross, and offered through Jesus on a cross, turns their heart towards that, believes in that and begins to follow Jesus with their life.

The Bible says that the powers and principalities in the heavenly places stand in awe.

And what they do, every time it happens, someone responds to the good news of Jesus.

The Bible basically says that all of heaven stands like if you were in a big stadium, or let's call it an arena.

If you were like in a stadium or arena and God reached in and plucked someone out with his amazing love that they all stand in awe of his kindness, of his love, of his power, and of his wisdom.

It is displayed by what he did through Christ Jesus.

And all of the heavenlies stand in awe.

But the reality of it is, is the enemy is still at work even though God has done this work.

The enemy is still at work even though God has done this work.

The penalty of sin has been paid for by Jesus.

No longer do you have to do something, pay for the penalty of sin.

No human can pay for the penalty of sin.

God did that through Christ Jesus.

He paid fully for sin.

All you can do is receive it by faith.

And he lets us respond to that, and we can respond to that.

And when we respond to that, what happens is sin begins, or the love of Jesus begins to break the power of sin.

But in reality, what happens is the enemy begins to put pressure on us as Christ is loving us, and he begins to tell us, nope, you know what?

You are not good enough for God's love.

Nope, you haven't done enough for God's love.

People all the time are trying to do something to earn God's love.

Try to do all the right things.

Maybe, you know, but what this passage in Ephesians 3 is reminding us of is God brings us to himself or anyone else to himself through Christ Jesus.

It's not by rules, it's not by goodness, it's not by education level, it's not by language, it's not by status, it's not by upbringing, it's not by ethnicity, it's not by gender.

It is by Christ and Christ alone that you are brought back to God.

But what happens is as soon as you respond to that amazing love that Jesus showed on the cross, the enemy will begin to lie to your brain and tell you, nope, it's up to you, not up to him.

And I'm here to declare to you today that if you learn to walk in his love and not just receive it into your life for the forgiveness of sin, your life will change.

Your life will forever change.

And the reality of it is I'm learning to walk in his love, Jesus' love each and every day.

But I have to be intentional about walking in the love of Christ.

You have to be intentional about walking in the love of Christ because when you walk in the love of Christ, the lie of the enemy begins to dissipate.

That's why I'm saying let's learn to walk in the love over the lie of the enemy.

The enemy is constantly whispering to me and whispering to you.

You're not good enough.

You haven't done enough.

God's holding out on you.

God don't want to hear from you.

The enemy will even get us in this mode.

Look at him, look at her.

Compare yourself to them.

And what happens is we get in this mode of comparison, we get in this mode of status, we get in this mode of trying more and we don't just rest in his amazing love.

I'd love for you to turn to the person sitting around you and say it's time to rest in his love.

Go ahead and tell him that, it's time to rest in his love.

This was the prayer of the one who wrote the letter to the church at Ephesus.

He had a prayer for him and it's found in Ephesians 3, verses 16 through 20, I want to read it to you.

He says, I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit.

Then you will make, then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.

Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is.

May you experience the love of Christ.

Though it is too great to understand fully, then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and the power that comes from God.

Now, all glory to writer says to God who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Glory to him and the church and Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever.

Jesus has already defeated the enemy.

So don't let the enemy defeat us with his pack of lies.

He is full of lies, my friend.

And there is a pathway to reduce how those lies affect you on a daily basis.

He is constantly telling me you're not good enough.

He tells me that every time I stand before thousands of people and preach God's word.

Who are you to preach God's word?

In other words, you know what?

Your grammar ain't all that good.

Who are you?

Oh, you know, that messes with me.

But I remember, you know what?

The love of Christ, I rest in that over the lie of the enemy.

Slap your neighbor.

And ask them what they're resting in.

Some of us are resting in what we wear.

Some of us are resting in what we act like.

Some of us are resting in what they did versus what I did.

And I'm telling you right now, if you're not resting in the love of Jesus, for Christ died while we were yet sinners.

Romans chapter five says, he died for us anyway.

And he says to rest in this amazing love, again, to walk in this amazing love and your life will forever change.

Remind yourself all the time of God's amazing love.

Walk in the love of Christ.

He did it for you.

Not because you deserved it, but because it is who he is.

God is madly in love with you, my friend.

No matter what background you come from.

And he desires to be in relationship with you so much.

He gave his one and only son on a cross.

He defeated death, he defeated sin, and he defeated the grave.

He rose three days later to display his amazing power.

And my friend, that power is available to anybody in this room who is online right now, if they'll choose by faith to believe it and begin to walk in it.

Let's walk in his love.

Let's stop believing the lie of the enemy.

Let's begin to move forward with who God called us to be.

Let's make heaven erupt with applause in that spiritual arena.

They stand in awe of what God is doing in the hearts of people.

And when we receive this love, realize this love, begin to walk in this love, everything begins to change.

So let's talk for a few minutes how to walk in the love.

I wrote down a few things.

Is number one is I have to become a participant.

If you really want to walk in love instead of the lie of the enemy, are you participating in what God is doing in the world?

See, church is a people you are, not just a place you go.

Bible says God calls us out of darkness into the wonderful light.

So we can be like a body of people in this earth representing who he is.

And you know what?

If you really wanna begin to understand the love of the Savior, Jesus, begin to participate.

Be a participator, not a spectator.

So here's the reality of it is, do you come and just watch the show every single week?

Or do you get involved with what God's doing in the world?

Because the reality of it is, if you're just a spectator, the enemy will begin to lie to you and just say, you know what, that's for them and not for you.

We come here to worship because God is for us and not against us.

We come here to worship out of the gratitude of our heart and who he is, not because we have to.

Oh, but because we get to, come on.

Amen.

It's a big difference.

Some of us are showing up religiously over and over and over again, being a spectator of the church when God is calling us to be a participator in the world and be the church.

And my friend, I can tell you right now, you wanna begin to diminish the lies of the enemy, get involved with what God's doing.

What God is doing in the world, he is doing through the local church because we are his people, we're his body.

He is the head and we are the body.

And God has chosen to work through his church.

Who is his church?

It's people from different backgrounds.

It's people from different ethnicities.

It's people who, it's both male and female.

It's not just the color of my skin or the language I speak or the status I have.

It's because I've received by faith the love of Jesus and I'm a part of his church.

And because I'm a part of his church, I can participate because the Bible says that God pours out his gifts on his people to do his work in the world.

And when you begin to do God's work in the world, you begin to participate in the love that God has shown you.

I'm inviting you not to be just a spectator, but a participator.

Look how the writer says it in Ephesians 4, verses 11 through 16.

He says, these are the gifts that Christ gave to the church, the people, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and the teachers.

What are their responsibilities?

Is to equip God's people, the church, to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children, just believe in a pack of lies.

Look what it says, we won't be tossed and blown by every wind of new teaching.

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way, more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.

As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow.

So the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Wow.

So what this says is that we all need to get involved and doing what God is doing in the world, to be a participator, not just a spectator.

What this is saying is if we don't wanna fall prey to every lie that comes along throughout history from people or whatever it is, we get involved and then we won't be like the waves of the sea being tossed from here to there and not knowing what life is about.

I can promise you, when you get involved and you participate with what God's doing in the world through the local church, the lies will begin to diminish and the truth will prevail and you will walk in the fullness of love and things will begin to change.

Slap your neighbor and say, get in the game.

Yes.

And again, I know that I'm a preacher of the good news.

But the truth of the matter is, is my heart bleeds because of people's lack of participation.

And I understand what, that, you know what, they are believing a lie of the enemy that they have no place.

They have no purpose.

They don't fit in.

My Bible tells me that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you have a part to play and you are to get in the game.

I don't care if you're first string, fifth string like me, whatever it is, do your part, just run to play, get in the game and see what God can do in your life.

It will begin to diminish the lies.

My friend, God is inviting people from everywhere to come to Christ Jesus.

He's inviting people to come to the love of the cross, the forgiveness of their sin, the power of the resurrection.

He's inviting you to be a part of his church.

He's inviting you to say, man, he's inviting you, hey, let's get on with life and let's defeat the enemy.

He's a liar.

He's a liar.

The enemy of your soul is a liar.

The Bible calls him the father of lies.

And I don't care what you did, what you have done, it doesn't disqualify you from what God wants to do in you and through you and he wants to do greater things, but you gotta participate and get involved.

It's an amazing journey when you get involved.

The second thing I wrote down is this, if I'm really gonna live out of the power of God's love, of Christ's love over the lie of the enemy, I gotta follow well.

I gotta follow well.

It's amazing.

Ephesians chapter five, much of it, that's the next chapter after Ephesians chapter four, but much of Ephesians chapter five is about submission.

It talks about submitting to one another.

It talks about the structure of a relationship between a man and a woman.

It talks about, Ephesians chapter six begins to talk about children's relationship with their parents.

Talks about basically employees' relationship with their boss.

And it's all about submitting to authority.

And see, if I'm going to submit to God, what that means is I believe that his ways are higher than my ways.

And I've got to learn to follow Jesus instead of everything else that I see in the world.

Who are you following?

What are you following?

I know some of you are following influencers on social media.

Are they leading you in the right direction?

Are they leading you away from God?

Are they leading you towards God?

Because the Bible says that if you really want to experience the love of Christ and you want to begin to get over the lies of the enemy, become imitators of God, follow Christ with your life.

Look what it says, Ephesians chapter five, verses one and two, it says, imitate God.

Imitate God is what the writer says.

In everything you do, because you are his dear children, live a life filled with love.

Following the example of Christ.

He loved us and he offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

See, this is what it means to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

It means that I submit to his authority.

He becomes my leader and I become his follower.

And again, when I become a good follower, the lies begin to diminish.

Jesus was tempted just like you and I are tempted.

The enemy came and whispered to him things about power and prestige and all of these things and he took the word of God and he defeated the temptation of the enemy.

And again, he walked in a life where he was kind to people who were unkind to him.

He walked in a life where when people disagreed with him, he still stood for the truth in the disagreement.

And he had love in his heart and he began to share that with people to help them come out of the lie into the truth.

The Bible says that Jesus is the light of the world.

And if you can continue to read here in Ephesians chapter five, verse 14, the writer says, and he's quoting from an Old Testament passage and he says, awake, O sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will give you light.

See, again, it's about following Christ because Christ always leads you into the light.

But the enemy will leave you in darkness.

And Christ doesn't give you the whole picture at one time.

He begins to ask you to take steps of followership and follow him in this journey, living out of who he says you are in this world.

And as I follow Jesus and I submit to his authority and believe that he has taken me to the greater life, the full life, the life that is filled with God, then what'll happen is the lies will begin to diminish and the love of Christ will begin to compel me to keep going forward.

Who are you following?

See, again, some of you are following your granddaddy.

Some of you are following Aunt Betty.

Some of you are following some, you know, person.

And again, you know, the reality of it is the writer who wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus, he once said, he says, follow me as I follow Christ.

So whoever you are following, whatever you are following, if it's not following Christ, I invite you to maybe step back from that, get your eyes set on the love of Jesus, get around some people who are walking in the right direction, come out of darkness, get into the wonderful light, and watch what God will do.

Come on.

Yes.

Follow well.

Doesn't mean you're perfect.

The enemy screws us all up upon occasion.

But the reality of it is, as he tries to strip us up, I'm willing to get up because of the love of Jesus over and over and over again, because I've learned that, you know what, when I get up and start following, and I let God become the leader in my life, the lies begin to diminish, and I can get over whatever he has tripped me up with.

It's about participation.

It's about following well.

And the last thing I wrote down is, I have to always be prepared, like a Boy Scout.

Just kidding, not like a Boy Scout.

But I have to prepare daily.

You know, I think that's the challenge.

Sometimes we wake up and believe the lie because we don't prepare ourself to meet what's in the world.

Think about it for just a minute.

This morning, most of you got up and didn't put on your tank top and your bikini.

And your beach shorts.

You prepared for the weather outside.

You came in here wrapped up in coats.

And you got yourself ready to meet what you were gonna face this morning when you stepped out of your house.

The reality of it is, is the Bible has given us a way.

It's given us a way to dress ourself in Christ Jesus each and every day so that we're prepared for what we're gonna face as we go out through the day.

And I can tell you right now, if you don't get on the right outfit, what's gonna happen is you're gonna step out into the world and the enemy is going to begin to get in your mind and take over your life.

So get prepared every morning before you leave the house.

I would even make it a habit to physically maybe stand in front of my mirror if I can't do this.

You know what, just laying in my bed, in my heart and my mind, I would get up and I would practice this in the mirror in the morning.

Because it's that important.

Because the lie of the enemy will win over the love of Christ in your life if you're not prepared for the strategies of the devil.

And the Bible says there's a way to do that.

And I wanna show it to you in Ephesians chapter six, verses 10 through 17.

The writer here says, look, I want you to operate in Christ's amazing love and not believe the lie of the enemy.

And he says, so here's a final word.

Slap your neighbor and say, here's a final word.

Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.

Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.

For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities in the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

They are working.

But God's love and what he did through the cross and the resurrection is more powerful if you'll get dressed in it daily.

I'm gonna ask someone to come up on stage and help us get dressed in what God says for us to get dressed in today.

And here's the reason why.

Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to one of our life groups.

It's where groups of people get together, study the Bible together, do different things together, do life together.

And that life group is Dave and Livia's, May's life group.

And as I went to their meeting, I was reminded of something that Dave basically does with his life group every single week.

And he helps them get ready and put on the full armor of God.

So Dave, if you could come on up, I've asked him to help me out today.

Yeah, there's Dave.

But what's amazing about Dave and Livia's life group, and some of you may be in their life group and in this room today, but as they kick off their life group every single week, Dave will come up and fellowship and do those kinds of things, then he'll pray.

And at the end of his prayer, he says, look, we need to get ready now.

We need to put on the armor of God.

And I'm gonna let Dave help us learn to put on the armor of God.

But before we put on the armor of God, I want you to understand basically what the armor is all about.

It's recognizing who you are in Christ Jesus and clothing yourself in His righteousness, not your own righteousness, clothing that and having faith in that and reminding yourself of that over and over and over again.

So Dave, I want you to come on up.

And Dave does such a good job.

He's like a coach of a great team whenever he does this.

So I said, Dave, help our congregation put on the armor today, come on.

So Dave, here you go.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Now, Valorous Church is the church of the opportunity, okay?

I started out as a greeter.

I went to work in the cafe and look at me now.

All right, what I do with my life group, and it's all about Jesus.

If you'll think about every part of this armor, it represents Jesus.

So what you're doing every morning when you do this is you're putting Jesus on your body.

You're actually clothing yourself with Jesus.

So I want you to stand up for me right now, if you will, please.

Because you're not gonna put it on Jesus sitting down, okay?

All righty.

And just repeat after me what I say, all right.

Our first piece is the belt of truth.

My chest is covered with the breastplate of righteousness.

Feet shod with the gospel of peace.

Pick up the shield of faith.

Let's hear your authority.

Pick up the shield of faith.

The helmet of salvation.

And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

And we finish like this.

He's my rock.

He's my fortress.

And He's my deliverer.

Let's get out there, ambassadors.

Let's go for it.

Thank you, Dave.

Awesome.

So again, the writer continues on in verse 13.

I wanna read to you.

He basically says what Dave just encouraged us with.

He says, therefore, he says, put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.

Then after the battle, you will be standing firm.

Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth.

David just talked to us about that.

And the body armor of God's righteousness.

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared.

In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

Put on your salvation as your helmet and take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Man, what would it look like if we truly got dressed in that good news, that amazing message every morning and put on our armor as we face the enemy?

He began to try to tempt us with the lies.

Things would begin to change.

I'm here to declare to you today, the enemy wants to suck the life out of us.

Get dressed daily.

Know there's a battle and it's with a liar.

And remember the truth of who you are in Christ.

He loves you, He rescues you, He restores you, He redeems you, He provides for you, and He has a purpose and a plan for your life.

And I am fully accepted and I am highly favored.

Come on.

My friends, it's real.

But you have to be willing to walk in the love.

It's already been offered.

It's already been given.

It's God gave His life on a cross.

He don't have to jump back up on that cross and keep doing it over and over and over again.

The Bible says He died once for the sin of the world.

And anyone who would so believe in what Jesus did for them on that cross and through the power of His resurrection would be rescued, would be saved.

And so maybe you've never really received the love.

Maybe you've spent your entire life believing the lie of the enemy.

Believing that you had to do more.

You had to earn more.

You had to be more.

God is asking you today.

To rest in the love of the cross of Christ and receive it in your heart and begin to walk by the mighty power that lifted Him from the grave.

And my friend, if you're not doing that, I would love to give you the opportunity to ask God to come into your life.

Let me pray for you.

God, I pray for people all over this room.

God, if there is one here today that has not received the love of Christ and what He did on that cross as He demonstrated who you are, that you love us no matter where we come from, that God, today would be the day that they repent, they turn away from their sin and turn their heart towards the love of Jesus.

My friend, just say, God, today, I need your forgiveness and I need your love to come into my life.

Ask God to flood you with the amazing love that Christ showed for you on that cross.

Tell God you believe that Jesus resurrected three days later from the grave so that you could begin to operate in the power that lifted Him from that grave.

My friend, I invite you to begin this journey, understand that it is walking in His love, not just receiving His love, is how we'll begin to fight our battles and do amazing things in this world.

Life is like an arena, but our Savior has already won and we're thankful for that.

We praise God.

We encourage each other to walk in the fullness of who we say, who He says we are.

Jesus, it's all because of you and we ask all of these prayers in your name today.

Amen.