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STAND: Steward the Victory · Clay to Crown

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello, everybody.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Welcome back again to the Clay to Crown podcast.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: I'm Amanda Hughes, and I'm so happy that you are
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: joining us today. I've been in a series of, this
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: is the last of a three-episode series about our true
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Christian experience. And today we're going to be talking about standing,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: that we fight from victory.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Not for it, right?
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: If you've been in the church world any amount of time,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: you've probably heard that phrase, but maybe you're not sure
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: what that means. Well, today we're going to talk about
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: it as we talk about the final movement of the
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: true Christian experience to stand. Ephesians 6.10 says, to be
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Stand against the schemes of the devil, to round out
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: through verse 11. I'll read it again together. Be strong
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Stand against the schemes of the devil. Not run, not panic,
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  Speaker 1: not fight in your own strength, but to stand. So
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: in the first episode, we talked about sitting, right? And
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: in the second one of this series, we talked about walking.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: So if sitting is our position and walking is our practice,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: standing is the believer's posture against the enemy. Not in fear,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: not in striving, but in the settled confidence of Christ's
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: finished work.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: And this is the truth.
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  Speaker 1: And when we grasp this truth, everything else becomes a
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: little bit more clearer. Only those who can sit and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: walk can truly stand. If you can sit in your
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  Speaker 1: identity and you can walk in a manner worthy, then
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: you can truly stand against the schemes of the evil one. Essentially,
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  Speaker 1: what I'm saying is if you don't know your position,
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  Speaker 1: you'll crumble. If you don't practice your walk, you'll slip.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: You need to fight like you train, right? Muscle memory.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: There's a reason why our military does training. There's a
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  Speaker 1: reason why athletes do training. It's that muscle memory. When
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the bullets are flying and things start going haywire and
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: there's chaos all around you, that is not the time
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: to learn how to unjam your rifle. You need to
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: learn how to unjam your rifle when things are safe.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: The tap, rack, bang needs to happen.
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  Speaker 1: Those immediate action drills, that muscle memory needs to be
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  Speaker 1: ingrained into you before the bullets ever start flying. So
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  Speaker 1: you have to fight back. you will fight, excuse me,
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  Speaker 1: you will fight like you train. And the nature of standing,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we might think that, you know, like sitting
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: is sitting, you're resting, you know, whatever.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Standing does take some energy. It's not passive.
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  Speaker 1: And when you stand, you're holding the ground that Christ
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: already won. Colossians 2.15 says he disarmed the rulers and
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  Speaker 1: authorities and put them to shame.
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  Speaker 2: Christ did that. You don't have to do that.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Christ already did that. He did that on the cross 2,000
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  Speaker 1: years ago. A lot of times, I think we think
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: that the cross was the beginning of of this thing,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: you know, this Christian, you know, that's the beginning. And
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  Speaker 1: it is the beginning of our faith, our Christianity. We
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: put our faith in Christ, but it's not the beginning
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: of the battle. What Christ did on the cross was
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  Speaker 1: the end of the battle. The victory is already secured.
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  Speaker 1: Our job is just to stand in it. That's why
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  Speaker 1: the quote at the we're just standing in it. And so,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and then we, we talk about spiritual warfare
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  Speaker 1: a lot, you know, but do we, do we really
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  Speaker 1: understand what that is? Um, Paul lays it out in Ephesians, uh,
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  Speaker 1: chapter six, uh, starting at verse 10. And this is
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  Speaker 1: probably in, in the scriptures, this is at least the
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: new Testament. This is probably the most concentrated teaching on
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: spiritual warfare.
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  Speaker 2: Um, What does he say?
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  Speaker 1: In Ephesians 6, starting at verse 10, he says, finally,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Whose mighty power? The Lord's mighty power, not ours. That's
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit power, right? And he says, put on the
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  Speaker 1: full armor of God so you may take your stand
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  Speaker 1: against the devil's schemes.
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  Speaker 2: For our struggle is not against flesh and.
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  Speaker 1: Blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
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  Speaker 1: powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces
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  Speaker 1: of evil.
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  Speaker 2: In the heavenly realms.
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  Speaker 1: We are in spiritual warfare, warfare of the spirit and
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  Speaker 1: by the spirit.
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  Speaker 2: And Paul's clear about what kind of warfare it is, right?
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  Speaker 1: He's clear about it. He's clear about what it is
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  Speaker 1: and he's clear about what it's not. He says, we
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  Speaker 1: wrestle not against flesh and blood. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: Um, It's not emotional warfare.
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  Speaker 1: It's not circumstantial warfare, personality warfare. It's not flesh and
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  Speaker 1: blood warfare. It's not carnal.
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  Speaker 2: It's not natural.
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  Speaker 1: This is warfare of the spirit, warfare sourced in, empowered by,
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  Speaker 1: and fought through the Holy Spirit. This battle is not
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  Speaker 1: fought with earthly weapons because it is not fought on
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  Speaker 1: earthly terms. Our strength to stand is spilled out in
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  Speaker 1: verse 10. Be strong in the Lord and in the
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  Speaker 1: power of his might. It is not self-confidence that I'm
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  Speaker 1: talking about. It's Christ confidence. Not strong in yourself, not
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  Speaker 1: strong in your own discipline, not strong in your emotions,
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  Speaker 1: but you are strong in the Lord. You are strong
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  Speaker 1: in his might, his authority, and his victory. And so
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  Speaker 1: then the word stand, right? Stand against used in verse 11.
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  Speaker 1: It means to hold your ground. You know, picture in
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  Speaker 1: like a defensive lineman or even an offensive lineman in football,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: and they kind of dig a little bit in, you know,
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  Speaker 1: when they take their stance before the ball is hiked,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: they dig their foot in a little bit, right? It
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: means to hold your ground, right? Paul uses the Greek
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  Speaker 1: word there, histemi, histemi, and it means to stand firm,
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  Speaker 1: hold your position, refuse to be moved. It's not advancing
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  Speaker 1: to take new territory. It's not about advancing to take
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  Speaker 1: new territory. And you might be twisting your head a
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  Speaker 1: little bit and say, what? Don't we need to take
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: territory for Christ?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we do.
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  Speaker 1: But more so, this is refusing to surrender the territory
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  Speaker 1: that Christ already secured. Remember what I said in Colossians 2.
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  Speaker 1: What does it say? It says that he disarmed the
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. So
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  Speaker 1: Christ already took the territory. It's already done. The territory
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  Speaker 1: of your life, of your being. So you don't have
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  Speaker 1: to strive.
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  Speaker 2: You're not standing.
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  Speaker 1: You're not advancing to take new territory. You're refusing to
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  Speaker 1: surrender the territory that Christ already secured 2,000 years ago.
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  Speaker 1: Standing is defensive. It's not passive. It's active resistance. It's
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: spiritual stubbornness in the face of darkness. So when Scripture
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  Speaker 1: calls us to stand, it's not calling us to aggression.
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  Speaker 1: Standing does not mean panicking. Standing does not mean scrambling.
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  Speaker 1: For those of you out there, maybe, you know, living
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  Speaker 1: in fear right now, you don't need to be cowering.
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  Speaker 2: Stand. You don't need to retreat. Stand. You know, those
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: of you who are being overwhelmed, you know, whatever, you
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  Speaker 2: don't have to be overwhelmed. Just stand.
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  Speaker 1: Stand in the confidence that Christ has already given you.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to be confused.
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  Speaker 2: Stand.
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  Speaker 1: Stand.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to be tossed around by what you feel. Stand.
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  Speaker 1: Because you're holding ground that Christ already won. We war
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: against Satan. Right? Not against flesh and blood. By the
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  Speaker 1: powers and principalities of evil. So we have to steward
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  Speaker 1: the victory that Christ has already gained. Steward that victory.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: This is the heart of New Testament warfare. We are
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  Speaker 1: not trying to win. We are enforcing the win. We
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  Speaker 1: are stewarding the win. We are not trying to defeat
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  Speaker 1: the enemy. We are standing in the defeat that Christ
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: already delivered. And this is the anthem of Ephesians. You
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  Speaker 1: are not fighting to become free. You are fighting because
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  Speaker 1: you are free. You are not fighting to gain victory.
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  Speaker 1: You are fighting because you already have authority. You are
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  Speaker 1: not fighting to overcome. You are fighting.
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  Speaker 2: Because Christ already did.
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  Speaker 1: The work and is an overcomer. He overcame death, hell,
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  Speaker 1: and the grave. Standing is the posture of someone who
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  Speaker 1: knows that the war is won. Paul says in Romans
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  Speaker 1: chapter 8 that we are more than conquerors. Well, we're
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  Speaker 1: not more than conquerors because of our own strength. We're
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  Speaker 1: more than conquerors because of his love. Standing is simply living.
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  Speaker 2: Like that's true. That's all it is.
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  Speaker 1: It's standing is living like that's true. And so, What is, like, practically, right?
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  Speaker 1: Because we try to get down to practicalities here. You know,
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  Speaker 1: Paul kind of gives four expressions of what it means
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  Speaker 1: to stand, right? What does that look like in our
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  Speaker 1: day-to-day Christian walk? What does it look like to stand? Well,
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  Speaker 1: the first thing he says is to act in his name.
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  Speaker 1: Standing is acting under Christ's authority, not in your name,
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  Speaker 1: not in your strength, not in your reputation. but standing
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  Speaker 1: in his name, the name above every name. And then
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  Speaker 1: we are to put on the armor of God, right?
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  Speaker 1: And if you have heard any sort of teaching on
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: spiritual warfare, undoubtedly you've heard about the armor of God.
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  Speaker 1: You have at least heard the phrase before, but let
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  Speaker 1: me explain it.
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  Speaker 2: A little bit biblically. First and foremost, the armor is
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  Speaker 2: not a costume. It's not a costume. It's a lifestyle.
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  Speaker 2: You're putting on truth.
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians 4, excuse me, Ephesians 4, 6, 14, it says,
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  Speaker 1: and so the truth stabilizes your mind. You're putting on righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: You're putting on peace, faith, salvation. And then you're using
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  Speaker 1: the word of God. This is how you stand. The
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  Speaker 1: armor is not symbolic. It's spiritual equipment. Talked about truth.
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians 6.14, righteousness, the same. It's Christ's righteousness.
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  Speaker 2: It's not yours. Peace.
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians 6.15 and then Isaiah 26.3, you keep him in
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  Speaker 1: perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you. Faith.
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  Speaker 2: Our victory is through our faith.
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  Speaker 1: Faith. Nothing can separate you from Christ Jesus, right? Romans 8, 38.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing separates us from the love of God. That's our salvation.
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  Speaker 1: And then the word of God, the sword of his spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews 4, 12 says that the word of God is
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  Speaker 1: living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword. Using
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  Speaker 1: these things, this is how you stand. These are not decorations.
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  Speaker 1: They're your weapons, right? if you, um, remember the media
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  Speaker 1: back during like, um, the Iraq war operation, um, Iraqi freedom,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of times you would see pictures of soldiers, some,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: you know, Marines usually, um, sleeping in the desert, right.
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  Speaker 1: Usually around their Humvees or, you know, their, their MRAPs
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  Speaker 1: or whatever.
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  Speaker 2: And they were sleeping in their full tactical gear, right?
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  Speaker 1: They're sleeping in their Kevlar helmet, their tactical vest with
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  Speaker 1: their sappy plates, which are heavy. You know, they got
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  Speaker 1: their battle belt on, their combat boots on. They got
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  Speaker 1: their weapons slung over their shoulders and everything. Why would
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  Speaker 1: they sleep with all their gear on? Because they had
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  Speaker 1: to be ready. What happens if they're not ready?
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  Speaker 2: Right?
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  Speaker 1: They start getting ambushed or overrun in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the night and they don't have their gear. They die
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  Speaker 1: or it's a potential to die, right? They had to
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  Speaker 1: be ready. So sleeping with their gear could mean the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: difference between life and death. So the spiritual armor that
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: we talked about, the belt of truth, the helmet of salvation,
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  Speaker 1: the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: all of these things, it's not something that we just
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  Speaker 1: put on once. It's something that we have to live in.
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  Speaker 1: It's our lifestyle. Then we have to believe what God said.
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  Speaker 1: You know, again, we're talking about the practical expressions of
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  Speaker 1: what it means to stand. We act in his name.
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  Speaker 1: We use Christ's authority in Jesus's name. We use the
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  Speaker 1: armor of God. We use the word. We use our faith.
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  Speaker 1: All of these things, right? And then number three is
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: that we believe what God has said. Standing is fundamentally faith.
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  Speaker 1: The enemy's primary weapon is deception. And so our primary
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  Speaker 1: defense is belief. Standing means believing God's word over your feelings,
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  Speaker 1: believing God's truth over the enemy's lies, and believing God's
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  Speaker 1: victory over your circumstances.
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  Speaker 2: Faith is not a feeling. It's a posture. And then lastly,
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  Speaker 2: we give God the glory.
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  Speaker 1: If we act in his name, use the armor, believe
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  Speaker 1: what he said, and then we give him the glory.
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  Speaker 1: Standing is worship under pressure. It is praising when you
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  Speaker 1: feel pressed. It is thanking God when you feel threatened.
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  Speaker 1: It is lifting your eyes when the enemy tries to
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  Speaker 1: lower your head. Worship is warfare, gratitude is ammunition, and
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  Speaker 1: praise is resistance. So if our sitting gives us identity,
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  Speaker 1: walking gives us integrity, but standing, standing gives us stability.
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  Speaker 1: Standing is our posture toward the enemy, not in fear,
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  Speaker 1: but in confidence. We don't stand to win. We stand
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  Speaker 1: because Christ has already won. We act in his name.
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  Speaker 1: We wear his armor. We believe his word and we
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  Speaker 1: give him the glory. This is the stance of a
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  Speaker 1: believer who knows that the war is over and victory
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  Speaker 1: is secure. And so as I wrap up this series,
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  Speaker 1: I think it's important. If heaven has already seated you
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  Speaker 1: and if the spirit is empowering your walk, And if
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  Speaker 1: Christ has secured your victory, have you aligned your life
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  Speaker 1: with the logistics of the kingdom? So the question becomes,
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  Speaker 1: if you are a follower of Jesus today, maybe you
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  Speaker 1: need to ask yourself, where do you need to sit again?
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  Speaker 1: Where do you need to rest again, trust again? Where
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: do you need to walk differently, speak differently, love differently?
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  Speaker 1: Where do you need to stand your ground, hold your position,
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  Speaker 1: refuse to be moved? The Spirit is not asking for perfection.
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  Speaker 1: He's asking for alignment. If you feel tired, if you
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: feel discouraged, if the battle has been long, hear the Scripture.
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  Speaker 1: He gives power to the faint. That's Isaiah 40, 29.
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  Speaker 1: My strength is made perfect in weakness. That's 2 Corinthians 12, 9.
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  Speaker 1: It's not about your strength. It's about his strength. Refuse
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  Speaker 1: the lies. Hold your peace. Speak scripture. That's how Jesus
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  Speaker 1: battled the enemy in the wilderness. He refuted the enemy's
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  Speaker 1: deception with scripture. Resist temptation. Remain unmoved. When we're standing,
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  Speaker 1: it's about being consistent. Stand firm. The Lord is your strength.
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  Speaker 1: The battle is the Lord's. again, the spirit is not
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  Speaker 1: asking for perfection. He's asking for alignment. Where do you
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  Speaker 1: need to align yourself? Because the battle isn't happening around
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  Speaker 1: you because you're weak, right? So let's talk about that
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  Speaker 1: a little bit. Um, nature of the battle that we're in,
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  Speaker 1: he's not fighting you because you're weak.
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  Speaker 2: He's fighting you because you're valuable.
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  Speaker 1: The more you maintain that you will not be moved,
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  Speaker 1: the more you maintain the ground that Christ's victory secured,
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  Speaker 1: the less territory that he has. He's fighting you because
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  Speaker 1: you carry Christ's image. He's fighting you because you carry
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  Speaker 1: his authority. He's fighting you because you carry the spirit.
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  Speaker 1: So the battle, you know, a lot of times, oh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's about my past, you know, and we
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  Speaker 1: keep bringing up the past and all of that stuff.
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  Speaker 1: The battle's not even about our past. It's about our future.
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  Speaker 1: It's about us walking out what Christ has commanded us
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  Speaker 1: to walk out. It's about your calling. It's about your identity.
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  Speaker 1: The enemy wants to convince us that we're losing, but
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  Speaker 1: in reality, Christ has already won.
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  Speaker 2: Our job is not to win the war.
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  Speaker 1: Our job is to steward the victory that Christ already secured.
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  Speaker 1: So again, standing looks like refusing to believe the lies
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  Speaker 1: about your identity. When the enemy whispers, you're not forgiven,
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  Speaker 1: stand in the truth of what the word says. You
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  Speaker 1: are forgiven. The Lord forgot what he forgave you for.
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  Speaker 1: You know, he forgives over and over. One of my
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  Speaker 1: favorite verses is Isaiah 43, 25, and it's just so
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  Speaker 1: profound and And it goes, and I might mess it
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  Speaker 1: up because I'm winging it right now as the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: leads me, but it goes, I, yes, I, the Lord
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  Speaker 1: has forgiven your sins for my sake.
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  Speaker 2: Say what? He's forgiven you for his sake. For his sake.
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  Speaker 1: So if you keep regurgitating the past, if you're not
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  Speaker 1: forgiving yourself, who are you?
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  Speaker 2: Were you there when the Lord created.
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  Speaker 1: The universe? No, don't hold on to your past mistakes
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  Speaker 1: because God has already forgotten about them.
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  Speaker 2: Standing looks like you're holding your peace.
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  Speaker 1: When chaos surrounds you. You refuse to let fear dictate
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  Speaker 1: your decisions. Standing looks like speaking scripture when your emotions
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  Speaker 1: are loud. Let the word be louder than your feelings. Again,
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  Speaker 1: you feel unworthy. That's not what the word would define
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  Speaker 1: you as. You feel like you shouldn't have been born,
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  Speaker 1: that you're not known. The Lord knew you before you
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  Speaker 1: were formed in your mother's womb. Standing looks like resisting
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  Speaker 1: temptation with confidence, not shame. You stand in righteousness. You're
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: covered in God's grace, not guilt. Standing looks like praying
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  Speaker 1: even when you feel nothing, right? Sometimes we're looking for
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: an experience, right? We're looking for a supernatural encounter, you know,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: and we're all tingly and, you know, all of those things,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: but it's about faith. It's not about sensation. Standing looks
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  Speaker 1: like refusing to surrender ground that you've already gained. Standing
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  Speaker 1: is not dramatic, but it is consistent. It is the quiet,
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  Speaker 1: steady refusal to move off the truth. So let me hear,
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  Speaker 1: let me talk to the person who feels like they're failing.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe you have stumbled. I know I have in the past.
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  Speaker 1: and I probably will in the future, right? Maybe you've stumbled.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you've compromised. Maybe you've been discouraged or overwhelmed, right?
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  Speaker 1: But you're not failing. You're not falling. Taking a couple
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: steps backwards is not final, and it's not fatal, and
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  Speaker 1: it's definitely not the end of your story. The enemy
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  Speaker 1: wants you to believe that falling means you've failed, right?
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  Speaker 1: But scripture refutes that. It says the righteous fall seven
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  Speaker 1: times and rise again. Standing is not about never falling.
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  Speaker 1: It is about rising again. It's about planting your feet
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  Speaker 1: back on truth, about refusing to let shame define you,
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  Speaker 1: and remembering who you are. You are not standing alone.
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  Speaker 1: You are standing in Christ. you are covered in his righteousness,
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  Speaker 1: you are held in his peace, you are shielded by
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  Speaker 1: his faithfulness, secured by his salvation, and strengthened by his word.
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  Speaker 1: So as we begin to close, I want you to
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  Speaker 1: picture something. Picture soldiers standing on the ground, on ground
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  Speaker 1: that has already been won. The battle is over. The
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  Speaker 1: victory is secure. The enemy has been defeated. But the
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  Speaker 1: soldier stands, not to win the war, but to hold
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  Speaker 1: the territory.
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  Speaker 2: That's you. That's you.
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  Speaker 1: You are not trying to earn spiritual authority. You are
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  Speaker 1: standing in the authority that Christ already gave you. You
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  Speaker 1: are seated in with him in heavenly places. You are
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  Speaker 1: not trying to prove your strength. You are standing in his.
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  Speaker 1: This is the posture of a victor. This is the
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  Speaker 1: posture of a disciple. This is the posture of someone
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  Speaker 1: who knows who they are in Christ. So as we close,
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  Speaker 1: let me just recap. We've talked about standing is holding
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  Speaker 1: the ground that Christ already won. That spiritual warfare is
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the enemy's attempt to pull you out of your seat
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  Speaker 1: and disrupt your walk. That the armor of God is
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  Speaker 1: not a costume, it's a lifestyle. And that it's not
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  Speaker 1: about our strength, it's about his. So as you go
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  Speaker 1: through the rest of your day, plant your feet, lift
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  Speaker 1: your head, speak the word, and stand.
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  Speaker 2: Stand.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, as always, for joining me for this last
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  Speaker 1: movement for the true Christian experience that we sit, we walk,
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  Speaker 1: and we stand. As always, if this episode encouraged you,
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  Speaker 1: please share it with someone who needs strength, someone who
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: feels weary, or someone who needs to remember that victory
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  Speaker 1: is already theirs in Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Until next time. Grace and peace.