 you from from verses 13 to 17 in a moment and but we're going to be looking at the second portion of verse 14 I was thinking even as we were just worshiping I guess part of it is because what made me begin to think about this was the medley that we did of all those old songs that some of you may have learned in children's ministry right you know splash splash splash that thing you know because we never do what that was originally was worship songs that that we sang we Jesus Freaks sang that we didn't do the splash splash splash thing because we weren't kids you know we were but we weren't babies and all of that so as we were listening to that I couldn't help but let my mind wander for a moment and I began to think that this month is my month that I celebrate my anniversary of beginning to teach the word in September I believe it yeah September of 1973 I gave my first Bible study and so it was a you know just a handful of people my mom and my dad and a couple of neighbors from the neighborhood and my two sisters I believe came to it just a handful of people and I remember my mom walking in with a tray of you know with coffee and with desserts and all and she had brought it in and was going to serve it to everybody before we had the word teaching in the word and and you gotta you gotta realize I was 23 I had just turned 23 a month before and there's my mom as the good hostess as she was and I said mom put that away put it on that table over there I said we're going to be studying God's word this isn't a time for coffee and donuts this is the time for the meat of the word that's what we're gonna get into and one of the older men he was at least 44 one of the older men got upset at me he thought I disrespected my mother and I guess his business but anyway but I felt that way from the very first Bible study to the study we're having tonight 49 years and that is no the word of God is to be honored respected reverenced and obeyed and that's why I love teaching the word because I have a group of people who understand that it's a blessing and so to be able to yeah to be for yourselves that's good well what a joy it is to be able to do this and so we're here in Ephesians chapter 6 I'm gonna read beginning at verse 13 I'll read the verse 17 just to take all the verses in but I'm going to be looking especially at the second part of verse 14 so Ephesians 6 beginning at verse 13 Paul said 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 stand therefore having girded your waist with truth having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace above all taken the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and so we're beginning and continuing our series found here in Ephesians chapter 6 on spiritual warfare and tonight we're going to be looking at the second portion of verse 14 where he said stand therefore having girded your waist with truth and then he went on to say having put on the breastplate of righteousness now let me give you a reminder for a moment as we approach our study Paul has already stated that every Christian is presently in combat you see we belong to God and because we we do we are subject now to spiritual attack Paul has already identified our enemy it is Satan and his hosts he had said that in verse 12 when he said we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places and so he's already spoken to us concerning that he's identified our enemy at Satan and his hosts and because we're in combat with spiritual forces he's made it clear and we're looking at this that our weapons are spiritual the weapons of our warfare he says are to be mighty in God now when he wrote to the Corinthians he spoke about spiritual warfare in second Corinthians 10 3 through 5 he said don't we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world on the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ so the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God so though we continue living in this world our weapons are not physical weapons our battle is against spiritual passions and spiritual enemies that seek to destroy we are not trying to conquer and enslave men through physical combat our weapons are spiritual and we achieve victory by the power of truth our victories come through the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit you see Jesus conquered and because he did through him our victory is guaranteed we know the final outcome but we also know that battles continue so with this in mind we stand prepared for combat in Romans 13 verse 12 and I'm reading out of what is called the amplified amplified version in Romans 13 12 the night this present evil age is almost gone and the day of Christ's return is almost here so let us fling away the works of darkness and put on the full armor of light so we've closely examined the first article of our armor the girdle of truth I'm sorry John I'm sorry man I see you I can't help but see you I tease John a lot you guys have already picked up on that I fire him rehire him just because I love to tease him so we talked about the belt the girdle is the belt it and and as I was going through this with you last time let me review this review this for a minute I mentioned that a soldier needs to have the mind to fight in other words the proper way to enter a battle is being fully prepared and determined we we entry into battle but we fight from the position of faith and we also fight with an assurance of victory in 1st Corinthians 16 verse 13 Paul said it like this he said watch stand fast in the faith be brave and be strong that's the attitude of a warrior now there are times when it seems that everything is stacked up stacked up against us there really isn't any way that we're going to win this battle I was reading and remembering about the children of Israel as they were about to enter in to Canaan the land of promise and there were 12 spies that had been sent to examine the land and to bring back a description of this land of promise that had been given to the children of Israel while they went in as we know and each one of those men one from each tribe of Israel 12 men they went in they saw the inhabitants they saw the richness of the land and after 40 days they returned and they came back with this report they said the land flowed with milk and honey the fruit of the land they said is rich but the problem is there are people inhabiting that land that we're supposed to take that are invincible now one of the spies a man by the name of Caleb said let's go at once and take possession of it well numbers 13 verses 31 through 33 says but the men who had gone up with him said we can't attack these people they are stronger than we are and they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had explored they said the land we explored devours those living in it all the people we saw there are of great size we saw the Nephilim there the descendants of a net came from the Nephilim they were giants we seemed like grasshoppers notice we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them so that's the report that was brought back Caleb says God says it's ours let's take it the other said no no it's beautiful that's right it's great no doubt but there are giants there they are invincible and they inhabit certain portions there's no way we can do that and so what happened while the people of Israel listened to the fears of the 10 spies and what they did is they were provoked to fear and to weep they even wanted to get rid of Moses they wanted a new leader to take them home so when Moses and Aaron reasoned with them their responses they wanted to stone them the result as we know in scripture was that the people wandered the wilderness for 40 years only Caleb and Joshua as well as those under 20 eventually entered in now 45 years later at the age of 85 Caleb entered the land in Joshua chapter 14 verse 12 this is what he said give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there and that the cities were great and fortified it may be that the Lord will be with me and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord is said now that's a bad old man 85 a man of faith he said God promised it I wandered here with these others for 40 plus years it's been a long time but I'm ready to take this I'm ready to do it so Joshua blessed him he went and he took the city of giants so when we put on the belt of truth our minds are to be settled like Caleb's settled on certain victory if God has said it it will be done the enemy uses lies to bring discouragement and he causes us to lose hope so Jesus is truth his word is true so we hold fast to him in his word what do we do when we spend time in prayer we spend time in the word we get serious about the things of the Lord we present ourselves to God and we go into battle and so as we're looking at this we've girded ourselves with truth but now we have another piece that we're looking at the breastplate of righteousness now next time we get together I'm gonna have a picture so you can see the Roman armor and I can kind of point these things to you should have done it this time but I will next time so the breastplate covered from the throat down to the thighs it was to protect the soldier's heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity it was made up of two parts that protected the body on both sides now why would Paul speak about putting on the breastplate of righteousness well I want to develop this with you the breastplate protected the internal organs in in scripture in the Old Testament especially you see it in the new also very often the word bowels are used to speak of certain things the inner inner organs the internal organs you see to Jews this represented the will the emotions it represented the bowser represented desires and conscience the mind so in Job 30 verse 27 he said my bowels speak in my intestines internal organs my inward parts my bowels boiled churned and rested not the days of affliction confronted me it speaks about his emotions and desires in the Old Testament book of lamentations chapter 2 verse 11 my eyes do fail with tears my bowels are troubled my liver is poured upon the earth Deuteronomy 6 verse 6 these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart this speaks of internal things and that's the point our lives are protected by understanding our standing before God and my standing before God is not based on how I feel my standing is informed by his word so my emotions are under the control of my will because how many times have you felt that you weren't saved even though you know you gave your heart to Christ because a heart very often will will will convict us and condemn us we'll look at that in a moment and so I want to build this for you I'm gonna develop this a little bit further we have been made righteous through faith in Christ now the word righteous we use that word a lot it was a word when I was growing up that we use quite often we would say man that's righteous you know that's what we said and so there was a group called the righteous brothers you know and all of that and they played and they sang they were righteous but anyway the word righteous means morally upright it speaks of the condition that is acceptable to God when you speak of righteous in Scripture it speaks of integrity it speaks of virtue and purity it speaks of being right now Paul had in verse 11 instructed us to put on the whole armor of God so how do we put on the breastplate of righteousness well we do so by recognizing that God has provided his righteousness for us we first recognize and are aware of the spiritual atmosphere we live in Paul spoke of this in chapter 2 verse 3 said we meanderd according to the course of this age so that led us to establishing false standards of rightness before God Paul had stated that Israel is very guilty of this mankind still is mankind has a tendency of making up rules regulations or religions that are based on their efforts to be right with God every the core of every religion on the face of the earth outside of Christianity you find within its core man's effort man's effort through fasting man's effort through prayer man's effort through doing good things it's man's effort I've been to various places on the face of the earth I've been to India I've been to China I've been to places where there's there are there are heavy influences Japan the Shinto religion the Buddhist religion the Hindu religion I've been into Jordan where the Muslim we've been around we've seen it and the core of these religious faiths every one of them is man's effort everyone everyone as man in the center doing his best to become acceptable to God every one of those religious systems man always establishes works to become right with God in Romans 10 verse 3 Paul said that they that they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and so they sought to establish their own so when establishing our own standards what we do is we actually lower the bar we do it by fashioning a God in our own image and reject the holiness of God in 1st Timothy 6 verse 16 Paul said God alone is immortal and he lives in unapproachable light whom no one has seen or can see to him be honor and might forever amen Job 37 23 says the Almighty is beyond our reach he's exalted in power Psalm 18 verse 30 this God his way is perfect his way is innocent and complete his way is sound I was in an airport and I saw somebody approaching people who were seated there waiting for their their flights and he eventually I could see you speaking to them about something and I began to wonder what is it what is he what is he selling what is he doing and so I waited and he finally approached me and he walks up to me and he says to me something like I have a book here that has the words of Almighty God that I would like to give to you or sell to you you sell in it it is called the Bhagavad Gita and I said really and he goes yeah I said I said I already have a book that gives me the words of God and it pulled out my pocket Bible my switchblade and it held it to and I said Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and it began to preach the gospel to this guy and he got up tight why because he wasn't expecting to go to church right he wasn't expecting to get a Bible study he was he just wanted to sell his book but I said I already have this book see God's word is the words of eternal life and so who do we go where would we go right and we need to understand that that's the whole thing it is there are a lot of Christians who are confused over this one thing they say there are so many religions no there are there are two there is God's religion and there's Satan's and Satan's comes in various ways it has various masks that it wears but it's all the same it's man's effort to somehow appease and get right with a holy God or to become perfect in your own strength but the Bible consistently teaches us that God is righteous in Habakkuk the Old Testament book of Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 13 your eyes are too pure look on evil you cannot tolerate wrong remember Jesus in John 17 25 said oh righteous father the world has not known you so he's our righteous father but he is also our righteous judge in 2nd Timothy 4 verse 8 there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing now he is the righteous father but he's the righteous judge and as a righteous judge his justice concerning sin is fair and impartial so when you read your Bible you see concerning sin that God declares all mankind to be guilty of it ecclesiasties 720 there's not a righteous man on earth who does what is right never sins Romans 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God so the Bible condemns all under sin and so what happens is because God is holy and we are not our sin makes separation between us and our God Isaiah the prophet chapter 59 verses 1 and 2 said it like this surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save nor his ear too dull to hear but your iniquities have separated you from your God your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear so God has stated that there's a proper penalty for this sin death in Ezekiel 18 verse 4 behold all souls are mine as the soul of the father so also the soul of the son is mine the soul that sins it shall die and then the scripture says it is appointed unto men to die once and after this what the judgment and so this is where we're at and yet the Bible also reveals that God loves the world and desires to save people 2nd Peter 3 9 the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises some understand slowness he's patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance everyone that that's us that's every person on the face of the earth first Timothy 2 4 says that God wants all men to be saved to come to the knowledge of the truth sin made a separation but God loves and desires fellowship with us for some reason so how can he make a sinner not guilty and how can he restore the sinner to fellowship with him you look in the Garden of Eden and you see that when Adam partook of that forbidden fruit whatever it was that he had a sense of who he was so when the Lord approached him Adam said I knew that I was naked and I hid myself from you the first time man tried to fashion some kind of garment that protected him or hit him was a result of sin so what can God do he desires us and yet he's a righteous judge well one he can condemn people outright or two he can compromise his righteousness and receive them just as they are or three he can change them into righteous people and God chose the third option God chose to make the unrighteous righteous that's called the doctrine of justification making and declaring the unrighteous righteous so that answers an ancient question that was asked by Job in Job 25 4 how then can a man be righteous before God how can one born of woman be pure what is the answer through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf in 2nd Corinthians 521 he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him that we might become the righteousness of God in him that speaks of what is called imputed righteousness he gives to us what we did not have we were sinners lost moving towards judgment and eternal separation in hell but God so loved the world that he sends his son Jesus who takes upon himself our sin as the sacrifice on our behalf as the Lamb of God and in doing so I trust in what he has done in his finished work and he gives to me that which I didn't have I give in in in a sense my dirtiness is removed and his righteousness is applied so some attempt to make themselves righteous by their own efforts the bible reveals that good works are not sufficient for this Isaiah 64 6 says it like this we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are his filthy rags our righteousness is like the filthy leper's rag so a leper's skin that is oozing they would wrap it in order to to kind of just you know what you would do just to wrap it but because it was oozing it would become filthy you know dust and everything it it was filthy and he says our righteousness is like a leper's rag no matter how good you think you are he was saying you're like filth in the side of this pure God so how do I get right with God all of this is working towards us looking at the the uh that piece of weaponry by the way how do we become acceptable to God by trusting in Jesus in Romans 5 17 if by the trespass of the one man Adam death reigned through that one man how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ again when we receive Christ we receive his righteousness so God gives to us his righteousness when we trust Jesus so on 24 5 he shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation James 2 23 Abraham believed God it was imputed unto him for righteousness and so by faith we put on the breastplate of righteousness again the breastplate is intended to protect you from the feelings of wretchedness you can feel these feelings can be a combination of emotions and the enemy's attack we condemn ourselves because we fail to be what we really would like to be I remember when I first got saved uh for me the the elation was unbelievable I I was still young there was you know God was merciful to save me at the age of 20 I was still young but I felt like I had sinned so much for so long and and in many ways I had and and I had I within me I had this this terrible guilt I remember just this how bad I was I was in every way um I was a disappointment to my parents I was ashamed of my father just was not a good person and and though I had a hard exterior I still remember that inside I when I was honest even with myself I I knew there's something wrong with me I knew that and I was getting in a lot of trouble when I was 18 19 20 I got into into I started stealing a lot more I started doing a lot of drinking doing a lot of drugs I lost about 30 pounds in a month because I was loaded or drunk every day and I stopped eating and I was already not that big I only weighed 175 pounds but I went down to 145 it just wasn't eating and I was drinking and smoking pot and every night and and and then I was doing crazy things and and my parents didn't know what to do with me and then I was just I was not good to people and I was I was that guy that if you and I were drinking together and you got up and walked away and you left your drink that's mine you know that was me you know you left something out if I needed it it became mine I was just not a good person and I started feeling that sense of guilt and then see my mom crying and my father so disappointed and my brother so angry and my sisters so fearful of where I was going and what I was doing seeing all of that and then when I almost died when I I overdosed I almost died of an overdose of of wine and and second all barbiturates reds and I still remember waking up saying to myself and then actually starting to pray god you got to do something for me I am so messed up I don't know how to be a son I don't know how to be a boyfriend I don't know how to be a brother I don't know how to be anything you got to help me I still remember that some of you know your own testimony the same as mine you know your your testimony god to help me something is wrong with me my dad took me to a psychiatrist to try and get me you know talked out of my crazy none of that worked I was a liar I was a habitual liar and a thief so god made me a pastor think about that for a minute think about that for a minute that's what I was I was a liar and a thief and a doper and so I get saved and the elation that that joy is almost physical where I almost could say I it's like I felt a stone rolling off of my shoulders a heavy stone that was gone and I that that's why when I went home and I told my sister sisters I gave my heart to Christ and I and I told my parents I love you and you know that was so radically different than what I was but about three weeks later the enemy reminded me of some things and the enemy will do that you know that don't you he will remind you of some things 1st John 3 20 he actually doesn't need help by the way 1st John 3 20 says if our heart condemns us God is greater than our heart he knows all things Romans 8 1 I memorized this when I was a very young Christian there's therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit no condemnation right that's what God does so if you're saved you are righteous through faith in Christ and you rest in not your feelings but God's declarations in Philippians 3 8 9 Paul said it like this what is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my lord for whose sake I have lost all things I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith so put on the breastplate of righteousness we now are living a righteous life because we have put on Christ who is righteous and we live a righteous life it speaks of our conduct it speaks of our character it speaks of us being brand new in Jesus we're completely forgiven we've been made right with God therefore any man being Christ is a new creation all things are passed away behold all things are becoming you if you're in Christ it's it's all done it's finished it's washed away that is wow that's good news that that it's it's not so amazing Micah 7 19 says he will again have compassion on us will subdue our iniquities you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea in 1st Corinthians 6 9 through 11 Paul said do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God he goes on to say and such were some of you but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God you see Satan loves to work in conjunction with our flesh he likes to remind us of what we were and it happens and it can happen frequently especially when you first get saved I still remember my brother saying to me David I I know what you are you've been a con all your life and you're still a con now you're using Jesus but you're a con and I said no Frank I I've I've become right with God no no no I've seen you go through so many fads and this is just one of them how long is it going to be until you go back to what you've been well I never have but what happened is I went into the army I spent my two years I got out started a bible study my mom and my dad attended it I taught that study for a year in norwalk my brother in august august 4th got saved and I watched him he was living here in Ontario I was living in norwalk and my brother got saved but he wasn't going to church and so I started being concerned for him and so what I did is I started driving from norwalk with my sister Madeline and I would drive from norwalk to Ontario and I would teach him the word of God every Monday every Monday I started going September October and then he invited friends and then he invited one of his co-workers that that he loved a lot and wanted her to be there and that's how I met my girl who became my wife she came to the bible study and she sat under my ministry from from the day she got saved until this day and so Frank you waited for me to go back and never did because I wasn't the dog that was returning to the vomit I wasn't the pig that was returning to the the mud that had been washed from but the enemy will remind you he can do so through friends he can do so through family he can do so through your inclinations in some areas that you know you're weak and you feel guilty because you felt a draw and I'll tell you he never sleeps and I'll tell you that some of those inclinations you're not even aware of years ago now it's been a good 35 years at least my dad calls me up he my dad had moved out into this area and he called me up he said Dave I've got something at the house that I would like you to tell me if it's what I think it is and I said okay dad I'm on my way to the church office and I came I stopped at his house and he has his shopping bag and it wasn't his luggage it was something else because Mexican luggage is shopping bags but anyway he in matching pair I have a story about that I could tell you but but he gives me the shopping bag and he says do you know what this is and I'll never forget I I opened the bag in it and the smell wafted into my face it was a kilo of marijuana that somebody had dropped on his property somebody had dropped it on his property by by one of the fences and I opened it up and that marijuana just so now my favorite drug was pot that was my favorite drug that was the drug of choice I started my days two joints wrapped up in behind my ear smoking one that's how I would start my day I loved smoking pot and now my dad's handed me a kilo and I was pastoring this church and so I still it's almost like you know those cartoons with the smoke in the hand that goes it it it felt like that I go whoa this is heavy I rolled it up I said you know we got to burn this dad one stick at a time no I said just to make sure it's all gone I brought it to the church office and one of the guys on staff was also a chaplain for the chino pd and I handed it to him I said get rid of this stuff see there the enemy knows your your your your spot he knows that you're you're lonely right and and now that you're saved you don't have any dates it's funny you get saved and suddenly all these people begin to call up hey what are you doing you want to go out and you're thinking you weren't doing that before why are you doing that now he's very he's very that way you've seen many of you see that you know what I'm talking about I'm speaking to people who know that that's what happened to me things like that he wants to draw you back and then if you have any sense that now you're feeling guilty your heart begins to condemn you man I thought this was all dead but you know what the old man is still attempting to dominate I have to reckon myself to be dead I have to understand in Christ I am dead but that's when you put on this this breastplate that's when you awaken and say wait a minute my heart is condemning me but God is greater than my heart he knows all things he knows I have I he knows what my weakness is but at the same time I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and so what happens is in the spiritual battle the enemy is going to bring to your attention things that were your weaknesses and make you promises as he always has that if you only do this and return to that you're going to be happy you'll be so happy if you go back but that's not what happens is it because if you fail then you wake up one morning and you say how did I get here and the way I got there is I wasn't wearing my armor I wasn't aware of who I am listen this the the mental part of and I'll use that term of warfare is you need to know who you are you need to know that who you are who are you you are a child of God you are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit you are brand new in Christ all things have passed away that's who you are you are in Christ Jesus and you put on the Lord Jesus Christ he is your armor the things that we see in the armor are really attributes of Christ himself and that has been put on you and so you can do all things you can have victory you can but you need to wear your armor and the problem of a lot a lot of the problem is is we fail to remember that don't put on our vests we don't put on that one that the enemy is firing his his darts at us and so the enemy loves to work in conjunction with your flesh he reminds you of what you were he makes sure that you are aware of your unworthiness not in not in the proper way because I I truly believe that every one of us if we think in a proper way we will know that we really are not worthy no I am not worthy of the love of Christ I'm not there's nothing about me or about any of us that should make him drawn he has been drawn by his own love he loves us for his own for his own reasons he loves us for his own reasons and there's nothing I can do to make myself something that he'd love nothing he just does that's where humility comes in I'm so unworthy you are you are unworthy yes you are of course you are but I have chosen to love you and when you finally awaken to that my god loves me your life is different and he's given me his righteousness it's not works of righteousness which I have done but he's actually imputed his to me so that when god looks at me he sees me through the lens of christ he sees the blood that has washed me and cleansed me see this that's called Christianity a lot of people don't understand that what they think is still to this day even calling themselves Christians that they have to do a lot of things to make themselves presentable to god but what you do is you present yourself to god and god cleanses you by the blood of christ and then you're in the position to be used by the lord and so you say like I say I hear my lord send me use me lord I'm on your team and I don't want to sit on the bench holding my glove which and I could be in the game I want to get my uniform dirty I want to play I want to rock I want to do something for christ I don't want to be a bench warmer I want to be on the team I want to play I want to see you do something fantastic and lord you can use anybody you use a donkey to speak to bail him you can use me to speak to somebody so lord please and the lord says I will I intend to you're in a battle I've given you truth and you've put on that breastplate you're righteous keep that in mind keep that in mind because the enemy will say you're filthy you're a liar those I was I was some of you were he said to the Corinthians but not now you're washed and sanctified you're justified in Jesus Christ you are brand new that's I'm I really hope that that makes some sense to you listen Jesus is the friend of sinners and he's a friend of sinners who have asked for mercy he's not our enemy in Isaiah 53 verse 5 it says he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him by his stripes we are healed somebody once said when satan reminds you of your past remind him of his future you see with the breastplate in place we are no longer controlled by emotions I spoke to my friend George I was a Christian for three weeks and I told him I just don't feel saved I had such an elated feeling when I got saved but George I don't know if I'm saved because I don't have that same feeling and I was three weeks old in Jesus when my friend George said it's never based on your emotions it's based on God's declarations God has said not guilty you are not guilty you're brand new in Jesus Christ so you put that on you put on God's righteousness that you have through Jesus Christ in 1st Thessalonians 5 verse 8 it says since we belong to the day let us be sober putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet so we can live victoriously and we can be filled with joy because we are brand new in him brand isn't it a isn't it a joy when people you knew from your past and you haven't seen for a while you've gotten saved and then they see you somewhere and they they try to go back to where you used to be and then you say that's not me anymore I love that man I've had in this church more than once more than once in an Easter service I gave an Easter service and somebody walks up to me afterwards and tells me you know so-and-so went to high school with you was here today I said really and they said I know that guy he's a liar and he's a con and they left the church service because they couldn't believe that you had changed that much and I said well tell marina to do that in public it's very embarrassing I had a guy I have a guy hopefully I'll be seeing him this week I went to high school with him when we were 14 14 I've known him since 14 and so did I say 14 I've known him for a long time 14 he was in our church a year and his wife finally wrote me and said may I ask you did you go to Sierra High School in such and so dates and I saw her last name and I only knew one person by that name and that was my buddy in high school so I looked at her page and it says she was married to art this friend of mine so I wrote and I said hey say hi to art for me she writes she says it is you she says we've been in your church for a year but art says that cannot possibly be the David I hung around with true story I'll be seeing him this Friday isn't it great when the Holy Spirit changes your life like that and it's not and it's not because you outgrew sin see that's the whole thing oh you outgrow it I had a buddy in Medi he says oh yeah I used to do that I outgrew it you don't outgrow sin what you do is you get better at it and if you practice it long enough if you lie long enough you steal long enough you can be president that's what happens you get good at it so you never outgrow it right you never do you turn from it you put on the breastplate of righteousness you know who you are because of Jesus Christ what he has done because his truth has set us free so the first thing we have is the girdle of truth his truth has set me free and he's made me righteous and when the enemy comes after me all I have to do is ask my lord and savior to be there for me and work within me Philippians 4 7 says the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus so when Satan knocks on your door to bother you ask Jesus to answer the door and you do this through scripture you do this through understanding who you are in him and you do this by putting on the breastplate of righteousness you have been made righteous before God you are looked at by God as having the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus that's who you are and so what we do is we live as if we understand that may our lives be righteous may people look at us and say there's something different about you I've known a lot of Christians before but there's something different about you what is it I don't know what you're seeing that's any different about anybody else all I know is this Jesus is my lord and savior I am serious about my faith in him and I've had so many opportunities not as a pastor only but just as a person to be that influence of people working with them talking to them even people we bought our first house from you know they were there they said I've never been around people like you before people and this the sales lady came to the church you know and to to check I'll give one more story now close just it just I used to go to a particular restaurant to have coffee every Tuesday with one of my staff members every Tuesday I would leave this church campus and have meetings at a coffee shop and so we would drink coffee and we'd go through church business for a couple hours so the waitress became very friendly to us because we were there every week and so finally she walks up and you know she's nice and we're friendly and all of that and she says so finally she says I have a joke I want to tell you and I look at her go all right and so she tells me this dirty joke and I just kind of look at her and smile and she goes oh guess it wasn't that funny and then she says you're here every Tuesday she goes what do you do for a living I said I'm a pastor and she turns to the table next to me and she goes oh my goodness I just told a dirty joke to a pastor she yelled that out and so you know that was funnier than her dirty joke but you know what happened I told her where we were she came to church she answered an invitation to come to faith in Christ and so those are the things you see those are the things you see just let your light shine know who you are and be aware that you're in combat know that the enemy attacks your mind we'll be looking at this in more detail your heart also joins forces with him so you feel like the wretch that you were prior to coming to Christ but then God says no I have made you righteous I have given you my righteousness and you Lord that I'm going to need to make sure that that breastplate is on constantly guarding my emotions because I fall prey to depression and sorrow of heart because of what I've been and God says no I buried that in the deepest part of the sea I put a no fishing sign there it isn't going to be brought up your sins are forgiven now walk in the newness of Christ if you can do that daily watch what God will do so we'll look at some more of this as we go through this next time we get together father we just thank you so much