I AM VICTORIOUS - PTR ALVIN GUTIERREZ - 4PM AFTERNOON SERVICE

3. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his
mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of
God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes.

4. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
12 For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms.

5. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that
when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplateof righteousness in place,

6. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the wordof God.

7. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests. With
this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray
also for me, that whenever I speak, words
may be given me so that I will fearlessly
make known the mystery of the gospel,

8. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I
should. 21 Tychicus, the dear brother and
faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you
everything, so that you also may know how I
am and what I am doing.

9. EPHESIANS 6:10-24
22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose,
that you may know how we are, and that he
may encourage you. 23 Peace to the brothers
and sisters, and love with faith from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all
who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying
love.

10. THREE THINGS YOU
MUST KNOW IN
ORDER TO BECOME
VICTORIOUS

11. (1)
KNOW THE
ENEMY.

12. EPHESIANS 6:10-11
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his
mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of
God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes.

13. There’s a third variable that we
absolutely have to factor into
everything, and that’s Satan and
demons.

14. The truth is, we’re all soldiers.
But it takes an army to win a war.

15. Jesus loves us; Satan hates us.
Jesus has plans for us; Satan has
plans to oppose us. Jesus, in every
way, will bless us; but Satan will, in
every way, seek to undermine that
blessing. It’s a war!

16. EPHESIANS 6:12
12 For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms.

17. People are not our enemy;
Satan and demons are our enemy.
The Bible speaks of non-Christians
as captives.

18. This is why Jesus says very early in
his earthly ministry that he has come
to set captives free.

19. WHO IS SATAN?

20. WHO IS SATAN?
•Satan was created by God.
•So, he’s not God; he’s not equal to God.
•He doesn’t share all of God’s attributes.
•God can be everywhere; Satan can’t. God
knows everything; Satan doesn’t. God
reads your mind and thoughts; Satan can’t.

21. WHO IS SATAN?
•He’s created; he’s also fallen.
•He’s rebelled against God.
•He’s turned his back on God.
•He’s declared war on God.
•He’s also very powerful as a spirit being,
akin to an angel who has turned to the
dark side.

22. WHO IS SATAN?
•He’sverypowerful.
•He’s also been observing human history for
thousands of years, so he understands how
to readpeople.
•He can’t read your mind, but he can read
yourlifeand yourbody language.

23. WHO IS SATAN?
•And we’re not all dealing with Satan
because he is limited, but he has
demons at his disposal.
•These are fallen angels, rebellious
angels, who joined him in his war against
God.

24. The root of demonic work is always
sourced ultimately in pride.

25. Satan will, in every way, tempt and
test your pride. He fell through pride.
The angels who fell with him and became
demons fell through pride. And he will
tempt you ultimately through pride.

26. EPHESIANS 6:12
12 For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms.

27. The language here is like that. It’s hand-
to-hand combat. It’s where they’ve got
their hands on you, you’ve got your
hands on them. It’s exhausting. It is
absolutely exhausting.

28. Ministry is like that. Serving Jesus is
like that. Preaching the gospel is like
that. Growing our church is like that.
Planting a new church is like that.

29. Some of you don’t give, you don’t pray,
you don’t serve because you know it’s
going to be a fight. So, you’ll just stand
on the sidelines and cheer and criticize
those who are at war.
Know your enemy.

30. (2)
KNOW YOUR
KING.

31. Who do you fight for? You know what? If
you don’t know whom you fight for,
you’re probably not going to fight
well.

32. EPHESIANS 6:10
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in
his mighty power.

33. You need to know this: it’s his fight. This is His
church. This is his book. The spiritual battle—
it’s his war. It’s not yours; it’s not mine.
We’re not the King; it’s not our Kingdom.
We’re the servants; we’re the soldiers, we labor
for a Great, Glorious, and Good King.

34. You’re not going to make it for a lifetime. You
cannot make it for a lifetime. You can’t
motivate yourself for a lifetime of war. There’s
no shortcut to a lifetime of war. You’re going
to need strength that is beyond you,
strength that is apart from you.

35. Jesus is going to need to give you his
strength, because yours won’t do.
You can’t serve Jesus for a lifetime
without Jesus’ strength.

36. You can’t love your spouse for a lifetime
without Jesus’ strength. You can’t raise your
children for a lifetime without Jesus’
strength. You can’t be a faithful Christian
leader for a lifetime without Jesus’ strength.

37. It’s his war fought by his strength, and this is
ultimately the person, the presence, the power
of the Holy Spirit—that Jesus gives us the Holy
Spirit, the Holy Spirit who empowered the war
life of Jesus against temptation and exhaustion
and sickness and opposition and criticism.

38. How Jesus persevered, how He was
strong, was by the power of the Holy
Spirit, and He sends that same Holy Spirit
to us to empower us.

39. All God is asking you to do is
what you cannot do. That’s all
He’s asking you to do.

40. We need to factor all these variables in. It’s not
just us and God. Satan and demons are
opposed to us, but then Jesus gives His
strength to us. Once we know all of this, we
know why it’s hard, but we know why we’ll
win. Life starts to make a bit more sense.

41. (3)
KNOW YOUR
WEAPONS.

42. EPHESIANS 6:13-20
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that
when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplateof righteousness in place,

43. EPHESIANS 6:13-20
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is
the wordof God.

44. EPHESIANS 6:13-20
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in
mind, be alert and always keep on praying for
all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that
whenever I speak, words may be given me so
that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of
the gospel,

45. EPHESIANS 6:13-20
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I
should.

46. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS:
1) Belt of Truth
2) Breastplate of Righteousness
3) Shoes of the Gospel
4) Shield of Faith
5) Helmet of Salvation
6) Sword of the Spirit (Word of God)

47. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS:
7) Praying in the Spirit
8) Perseverance

48. (1) BELT OF TRUTH

49. JOHN 8:44
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you
want to carry out your father’s desires. He was
a murderer from the beginning, not holding to
the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a
liar andthe fatherof lies.

50. (2) BREASTPLATE
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

51. Some of you have got excuses for your sin.
You don’t need to excuse your sin; you
need to fight it. You don’t have to give in to
temptation. You can instead, by the grace of
God, through the power of the Holy Spirit,
choose to walk in righteousness.

52. (3) SHOES OF THE
GOSPEL

53. You never know when the enemy’s
attacks are going to come, so you have
to always be ready. People who make
the transition into ministry struggle with
this.

54. He says these shoes are the gospel. This is
the good news about our king. The reason
you sleep with your shoes on is so that he
can bring the gospel whenever there’s an
opportunity. That’s what he’s saying.

55. (4) SHIELD OF FAITH

56. This is vain regrets. Satan will haunt you for
things that Jesus has forgiven you for. You’ll be
haunted. Accusations—you’re not loved, you’re not
forgiven, you’ll never change, you’re a fraud. Any
time you hear “you,” it’s your enemy. People think
they have negative self-talk; they often have
demonic accusation.

57. So, what do you got to do? He says you’ve got to
hold up the shield of faith. “No, I trust the Bible. I
trust Jesus. I trust the gospel. I trust the truth. I
trust it.” And you’ve got to hold it in your own
hand, and you’ve got to hold it over your own head.

58. (5) HELMET OF
SALVATION

59. You’re going to get rattled, you’re going to get hit,
you’re going to get attacked. What he’s talking
about is the helmet of salvation. False teaching is
going to come. False teachers are everywhere.
The media today loves denying parts of the Bible,
smiles and says the word “love”.

60. You’re going to be surrounded with false
teaching and all kinds of lies and half-truths
and temptations and confusions.
You’ve got to keep your head on straight.
Helmet of salvation.

61. (6) SWORD OF THE
SPIRIT (WORD OF
GOD)

62. Every time you pick up the Bible and say, “I’ve got
to read it today, got to study it today. It’s the night
to go to cell group. I’m going to go to FCC. Going
to download a podcast and listen to it on the way to
work so I can learn the word of God.”
You know what that means?
It’s an act of war. It’s an act of war.

63. You’re born on Satan’s team; you’re born
again on Jesus’ team. There are really only
two kingdoms. There are really only two
teams. And if you’re on Jesus’ team, you
better keep the sword in your hand.

64. (7) PRAYING IN THE
SPIRIT

65. One of the most important things in the battle
is communication. You need to talk to
headquarters; you need to listen to
headquarters. We call that prayer.

66. How’s your prayer life? If you don’t know
you’re in war, you don’t feel like you need
to listen to the commander in chief, and you
don’t feel like you need to talk to him.

67. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Primarily, he will bring to
mind the word of God which he has written. Prayer
is our communication plan. It’s how we talk to
God; it’s how God talks to us. It’s how we tell him
what’s going on, though he already knows, and it is
the way that he gives directives to us.

68. (8) PERSEVERANCE

69. He says, “Perseverance.” Perseverance.
Four times in this section he uses the
language of “stand.” So it’s, “Stand, stand,
stand, stand.” A soldier needs to hold his
post—right, soldiers? You plant your feet.
You stand.

70. It’s not about your gifts. FCC does not exist as an
opportunity for you to showcase your giftedness.
Your King gave you a job, and it’s about the
victory for his kingdom. It’s not about you; it’s
about his kingdom. It’s not about you; it’s about our
church. It’s not about you;
it’s about setting captives free.

71. Paul’s final words.
He says to pray for the leadership.

72. PRAY FOR GRACE
AND PEACE

73. Pray for grace on our church from Jesus.

74. Peace is peace in our church. There’s
nothing worse than one soldier
shooting another soldier.

75. Don’t turn your guns on each other. Don’t gossip about
one another. Don’t become embittered against one
another. Don’t despise one another. Don’t attack one
another. Don’t criticize one another. Satan and
demons have already got that covered. The enemy
role is filled. We don’t need you to join them. So
pray for peace in our church.

76. Who wins in the end, Satan or Jesus? Jesus.
So, we know that our king wins, and we know
that his kingdom reigns, so we are able to
persevere and endure—why?
Because we know the end.

77. Soldiers never get this benefit. The end of the
war is always up to the possibility of not a
victory but a loss. Our great king has
defeated Satan and demons at the cross,
and he will disarm and destroy them at his
second coming, and we’re living in the time
between the times.

78. CONCLUSION
• Know the Enemy.
• Know your King.
• Know your weapons.