[0:00]There is always something you can't see influencing what you can. And if you spend all of your time, your energy, your effort trying to hit at what you see popping up in your life, you're going to be so frustrated and by the way, exhausted because as soon as you take care of one thing, another one is coming back. Unless you do what the Apostle Paul says, pull back the curtain and let the enemy know we got our eyes on you.
[0:29]And we're going to use some weapons that actually work back there behind the curtain.
[0:36]So I have three boys. Um it's a little bit scary to me that they are nearly and it will be very soon in the next few years will be about your age. Three sons. The distinguishing characteristic about my boys is that they are giants. They are huge boys. My 15-year-old is 6'2" tall. He wears a size 14 men's shoe. My 13-year-old is about 6'1", he wears a 13 men's shoe and uh they tower over me. I have a nine-year-old who's coming up in the ranks with his brothers. They are tall boys. Somebody come help me feed these people. And one of the distinguishing characteristics about or or what makes their size work for them rather is that they do love sports. So whatever sport is sort of in season that's what we're playing at the time. My second son for a lot of years, he's in a basketball now but for a lot of years baseball was his thing and I enjoyed that. I enjoyed baseball season. I like going out there for spring ball. I like spring ball cause you go sit in the cool of the evening while your kid is practicing. I remember all those years of of Little League when he was just coming up and we'd sit out there in the cool of the spring evening under the lights of the bleachers watching him practice and enjoying just uh that that whole atmosphere. I like spring ball so much. The only problem with spring ball is that it is going to become summer ball. And I don't know what happens where you live, wherever you're coming from, but I can tell you in Dallas, Texas, which is where I still live and where I was born and raised. In Dallas, Texas, in the summertime it doesn't warm up slightly. It gets hot. I'm talking about slap your mama hot. That kind of hot. The kind of hot where you feel like the sun must be mad at you about something. Like you did something to the sun and the sun is trying to get you back all summer long, that's what it feels like. And you're sitting out there at a game trying to enjoy your kid's game and it really still is okay when there's just one game. The problem is that at the end of every season there's a tournament. So you got to be out there on a Thursday at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM and noon and 2:00 PM. And then depending upon how your kid's team did, you're going to have to come back on Friday at 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM and then they give you a little lunch break but you got to come back for the 2:00 PM game, the 4:00 PM game and then if your kid's team had the nerve to do well, you got to come back again on Saturday for the 8:00 AM game and 10:00 AM and and noon and two and man, you're sitting out there under the blazing sun trying to be happy that your kid is doing well. Really you're wondering if it's ever okay to pray to lose so you can go home. I will never confirm nor deny that I have ever done that. But I will tell you that we were sitting out there at a tournament. So several years ago, sun was blazing. We were so excited for the lunch break just because that meant we would be able to go to a restaurant where there would be air conditioned and ice water that actually had ice in it. We got refreshed. We came back. We drove our SUV up into the parking lot, opened up the back of the SUV so that we could pull out all the gear that we needed to go to the next game in the tournament. We were three days into the tournament. Hot, sweaty, they were doing well. We were trying to be excited about it. Ready for the next game. I was walking behind my son to get from where we had parked the car over toward the dugout where the next game was going to be played. And so I gathered up all the stuff, you know, the ice chest that you have and the um the umbrella that you might have to go over your head and, you know, the water bottles, the the backpacks, the baseballs, the mitts, all that stuff.
[4:10]And I was following behind my son. My second son, Jerry Jr. is a fairly gregarious personality. He's outgoing. He's excited for a challenge. So I could see that in his step as I followed behind him. I could see a skip in his step, his chin was up, his shoulders were back. He was excited about the next game. And I got to tell you, he's pretty good in baseball. He has a natural knack for it. I remember at 10 years old was the first time he got a good hit and sent it sailing over the fence line at 10 years old. And I think it's partly because of his size, just a lot of power behind his swing. A great as a first baseman. So we were really excited about his success in baseball and and I watched him as he kind of hopped and skipped over to the next game, just excited about the next challenge in the tournament. But because I was following behind him, I had my eyes glued on him and I could see when something changed. I could see that as we took the short walk from where we'd parked the car over to the dugout, I could see that his shoulders started to hunch over and his head hung down. I could see that that that that skip that had been in his step, it changed. He was kind of walking like he was nervous. He was ringing his hands a little bit. I saw that he was looking around, his eyes darting and looking a little bit sketchy. I was trying to figure out what happened to my boy. It was a short walk from where we'd parked the car over to the dugout and all of a sudden his countenance had completely changed. So I started looking around trying to figure out what was going on. Why did he look so insecure and fearful all of a sudden? I realized as we were going toward the dugout, we were walking past some kids from another team. They were all laying on the grass underneath the shade of an oak tree getting ready for the next game. As I passed them I could see this was the team we were about to play next. Kept walking and I kept getting a look at these boys. And when I looked at them, I realized what my son's problem was.
[6:07]We had faced this team before. We had faced them earlier in the season. And when this team had played my son's team earlier in the season, they had annihilated us. It had been a complete embarrassment, a complete upset. This team right here, y'all, they were serious baseball players. But we had to walk right by them to get to the dugout. As we walked past, there were two players. They were talking to each other. One was whispering to the other. I think he thought he was whispering but we could hear him. He leaned over to the other one and he said, there goes that big kid from the Red Sox team. Is he the one that hit the ball and it went over the fence? Yeah, he was the one at first base, the one that caught any of the outs that we got in the game. That was him. So that's Jerry Shirer? When my boy heard his name cross the lips of the opposing team members, his shoulders that had been hanging down, all of a sudden, I watched them pop back again. I watched his chin go up. I watched him get a little swag back in his step as he headed over toward the dugout. In fact, we had to bring him down a few notches before the game started. It's amazing really how your countenance changes when you really overhear and understand what the enemy thinks about you when he sees you coming. It doesn't mean that the challenge goes away. It means that in the face of it, you're different, your stance is different because you recognize that when the enemy sees a daughter or a son of God coming his way, he's shaking in his boots, not because of you, but because of the Holy Spirit of God that lives on the inside of me.
[7:50]I came to tell somebody today that even if you don't believe what it is that the Word of God declares to be true about you, you need to know that the enemy does. He knows that every single thing that God's Word declares to be true about you, every word that has been declared over you in these last few days of this conference. Even if you're not convinced about it, the enemy is. He knows that you have been forgiven. He knows that there is therefore now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. He knows that you have been given the victory. He knows that you have been made competent by the Spirit of God. He knows that there is therefore now no condemnation for you or for me. No shame, no guilt. He knows that you have not been given a spirit of fear, but a power and love and of a sound mind. And y'all, he knows that in the end, we win.
[8:50]And I'm saying what a shame it would be for the enemy to believe more about your potential than you do.
[9:00]What a shame it would be for us to go out of here with all of this inspiration that we have been given, this investment of God's Word that he has gathered us together over the course of these days to worship in Spirit and in truth and to hear his Word declared true over our lives. What a tragedy it would be for us to walk out of here and still live like we were before we came through these doors. So what the enemy will do is scatter challenge in front of your life. Cause listen, you're going back home to challenge. Y'all do know we're going back home in a little while, right? And don't we wish we could wake up to this every single day. Don't we wish that we could have God's Word spoken over our lives with this much authority and power every single day and be in the presence of leaders who can lead us into the presence of God in worship every single day like this, but the reality is we're going back home. The challenges of your university campus, the challenges of your home, your relationships, your friendships on your job. Those challenges will be sprawled out in front of you when you get home and let me tell you something, what the enemy hopes is that the sight of them will cause you to shrink back in so much fear and insecurity that you'll never step up to the plate of being who God has called you to be.
[10:46]It is at least in part to this end that the Apostle Paul gives us a passage of Scripture that has become a lifeline for me. In fact, I was talking with uh Christine yesterday. Kristen I've known each other for a very long time, very close friends and she was asking me what I was going to speak on and I had several thoughts of directions that I was uh leaning toward. But in the end, we as we were talking, the question came up if there was only one thing you could say to them. If there's only one message that you ever have the opportunity to tell these students, these young people that will be gathered together on this occasion, what would that message be? And there was one thing that immediately popped into my heart and my mind for you at the end of this year's Passion Passion conference. The words of the Apostle Paul. He writes them in the book of Ephesians. Listen, let me just tell you quickly before I read this passage. You got if if you've not read the book of Ephesians, you're going to have to read the book of Ephesians. Y'all listen, it's it's like for real. The Apostle Paul, y'all, he know he was a bad boy. He gave us most of what would become the New Testament. Letters written to first century believers that now disciple us and help us to mature as believers and as the body of Christ. And scholars say that of all of Paul's writing, really the cream of the crop, the cherry on top of the cake, is Ephesians. Because in the book of Ephesians, y'all, he just spends the first half of the book just rehearsing who you are as a daughter or a son. He wants to make sure you step up to the plate, rise to the occasion of who you've been recreated in Christ to become. Those of you who placed faith in Jesus Christ last night, who stood to your feet at the end of Pastor Louis' message and you placed faith in Jesus. Listen, the old has gone and the new is come. You're a daughter, you are son and you have full rights and privileges that have been granted to you. The Apostle Paul wants you to know what is the hope of his calling and choosing you. He writes in the first and second and third chapter about the treasure that you have. He wants you to know about the mercy that has been lavished upon you, the grace that has been given to you. He wants you to know that if you've been rejected by everybody else, you've been handpicked, chosen and adopted by the one true God. He wants you to know that if you've dug a pit of sin for yourself, that is so deep you can't find your way out of it, that the mercy of God is so great and so grand that it can reach down into any pit and snatch you up out of it once and for all. In fact, Paul gets so worked up that by the time he gets to the middle of the first chapter, he bursts out in a prayer and he says, I'm praying that the eyes of your heart would be open so that you would just know what is the hope of his calling and choosing you. And after going over and over and on and on about the lavishness, the richness, the grace, the mercy, the goodness, the adoption that has been poured out over us, the forgiveness that has been granted to us. He's trying to figure out how do I close this letter to make sure they step up to the plate. How do I put an exclamation point on Passion 2018 to make sure that what God has given them they don't hand over to the enemy as soon as they walk out the door. And the Apostle Paul says, pull back the curtain and let the enemy know we got our eyes on you.
[14:24]And we're going to use some weapons that actually work back there behind the curtain. Y'all, I wish I had learned this when I was 18, 19, 20, 21 years old that that person, that physical problem isn't really where you need to invest your energy. Pull back the curtain, use the weapons that actually have power.
[14:38]The Apostle Paul wants you to know that the tactics of the enemy are serious business and so he uses a specific word to describe them. He says, schemes. Listen to me, he knows your weaknesses. He knows how to dangle what carrot at the right time in the right way to make sure you are snagged in particular.
[15:07]Have you ever wondered or found curious that that particular carrot is always dangled in front of you when you are most tired, when you are most vulnerable, when you happen to be most hungry, most alone, most weak? That particular carrot, the one that wouldn't mess with your friend because it's not her deal, it's not his deal. He's not enticed by that. But the one that entices you, always shows up at the right time. Y'all, that's not coincidence. That's a scheme. The enemy is trying to derail you. He's trying to make sure that you don't walk in a manner worthy pleasing of the Lord. That you come in here but that you don't go out of here a purpose to live for the glory of God. He's trying to trip you up. Not only for his own benefit, but because he does not want you having access to everything that you are privy to as the rightful heir to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It's a scheme.
[16:08]So if he's got tactics, we need tactics. The Apostle Paul outlines them for us. I'm just going to read them to you because he says in verse 13, you need the full armor. And here's what they are. Verse 14. He says, make sure that your loins are girded with truth. Then he says, you need a breastplate and the breastplate is called righteousness. And then in verse 15, you got to have something for your feet if you want any hope of being able to move forward successfully. So your feet need to be shot with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. And then not only that, but he says, there are some flaming missiles of the evil one that he fully intends to send sailing into your path. You're going to need a shield and the shield is your faith. And then you know there are lies. There are strongholds that he's going to try to erect in your mind. You're going to need something to protect your mind. He says you need a helmet and the helmet is your salvation. But not only that, he says that you are going to need a sword, really a dagger of the Spirit. It was about 18 inches long or so, the one the Apostle Paul is referring to. You need a dagger so that when the enemy is all up in your space, you've got something close at hand to make sure that he stays at bay. You need a dagger of the Spirit and the dagger is called the what? The Word of God. But y'all, he doesn't stop at those six. Can I just say that there is one more in 18, verse 18. Traditionally, it's taught as six. I really believe there are seven pieces of armor because in verse 18, he says, pray.
[17:53]Not like, you know, a prayer a day to keep the devil away. Not like a prayer over your meal just cuz that's what your mama did and your grandmama did and that's what you're supposed to do. Not something quick and casual. Fervent, prioritized prayer. Y'all, you can't have victory if you don't pray. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? Prayer is the key that unlocks the resources of heaven so that they can be unleashed on planet Earth. Prayer is the key. He's actually given you to get all the good stuff down here. Cause I don't know about you, but I don't want to wait to get to heaven to experience all that God has for me. Any bits of heaven he plans to give me on earth, I want it right now. Prayer accesses the bits of heaven he intends to give you now. And prayer, listen, prayer is what pushes the kingdom of darkness back. It's what pushes it back. That's why Jesus said, my house shall be called not a house of good preaching, not a house of good singing, not a house of great spotlights and production, not a house of great cafes. I hope you have all of that. Enjoy it. But Jesus said at the end of the day, my house better be called the house of prayer because spotlights and fog machines and great singing and great preaching, that won't necessarily push the kingdom of darkness back. But when my people, who are called by my name, when they will humble themselves and when they'll pray, he says, then I'm going to hear from heaven. I'm going to heal the land. The enemy will have to bend the knee at the name of Jesus in prayer. So pray. Back in our grandmama and our grandparents' days, great grandparents, they wanted to honor God more than they wanted to impress people.
[19:59]See, the problem with Instagram and Twitter and social media, if there's a problem, y'all, the problem is we want this. We want to be impressive.
[20:13]And if I'm worried for our generation, it is that we are impressive but we don't have breastplates on. It is that we have the applause of people and our selfies are perfectly lit and we have a whole bunch of friends and a whole bunch of Instagram likes and people are following us and the enemy is thrilled because we have sacrificed holiness on the altar of impressing people. You got to live for the applause of heaven. You got to decide. I will not be politically correct before I will choose to be holy. I will not be impressive before I will choose to be holy. I may not be the the the person that everybody wants to be around. I may not be the most impressive, but what I will be is holy because a time is coming, y'all, where we are going to see our Savior face to face. And when we see him, he will not ask us how many Instagram followers we had. He will not ask us how many friends liked our post. He will not want to see the selfies that we took. When we see him face-to-face, he's going to ask us, did we do business with his son, Jesus Christ? And then, then we're going to give an account.
[21:40]And I don't know about y'all, but I'm looking for well done. I want Jesus to look at me and say, you did the thing, girl.
[21:58]Not because they bought the books, they bought the Bible study, they saw the movie. No, you did the thing because you honored me whether with an audience of one or an audience of 30,000, you honored me. I came to tell you, brothers and sisters, walk with integrity. Be in the dark who you are in the light.
