Hold The Line | Week 6 | Mark Griffith | Echoes Church

bring my wife or sometimes I'll get my wife to come, sometimes I won't. She's not with me this time. But regardless of if she's with me or not, I usually share our story everywhere we go. Cause it's my favorite story to tell.

Like the third or fourth time I was with my wife when we were dating, I was sitting on her couch and she starts weeping. And I'm like, oh no. She's like, gotta tell you something. I'm like, Okay. And I'm thinking, oh no, there's a kid I don't know about. You know?

I would have stayed. I mean, I loved her pretty much at that time. But no, she goes she's like, I have a brain tumor.

And it presses up against my pituitary gland. And if you know anything about the pituitary gland, this is the control center for your whole body. You know, so her hormones had never been regular. She had never been regular. And she knew that apart from a miracle or medicine,

biological kids likely wasn't in the cards for us. And honestly, I didn't really care. I'm like, girl, I'm with you. I'm riding with you regardless. We'll figure it out. And so fast forward, we get married,

you know, and then we've been married for I think about four years, and we've tried. Okay? Won't get into the details. We but we tried. You feel me? And nothing. And you know your friends start having kids.

And the negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test. It gets discouraging. So in 2020, she comes to me. She goes, hey, Mark. She goes, I want to get certified to foster kids. I'm like, what? Yeah. Okay. Okay.

So we do the whole thing, man. We get certified to foster kids. That was in 2020 weird year, right? But then January 2021, we get a call about two kids A one year old and a two year old. Same mom, different dads. And they need placement. And this case will likely go to adoption,

and we were coming into foster care to adopt. That was our hearts. And so

I'll never forget the first day I saw this one year old and this two year old. Our hearts just wrapped around him. The Bible talks about how God knit together David and Jonathan in love. I felt like that happened. Like the minute I saw him, it was just like, I love you. You know? Just these big blue eyes, bug eyes, like just and so we bring them in January 2021.

We're thrilled and terrified in all of it. And like, here we go. We're parents, you know. And that was January, February, March 2021. She's pregnant.

And you know, we shouldn't be surprised because the God we serve, he is a healer. He does redeem. He does restore. He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. Amen? And so yeah, ever since 2021, I've been recovering ever since. It's been

not easy to go from zero to three kids in a year. So can I show you just a picture of my kids really quick and then I'll get into the word? Would that be all right? Here we go. We have Jazzy Rose. Oh, they're so beautiful.

I get asked like just about every other week if they're triplets too, because the two were preemies, and then the bio kid has my genes, so she's just like this massive four year old, and yeah, it's it's they're all the same height. So Jazzy Rose is my oldest. Elena Marie.

And then miss Glory Dawn is our biological miracle baby in the middle. And here's what's so here's one of the best parts of the story. We ended up adopting the two two years later.

And when Glory was in mom's belly, we decided on that name. Glory Dawn felt like her story pointed to God's goodness and testified of his faithfulness and she ends up being born on Christmas morning. You can't make this stuff up. Anybody want to get saved? That's the message. That's it.

You know, I share this story. It's one of my favorite stories to share. But a piece of the story I don't always share is this, is the fear I was warring with before stepping into this though.

I remember as we're going through the licensing process, and it's about to be finalized. We're about to finish it. I was just struggling with some of that fear and that worry of like, can I be a dad? Can I do this? Can I provide? Like, I don't and I just told my wife, just need to go in the living room. I just I just need to go spend some time with the Lord. I just wanna go pray. And so I go into my living room to just have an honest conversation with God. To be still in his presence.

And I'm just thinking like, you know, God, is this something I'm supposed to be doing? And I just wanna tell you this church that if you ask God if you should take care of orphans, it is a dumb question to ask. It is.

And so I was sitting there and praying, and I felt like he put Romans eight fifteen in my heart. Which says, you no longer have a spirit of fear where you're a slave. I've given you a spirit of adoption

so you can call me Abba Father. And I just felt like you whispered to my heart, Mark, I want you to do in the natural what I've done for you in the spiritual. But it was that word. Are you grateful for the word of God that can speak to you in a season that can provide clarity,

that can correct you, that can rebuke you, that can encourage you? I mean, where would we be

without the word of God? It was that word from God that gave me the courage and the confidence to step into the very thing that I was called to do. Because here's what I found to be true. The enemy loves to place opposition in the places that God's called you to occupy. Did I say it too fast? You get it?

Yeah. There's things God's gonna put in your heart to do. The Bible says this, you were created anew in Christ to do good things that he prepared long in advance.

You have divine assignments on your life. Do you know that? Before you ever popped out of your mama, God had plans. He had a hope. He had a future. He had divine assignments for you. That is a reality

about what your life consists of. When he created you, he created you with intentions that you would complete good things. But if you think that you'll just graze and lollygag into those good things, you are sadly mistaken. You will meet opposition in every place that God's called you to occupy.

This is why we're doing a series called Hone the Line. This is why we're talking about spiritual warfare. You think God wants Echo's church to get its own building to keep reaching people to people to keep being saved, keep being baptized, marriages being restored, depression fleeing, people getting healed. You're gonna meet some opposition.

Why? Because God has something for you to occupy. But it just as much as there's a God who has divine assignments for your life, there is an enemy at work simultaneously who wants to steal, kill, and destroy. And so we're doing a series to say, we're gonna learn how to fight. That's what we'll do. We'll learn how to fight.

And so we've been walking through the book of Ephesians, and Paul addresses this. He knew this would be the reality of every believer that's here. You're gonna be in a spiritual battle every single day. So Paul writes to this, and he speaks to this in his letter to the Ephesians. But I just wanna set up quickly

what Ephesians is so we understand. It it's like there's two halves of Ephesians. Okay? And in the first half, Paul is addressing belief.

He's addressing, I want you to understand what it means to be in Christ Jesus. When you put faith in Jesus, what he does in the human heart, and what that means about your reality. I want you to know that it is only by Jesus. It's not what you do. It's not what you can achieve. It's not how much you pray. It's not how holy you are. It's it's something that God does in his mighty grace for you. It's not by your work. It's not by your performance.

I want you to know this is God. Now once you receive that and he transforms you, the second half of the book is, okay, we got the belief right. Now here's the behavior. Because how many know this? Proper belief always precedes proper behavior. What we do is often just a reflection of what we think.

So Paul goes, I gotta get this order right. You are in Christ Jesus. He uses language like this in verse in chapters one through three. You're chosen. You're adopted. You're redeemed.

And and and the later chapters four through six, he shifts to show how that identity should shape the daily life of the believer. He addresses unity. He talks about personal transformation, healthy relationships, and standing firm spiritually because you will be in a spiritual battle.

And so here's what he writes towards the end of Ephesians.

You guys probably have this memorized by now. Ephesians six starting in verse 10. A final word. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you'll be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

For we're not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in heavenly places. Paul says, I want you to know, believer, you're in a battle. Buckle up, boy. You're gonna have to fight.

He addresses it. He talks about, okay. But what does that look like? How do I do that, Paul? He goes, I'm so glad you asked. Verse 13. Ephesians six, therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you'll be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. And then after the battle, you'll be standing firm.

Stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on 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 salvation as your helmet.

And then he says this, and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He doesn't leave any ambiguity around what the sword is. Oh, that's the word.

See, what's so interesting about these pieces of armor and can I just say this, your pastor has done such an incredible job teaching on the armor of God and pastor Chris last week? Unbelievable word. Like if if Jack Black was a Christian preacher, it is Chris. We love you, man. I just this is the only service I'm saying it in. Edit it out. Alright? He incredible.

But has this has this series helped you?

So practical. Your pastor has this ability to just this teaching gift on his life to divide the word of God rightly and make it practical to your life. And I just think it's why God is one of the reasons why God is blessing what's happening here. But one item you haven't talked about is that sword.

And here's what I find interesting. You know, there's the breastplate and the belt and the shield and all these other pieces of equipment. They're meant to defend against the attack of the enemy, but there is one piece of equipment he mentions that is for the offense. The sword. What does that tell us?

That God doesn't want to just equip you to defend against the attacks of the enemy, but he wants you to fight back. And so this morning, we're gonna learn what does it look like to fight with the sword. Now we learned something about the battle in in because I don't think this fight looks like we think.

It's not between flesh and blood. It's spiritual. So what does that look like? And where is that taking place? And, man, I'm ready to fight with this thing, but where do I fight with this thing? And what does that look like?

Paul says this in Romans seven. In his vulnerability, he actually confesses something. Watch this. Romans seven verse 20. I have discovered this principle in life that when I wanna do what is right, I don't. And I'm encouraged by this because if you know anything about Paul, he was a bad dude.

I mean, you talk about like a super Christian. He was a super Christian. Like, he said way more than I probably ever will or ever could. Yet he says in a in a place of transparency, I love God's law with all my heart, yet I do what I don't wanna do. And he says this in verse 23, there is another power

within me that is at war with my mind. I just wonder if much of the battle, it takes place in our mind. And maybe as Paul's confessing this, some of this resonates with you. I I wanna follow Jesus well, but I just can't seem to get it right. I I wanna do better, but I just keep messing up. And so begins this internal narrative

in your head. Try and fail and try and fail, and I'll just be more disciplined, and I'll just work harder, and I'll just clench my fist and squeeze my cheeks and hope that I can do it, and I don't. And all of a sudden, this internal narrative begins. I'm too broken.

I'm too sinful. I'll never measure up. God couldn't love me. This has been in my family for generations. It's gonna be in mine too. I thought maybe I could break it, but and before you know it, your contaminated belief gives birth to contaminated behavior. And then it's easy to feel like I'm losing the battle.

And I came from Springfield, Missouri, which don't go,

to say it's time to pick up the sword. We're gonna fight. Hebrews four twelve says this, for the word of God is alive and powerful. That's good. This thing is alive and it's powerful.

It's sharper than the sharpest two edged sword cutting between soul and spirit. Between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. This word will expose you. Second Timothy three sixteen says this, all scripture is inspired by God. Another translation says this, all scripture is God breathed.

This ain't just ink on a page. This thing has life. This thing breathes. You spend time in this and all of a sudden, you'll get your mind transformed.

You spend some time in this and you'll feel some conviction in your spirit. You spend some time in this, you'll find a new spiritual strength. You spend some time in this, you might start to notice that the spiritual fruit in your life begins to blossom. Why? Because this thing is alive and active. This thing is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking,

and training in righteousness. You wanna grow strong? You wanna win in the spiritual battle? You better pick up your sword. Let's go. Come on somebody.

Because without the word, you'll end up wayward. Without the word, you will end up wayward. Now when I got to thinking about practical examples of what it looks like to wield the sword of the spirit, I look no further than Jesus when he's led into the wilderness.

Jesus is baptized, and then it says the spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So let's read this together. Matthew four starting in verse one. Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and for forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry.

No crap. What is that? Right? During that time, the devil came to him and said, if you really are the son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. Now maybe you're like me and you read that passage, that that little nugget. He didn't eat for forty days and he was hungry. Yeah. That's normal.

But I think the author has intentionally included that because he's teaching us something. Jesus was hungry. You could say this. Jesus was in maybe a vulnerable moment. Don't be surprised when the enemy tries to step into your situation, tries to whisper into your situation in your most vulnerable moments.

Because it's hard to choose good godly community when I'm lonely. It's hard to serve and sacrifice for my spouse when I'm frustrated or hungry.

You gotta be careful. Our enemy loves to prey on your vulnerable moments.

But during this exchange, we'll see three things the enemy loves to attack, but we'll also learn Jesus will teach us what it looks like to fight with the sword. Number one is this. The enemy says turn those stones into bread. I want you to know this. The enemy will try to attack your appetite.

If you're taking notes, write that down. If you're not, pretend you are. Affirm something in me. Now Jesus is obviously physically hungry, but physical hunger isn't the only appetite I'm talking about here. Right? If feels good, how could it be wrong? Or or I desire that thing even though I know I probably

shouldn't. And we'll try to justify away. The enemy will try to get your appetite. He'll attack your appetite to get you from following what Jesus has called and assigned you to do. You you shouldn't have to suffer. You need more money to be happy. You deserve to let them have it because they hurt you, and this is the second time they did it.

If it feels good, do it. But when Satan attacks Jesus' appetite, Jesus picks up that sword. But Jesus told him, no. Verse verse four. The scriptures say You see that? The the the scriptures.

People do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

When the enemy comes whispering in your ear, you know you're lonely in this season. You say, I know I am, but I'm not gonna compromise on my community because I know the community I keep the closest shapes my character the most. Bad company corrupts good character. Iron sharpens iron. I'm gonna wait on God, devil.

When the when the enemy comes around, woah, this is really bad. You did what? You did what? You made what mistake? This is gonna be horrible. You should be really worried. No. I don't know.

He he tells me that I shouldn't worry about anything, but I should pray about everything. So I think instead, I'm just gonna pray, devil. Well, this is what it looks like to fight with your sword. Man, I'm I'm worried. I just am am I am I good enough? God says, look at the lilies. Look at the birds.

I care about them. How much more do I care about you? Pick up your sword, son. Pick up your sword, daughter. It is time to fight.

The lie underneath appetite is ultimately this. What I want right now is more important than what God has said. Let us not neglect what God has said. Amen? We need to fight with our sword. When the devil realizes Jesus won't compromise on his appetite, the next thing he tries to attack is his need for approval.

Watch this. Matthew four verse five. The exchange continues. Then the devil took him to the holy city Jerusalem to the highest point of the temple and said, if you are the son of god, jump off.

For the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. And Jesus responded, well, the scriptures say

because even though the enemy might be using the scriptures, we know that he always mixes a little bit of truth with a lie. He always that he comes appearing as an angel of light. Right? Jesus fights back. He says, you might you must not test the Lord your God. Man, let us not forget too.

Jesus had already been approved by God. Jesus is baptized in that water. Jesus hasn't healed anybody on earth yet. Jesus didn't round up 12 men and change the world yet. Jesus has essentially really done nothing in his earthly ministry. He comes up out of the water and God feels

loud and proud. He speaks out as Jesus comes up out of the water. The sky cracks open. Something like a dove descends on Jesus. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. And this is how God feels about you. Before you ever did anything, he had great love for you.

Listen, I didn't start loving my kids because they started getting a's on their tests. Right? It wasn't like, oh, you were the fastest one in gymnastics class. I love you, dude. No. I have this great love for my kid. I've been approved by God. He thinks the world of me. He proved it in his son, Jesus.

For God so loved the world, yet we will go chasing everything else for everyone else's approval. I remember the first time, bro, as a teenager, I felt called to preach God's word. I just I just did. But I was a sinful little sucker, man. And just anybody else? Like, oh my god. I think you wanna use me, but I suck, dude.

And seriously, you can't use somebody like me.

I've done too much. I'm too broken. I I've God, I barely even read my bible. I don't like how could you do this as a teenager? And eventually, God has been good, man. And there was a whole journey. And eventually, fast forward, obviously here, we figured it out, you know. But

I'm about to I'm about to for the first time, I'm about to preach to 3,000 people, and I had this dream in my heart as a teenager. God, I want to carry your word. I want to preach in arenas. I want to minister to the masses for your kingdom, for your glory. You know, let's conquer the world. And so I come out. I'm getting ready to preach in front of 3,000 people. I remember having this almost little internal feeling. God, I made it.

Look at us. Came out, did my best, pre preached as well as I could have, felt like it ministered to the room, saw people respond to Jesus, did the best that I could. But as I walked off that platform, something felt strange.

I remember thinking this doesn't feel like I thought it would. And without even realizing it, there was this part of me still trying to prove something to myself and to others and maybe even to God that I'm good enough for this. And I think sometimes this can be a temptation of us.

What I should have been concerned about and content with is being faithful to fulfill whatever God put in front of me and whatever he assigned me to do with all my heart and with all my might. My contentment needed to be found in Christ, not in a crowd or in circumstances.

So when the enemy comes around trying to get you off path to to satisfy this need for approval, We need to pick up our word. I've been approved by God. Amen? Last thing. When Jesus won't compromise on his appetite or his need for approval, the enemy has one last trick in his bag and it's this. He attacks his ambition.

Matthew four verse eight. Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And Satan said this, I'll give it all to you if you will kneel down and worship me. And Jesus says, get out of here, Satan, for the scriptures say. Are you seeing a pattern? When

the enemy comes around whispering, when the attack is on, when the war is taking place in your mind, you've gotta learn to pick up your sword. No. No. No. No. No. I know what the scripture say.

And Jesus says this, you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.

And eventually,

the devil flees. James four seven, it teaches us this. If you humble yourself before God and resist the devil, he'll flee from you. You can win this fight, y'all. I can win this fight. We gotta fight the right way. We've gotta hold the line. We've gotta stand firm. And here's an important part.

James also said this, if you just hear the word, but you don't do the word, you're deceiving yourself. So it's not enough to just I got some scriptures memorized. I got Jeremiah 2nine 11 tatted on me. Who in the room? Come on. There's some of you. It's a great verse.

It's not just having it tatted on my body. It's having it tatted on my heart and applying it when those thoughts come in. You think you can mother these kids? You know how toxic your mom was.

You you know how you know how awful that was. And you're just gonna do the same thing. You get angry at them. You think you could do this?

You're in the office. You wanna You you think you could disciple somebody? You think you could lease somebody? Don't you know what you've done? You you don't know that much about the bible. What what if they what if they ask you about something from the old testament? We'll all struggle. He

comes around.

But if but if you'll obey God's word, well, I'm called to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Well, I'm called to love my kids and serve my kids and sacrifice my kids. Proverbs says raise up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they won't depart from it, devil. So how about some of that?

It's time we fight. I wonder if there's some of you, you're in situations and circumstances. You've been discouraged, and you've been defeated. And I came to tell you, I came here to say pick up your sword. No. We're not gonna be discouraged.

We're not gonna lay down. We're not gonna let the enemy win. I'm gonna speak God's word. I'm gonna push back darkness, and I'm gonna populate heaven.

I just wonder if this morning I was supposed to swing the sword over some of your lives. Fight with the sword for some of you right now. Man, I got in at, like, 10:00 last night. I was on a plane, and I'll just be honest with you. I know I'm a preacher,

and I can be a little chatty. But on airplanes, I don't feel like being chatty. Okay? Confession.

And my AirPods were dying. They needed a charge. I popped them out. So the lady sitting next to me sparks up a conversation. Praise God.

She's a psychotherapist.

Okay? So she counsels people, and we get into this great conversation. And her dad was a Holocaust survivor, and she kinda had a a little bit of a Jewish background growing up. I wasn't sure where she is, and she asked me what I did for work. And I told her I wanna part of a missions organization. And I'm I'm preaching, I'm preaching in Phoenix. I'm going to the best church I know to preach. I can't wait.

And so we start talking about faith. And she goes, you know, but I think all of them, they're good, and they all kind of essentially say the same thing. Be kind to your neighbor and love love people, you know? I'm like, well

I said, you know what I think is really unique about Jesus, though? Every other religion you look at, it's gonna say achieve, try to accomplish, do more so you can reach enlightenment or so you can get into heaven. I said, but God looked upon humanity and said,

you can't do it. I looked at her. I said, listen. You're Jewish. I'm like, you know, the 367

laws or whatever it is. There's a certain amount of them. I don't even think that number's right. I go, just the 10 commandments. You and I, we don't even we don't obey the 10 commandments, girl. You know that. You lie, you cheat, you steal, you covet, you work on the Sabbath. Stop it.

Pulled out the 10 commandments on her, bro.

I said, God knew we could never hold up that standard. I said, what it did was it created a framework for perfection. So when Jesus would come, he would fulfill what perfection was so he could be the perfect sacrifice.

The word tells me this, Jesus is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. No one comes to the father except through him. That's truth. So with eyes closed, heads bowed in this room, maybe you've been one foot in, one foot out. Come on. I came to fight with the sword for you, but you gotta pick up this sword for yourself.

But you can't fight with that sword until you surrender your life. The Bible says this, if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart Jesus is Lord, you'll be saved. Maybe you've been back and forth. Maybe you've been indecisive. No more. It's time to confess and it's time to believe it's time to believe.

My bible said you were created through Christ and for Christ. If you never come into agreement with you were created

for Jesus, you're gonna wander your whole life. And I don't want you to wander because this is what it's gonna look like. You're gonna try to fill this God sized hole in your heart with accolades and achievements and a hot spouse and a lot of money, and none of it is gonna satisfy, don't wander, your whole life.

So if you're in here and you're ready to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart Jesus is Lord, you're ready, I want to affirm for you it's time. Let's do it.

So if you need to do that, I want to say a prayer with you. If that's you and you're in this room and you say, you know what? I'm ready to say yes to Jesus. I want you to raise your hand in three, two, one. Who am I praying with in this room? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Would there be 11? 11.

Perfect. Thank you. Would there be 12? Would there be 13? How do we feel about people saying yes to Jesus all over this place? Echoes Church. Come on. Incredible. Hey, let's say this prayer together. Let's confess and believe all together. Are you ready? Would you repeat after me? Jesus, I confess with my mouth

and I believe in my heart that you're Lord. I believe your sacrifice is sufficient to cover my sin. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Help me to follow you. I'm never turning back. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's give God praise in this place, Echoes Church.