Man Camp Session 2: Our Protective Gear - Part 1

3:47Paul writes, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Father, thank you again for this wonderful, undeserved privilege to be sitting under the teaching of your word.

5:21Lord, we acknowledge that this is your word, that you inspired by your spirit, and it is the only trustworthy standard of what we should believe and how we should live our lives. And so we desire to hear from you again this morning. We desire to submit to you this morning. I pray that our hearts would be bowed before you in holy reverence and fear, listening attentively to your voice today as your word is proclaimed, and that our lives would be transformed. Formed as your word performs its work in us who believe. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

6:08Well, when I launched into studying this passage, the first book I pulled off my shelf and started to read was an old dusty book that I had bought years ago by Jay Adams called Winning the War Within, a Biblical Strategy for Spiritual Warfare. I'm a big fan of Jay Adams, who's now with the Lord, and he was the father of the modern-day biblical counseling movement, Gen 1. If you're into the generation, Gen 1, Gen 2, counseling debate. But I'm a huge fan of Jay Adams, cut my teeth on biblical counseling, reading pretty much everything he read in his early, or everything he wrote in his early days. But this little book, Winning the War Within, is one of my favorites because it's just a helpful resource written from the perspective of a biblical counselor seeking to help counseles battle besetting sins in their lives. And so it's very down-to-earth, very rubber-meets the road kind of stuff. And I love how he starts the book off. Listen to what Adams says. He says, How well are you trained in spiritual warfare? Do you even think of day-by-day experiences as encounters with the enemy? The fact that so many of us seldom think about Our lives, our problems, and our decisions in military terms accounts for a great deal of the flabbiness of the present-day church. He said, There are members of the Lord's army strewn all over the battlefield who don't know what hit them. Why? Because they don't even know that they're at war.

7:50And not knowing, they take inadequate precautions to protect themselves from danger because they know little or nothing of the enemy's ways or how to combat them. They are inexperienced in warfare and the use of spiritual weapons. They are an army unprepared for war. And then he concludes with this statement: He said, It is time to sound the trumpet and summon the troops for action. We had better sound reveille, or we may soon be playing taps. And I think that's essentially what Paul was doing here in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20. He was summoning the troops for action by playing reveille. Last night we looked at verses 10 through 12, which we learned was our call to arms, and we are to be courageous, we are to be armed, and we are to be aware of our enemy. Well, this morning, I want us to look at our protective gear, our protective gear. And Paul here commands us to put on the full armor of God. Verse 11, we saw it last night, put on the full armor of God, and he repeated that same command in verse 13. Therefore, take up the full armor of God.

9:11And really, verse 13, I think, summarizes the thought in verses 11 and 12: that since we have such a powerful enemy who is bent on the destruction of our souls, therefore take up the full armor of God. This is a military term to take up, describing the final preparation that a soldier would make before the battle started. In other words, it's when you suit up for war. And the language Paul used here denotes a sense of urgency. It demands immediate action. In other words, don't waste your time. Do it now. This is not a game. We're at war here.

9:56And you don't ever want to get caught without your armor on. I mean, imagine running across a battlefield with a t-shirt and shorts on. How long are you going to last out there? Not very long. And the thing we need to understand is that we live in enemy territory. And as long as we are here on this earth, we're in Satan's range. I love, I think it was Thomas Watson who said that we as Christians know. Long for the day when we're in heaven, where we're out of range of Satan's flaming darts. But until then, we're in range. And he can pick us off from anywhere at any time. And so, whether that's you're hanging out at your house, you're at the mall shopping with your family, you're at a restaurant, you're out on the basketball court or the pickleball court, or you're at the ball game, you're at the grocery store, you're on a school bus. Some of you young guys maybe riding to school, you're in class, you're on vacation. Listen, we are living behind enemy lines, and we can never let up.

11:18And so, he says, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day. You say, what's the evil day? Well, I think he's just referring to the critical moment when Satan assaults you with that violent temptation or that intense trial, and you feel like you're going to be overcome by temptation or overwhelmed by that trial. But if you take up the full armor of God, it says you'll be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm. In other words, after making all the necessary preparations, you're fully equipped, you're properly armed, you're ready to resist Satan and stand your ground against his latest attack. In other words, this is a promise, by the way, of victory. That if you do what I'm telling you to do, Paul says, you're going to stand firm. You're not going to fall.

12:10One thing I wanted to point out, just briefly, notice the language here. We said last night that he uses the term or phrase stand firm three times. But notice in verse 13, he says, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day. All this spiritual warfare talk in our day, it seems to be all about, you don't hear a lot about resisting Satan. You hear about rebuking Satan and attacking Satan and going on the offensive with Satan. But I think it's important and instructive for us to hear Paul say that we are simply to resist Satan. James said it in James chapter 4, verse 7. Submit, therefore, to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 9 says, resist him, talking about the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who were in the world.

13:20So this whole idea of going on the offensive and taking Satan by storm. And, no, we're on the defensive. And we're there. To resist Satan when he comes. And so don't let people talk you into this learning the techniques of how to rebuke Satan and how to bind Satan and do all these things, how to cast demons out of people. And really, there's really no instructions in Scripture about how to do that. There's some examples of Jesus and the apostles who were given the gifts of the sign gifts, right, for those purposes. I mean, if there's anything we can learn from the scriptures about casting out demons, is what the disciples learned. This kind comes out through fasting and prayer. When they couldn't do it, right, Jesus could.

14:11And it's just, again, a reminder of how dependent we need to be on the Lord in the realm of spiritual warfare. Well, when Paul talked about taking up the full armor of God, he was under house arrest in Rome, chained to a Roman soldier. We know that because of what it actually says here in verse 20, for which I am ambassador in chains. And so there he was writing this letter, and this is one of his what we call prison epistles, Ephesians, writing under house arrest. And so he was there standing, if you will, sitting, standing, whatever, next to this Roman soldier. And he decided to use the armor that they wore when they went into battle. To illustrate the armor of a Christian soldier. Now, obviously, the guy probably wasn't fully armed and decked out there when he was standing there in Paul's home, wherever he was, under house arrest, but he knew what these guys looked like because they were marching all over the place.

15:16And so, Paul described the six pieces of a Roman soldier's armor and how they correspond to the spiritual armor of a believer. In fact, I was noticing somebody's wearing a Spartan shirt this morning, and as I saw that from the back, and I was like, that's it. That's a Roman soldier. So, if you want to know, you want to need a picture, go ahead and stand up, go ahead and stand up and show these guys your back there. That's it. That's a great picture of what Paul had in his mind when he was writing these words. Thank you. Look at that.

15:49Yeah, and the physique, the physique of a Roman soldier as well. Anyway, so again, Paul was speaking metaphorically here or figuratively. And so, this is why I think the armor of God tends to be a nebulous, kind of mystical concept. It's like, what does this really mean? I mean, it sounds really cool and poetical, but it's not very clear and practical. What do these pieces of armor actually represent in our lives? And how do we practically put on God's armor on a daily basis?

16:31And so, in order to answer these questions, I want to examine each piece of armor that Paul mentioned here, and I hope that we'll see that really they simply describe or encompass some of the most basic, essential principles of living the Christian life. In other words, let's not overthink this, let's not over-spiritualize this. We don't need to allegorize this. I mean, they're really, again, the basic principles of the Christian life. So, let's look first of all at the belt. The belt. Verse 14: He says, Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth.

17:11The first thing a soldier would put on when he was suiting up for battle was his belt. And this was a large piece of leather that he would strap around his waist to hold his garments together and serve as a place to attach his breastplate and also to hang his sword. And so, everything was hooked to that belt, it held the rest of the armor together. So, this was central, this was critical. This is also where the soldier would tuck the corners of his tunic. Roman soldiers would wear this large tunic that just would hang loosely over their body, which posed a danger because it would hinder their ability to move freely and quickly. It's like when you're out playing golf and you hit a putt and it comes up short, and one of your buddies just wants to love on you and says, Hey, does that. That gets caught in your skirt. You ever had them say that? You get caught in your skirt, right? So the point is, the guy didn't want to be wearing a skirt, right, when he was in war. And so he gathered up this tunic and he tucked it inside his belt to provide him mobility and flexibility. And so, really, this is this whole idea of girding up your loins, as the text says, it's really a call to readiness and preparedness. Exodus 12:11, eat in this manner with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. This was the Exodus was about to go down, right? And they had to be ready. Luke 12:35, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps lit. 1 Peter 1:13, prepare your minds for action. Keep sober. Another translation is: gird up your loins for action. So it says that we are to gird your loins with not a piece of leather, but what does it say? Truth. Having girded your loins with truth. Now, this could either be objective truth, the objective truth of Christianity, in other words, doctrine, or it could be subjective truth of a believer's sincerity or truthfulness, you could say. But whatever the truth is that Paul was talking about here, it is the integrating force in a believer's life. It holds everything. Everything else together. So we want to make sure we get this right. And so I would suggest to you that what Paul was implying here or referring to was being a person of truth. Being a person of truth. In other words, you know the truth and you live the truth. First of all, you know the truth. We know that God's word is truth. Psalm 119, 160.

20:01The sum of your word is truth. John 8. John 8:31 and 32. Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in him, if you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. And then, of course, in his high priestly prayer, John 17, 17, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. And we know this book here that we have in front of us is the only trustworthy standard of what we should believe and how we should live our lives. It reveals everything that God wants us to know so we can be who God wants us to be. And so, in order for us to live our lives in a manner that's pleasing to the Lord, we need to understand what the Bible teaches. And we need to have the great doctrines of the faith firmly fixed in our minds. Be fully convinced of them in our hearts. Hopefully, you have a basic grasp of bibliology, the doctrine of the Bible, and Christology, the doctrine of Christ, and pneumatology, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and hermardiology, the doctrine of sin, and ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church, and soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, and eschatology, right? The doctrine of end times.

21:34I think it's sad to me that too many Christians, and particularly men in the church, know more about politics and sports and movies and guns, and you fill in the blank than they do about the Bible. Some of you may perhaps know the names of all the players on your favorite team. You know all the stats. You may know all the characters of the Star Wars saga or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But if I asked you to tell me the names of all 12 disciples, or how about this, asked you to recite the Ten Commandments, you'd be at a loss. You'd break down somewhere. You could get a few of them, but maybe not all of them.

22:23The point is, we need to master the truth of God's Word so that we could defend ourselves against. Satan's number one attack, and we learned about it last night, and that is deception. Deception. Satan is a liar. John 8:44. And he's also a deceiver. 2 Corinthians 11:3. And so the believer who knows the truth will be able to see right through his lies and the lies of those who are influenced by him. Because ever since the garden, Satan has been distorting and twisting scripture, and one of the most effective strategies for deceiving people is false teachers. We read 2 Corinthians 11 last night, verses 13 and 14, how false teachers are disguised, like Satan himself, who disguises himself as an angel of light. Look at 1 Timothy, real quick, right to the right, a few pages. 1 Timothy chapter 4.

23:32Paul was warning Timothy about false teachers. 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, but the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of who? Demons. By means of the hypocrisy of liars, steared in their own conscience, as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those. Here it is. Who believe and know the truth?

24:06We need to realize that demons are real, they're fallen angels, and they are constantly at work behind the scenes seeking to get preachers, teachers, and professors and authors to misrepresent the Bible so that their listeners, their students, their hearers, or their readers will end up believing things that aren't true, believing lies about God, believing lies about themselves. And false teachers usually sprinkle just enough truth into the teaching, right, into their teaching, that it's hard to pick out the error.

24:47Add to that the fact that they typically have a dynamic, winsome, and convincing, and compelling personality. And yet, even so, false teachers are demonically inspired and instigated. And it's their character that often gives them away. James chapter 3, verse 13: Who among you is wise and understanding? In other words, those that say, Hey, listen to me, I'm smart. I'm a good teacher. You know, I've discovered some things that maybe you haven't, and so you need to listen to what I have to say to you.

25:28Let him show by his. Good behavior, his deeds, and the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. And that's why it's so vital for us to develop biblical discernment. So we can tell the difference between truth and error. 1 John chapter 4, verse 1: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Verse 6, we are from God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. But this we know, by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So it's important for us to know the truth of God's Word, but it's equally important that we live it out. So not only do you need to know the truth, you need to live the truth. We need to have a firm hold of the truth, but the truth needs to have a firm hold of us.

26:42Martin Lloyd-Jones made this comment in his book, The Christian Soldier, which was his massive exposition of this text. And this is what he wrote: quote, it means, this being girded, having girded your loins with truth, he said, it means a mastery of the truth. But it also means. Being mastered by the truth. It means that I do not merely look at the Bible intellectually and study it as a word, say, the works of Shakespeare, but rather that its truths get hold of me and govern my whole attitude to the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to everything that happens in my life.

27:20In other words, we must apply the truth of God's Word to every aspect of our daily lives, consistently putting it into practice in the way that we think, the way that we talk, the way that we act. And ultimately, we must live a life marked by truth, or truthfulness, or integrity, or honesty, or sincerity. In other words, there's no hypocrisy in our lives. You're not living a lie. David is a tragic example of that. David, back in the Old Testament, right, for an entire year, covered up his sin. He hid his sin of adultery and murder. And of course, his life was a wreck, right? If you read Psalm 32, and what it was like to hide sin and what it does to you, not just spiritually, but even physically.

28:24And the point is, once a lie gets into our lives, everything begins to fall apart. Part and we live in fear of getting caught. So, some of you are living a lie this morning. You're here, and you are presenting yourself in a certain way, assuming that everybody thinks you're a certain kind of guy when you really aren't, because you know the truth of what's happening behind the scenes in your life when you're all by yourself. And so, you're trapped, you're living in fear, waiting for, as they say, the other shoe to fall, right? And for your sin to be found out. Be sure your sin will find you out, right? The Bible, you know that, you know that verse, and you're just kind of waiting because God doesn't lie, and what he says happens. On the other hand, a person of integrity has nothing to fear. That they have a clear conscience and they can face the accusations of the enemy unashamedly because they don't have any loose ends flapping around in their lives that Satan or anyone else can grab a hold of and take advantage of and use against them. That's what it means to be above reproach.

29:44And so, in order to stand firm against Satan, we must know the truth, but we need to live a life of truthfulness. And so, I think both objective and subjective truth are in view here, and I think the latter flows out of the former as we. Internalize God's Word, it becomes a part of us which enables us to be a reliable, faithful, trustworthy person of integrity. And so the question remains: how do we put on the belt of truth? And I want to do this for each one of these pieces of armor: I want to give you a battle plan. A battle plan. Let's make it as practical as we possibly can. What does it look like to put on the belt of truth? And I'm just going to give you some quick bullet points after each one of these pieces of armor that hopefully can help you put these things into practice in your life. So, how do you put on the belt of truth? Number one, come to know Jesus Christ. Come to know Jesus Christ. John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. So, come to know Jesus Christ. Number two, study the truth of God's Word. Study the truth of God's Word. I mean, we're talking about having a quiet time every day. Just spending time reading and studying God's Word on a daily basis. Are you in the habit of doing that? If not, that's part of being a spiritual warrior, is that you have time, you spend time with God every day in His Word. And then I would say go beyond that. Not just have your quiet time, but go to Bible studies where you can learn. You're already plugged into a great church where you're. Hearing the Word of God taught on a week-in- and week-out basis.

31:35Grab a theology book. Grab MacArthur and Mayhew's new book, Bible Doctrine, I think it's called, or Biblical Doctrine. What's it called? Biblical Doctrine. Man, that's a chunky book there, man. It's a thick book, right? And don't walk around the church carrying it, you know, trying to impress people. I'm just saying, get a systematic theology like that. And start working your way through that. We have a group of guys at our church that we call Mighty Men, and we do it every two years. And we take guys through that book because we want to just help them learn sound theology. And so the point is that you become so familiar with the real thing, with the truth of God's Word, that you can recognize anything that's counterfeit because you've mastered the truth. Number three, put into practice what you learn. Put into practice what you learn. One of the mantras of our church is James 1:22, and I'm sure our people are sick of me reminding them of this verse. It says, But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

32:43And I think we're guilty as people that love to study the Bible, Bible churches, and you guys are essentially a Bible church as well. You're committed to the scriptures. We hear all these messages, hear all these sermons, go to all these Bible studies, and we have all this truth that. And so it's easy to delude ourselves or to deceive ourselves into thinking, hey, I'm good. But the question is, are you actually putting it into practice? Are you applying any of it? Is your life changing as a result of what you're hearing and learning? I don't know about you. My favorite classes in college were the ones I got to audit where you just show up. No pressure, man. You just take in the information. Everybody around you is sweating it out because they know the quiz is coming, the test is coming, they got to write the term paper. And you're just like, easy peasy, man. Just taking in the information. There's a lot of people that come to church and they're just kind of auditing church. They're just taking in the information. And they have no intention of doing anything about it or with it. So make sure that you are applying what you are learning. Number four, come clean if you're living a lie. Stop being a hypocrite. Take off the mask. Be open and honest with someone. I love Proverbs 28, 13. He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. That should motivate you to want to come clean because of God's grace and mercy. And then lastly, pray for illumination and application by the Holy Spirit. Pray for illumination and application by the Holy Spirit. Every Sunday when I get up to preach, I always ask. The Lord, before I preach, and I pray this for our entire body, Lord, would you, by your Spirit, the same spirit that inspired this text, would you illuminate our minds? Help us understand what you meant by what you said here through the Apostle Paul, and then help us make application of it in our lives. So pray. And the reason why I mentioned prayer, and I'm going to mention prayer as the last bullet point under each battle plan, under each piece of armor, because, again, let's not miss Ephesians chapter 6 and how it flows here. There's no break between verse 17 and 18. It says, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit.

35:18And so all the pieces of armor at the end of the day are put on through prayer. So you want to pray these pieces of armor on to your life. And so what would this look like practically? So this is a daily prayer in regards to the belt of truth. God, help me to grow in my understanding of the Bible. Convince me of the truths of your word and conform my life to them so I would be able to stand firm against Satan and not fall prey to his lies. Expose any areas of hypocrisy in my life so I can confess it and forsake them. Make me a man of integrity.

35:56This is practically what I think it looks like to put on the belt of truth. Of truth. Well, let's go on. The second piece of armor is the breastplate. The breastplate. He says, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now, Roman soldiers wore this sleeveless piece of armor that covered the upper part of their torso, protecting them from the neck to the waist, both in the front and the back. Just imagine a vest. In fact, I was eating that, had breakfast with a guy yesterday at Rudy's there on 105, the new Rudy's. Got to have some Rudy's breakfast tacos, right? And anyway, I saw this guy while we were going to have this conversation. I'm easily distracted. So I noticed this police officer getting out of his car, and he took his bulletproof vest, and he took it and he slung it on him and zipped it up. And I thought, that's really cool, man. That guy's got his, I mean, he's protecting his vitals, right? He's got that thing. And so this Roman breastplate was made of either leather, and they sometimes sewed pieces of hooves and horns on it, or it was a coat of chainmail, or sometimes it was just a large piece of metal hammered out to conform to the chest. And it served the purpose of protecting the heart, the lungs, and all the other vital organs of a soldier's body.

37:28And so Paul thought. Well, we need to put on the breastplate of righteousness, or literally, which is righteousness. And if you'll notice, he's quoting here from the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 59, verse 16. He saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation to him, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. And he put on garments of vengeance for clothing. So it's interesting. Paul is really just borrowing language from the Old Testament.

38:13But what was he talking about here? This breastplate of righteousness, or which is righteousness. Well, let's break it down a little bit. To be righteous means to be good or upright or blameless. And so a truly, fully righteous person always does what is right. Any righteous man here? Fully righteous? Always righteous? Well, the Bible says that we are all unrighteous, right? Romans chapter 3, Paul made that very clear. There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There's no one who seeks for God. And because we are unrighteous, we deserve to be punished. By experiencing the wrath of God. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Romans 1:18. That's the bad news. The good news is that in His grace, God provides us the righteousness that we lack when we place our faith in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Again, Romans 3 talks about this righteousness. Verse 22, even the righteous of God through faith in Jesus, for all those who believe, for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

39:46So when a person repents of their sin and they trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, the righteousness of Christ is credited or transferred to our account. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. He made him, God made him, Christ, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So being clothed with Christ's righteousness enables us to stand in the presence of a holy God and be acceptable to him. We are no longer condemned.

40:28This is what theologians refer to as. Imputed righteousness or positional righteousness. This is our position. This is our standing in Christ. So surely Paul had this in mind when he talked about the breastplate of righteousness, but there's another kind of righteousness that he could have had in mind, and that is practical righteousness. In other words, right character or proper conduct. And so positional righteousness manifests itself in practical righteousness. In other words, when we receive God's righteousness, it will come out in our lives through righteous living. Since we've been made righteous, we should live righteous lives. Just look over at the previous chapter, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 8. For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth.

41:40In the previous chapter, Ephesians 4:24, Paul said, Put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 1 John tells us that true believers practice righteousness. 1 John 3, verse 7, Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. So, in the same way that there are two possible meanings of truth, the belt of truth, I think there's also two possible meanings for righteousness. It's either positional righteousness or practical righteousness. Now, again, I don't think that we need to decide. We don't have to choose.

42:31It's an either or. Now, I think it's probably best to combine them. It's a both and. Because one invariably leads to the other. Our positional righteousness in Christ should be and must be worked out practically in every area of our lives and every day of our lives. I like how one commentator put this. He said, quote, the completeness of pardon for past offense, that's our positional righteousness, and the integrity of character that belong to the justified life, that's our practical righteousness, are woven together into impenetrable mail.

43:16Look at Zachariah 3 for a second. Just go back to the Old Testament. I want us to see an interesting account in Zachariah. Zachariah chapter 3. And I think this is an illustration of spiritual warfare in the Old Testament. And here we have an account about Joshua the high priest. Notice what it says in Zachariah 3:1. Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. So we got this, Zachariah chapter 3, verse 1.

44:06So here is Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan is also there standing right at his right hand, accusing him. The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? In other words, this is one that I've saved. This is the one I've rescued out of the fire. It's a great picture of salvation, right? That if you're saved, you are a brand that's been plucked out of the fire. Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. So, guess what? He was looking pretty bad. He deserved to be accused, if you will, by Satan. Satan had some things that he could point out. Look at this guy. Look at how he looks.

45:00He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, This is the angel of the Lord saying, Remove the filthy garments from him. Again, he said to him, See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

45:22So God gave Joshua this new set of clothes, which enabled him to stand firm in the face of Satan's accusations. And I think it's a clear picture of imputed righteousness. But it's not to be separated from practical righteousness. Notice how this goes on in verse 6: and the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, if you will walk in my ways, and if you will perform my service, then you will also govern my house and also have charge of my courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here. In other words, Joshua commanded, or excuse me, God commanded Joshua to be obedient. Yes, you have been clothed in righteousness, but you now need to live a righteous life. You need to live a life of obedience. And it was because Joshua had been made righteous that he was able to live righteously.

46:22And all that to say, our righteous standing before the Lord and our righteous living before the Lord guards our lives. Hearts against the assaults of Satan. And I think there's an important truth that we can learn from that incident in Zachariah chapter 3. That Satan's primary tactic, we know, we learned it last night against us, is deception, but another one of his evil tactics is accusation, or how about this, condemnation. Satan's always trying to accuse God's children. He's referred to as the accuser of the brethren. And so he wants to overwhelm us with despair and discourage us by getting us to live under guilt and condemnation and keep us wallowing in the shame of our sin. And he wants us to think that we're no good and that we have no right to come before God. And he's like, you call yourself a Christian? And you did that? You said that? You went there?

47:24How can you claim to be God's child after doing that? And so whenever we fall into sin and Satan accuses us, we need to remind ourselves of our positional righteousness. But how much better to avoid accusation altogether? And that's only possible when we put our imputed righteousness to practical use, moment by moment, day by day, choosing to do the right thing rather than the wrong thing. Because if we know Something is the right thing to do and we don't do it, or we know something isn't right and we do it anyway, guess what? We are giving the devil an opportunity to accuse us. It's like we're just handing over the ammo. Say, hey, here's another box of bullets for you, Satan. Have at it.

48:24But when we're living a holy and righteous life, Satan can't accuse us of anything. When our life is right before the Lord, it's like a breastplate that protects our hearts from Satan's accusations, just like the breastplate of a Roman soldier protects their vital organs against attack. And so, again, in summary, the breastplate of righteousness, I think, is our righteous standing melded or weaved together with our righteous living. Now, how about a battle plan? How do we put on the breastplate of righteousness? Number one, forsake your own self-righteousness. Forsake your own self-righteousness. Stop thinking you're good enough, in and of yourselves, to make it to heaven. Stop trying to make yourself acceptable to God. Matthew 5:20, Jesus said the standard is, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll not enter the kingdom of heaven.

49:29There was no No more self-righteous men on the earth at the time of Christ than the Pharisees. And from an outward standpoint, they lived a very holy and righteous life. They kept the law to the T externally. We know that Jesus said they were just whitewashed tombs, though, right? You know, of course, the story that Jesus told in Luke 18 about the Pharisee and the tax collector and how the Pharisee came and said, Oh, Lord, thank you that I'm not like that guy because I do this and I do this and I do this and I do this.

50:05And then the tax collector wouldn't even approach the throne, right? Couldn't even come inside and just said, Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner, and beat on his chest because he knew how unrighteous a man he actually was. The moral of that story is the good man, the good man, went to hell, and the bad man went to heaven. And Satan's goal is to get as many people to go to hell with him as possible. And one of the main tactics that he uses is to get people to believe that they're going to heaven because of their good deeds, because they're a good guy.

50:45Heaven's not for good old boys, heaven is for people who have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. So, forsake your own self-righteousness. Number two, seek and trust in Christ's righteousness. Seek and trust in Christ. Trust in Christ's righteousness. Matthew 6:33, seek first his kingdom and his what? Righteousness. I love Philippians chapter 3. This is Paul's testimony. Verse 7. Whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as lost for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ. Now, here it is, and may be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

51:46So you need to seek your righteousness in Christ. Number three, revel and rest in the fact that you stand blameless before God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Revel and rest in the fact that you stand blameless before God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Romans 8:1, therefore there is now no condemnation for those of you who are in Christ Jesus. And there are some people that live under this cloud of guilt, even though they've been truly saved.

52:20And they need to be constantly reminded of this, that you're not under condemnation anymore. Why are you beating yourself up? Verse 33: Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. So we need to rest in the intercessory ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, Hey, no one can condemn you, no one can bring a charge against you because I've justified you, I've cleansed you, I died for you.

53:10Number four, hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Matthew 5:6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In other words, you need to love what God loves. You need to love what God says is right, and you need to hate what He says is wrong. So hunger and thirst after righteousness. How about this? Number five, do what's right. But we're just talking, this is basic stuff, right? Don't over-spiritualize this breastplate of righteousness. Do the right thing. Live a righteous and holy life so your conscience is void of any offense toward God or towards men. I love what Paul said, Acts 24:16. I do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience. Before both God and before men.

54:05Number six, regularly confess your sin. Regularly confess your sin. 1 John 1, we know 1 John 1:9, but it really needs to be read in its context. 1 John 1, verse 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have a fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

54:521 chapter 2, verse 1, my little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So take advantage of that. Confess your sin. Another Old Testament reference that I want to encourage you to look at quickly with me, Micah chapter 7. Micah chapter 7. And this is been in the Bible since it was written, right? Centuries. I've missed it until recently. I don't know where I've been.

55:35But look at Micah chapter 7, verse 7. Micah chapter 7, verse 7. It's in the sticky pages of your Old Testament. It doesn't get much use back there, right? Micah chapter 7, verse 7. But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Now listen to this: verse 8: Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall, I will arise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see his righteousness. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, Where is the Lord your God?

56:29I think this is a graphic picture of when we blow it big time. And we all do from time to time, don't we? We just blow it big time. It's something that we did, something that we said, something that we thought. And it's like Satan does a little party dance. Like, that's what he's saying. But do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Satan's like, yes, we got him. We won. Though I fall, I will rise. Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. Again, I'm going to bear the indignation of the Lord. I'm going to have to be disciplined and experience the consequences for my sin because I did sin against him. But he will plead my case and execute justice for me. He will bring me out to the light out of the darkness that I went into. He's going to bring me out and I will see his righteousness, and then the enemy will see and he'll be ashamed.

57:38And I'll never forget the first time I heard this passage was in a sermon that John Piper preached at a passion conference down in Houston. I wasn't there. I just listened to the sermon after the fact online. But he said, he read this passage. He said, listen, some of you guys, there were thousands of college-age kids at this passion, young adults at this passion conference. And Piper gets up and he says, I know that there are young people in this room that sinned last night in one of the hotel rooms you were staying at.

58:20And it got really silent. And Satan is telling you this morning that you have failed. And that you're useless, and that you can never be used by God to be a missionary, to be a pastor, or to be whatever. And he said, listen, don't forget. Don't let Satan rejoice over you that you've just blown it. And so God just kind of kicked you to the curb, if you will. He said, no, that Christ will come. And he will defend you. He will plead your case for you and execute justice for you and say, I died for that sin.

59:08And so, again, what are we talking about? Regularly confess your sin. Claim the righteous of Christ over your sin. Christ died for that. And then, lastly, pray that God would help you live a righteous life. Again, with all prayer, right? Ephesians 6, with all prayer and petition, we put on this piece of armor through prayer. And this is just a simple prayer you could pray. God, thank you that my sin is covered by the blood and righteousness of Christ. Help me to live out my righteousness in Christ in the way that I think, the way that I act, the way that I talk, so I will be protected from Satan's accusations. So again, this is a suggested prayer to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

1:00:03So we've seen the belt of truth. We've seen the breastplate of righteousness. Now let's look at the boots. The boots. Verse 15. And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, if you've ever played sports, which I'm looking around and I can tell some of you guys have, and still do, that's why you're a man camp, weekend warrior, right? You're going to tear it up this afternoon. Hopefully, you don't tear up your knee at the same time, right?

1:00:36In fact, my son, who's an Aggie, he's a senior right now, living up there in your neck of the woods. And it was here at man camp last year that he tore up his knee and tore his ACL, not his ACL, tore the meniscus and all this stuff around the ACL, or so we thought. And he gets to the doctor, he does an x-ray, he says, dude, you don't have an ACL. He had already messed it up skiing, or I should say playing football. Our daughter messed it up skiing, messed it up playing football in high school. So he already had an ACL repair. Well, it went somewhere. They don't know where it went. It disintegrated, the first one. So he was working without an ACL, and so this was, we saw this as providence of God coming to man camp, tearing up his knee, playing football, flag football, so that he could get a new ACL. And so he's working on getting it back in shape so we can go skiing and snowboarding. January. So, what did I say that? This is a rabbit trail. Okay, playing sports, right? We're talking about playing sports here, right? If you play sports, especially on grass or on dirt or a track, you know that the right footwear is essential. Because if you don't have the right shoes or cleats or spikes, you're not going to have good traction. You're going to start, you can't start, you can't stop, you can't cut, you can't turn, you'll be slipping, you'll be slipping around, sliding around, or worse, you'll fall.

1:02:02And so, if an athlete's footing on the sports field is critical, how much more critical is a soldier's footing on the battlefield? And so, Paul was referring to the boots that a Roman soldier would wear, these open-toed shoes that were fastened to their feet by wrapping leather straps around their ankles and their shins, and they had these thick leather soles that were studded with these long nails. I mean, just think about football cleats or soccer cleats, perhaps. And this allowed them to gain traction when they were in hand-to-hand combat so they wouldn't slip or wouldn't fall.

1:02:42They also protected their feet from injury on long marches over treacherous terrains. I don't know about you, but I've got wimpy little feet underneath, like I walk out on the hot driveway to the mailbox, and I'm like, oop, ah, ah, ah, right, bare feet aren't not good. Or just walking across the bullrock in my backyard, I'm like, ow, ooh, ouch. Or when you step on a Lego that your kid left out, right, in the living room, and how that hurts, right? So, in those days, the enemy would sharpen sticks and bury them in the ground with the sharp points sticking up to impede the progress of an approaching army. And their goal was to impale their feet and put them out of commission. Man, if your feet are injured, you're done. You can't go any further.

1:03:34And so, Paul used the Roman soldiers' footwear as an analogy of the importance of clearly understanding and fully embracing the gospel and consistently living it and sharing it with others. And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Essentially, what Paul was saying here was, or he was referring to, was the peace that comes through the good news of salvation in Christ provides us a firm foundation on which to stand our ground in our ongoing battle with Satan and his minions.

1:04:20So, what does it mean to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? Well, let's break it down one word or one phrase at the time. Obviously, the most Important word in this verse is the gospel. And Paul used this term many times in his letters to describe the good news of salvation from sin, death, and hell through the person and work of Jesus Christ, which he had been called by God to boldly and faithfully proclaim to the ends of the earth.

1:04:52The question is, why did Paul refer to the gospel as the gospel of peace? The gospel of peace. Well, in light of the context of spiritual warfare, we could say it this way: we were all born at war with God. We all start off on the wrong side as enemies of God. We are at war with God, but what's worse than that is that God is at war with us. We won't turn there, but Psalm 7 talks about God's wrath towards sinners, and it's as if this he has his bow cocked. Are we even bow season yet? And this weekend is opening season, right? Day, man, you guys are really spiritual that you decided to come here instead of go bow hunting on the opening weekend. But it says in Psalm 7 that God has his bow cocked, and he's like aiming it at our hearts.

1:05:47And so before a person repents and comes to Christ, they're an enemy of God and an object of his wrath. That's the bad news. The good news is that God made a way for us to have. Peace with him. Again, Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son.

1:06:21And so there are several aspects, I think, to the peace, the peace that the gospel produces in our lives. And that's, first of all, peace with God. We just read that, Romans 5:1. We have peace with God. When we heard and believed the gospel, that God loves us so much that even while we were his enemies, he sent his son, Christ, to die for us. He poured out his wrath on Christ, who acted as our substitute, and God's anger was appeased, and the war between God and us was finally over. And so, for the first time ever, we experienced peace with God.

1:07:01And so now we have been accepted by God. Our sins are forgiven. They're forgotten. We're no longer God's enemies. We're God's friends. We're no longer fighting against each other. He's on our side now, or we should say we're on his side now. And he's fighting for us, not against us. So, knowing we're at peace with God, first and foremost, produces the peace of God. The peace of God. Isaiah 26:3, God keeps at perfect peace those whose heart is set on Him or stayed on Him. John 14, 27, Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I will give to you.

1:07:49Philippians 4:7 talks about the peace that passes all understanding. So, knowing that God is on our side and that nothing can separate us from His love provides us with great courage and confidence, and it makes us calm in the midst of the conflict. We have complete peace, even though the battle is raging all around us. So, we have peace. The gospel provides peace with God, it provides the peace of God, but it also provides us peace with others. Peace with others. And in this same context, in Ephesians chapter 2, you know, where Paul talks about how Christ Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barriers of the dividing wall.

1:08:33Talking about how those two groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles, who were at enmity with one another, warring, if you will, groups, are now one in Christ. Ephesians 3:6, Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. So, not only has Christ secured peace between us. And God, but also between all of us who are in Christ. And so, whenever we get sideways or cross-threaded with other people, other believers, or a brother or sister in Christ provokes us or annoys us, and the point is, we should never walk away and allow a conflict to go unresolved. We should do everything we can to pursue a peaceable solution. Romans 12:18, if possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Romans 14:9, pursue the things which make for peace. Ephesians 2 and 3, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

1:09:41Listen, Satan loves to stir up strife amongst believers because he knows that when there's division in the ranks, it makes the Lord's army ineffective. When there's infighting within a church, for example, the entire church gets distracted from the mission, and guess what? The gospel doesn't get proclaimed because you spend your whole time, all your time, putting out all these fires. The example I think of is Philippians chapter 4, Yeodi and Sintiki. I urge Yeodi and urge Centiki to live in a harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. In other words, we used to all be teammates. Working together. And then something happened. Somebody got their toes stepped on. Somebody got their feelings hurt. And now they won't pass the ball to each other. And it shows. And we're forgetting what we're here for. And that's the cause of the gospel. So we need to have one mind, one heart, striving together for the work of the gospel. And in light of that, the last element of peace or aspect of peace I think that needs to be included or talked about in this, in what it means to have shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, is peace for others. Peace for others. We need to have peace with each other as the body of Christ, but we need to have peace for others. And again, this is a quote from Isaiah 52:7. Paul picked it up also in Romans chapter 10, verse 15. How will they preach unless they are sent, just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.

1:11:36So I think the concept of our feet being shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace has to include the readiness to share the gospel with others so that they can experience peace with God like we do. And those of us who are in the Lord's army, we have been given a very clear assignment. We have very clear marching orders. It's called the Great Commission. Go and make disciples of all nations. Go and preach the gospel to all nations.

1:12:05Christ has called us to be his ambassadors of peace who charge headlong into the middle of a raging war for the souls of men and women. Remember when we used to play Capture the Flag? And one of my favorite things was to let somebody else go after the flag. I just used to love go breaking people out of jail. And you just looked around, right? And you had to go across that no man's land into enemy territory, and you had to just book it, right? And to go find your guys that were in their little jail, wherever they put that jail, and you tag one of them, and boom, jail break, and everybody runs out. That's the way it is as Christians, right? We're going to get people out of, to help people break out of jail.

1:12:50They're under bondage. They've been taken captive by Satan to do his will. And so witnessing keeps us focused and sharp in battle. It keeps us from doing or saying things or going places that we might do or say or go otherwise. It's much easier to resist the temptation to go along with others when we're actively engaged in sharing the gospel with them, which also involves striving to maintain a good testimony to those who are seeking to lead to Christ. And so really, I guess you could say it this way: one of the best defenses is a good offense.

1:13:28And the most victorious. Christian is a witnessing Christian. I know it's about stopping time here, but I just got to tell you a quick story where I will never forget, as long as I live, that I think perfectly illustrates this idea of having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel piece. When we go on vacation as a family or as a couple, my wife and I, usually I wake up early in the morning and I go out wherever we're at, look for a fun donut shop, an epic coffee shop, and bring home donuts for the kids and coffee for my wife Kelly. And a few summers ago, we were up in Washington and I was out doing my thing, early morning routine. I had acquired the donuts, but I hadn't found a coffee shop yet. And if you know anything about the Pacific Northwest, I met Brian last night. Where's Brian? Is he around here? I think he left. Right in the middle of the illustration about the Pacific Northwest. He leaves. Anyway, if you know anything about the Pacific Northwest, you've ever been there, there's drive-through coffee huts everywhere. I mean, they're all over the place. Little mom-and-pop shops, and they're usually just big enough to fit one barista inside. And so I was heading back to our rent house. I saw one of these huts on the side of the road, and I swung in to grab my wife a cup of coffee.

1:15:00Little did I know at the time, it was not your normal coffee hut. I pulled up to the window, which was more like a door, and I saw this young college girl step out into the opening, and all she was wearing was her undergarments. And that's when I started having my quiet time. I was completely caught off guard. And this was a visceral experience. This was like, I mean, my whole body reacted to what I saw because I'd never been in the presence of a woman in that state of dress other than my wife. And it was shocking to my body, even.

1:15:44And I didn't really know what to do or say. And as I was contemplating doing the Joseph thing and just like punching it in the rental car and taking off, I really thought my body just, you know, muscle memory almost just like kicked in there. And while I was trying to figure out what to do in those seconds, she asked me what I wanted to drink. And so I awkwardly asked her for my wife's favorite drink. Talk about muscle memory, I got her favorite drink, right, in my mind. I'm going to get her that. And so I just ordered that, and she began chatting it up with me while she was making my wife's cup of coffee. And it dawned on me at the time, and I was a little slow on the uptake on this deal, that this was intended to be a visual experience along with your cup of coffee. And I wish I could tell you.

1:16:30That my initial thoughts were as pure and innocent as my motives in driving up to that coffee hut, and that I didn't think to myself that, well, nobody else is around. It's early in the morning, nobody knows me, she doesn't know I'm a pastor, I'm thousands away from thousands of miles away from home. What would it hurt to take in the view? Well, thankfully, those thoughts were fleeting because it was so obvious to me that Satan had launched a surprise attack on me. I was just out of my sleepy donut coffee run with my family, and I got ambushed.

1:17:10And so, there became this strong conviction that this was a divine appointment, and there was no way I was going to drive away from this experience without that girl here in the gospel. And so, I don't remember consciously thinking this, but it was like, okay, Satan, you want to go? Let's go. And so, I started with the obvious, trying to break the ice. And I said, Well, you know, it looks like you forgot to get dressed today.

1:17:41I'm good at, you know, conversation. So, she proceeded to explain to me that that was her uniform, and that she worked for this special chain of coffee huts throughout the Pacific Northwest where all the girls dress like that. But then she admitted to me. That her dad would be so disappointed with her. Apparently, she was looking at me like a dad. That her dad would be so disappointed if he knew she worked there because he was a Catholic. And then she went on to explain how she believed in God but had left the Catholic Church because of all the hypocrisy she saw growing up. And boy, that was my inn right there.

1:18:22And I said, Hey, I totally agree with you. I said, I grew up with a lot of Catholic friends. I went to high school with them, and I used to, you know, I used to go to Mass with them on Saturday nights just so I could build a bridge and have the opportunity to share the Bible with them. And yet, I also saw them in the locker room. And I heard the things that they talked about on the bus going to and from games and the things they did. And I said, I totally get what you're talking about.

1:18:49And then I proceeded to share the gospel with her, and I asked if I could pray for her. And she said, yes. And so I did. I prayed for her, and then I left as quickly as I could. But my point is, I drove up to that coffee shop and felt totally blindsided by a satanic assault, but drove away totally exhilarated by an opportunity to share the gospel with this young gal who obviously had been blinded and deceived and taken captive to do his will and needed to hear how she could have peace with God.

1:19:33And when I got back to the rent house, I handed my wife her cup of coffee, and I told her, You better enjoy this because this is the most expensive cup of coffee I've ever bought you. Because apparently, you're supposed to not just pay for the coffee, but the show. And when she told me the price of the coffee, I was like, Oh, wow, okay, now I really get it. What's going on here? And praise God, my wife, when I told her about what happened, the very first thing she said was, Honey, you got to share the gospel with the woman at the well.

1:20:06And I'm like, Yeah, you're right. And again, I tell that story because in that unplanned, unexpected moment of temptation, I almost lost my footing. I almost slipped. I almost fell. But by God's grace, I dug in my heels and was able to pivot that conversation and turn that situation into an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. And so, guess what? That one backfired on the devil. So, battle plan. Really quick, I'll give these, just list them off really quick. How do you put on gospel boots? How do you put on gospel boots? Here's the battle plan. Number one, repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. Number two, regularly preach the gospel to yourself.

1:20:57I'm assuming you're familiar with that concept, Jerry Bridges is. Written tons on it. Don't get into the good day, bad day, you know, mindset where when you have a good day and everything goes right and you had your quiet time and you shared the gospel and you were nice to your wife and you taught your kids a Bible verse and you're thinking you did a good job that day and then somehow God loves you more and is more happy with you that day than the day you woke up late and you didn't have your quiet time and you know flipped somebody off on the way to work. Hopefully you're not doing that. But the point is you got angry, a little road rage on the way to work and you kind of snapped at your wife when you got home and your kids were annoying you so you yelled at them and you think, oh, God's not happy with me today. Preach the gospel to yourself, right? Remind yourself that your acceptance before God is not based on what you do or what you don't do. It's on what Christ has already done. That's the good news of the gospel. Number three, get right and stay right with others. Get right and stay right with others. Fight hard to get along with fellow believers. Lots of verses there. Matthew 5, Matthew 18, Ephesians 4.

1:22:06And then lastly, daily, pray for opportunities to share the gospel. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel. And again, this is part of the prayer, right? God, help me to resist temptation, to stay away from people, places, situations that tempt me. Help me to live in peace with my family and other believers as much as possible. As much as it depends on me, and Lord, give me an opportunity today to tell somebody about Jesus. That's how you shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Let's pray. Father, thank you for our time together. I pray that you would help us apply these truths to our lives for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.