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The River ChurchSermons

Justin Dean · 14 Jul 2026

Justin Dean · Tuesday, 14 July 2026 · 36:10 · 5,137 words

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The sermon closes the 'Stand Against' series by looking at the armor in Ephesians 6:13‑17, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It explains that the helmet shields the mind from lies of the enemy, the flesh and the world, while the sword enables believers to counter those lies with Scripture. The speaker shows how memorized verses bring peace when fear or worry attacks, and he calls listeners to ask God for the armor they need and to respond in prayer.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

sword 43 enemy 35 lie 28 helmet 14 attack 18 equip 12 piece 14 tonight 12 need 42 memorize 8 context 11 offensive 7

Topics

Salvation 8 Prayer 4 Sin 2 Faith 2 Mission & Evangelism 1 Sanctification 1 Righteousness 1

Scripture referenced 13

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Ephesians 6 3:01 Ephesians 6:13 3:01 Ephesians 6:13-17 3:58 Romans 10:9 11:45 Romans 12:2 12:27 Hebrews 4:12 20:08 Hebrews 4:12 20:17 Psalms 46 28:31 Philippians 4:13 30:29 James 1:5 30:34 Romans 8:39 30:52 1 Corinthians 10:13 31:06 2 Timothy 1:7 31:16

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

So tonight we come to the close of our series, Stand Against,

and we get a chance to take a look at these final two pieces of this equipment that God gives us for battle.

And the reality is this spiritual warfare, this opposition that we face, is a constant reality.

We've kind of talked about that week in and week out.

When each of us become believers, we are thrust into this war because the enemy looks to oppose what God is doing in our lives.

And the enemy being our own flesh, our own sin, the enemy of the devil, the enemy of our world, a sinful world.

And so the reality is we are in this fight.

And as believers in this fight, we need to be armed.

We need to be protected.

We need to have this armor.

These offensive and defensive pieces of armor so that we can, what Paul says in Ephesians, withstand our opposition.

And not only can we withstand that opposition, but we can begin to take ground.

Because we know that even though our world has fallen, even though Satan wants to take us down with him,

and even though our flesh is sinful, our God is greater.

And he has equipped us and called us.

To be more than conquerors for the purpose of salvation and that gospel.

And so tonight, like I said, we're going to be taking a look at these last two pieces of armor

and what they mean for us as believers and why God has given them to us.

But before we do, let's pray.

Let's pray before we dive into God's word.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the ways that it teaches us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, the ways that you use it to grow us.

Lord, I pray that tonight, as we talk about the helmet and the sword,

Lord, that you would show us why we so desperately need these pieces in our lives.

Lord, and that tonight you would use your word to transform our lives.

In your precious and holy name, Jesus' name, amen.

And so we're in Ephesians chapter 6, starting in verse 13.

I'm going to read all the way 13 through 17.

And on there, we see,

like I said, Paul is writing to this church in Ephesus.

These Ephesians, they make up the church at Ephesus.

And he's writing to them about this armor that they need to be equipped with.

And this is kind of how he's finishing out this chapter,

or actually the entirety of this book.

And he wants to highlight to them,

hey, here is what God is giving you.

And so as you look to accomplish these things,

the only way you're going to accomplish these things

and the only way in which you'll accomplish these things

that I'm writing to you with is to be equipped.

You're going to find opposition from the enemy

when you look to pursue these godly things in your life.

And so here is what you need.

And this is what he says.

Ephesians 6, 13 through 17 says this.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God

that you may be able to withstand in the evil day

and having done all to stand firm.

Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth

and having put on the breastplate of righteousness

and as for shoes for your feet,

having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace

in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith

with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts

of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

And so here are these last two pieces,

the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

And so tonight we're going to start with the helmet,

the helmet of salvation.

So what does a helmet protect, right?

Protects your noggin, your brain, right?

And so when we look, we say,

we talked very early on when we were talking about the breastplate,

when an enemy comes after you and you're in this battle, right?

There's a sword and spear and arrow.

Really, they're aiming for two main points.

Places to take you out.

Either your heart, which we talked about at length, right?

Specifically when it comes to the breastplate of righteousness,

how righteousness protects our heart.

And then the second way is they're coming for your head, right?

Two very easy things, crucial to the body, right?

You get hit in the head, you are either knocked unconscious,

which basically is a win, or you're outright killed.

And so there is this need for protection of,

of the head.

And that's why helmets were invented.

And if you look at anything today

that puts someone's head in danger,

there's a helmet.

Hockey, football, even in war today where bullets are flying,

they're still wearing a helmet.

The reality is the head, and more specifically,

the brain needs to be protected.

And so our head is in danger from the enemy.

loves to go for our heads.

Our flesh loves to go for our heads.

The world loves to go for the head.

More specifically, loves to attack our minds.

There is this reality that as a believer,

Lies from our enemies that are meant to attack our hearts

and our minds.

Trying to get us to believe things,

things about ourselves, things about the world,

things about just the reality of life that are simply untrue.

Whether that's from culture that's trying to tell us

certain things about our value or our worth,

things trying to tell us things about what provides us

satisfaction, where we can find self-worth,

whether that's from our flesh that is trying to constantly tell us

this is where we stand or this is how you achieve these,

these things, or this is what you really want,

or whether it's our enemy who is literally prompting all the rest.

There is this, these lies that are being fed to us.

And on top of that, there is this ultimate lie that says,

don't talk about it.

Don't talk about it.

When you feel these things, when you think these things,

when this war is being waged on your mind,

and maybe some ground is being taken and there's this

internal struggle in your brain,

the last thing you want to do is talk about it.

And even beyond that, the even further thing you don't want to do

is you don't want to talk to Christians about it

because they'll just judge you.

They'll just tell you, oh, you're worse because you think that way.

And so there's this, there is this push from our enemies

that where they're going for headshots and they lie to us

and they tell us things like, I will always be an addict.

They tell us things like, I'm not worthy of anything.

I'm not worthy of anything to anybody.

And it would be better if I just simply wasn't around

or if I just faded off into the distance.

They feed us lies where our mind starts to believe

that no one really cares about us,

that no one really loves me,

that everyone has it all together except me,

that I have to be perfect or I have to act a certain way

or I have to do enough things in order to make up

for what I've done.

I won't ever make it through whatever this,

this thing is that I'm going through right now.

There is lie after lie after lie that is attacking our minds.

And there is a need for protection.

There is a need to call those things exactly what they are

because if we aren't, we don't have our minds protected,

you know what happens?

The enemy gains ground in our head.

And so what Christ does is he calls those things,

He says, simply those things are not true.

And how does he do that?

Not only with his word as he preaches through God's word,

because we're going to talk about that in a second

when we talk about the sword,

but he does that with the very demonstration of salvation.

Each one of those things that is a lie

that is so common for people to believe,

for us as addicts to believe,

or as we struggle in our addiction to believe,

look, and we say salvation attacks those things directly,

cancels those out, calls those things what they are, lies.

Why?

Because God saw us in our sin,

saw us as people who rebelled against him,

who chose our own way,

who looked to do our own things,

who pursued evil,

who made ourselves enemies of God,

who sinned, who did things according to our own way,

That's what sin is.

And even though we aren't worthy,

even though we're sinners,

even though we've pursued evil,

even though we have no merit in ourselves,

God sent his son, Jesus Christ,

to live a perfect life.

The son of God comes to earth.

God and man live a perfect life

and go to the cross and die in our place.

Endure the wrath of God

so that we did not,

so that we could be forgiven,

so that we could,

so that we could be made a new creation,

so that we could be seen

not as children of disobedience,

but be children of God Almighty.

And then that salvation is offered to us

as Paul describes in Romans 10, 9.

If you confess with your mouth

that Jesus Christ is Lord

and believe in your heart

that he has risen from the dead

and conquered those things which claimed us,

then you will be saved.

And this heavenly,

ultimate of salvation

is placed on us.

And what does it do?

It begins to transform

and give us perspective

on the lies of the enemy.

When the gospel steps into our lives,

what it does

is it begins to shine a light

on the very things

that the enemy looks to attack.

The headshots, Romans 12, 2.

This is what Paul addresses.

He says,

do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed.

How does that transformation process start?

And be transformed how?

By the renewal of your mind.

That by testing,

you may discern what is the will of God

and what is good and perfect and acceptable.

So when we look

and we encounter those lies,

when we're trying to fall asleep

and these thoughts are creeping into our heads,

whether it's at the lowest point in our life,

whether we're sitting in the parking lot

of the liquor store

and we're saying these lies to ourselves

because the enemy is just pushing them,

pushing them, pushing them,

aiming for the head,

we look and we say,

I have been given salvation from God

and so my mind is being transformed.

Instead of saying,

I will always be an addict,

we look and we say,

Christ has made me a new creation.

The old is gone

and the new has come.

Instead of looking and saying,

I'm not worth anything to anyone,

we look and we say,

I am worth more than anything

because Jesus gave his life for me

and he loves me.

He went to the cross for me.

I have worth because of what my Savior has done for me.

We go on.

Instead of saying,

no one really cares about me,

we look and we say,

God deeply loves and cares for us.

That's why he sought to free us.

That's what salvation is.

Everybody has it all together but me.

Salvation looks and says,

nobody has it all together

and we're sinners and screw-ups

but that's why we need Jesus.

I have to be perfect and act a certain way

in order to make up for what I've done.

You won't ever be perfect.

That's why we need Jesus

for the forgiveness of our sins,

not for reparations for our sins.

I won't ever make it through this.

No, God is our very present help

and he has been

the most present help

because in our biggest issue,

destination of our soul,

he came through.

And so in whatever circumstance

you're walking through,

he will come through again.

There's this reality

that Satan looks

and there's just attack after attack,

lie after lie after lie

and what salvation does

is it covers our mind

because we begin to look and say,

this is the truth

of what God has done for us.

This is the truth of what God has done for me.

This is the truth

of how he saved me.

This is the truth of his character

and the ways in which

he has demonstrated that to me.

And so I refuse to believe

the lies of the enemy.

I can't believe the lies of the enemy

because Christ has done

more than what the enemy

preaches to me.

See, lies.

And then we look and we say,

we have to fight these lies

by doing,

by doing exactly what Jesus did.

Call them lies.

And how do we do that?

By sharing them

with our brothers and sisters

who also are part of this salvation

that we've been given.

Our heads together, if we will, right?

Where we look and we say,

man, I'm feeling this way.

I am struggling right now

with feeling worth anything to anyone.

We share that with our brother

and sister in Christ

and they have the opportunity

to speak the truth of salvation

to us again.

So we can hear it

and we can be strengthened by it

and we can be encouraged by it.

We can be reminded of it.

We are being transformed.

We have this renewal

that comes from salvation

and our lives and salvation

as a community of God's people

and the reality that we're under attack.

No one is perfect.

We're all under attack

from our enemy

and we are far stronger

with when we say,

we stand with our brothers

and sisters in Christ

and when they're in need of a helmet

because for whatever reason

they're struggling,

we put it back on

and fasten that chin strap

so you're good to go.

Be reminded of what Christ did for you.

Be reminded of how Christ has called you.

Be reminded of the realities

of salvation in your life.

As we look and we say,

salvation helps us

to protect ourselves.

Be protected in our minds.

And what salvation also does

is it helps us to see

the value of this next piece

that Paul talks about in verse 17.

He says,

take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the spirit,

which is the word of God.

Now, the sword of the spirit,

if you think about a sword,

many people think of it

just as this offensive weapon.

But in reality,

a sword is,

as much a defensive weapon

as it is an offensive weapon, right?

When someone strikes,

looks to strike with a sword,

what's one of the best ways?

You can either parry it with your shield, right?

Well, we see that the shield,

one of the main purposes of the shield

is to protect us from these arrows

that are coming in.

But a sword, it can also parry.

It can also block.

It can hit the sword

and throw it off course.

The reality is our sword

helps us to block

and to jab.

And so we look and we say,

there is this reality of

the sword as a defensive

and a offensive piece

of our kit,

our spiritual equipment

that we both use it to defend,

but we also use it

to go on offensive

and attack our enemy.

We look to attack our world

through the proclamation of truth.

We look to attack our enemy,

the devil,

with word after word

after word of scripture

that both proclaims

his failure and downfall,

but also cuts through his lies.

We look to attack our flesh

by carving away

that sinfulness in our lives.

That we look and we say,

we don't want this.

Cut this out of me.

And this is very much

what the preacher in Hebrews,

many of whom believe

is also a preacher,

but also Paul says in Hebrews 4.12,

he talks about the word of God

and he uses such vivid imagery here.

He says this,

for the word of God

is living and active,

sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing to the division

of soul and spirit

of joints and marrow

and discerning the thoughts

and intentions of the heart.

And I love how he describes

this sharpness,

sharpness of this sword.

Because when you encounter something

that is very, very sharp,

the reality is you have to be

careful with it, right?

If you're anything like me

and you see a sword,

your first intention

or your first thing is

you go up and pick it up

and you start swinging it, right?

Come on, let's be honest, right?

You see something

that's even remotely sword-like,

like a stick, right?

I pick it up

and I'm swinging it around

like a sword.

Maybe that's just me, right?

But the reality is

we have this thought,

we're drawn to pick it up

and wave it around.

But there is a big difference

in me wielding a sword

and an Olympic fencer

wielding a sword, right?

There's a very vast difference, right?

Because I can swing it around,

but I'm going to be honest,

I am in more danger

swinging a sword

than my enemy

most of the time, right?

Like, I'm going to end up

hurting myself.

I'm going to end up dropping it.

I'm going to end up

somehow stabbing my foot

or cutting my leg off, right?

But a fencer

who that's all they do

is practice technique

after technique,

wielding sword, sword, sword,

and actually training

against others

who are wielding swords

and looking to come after them.

There is this sense of

they know how

to utilize this tool, right?

Me, I'm just a crazy person

another sharp object,

but in the hands

of an Olympic fencer,

a sword is as useful

in a surgeon's hands, right?

And so the same is true

There are people in this world

who they never touch God's word

except for when they need

to use it to make a point.

And they just Google,

oh, what's the answer to this?

What does the Bible say about this?

They don't look at context.

They don't look how it falls

in the grand scheme of things.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

They don't look at context.

And they are wielding God's word

waving it around

like an insane person.

They don't know how to

use God's word.

They don't know how to

wield God's word.

Many of us,

we look and we say,

why don't we understand

what God's word has to say

about X?

Because we don't train

with God's word.

When the enemy comes after us

and looks to take us down

and we can't figure out why,

we don't know how to

ward him off with God's word.

It's because we never train

with God's word.

In order to utilize God's word

to its greatest potential,

what do we have to do?

We have to pick up God's word

and train ourselves

with it regularly.

You hear me say this all the time

that God's word is of

crucial importance to our lives.

And I say, hey,

go back to guest services,

The reason I say that

is not just because

I like giving out Bibles

as much as I love

giving out Bibles.

I look and I say,

hey, you need to be equipped.

You need to train

with God's word.

And I want to make sure

that you have

that crucial piece of training.

Why?

So that when the enemy

comes after you,

you are not only equipped,

but you are strong,

dangerous people

to our enemy.

Yes, a sword is valuable

even in the hands

of someone who doesn't know

how to use it,

but it's far deadlier

when someone is trained

on how to wield it.

a crucial piece of a sword

is you need to have

a sword ready, right?

Imagine being out

on the battlefield,

ambushed by the enemy.

You look down,

oh, I forgot my sword at home.

Wow, that's doing

a lot of work there, right?

Like there's no purpose

of it being there, right?

You need your sword

for when the enemy attacks.

And sometimes the enemy attacks

when you least expect it.

Sometimes there are no

battle lines drawn.

Sometimes there is

an ambush that happens.

And so you need

to have your word

not back at home,

but ready by your side.

It's always funny

whenever I go to the airport,

usually my bag ends up searched.

I don't know why,

but they always look at me funny

when I pull out a Bible.

But I look and say,

wherever I'm going,

I know I'm going to need God's word.

Even on the plane,

I might need God's word.

Who knows where I'm sitting by

and I get a chance

to talk to you about God's word.

But even more than

just simply carrying

your Bible in your hand,

there is a far better way

to make sure that your sword

is always at your side.

And it also pairs really nicely

with your helmet.

It's making sure it's in your mind.

There is a huge piece

of wielding God's word

that for some reason

we've left simply to children.

It's memorizing scripture.

If any of you know Awana, right?

it's all about memorizing scripture

and they go,

and they memorize scripture

and they recite it

to whoever their Awana leader is

and they get a prize.

So for some reason we think,

well, I'm not really great

at memorizing things.

And, you know, memorizing,

that's kind of like

something they do in school.

I don't need to memorize God's word.

If I need it, I can Google it.

The reality is we need God's word

ready in our mind.

There is this reality.

You don't know when you're going

to be ambushed by temptation.

You don't know when lies

are going to set in.

You don't know when worries,

is creeping at your door.

You don't know when fear

is breaking in.

But whenever that's happening,

when you have scripture memorized,

you can always go on the offensive.

You can always fight back

with God's word.

Why?

Because you always have

your sword with you.

Yesterday, my dad had surgery

to fix some things

that were going on with his heart.

And my dad is typically

the rock of my family.

And so when my dad kind of goes down,

there's a,

there's a natural worry

that sits in my heart.

Because dad doesn't go down, right?

Dad, dad doesn't have any weaknesses.

Dad doesn't fail.

And so there was this worry

and this fear and the stress, right?

The enemy was attacking me,

but I pulled out my sword.

This scripture that I have memorized

specifically for times when worry,

fear, anxiety, hardship

come into my life.

In these times of worry,

my mind immediately goes

to Psalm 46, one through three.

God is our refuge.

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear

though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble

at its swelling.

Those moments, right?

Where there's fear,

there's trepidation,

there's worry.

It's making my gut a knot.

I mean, I know one,

one move with my sword.

God is a refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

It gives me peace.

It reminds me to go to the Lord in prayer,

not try and work it out on my own,

not try to just tough it out,

not try to just deal with it,

put it off,

bury it.

It's turned to the Lord.

Go on the offensive to the lies

and the defensive run to my refuge and strength.

I could have kept worrying.

I could have let that stress eat me out

into pour me out into my heart.

But instead I turned to God's word

and I turned to the Lord in prayer.

My dad's doing fine.

He's out of surgery.

But it's not always about the result.

Sometimes it's about meeting the need that you have

in the moments where you need it

because Satan is going to do everything he can.

Your enemy is going to do everything they can

to get you to compromise and be destroyed.

But it's not just in places like that.

Here are some great references.

If you're struggling,

if you're in need,

some great passages.

If you're in need of strength,

God will give you strength.

Philippians 4.13

If you're in need of wisdom,

God promises he'll give you wisdom.

If you are fearing that you'll be separated from God,

that you've somehow done something

that has just made it impossible for you

to still be a Christian,

you can know that God will never let you be separated from him.

No temptation is too much for you

and God will help you in your time of temptation.

That's one that I think we all need

in this room, right?

1 Corinthians 10.13

If there's deep fear and you are in need of help

with fear to overcome that fear,

Those are just a few, right?

Those are just off the cuff.

Hey, you're struggling with this?

Here's how you can use your sword.

Here's a great sword stance

to fight against the enemy.

There are tons of passages.

God's entire word is this wonderful sword

to combat the enemy in our lives.

So here's the deal.

As we close this series,

I wanna encourage you to turn to the Lord.

And I encourage you most nights to turn to the Lord.

Here's how tonight's a little different.

I want you to ask him to equip you.

We've talked about all the different pieces of the armor.

And maybe you've forgotten those past weeks.

Maybe just think about tonight.

What is it that you are in need of equipment for?

Maybe your mind's under attack.

You're struggling with the lies of the enemy.

Maybe your heart is under attack

and you're in need of this breastplate of righteousness.

Maybe you need those feet of the gospel of peace.

Maybe you need this shield

that overcomes these flaming darts of the arrow

of the enemy that are coming into your life.

Or maybe you're in need of this sword

to cut down the things in your way.

We'll have table leaders down front here.

I encourage you to come and pray with them.

Maybe tonight in your table groups,

talk about what,

am I in desperate need of

this section of my recovery?

Or if you're a family member here,

as I love and care for my family member

who's struggling through addiction,

what piece of the armor do I need

to help stand firm as I care for them?

To come and to pray.

Say, Lord, I need you to equip me.

Lord, I desperately need this piece of the armor

that you give me.

Lord, help me to strap it on tight.

To look and say,

I will not lose these pieces of the armor,

but instead I will wear them and stand firm.

What are we in need of tonight

as we fight our adversaries?

Turn to the Lord for those things.

They are only his.

They're not ours.

He equips us with these things.

Tonight, maybe you're in need of salvation

for the first time.

You want to move from being a child of wrath

to a child of God.

I'd encourage you, ask questions.

Come and pray.

I'll talk with you.

A table leader will talk with you.

Whoever, don't leave tonight

without making that decision.

Let's turn to the Lord this evening.

Lord, we turn to you.

Lord, we ask you this evening

to transform us,

to transform our lives,

to transform our minds,

to transform our hearts.

Lord, that you would renew us with your word.

Lord, as we wrap up this series

and we've looked at the reality

of being equipped to stand firm,

Lord, I pray that tonight

you would help us to humble ourselves.

Not think we can do it on our own,

not think we can do it on our own strength.

Not think that we can equip ourselves, Lord,

but to turn to you to be equipped.

Lord, tonight as we looked at the helmet of salvation,

the ways that it protects us

from the lies of the enemy.

Lord, we looked at the sword of the spirit

and the ways that it equips us to cut through

to defend from our adversary.

Lord, I pray you would help us

to make those things priority,

to emphasize them in our life,

to pick up our sword

and to train with it regularly,

to put on this helmet of salvation

and to remind ourselves of this gospel,

what this gospel means for us.

Lord, I pray that you would give people

courage and boldness to come down

and pray and turn to you.

Lord, we love you in your precious and holy name,