Stand In Righteousness

The main idea of this information is about the importance of standing firm in spiritual battles and wearing the whole armor of God. The speaker emphasizes the need to be strong in the Lord and put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate is described as a protective garment that covers the vital organs, symbolizing the need to guard our hearts and minds in the battle against evil. The message emphasizes the importance of preparedness, trust in God, and the significance of the mind in spiritual warfare. And today we are talking about, in this section of putting on the whole armor, we are discussing the idea of standing, and being able to stand against the walls of the devil. And then once we have done everything that we can possibly do to stand, guess what? We can continue to stand. And if we as Christians could just get this figured out, I think Christianity would be a whole lot better today in our society. And so if you have your Bibles this morning, I want to begin reading in verse 10, and just kind of give us the context of what is going on this morning. We'll read down to verse 17, but we're going to really just focus on one phrase of six letters, and one item, and one thing this morning. But Paul writes and says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the walls of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you 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 your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take in the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. As we look at this passage of Scripture this morning, I've entitled the message this morning simply, Stand with Righteousness. Stand with righteousness. Now, if we are in a battle, and I believe we are, amen? Paul was not just mentioning something here, or something that is metaphorical, or allegorical here coming up later on, or something that is going to happen in the future. He is saying that even when he was writing this word, that there was a spiritual battle that was taking place. And this battle has continued for 2,000 years. And if Paul mentions here about this battle, and he talks about this battle, and our job is to stand, where is this battle fought? Where is this battle fought? How do we get involved in this battle? How do we fight in this battle? And how do we stand when we cannot see our enemy? Well, I want you to understand this morning very clearly that most all spiritual battles happen right here in our mind. They happen in our mind. And that's where the battle is fought, is right here in our mind. I think I'm just a little bit hot, Darby. If you can back me down just a little bit. And so as we look at this, I want us to understand that last week we looked at the belt of truth. The belt of truth. And we found out that that truth, and he says, "...girt up your loins with truth." In other words, that deal belt was what held up their robe deal so that they were able to fight. It's also where their sword was hung and where they would put different items and everything. But that truth spoke to us of preparedness. And as we think about this battle that is going on in the mind, I want you to understand in order to stand in the spiritual warfare, to stand against Satan, the first thing you have to do is make up your mind that you're going to compete. That you are going to fight. That you are going to stand for the truth. That is the very first piece of the armor and everything else flows out of that. And so we have to make sure that we are prepared and ready. We have to make sure that we know what is going on. That gives us the stability, the foundation for all other pieces of armor to rest. Without truth, the rest of the armor is absolutely useless. If you're not prepared, Brother Kelvin Richardson, my youth pastor, used to have a saying that he said all of the time. And I never have forgotten it in over 30 something years since I've heard it. But he said, if you don't see it before you see it, you will never see it. And it sounds redundant, doesn't it? But that's exactly what faith is. Faith is being able to know and trust God in the future. If you don't see it before you ever see it, then you're going to miss it and it's going to go right by. So we have to be prepared. And that's what the belt of truth is about. And then we come to the next part in our passage this morning. And he says, having on the breastplate of righteousness. Now when we think about righteousness, I want you to understand that it can refer to a divine or a godly attribute or it can also refer to a divine activity. And so not only is it about something that God is, but it also can refer to something that God does. And as we think about that this morning, I want us to understand as we talk about the breastplate, the breastplate was actually a garment that went on, it was a sleeveless piece of armor that actually went over the body and covered the full torso of the soldier. And so it went on. And I want you to notice first of all the depiction of this breastplate. Some breastplates were made of heavy pieces of leather. The most common was made of actually leather. And they would shape it to fit the upper body. They wanted it to be tight. They wanted it to be fitting. And they would take that leather, and then they would cover it with the hooves of horses or the part of the horns of cattle, different things. They would even put bones or actually even pieces of metal over that leather that would help to deflect the fighter when they were coming at them. Because most of the battles was not like we see today with these big, long, broad swords, right? They were short swords. They were daggers. This was mainly in this day and time was hand-to-hand combat. And if you're doing hand-to-hand combat, you don't want a big old broad sword. It gets close and it gets personal. And so they would put all of this. Other different breastplates were made of very thick pieces of linen cloth. And they would take that cloth, and they would cover it with strips of hooves or horns or bones or metal. And the third kind, and probably when you look up pictures of breastplates, the kind that you see more often and more depicted than any other is the metal ones that was made out of a brass or a bronze that was literally beat and molded to fit the body. It was hammered together. But no matter what kind of arm or breastplate this was, I want you to understand the intent was all the same. The purpose was to protect them of their vital organs. It housed their torso, the parts of the body that are the most acceptable in hand-to-hand combat. You also have to understand that in biblical days, they didn't have a lot of antibiotics. They didn't have a lot of the stuff that we have today. And that breastplate would cover their heart, their lungs, their liver, their stomach, all of these vital organs that you and I have to have in order to live, in order to survive. Not only did they not have the antibiotics that we have today, but they also did not have the advanced surgical techniques that we had today. I was watching a movie the other day. It was a cowboy, an Indian Western, an old one, and the guy got shot with an arrow by an Indian, and the arrow went right into his liver. And guess what? It was pretty much a death sentence. It was a slow, very painful death because once that liver was damaged, they didn't have the antibiotics. They didn't have the ability to operate and fix that. And so, not only would an injury to any one of them organs be very, very painful, but it would also just about be fatal every single time. And so, therefore, dependence upon the breastplate was mandatory in battle. You would not find anyone going into battle that would be caught fighting without having that breastplate covering their torso. And so, when we think about the design, understand that the intent of this breastplate, we need to understand what was going on in the ancient world. As a matter of fact, Deuteronomy 30, verse 14, says, The word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. Do it. Now, understand, we talked about the belt of truth last week. Now he says the word of God, his truth, is in you, it's in your mouth, it's in your heart, in order not that you can memorize it, and not that you can win Bible trivia, but in order that you may live it, that you may do it. As a matter of fact, Proverbs 23, verse 7, Solomon said, As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. Now, when we think about in the Bible days, and we think about this association in the Bible with the heart, it becomes representative of the will and the mind. Now, today we kind of had this idea of our brains, we now know that our brains is where most of our thinking, most of our emotions come, but when you talk about the bowels, when you talk about the organs that are within your body, this was associated with the feelings or the seat of emotions. In other words, with the mind you would think, with the heart you would think, but then the bowels of your body is where the deepest seat of emotions would be. Paul, writing to the church at Philippi in Philippians chapter 1, verse 8, says, For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. In other words, what he is saying is, Man, there is this will, there is this emotion within me that is so deep that it literally is crying out, I want to be with you. He also tells us in Philippians chapter 2, verse 1, If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels are mercy. He is referring to this emotions that are there. Emotions is what hits our stomach hard, right? Emotions is what tends to mess most people up. Most preachers end up with ulcers, stomach problems. Why? Because all of the emotions and everything else that goes into the ministry, guess what? It settles right here. It settles right in the deepest part of your gut. You don't want to eat. You don't want to do the things that you do. I was talking to a preacher Monday at chapel. We were talking about how we were doing and everything. And he said, Man, I don't know why, but I am just exhausted this morning. I said, Well, you preached yesterday, didn't you? And he said, Yeah. And he said, Man, I was preaching in Romans. And he said, I was preaching in a very, very intense passage of Scripture. And I've been there. You know, sometimes my wife kind of laughs at me, sometimes on Sunday afternoons, and especially on Sunday nights and Mondays, because it's not the physical tired. It's the emotional tired. It's the realization. And this is what most church members don't understand. When I am up here preaching, I understand there is a spiritual battle that is taking place. And Satan is trying anything and everything to distract you this morning to make you think about anything else besides the message that is being preached this morning in order that you will not respond to Jesus Christ. On the other hand, Jesus Christ has called me and placed me into the ministry in order that I might preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. So through the preaching of the Word of God, he through the Holy Spirit can convict you and have you turn to Jesus Christ. Now that's the battle that is going on. And if you don't think it's an emotional thing, then you ought to try it sometime. Because every time I preach, I am preaching not just to be paid. I'm preaching about eternity. And I realize that there are some of you that may not even live until next week to make a decision. You may not make it to tomorrow. And so every time I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the weight of that, the intensity of that, it's not a physical tiredness. It is a mental. It is an emotional. It's down in the gut. And when you preach your heart out and you share the Word of God, and nobody responds or anything, man, it's just like you've been punched in the gut in a battle. And that's what we're talking about this morning. Satan. Listen, Satan frequently attacks the people of God in their mind and emotions. I guarantee you, you talk to preachers and how many preachers have wanted to resign on Sunday night or Monday morning as opposed to Saturday night. Saturday night we're geared up and we're ready to go, right? And so you get there, you preach your heart out, and then what happens? Satan gets into your mind. He gets into your emotions. And maybe things didn't happen the way you thought they were going to happen. Or things didn't go the way that you had made up. And what happens? Man, I'm just ready to call it quits tonight, right? I'm just going to be ready to go all in and forget it. John wrote in 1 John 2 and verse 14. He said, I have written unto you fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God, abideth forever. You know, the one thing that has helped me to realize, and this goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. How did Adam and Eve lose the spiritual battle? Because of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. They saw that the fruit was good for food, that it was a fruit to make one wise, and the ability to make them equal or greater than God Himself. And they took of the fruit, and they ate thereof. And all of a sudden, spiritually, they immediately died. The very next thing we find about Adam and Eve is they're hiding in the bushes from the presence of God. And so Satan is still using the same exact tactics today. He is still coming to us, and guess what? He wants us. How do we get past that? By doing the will of the Father. See, I have to remind myself that God did not call me to get results. God did not call me to... I don't have the power to save anyone. I don't have the power to change any of you. You know what God called me to do? He called me to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so if I allow Satan to get into my mind, and to get into my emotions, then guess what? Why am I continuing to do this? Why does it even matter? Who cares? But that's not what I'm going to be judged on. I'm not going to be judged on whether or not I am faithful. Whether or not I continue to do what God... Paul says some of us water, some of us plant, but God is the one that gives the increase. And if it's not a movement of the Holy Spirit, if you're not responding to the Holy Spirit, then it's going to do us absolutely no good. If I come up with a good story and a poem that is a tearjerker, and I get you to move and respond, then guess what? It will not last. I'll have to keep making the same type of stories and illustrations to keep you responding. But if the Holy Spirit does it, guess what? It will change our lives forever. And we will not turn back. That's why Romans 12, verse 2, and I mention this and quote this verse all the time going through Ephesians. He says, I am not informed of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your what? Your mind. In order to do what? In order that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Satan will feed your thinking process. Satan will take your emotions and fill them with all types of false information. And he wants to cloud your mind with false doctrines, with lies, while twisting and perverting your affections. And the mind and the emotions work together to cause us to act. That is why we have girded about with truth. That's why we are prepared to go into battle. Satan will move into our life, and he wants to snatch away the Word of God from your mind and fill it with lies. That's why I love the song when we sing it, Standing on the Promises of God. That's all I have to stand on is believing what God has promised, that He's also faithful to fulfill it. If Satan can cause us to think about things the wrong way and follow feelings that are not pleasing to the Lord, he can defeat us and drag us away from the Lord. And the breastplate of righteousness is the part of the armor that offers us protection against these attacks of the devil. Our mind, our heart, and our emotions that is there. Now what is the righteousness that Paul is speaking of? Because I think this is very, very important. Just like I don't believe, I think it's implied, but truth is more about the preparedness, not about the Word of God, because we have a piece of armor later for that, right? But it specifically says we have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And so we don't need the belt of truth and the sword of the Spirit. And so I believe that truth has to do with preparedness, but I also understand with this righteousness, there can only be three possible answers. And so this morning, what I want us to do is there's two of them that it is not talking about. And one that it is referring to. And so I want us to look at these two that it's not talking about. The first one is I believe this breastplate of righteousness is not referring to self-righteousness. Now what do we mean by self-righteousness? Self-righteousness is this idea or this thought process that we are all virtually good people, right? All of us like to think that we are basically good. We think that our behavior, we think that our character, all of this legalistic behavior earns us favor with God. And when we come before God, we basically say I'm a good person. You know, one of the questions Brother Morris was talking about witnessing and one of the questions that I like to ask people when I'm witnessing and opening up a conversation is if you were standing before God today and He said why should He let you in? What would be your reply? Because a lot of people will say you know what the number one answer for that is? Everyone says I'm a Christian. Everyone says I'm saved. But when they're standing before God, guess what? A lot of people say well I'm a good person. I'm a good person. But see, that is self-righteousness. It has nothing to do with what we do ourselves or what we think about ourselves As a matter of fact, we clothe ourselves in a cloak of self-righteousness and this is probably the worst form of sin that is imaginable. This is the sin that we see with the Pharisees that Jesus Christ fought through the entire three and a half years of His ministry where they would what? They fought because they kept the law because they offered sacrifices because they were mediators between man and God that they were basically good people. Satan's goal is to disappoint God by taking as many people to hell with them as possible. To get them to deny the one true God that loves them, that died for them, that wants to bless them with all spiritual blessings. The Pharisees are a great example of this belief of their own goodness. As a matter of fact, when we talk about the Pharisees Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20 I say unto you this is His very first sermon that He's preaching when He's coming and offering everybody the kingdom of God He says that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. If you are as good as the best Pharisee then guess what? You're still not going to make it into the kingdom of God. Wow! And the Pharisees was pretty good. That's why I read Philippians chapter 3 this morning because Paul said I was a Pharisee of Pharisees until all of a sudden I looked into the eyes of Jesus Christ and then Paul all of a sudden went from being a Pharisee of Pharisees to whoa, now I'm the chiefest of all sinners. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 that we've already looked at here in this letter says for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast. You need to understand that you are incapable of being good enough. There is not enough goodness that you can do to be good enough to get into the presence of God. Romans chapter 3 makes it very plain and very simple in verse 10. It says there is none righteous. No, not one. If you don't understand what there's none righteous Paul said I'm going to simplify it for you because we live in Arkansas, right? And sometimes it's hard for us to understand the language here and especially the King James throws this out and so what does he say? There is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of their way. They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher with their tongues they have used to see. The poison of asp is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways and the way of peace have they not known there is no fear of God before their eyes. But then look at verse 19. In verse 19 it says now we know that what things whatsoever the law sayeth it sayeth to them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Why? Why does everybody need to become guilty before God? Because we're real good with self-righteousness. We're real good about thinking that we are a good individual. But Paul sums it up in Romans 3 verse 23. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Well I'm good! But God says that we're to be holy as He is holy. We've come short of that. A parable is a parable that Jesus Christ told in Luke chapter 18 in verse 9. And you're going to be really familiar with this parable. He said they spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. So they thought their self was good self-righteousness and therefore it made them despise other people. Now we're not talking about missionary Baptists here, right? Although that's probably true. We think we're better than everybody else. But he says here two men went up into the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other a publican, which is a tax collector. And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, this tax collector. I fast twice in a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for every one that exalted himself shall be abased. And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. You see, as long as you think you can do it on your own, you are stuck with your self-righteousness. And this breastplate you do not have. Because this breastplate cannot be our self-righteousness. We cannot protect ourselves based on our works. Our works is going to give us that gut check. Our works is what's going to blind our minds and our thinking. You will never be able to defend yourself against Satan. Isaiah 64 and verse 6 says, but we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness our righteousness, our self-righteousness is as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. So Paul is definitely not talking about self-righteousness. So we're not putting on the breastplate of our self-righteousness and I also believe he's not talking about imputed righteousness. Now what do we mean by imputed righteousness? When we trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Bible says that Jesus Christ, his righteousness, was imputed to you. In other words, it was put onto your account. It talks about Jesus's, our robe of righteousness is no good. Our robe is as filthy rags. But Christ who was perfect and sinless gave up his robe and became death for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God. That is imputed righteousness. That means that it was put onto your account. You didn't do anything for it but guess what? When Jesus Christ cried, it is finished, immediately righteousness came to anyone that will simply believe. All you have to do is believe on the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You will be made righteous. Romans chapter 4 and verse 6 says, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Romans 4 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised look that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. It goes on down in verse 22, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if what? If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. It is impossible for us to put on that kind of righteousness. What did he say? Remember he started this context of this scripture he says, put on the whole armor of God. If we put on self-righteousness guess what? It's not going to protect you or get you anywhere with God. But we also can't put on the imputed righteousness of God. We can't do it to ourselves. Imputed righteousness is only given to us in the fullness upon our belief in Jesus Christ and his death and burial. Imputed righteousness is the very foundation of the Christian life. Imputed righteousness opens the door of heaven to us that we may approach the throne of God and make our requests known unto him. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the fillings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The only way you can walk into the presence of a holy God is because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 21 says For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. However, I want you to understand this morning this imputed righteousness is seen by God in our spirit. It does not protect us from the attacks of the enemy. Paul said, guess what? He said, we read it in our text this morning in Philippians chapter 3 verse 7 through 9. He says, What things were gained of me, those I counted lost for Christ, but doubtless and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, boot scrapings, that I may that I may win Christ and that I may be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Not self-righteousness. Paul said I had done this, but guess what? It's all considered dung. It's not imputed righteousness which is the start or the basis of the breastplate, but not the finishing of the breastplate. That's what gets us into Christ and it is imputed. It is the only reason that you're able to take up the breastplate of righteousness at all. Philippians 3 10, Paul went on and he said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. He said in verse 12, not as though I already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after. If that I may apprehend, that for which also I am apprehended. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. We are told to still press. We are told to still learn. We are told to still move ahead. The beginning salvation is not the end. Salvation is just the beginning. We have been sanctified to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That is our goal and that is our purpose. And so, man, why is it that Christians all of a sudden they're saved and they think, man, I don't need to know anything else. I don't need to learn anything else. Paul said, I have spent my entire life trying to apprehend that for which I was apprehended. So if it's not self-righteousness, if it's not imputed righteousness, then what in the world kind of righteousness are we talking about? What does he mean by put on the breastplate of righteousness? And it's what I call a doable righteousness. Some call it a, you read smarter authors and different scholars than me, they call it a practical righteousness. I call it a doable righteousness. In order for you to live the kind of life that wins battles and is able to stand against the walls of Satan, you have to place into your life the righteous principles that are available to you in your daily life. In other words, we are belt of truth. We are prepared to stand, but the breastplate of righteousness, then we live in the battle. We go to the battle. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5.17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is what? He is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. There's a transformation that takes place. And where my righteousness, my self-righteousness was absolutely no good, now that Christ has imputed His righteousness onto me, and we studied in Ephesians chapter 1 and chapter 2 that what? We are now in Christ. Christ is in us, and so guess what? I still didn't do anything for that righteousness, but because I have Christ and that righteousness has been imputed to me, now I'm able to live righteous. So it becomes a doable righteousness. Ephesians 4.24 says that you put on a new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be you angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your wrath. Neither, look, give place to the devil. What gives place to the devil? You go back up there in verse 24. You put the new man on. You get rid of the old man. The new man is now created in righteousness because it has been imputed unto you. Now you are spiritually holy, and so therefore you should be capable of physically living holy. What we forget in this life is that there's a difference between position and practice. See, I talk about it all the time that I stand before Jesus Christ 100% free from any sin. I will never be judged for any sin that I ever commit or have committed. My sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west. Never to be remembered anymore. Drowned at the very bottom of the depths of the sea. That is what I am positionally. But guess what? God also says because of what I am positionally I should also be living practically. And so that's done in the flesh. That's done in the body. That's done in everyday life as we live out the truth of God and His love for us. Salvation is not based on what we have done, but what we have been given in Jesus Christ. And when the Lord saves us, He brings us out of sin. He brings us into a new life in Jesus Christ. In other words, this imputed righteousness of Christ within is lived out in practical righteousness, doable righteousness. Or even simpler terms is simply obedience to the Lord. The Puritans refer to this as imparted righteousness. In other words, because you have been imputed righteousness, God now imparts you with righteousness so that you can live. So that you can serve Him. You live a righteous life. Listen, it is a matter of daily moment by moment choices. When the rich man came to Jesus and said, I want to be your disciple. What did Jesus say? Great! That's awesome! Deny yourself. Take up your cross, what? Daily, and follow me. It's a moment by moment choice. Practical, imparted, doable righteousness puts the armor on. When I live for Jesus Christ, then guess what? Satan can't make these accusations against me. Satan can't say, well Brother Donnie is a hypocrite. No, I'm not perfect. I'm like Paul, I have not already obtained, but guess what? I'm trying my best to obtain. And when I mess up, I repent and confess my sins. The difference between a hypocrite and a saved sinner is a saved sinner is willing to repent. A hypocrite tries to hide it and make everybody think that they're good. And so understand here Philippians chapter 3 verse 10. The prize with the goal that we are living for. If Jesus Christ saved us to go to heaven, if I've said it one time in 11 years, I've said it 100 times. If he saved us to go to heaven, then the moment we accepted him as our personal savior, we should have went to heaven. But he didn't save us and take us for heaven. Heaven is not the prize of salvation. The prize of salvation is to be a witness of God's reconciliation. If he can save you as a sinner, as you as self-righteous, then he can save anyone. And we do that by living for Jesus Christ. Paul said, listen in chapter 3 verse 10 of Philippians, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. Now, God is not saying, Paul said, God does not want me to physically go and hang myself on a cross. You've seen these guys walking down the interstate and stuff, right? And they're dragging their cross behind them, which is kind of ironic, because it usually has wheels on it, and it's got padding and stuff, so that they could be comfortable dragging their cross, right? It's not even saying that I've actually allowed people to nail me to the cross. But we're to be conformable unto his death. Jesus Christ said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And so we see that Paul said, I want to be in the power. I want to know him. I want to be conformed to him. Peter said it like this in 1 Peter 2.11, Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, that what? War against the soul. Most of us, listen, most of us have never experienced spiritual battle because we can't even stand up to physical battles. Satan doesn't need to bother us if you're living like the world. The spiritual battles happen when you are living for Jesus Christ, because your witness is what brings people to want to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When you are bearing fruit of the Spirit, and you are loving people, and you're being kind to people, and you're being gentle to people, and you're being patient with people, guess what? People want to see, where did that come from? Because people are not like that way. We're selfish. We like to get what we want and how we do it. And what we want, when we want it. And so look at what Peter says. He starts out, Dearly beloved, I beseech you. What does he mean? Peter is literally on his hands and his knees begging you as a sojourner and a pilgrim abstain from fleshly lust which war against your soul. Peter is saying this war, and unless you get yourself committed to righteousness, unless you have girded yourself with the belt of truth and are prepared for this battle. Peter is saying here that by that I don't mean you never sin. What Peter is saying is that there should be a decrease in frequency of sin. You should be sinning less today than you was yesterday. You should be gaining more and more control over your flesh every single day that you live. Why? Because you are constantly confessing it, right? In 1st John 1.9, if we confess our sins He is what? Faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If I am constantly confessing my sin and repenting my sin and God keeps saying, you know what? It's as if you've never sinned. I don't walk around with guilt and Satan can't come point a finger in my face. He can't come and attack me through you or anything else because guess what? I am a sinner saved by the grace of Jesus Christ but I'm a better individual I'm a better sinner today than what I was 20 years ago. I'm a little bit more controlled and so evaluate yourself and that's what Paul is saying. Look into yourself. Abstain from fleshly lusts that are warring against your soul. When you fall to these fleshly lusts fleshly lusts you lose and there goes the joy, there goes all of your fruitfulness, there goes your reward and ultimately there goes God's honor in the face of the world. That's why it's so important that we live what we have received. That's the negative. Abstain from fleshly lusts. But what's the positive side of that? Well look at what Peter says in verse 12. Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles. Speak the truth when people say to you that you ought not be known as a liar if you're a Christian. At least if it's right or wrong or whatever what you say ought to be what you mean and it ought to be truthful. Whereas they speak against you as an evil doer that they may buy your what? Your good works which they what? Shall behold, shall see glorify God in the day of visitation. When the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin they ought to be able to see your life. They ought to be able to see how you are living and know that Jesus Christ can impute righteousness unto them. And they can bear fruit. Look at what he says. He goes on there in verse 13 through 16. He says submit yourselves to every ordinance of man. Why? For the Lord's sake. I'm not submitting myself to the authority of the government because I believe everything that they do and every decision they make is right. I submit myself to our government for God's sake. Because God is trying to tell us whether it be to a king, look at what Peter said, as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers for the praise of them that do well. Look at verse 15. For so is the will of God that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of God. I'm not living this away to make you think that I'm great or wonderful. I'm living this away so that you can understand that I am a servant of God and a recipient of His grace and mercy. Every time I go to the throne room of God, I go seeking His mercy and His grace. God don't give me what I deserve, but God do give me what I don't deserve. Amen? And that's what we were having to do. Paul said it this way to young Timothy in his last letter that we have recorded that he wrote. In 2 Timothy 2.3, he says, Thou therefore endure hardness, hardships, a troubled life, problems in this life as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And he tells Timothy how to do this. How do we endure hardship? He says, No man that woreth entableth himself with the fares of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Listen to me very, very carefully this morning. You cannot be in the army of God yet a civilian at the same time. You cannot be both. If you are in the Lord's army, then we are commanded over and over in Scripture to live like it. To act like it. Man, it would be nice to be getting all the military benefits and everything and never have to go to war, never have to go through boot camp or anything, wouldn't it? But no, you get that because why? When you enlist, you've got to go. You've got to go. You've got to live it. You've got to be a part of it. And so listen to me. If you have the belt of truth, then what that means is that you are committed. You are ready at all costs. If you are living a holy life, you don't have to say much of anything because out of the holiness will come all of the responses that are prompted by the Holy Spirit of God. We think, man, we talk so much about witnessing and talking and speaking and everything else, but if you'll notice Peter and John in Acts chapter 3, 4, go back and read it. It said when the courts looked upon them, they perceived them, not because of what they said, but because of what they were doing and how they were living coupled with what they said. They said these men have been with Jesus. These men have been with Jesus. Now, back to Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may what? Prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Folks, we need to apply 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 34. What does 1 Corinthians 15, 34 tell us? He says, Awake to righteousness and sin not. For some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Do you know why some of our family members are lost and going to die and go to hell? Do you know why some of your neighbors are lost and going to die and go to hell? Unfortunately, it's not because we haven't invited them to church. It's not because we haven't shared Jesus Christ with them. It's because we're not living what we believe. We say we want to be in God's army. We say we want to march in the infantry and fly in the ride the cavalry, fly in the infantry, whatever. You know the song that we sing from the time we were a little bitty old kid. I'm in the Lord's army. But are we really? Are we really? Because it won't just be words. But it'll also be actions. As a man thinketh. What? As a man thinketh so does he. If I think I'm a child of God, I will live as a child of God. Amen? If I believe that God has imputed righteousness on me, then I am going to impart that righteousness for the world to see and to put that on display. See, the reason we have so many people that are dying and going to hell is not because the gospel's not being preached. The problem is we are not living the gospel. And if we don't really have that belt of truth and we're not prepared to live it, guess what? Satan is tricky. Satan knows exactly what to do to get you to take the bait, take the fruit, and eat. And not only eat it yourself, but give it to those that are around you. And he is winning and he is laughing because he knows the war is already over. He's defeated. He's a defeated foe. He's read Revelation, folks. He knows that he is going to be bound for a thousand years, loosed for a season, but he knows that God is going to win and he is going to be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. He knows that. All he has now is to take as many as he wants. And unfortunately, he's not winning because of the world. He's winning because of the life and the actions of Christians. We need to put up the whole armor of God. Put it on. Stand. Stand. You can trust it. You can trust what God has told us. You can trust what God would not command us to live holy if we're not capable of it. And so let's just do it. Let's just do it. How about you? Are you ready to get in God's army? Are you ready to live like it and act like it as we stand and have a verse of invitation? What hymn? Are you willing to live a righteous life?