ARMOR of GOD: Righteousness with Pastor Allen Nolan

several weeks ago I begin a new series on the subject of the armor of God and in the first week of the series I talked about the importance of putting on the armor of God in the second week I explained how to put on the armor of God and if you weren't here you really need to go back and watch that sermon and you can do that on our website because every Christian needs to know how to put on the armor of God so that they can stand against the wiles of the devil why because the devil is wily so you need to be able to put on the whole armor of God and most people don't know how to do that so I spent the entire sermon explaining how to do that this week we're going to start studying each individual piece of the armor so if you would turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 6 verse number 11 we've read this passage of Scripture not only in this series but also in the last series the series on angels and demons notice what it says put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil now I want you to notice that this says to put on the whole armour of God not just a few pieces of our rule in other words it's not enough to have a sword in a shield if you want to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil then you have to put on the whole armor of God anything less than that will make you vulnerable to the enemy and that's why many Christians have fallen including leaders they didn't put on the whole armor of God and the devil was able to take advantage of that most of you are being taken advantage of but the reason you're being taken advantage of is because you've not put on the whole armor of God now according to Paul the armor of God consists of six different pieces the lord belt the truth the breastplate of righteousness the shoes of peace the shield of faith the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit those are the six pieces that make up the whole armor of God and they're very and they're the very same pieces that a Roman soldier wore in fact as many times as Paul was imprisoned I'm sure that he was very familiar with the armor of a Roman soldier and that's probably what he thought of while he was writing this passage of Scripture so as we study each piece of armor I'll be comparing it to the armor of a Roman soldier at the time of Paul so that you can understand not only the importance of each piece but also the function each piece of armor has a specific function and if you don't have that piece on then you're not going to be able to function properly and that's why we're going to be comparing it to the armor of a Roman soldier now this morning we're going to start with the very first piece of armor that's listed in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 13 through 17 and that's the Lord built the truth so if you would turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 6 we're in the same chapter but we're gonna jump down to verses we're gonna start in verse 13 and read to verse 17 and just follow along with me as I read this therefore but on the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand you've got to be able to withstand these attacks in the evil day and having done all to stand in other words to keep standing when it's finished you want to be the one that's still standing how many of you going through a tough time and you say well I'm still standing that's what this is saying so that you may be able to withstand not only the attacks of the devil but also when you've done all that you can you're still standing then he goes further stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you should 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 now when it says which is the word of God notice it's the sword of the Spirit this is not the Bible that's talking about that word word is translated from the heat from the Greek word Rhema and it's talking about a word that God speaks to you as you're reading the log-off's the Bible and God speaks something to you in other words it comes alive to you that's a Rhema that's what that's referring to now of the six pieces of armor that's listed in this passage of Scripture some are more important than others but don't misunderstand me they're all very important but some are more important than others and believe it or not the Lord belt of truth is one of the most important if not the most important though most people would never guess that because it's so inconspicuous in other words every other piece of armor would draw your attention long before you ever notice the loin belt you see the helmet was majestic and that's because rome allowed their soldiers to accessorize their helmets in any way that they wanted to just as long as it didn't diminish the structural integrity of the helmet and its ability to protect the soldiers so most helmets were decorated with the plume of colored feathers or maybe with horsehair that was dyed in some brilliant color in fact it was kind of like our Air Force pilots today how many of you watch the movie Top Gun that's an old movie isn't it and I can remember that came out and that was just so good and the other day I watched it again and it's like oh man that's kind of cheesy but anyways if you watched Top Gun you know there was maverick and there was goose and there was the Ice Man but if you notice their helmets there were different colors they had different words on them there was also stickers and they painted them you want to know why the Air Force allowed them to do that the Air Force allows them to do that number one because they're in the aircraft and no one else sees them and you can tell by the aircraft that it's on your team but the other reason is because their history goes all the way back to the Roman Empire and based on the Roman Empire they said we won't allow our pilots to decorate or accessorize their helmets in any way they want to as long as it doesn't compromise the structural integrity of the helmet and or diminishes its ability to protect them so you couldn't help but notice their helmets because when you looked at it you want to know well how did they decorate their helmet the breastplate for an infantryman was also well or was what we would call a coat of mail it went from the soldiers neck all the way down to the top of their knee and it was kind of like a dress but it was made out of brass and the more that a soldier wore it the shinier it shinier it became because the small-scale like pieces of metal would rub against each other causing it to polish itself so it'll literally begin to shine especially when the Sun so you couldn't help but notice it in fact let me give you a little fun fact about the Roman Empire this is interesting most people don't know this but if you go back and you study ancient war wars and ancient armies what you'll find at find is that part of the strategy was that you wanted your army to be positioned in such a way that when you went into battle the Sun was behind you because you didn't want the Sun in your soldiers eyes if you want the Sun in the eyes of your opponent but Rome was totally different and the reason Rome was totally different is because their helmet actually had a visor on it how many of you remember what a what a helmet looked like for a Roman soldier if you remember has a visor kind of like a baseball hat and the purpose of that visor was so that their soldiers could fight facing the Sun but the other reason they wanted that is because when the Sun would shine their infantry their infantry reward this coat of mail and all of these small pieces of metal would rub against each other and the more it rubbed against each other the shinier it became and it would literally when the Sun hit it it would shining it would dazzle you and it would blind the enemy I mean you would go up to fight against them and it was almost like man this is unbelievable shining in your eyes like that so rome was probably the only army that actually wanted to fight facing the sun but the reason they wanted to was because of the breastplate the next thing that would catch your eye was the soldier shield now roman soldier had two shields one for battle that was called a Thurio the other was for public parades or ceremonies and it was called the aspis so in essence one was for show the other was for combat the one paul is referring to and this is the one for combat it was composed of six layers of animal hide specially tanned to be as strong as steel but to be as light as possible and then you had the soldiers sword the sword always caught the eye of a civilian and here's what's interesting the reason it caught your eyes because it wasn't huge it wasn't big it was actually just 19 inches long but it was a two-edged sword and it was razor-sharp on both sides now this is kind of interesting because when we picture a sword we picture a big sword right we see these guys holding swords they have both hands on them and that's how the Crusader swords were or maybe we see the Muslims and what they had was a scimitar and they actually had this long sword and so we think of swords as being long or maybe we go back to the time of the French maybe the Seas in 16th century and those long thin swords and they would put their arm up and they would fight like this right Romans didn't fight that way Romans wanted to have hand-to-hand combat in fact you would take your shield and you would hit the other person and you always wanted to maintain contact just like an offensive lineman you didn't ever let it be any space between you and the reason you did that is because their sword was long and when you're up against them they can't use their sword to stab you and can't swing to hit you so it was useless so what a Roman soldier did is he came up and he put it on and all he would do is pivot he'd hit them with that shoulder and then he'd pivot and staff hit him with the shoulder pivot and staff so the sword was only 19 inches long but it was strongest could be and it was razor-sharp on both sides and you couldn't help but notice the soldiers shoes because they were like steel baseball cleats except these cleats were 1 2 3 inches long they also wore a breed that was considered to be a part of their shoe it was made from brass and wood from the top of their knees to the top of their feet now with all of these impressive pieces of armor hardly anyone ever noticed the loin belt but even though it wasn't something a person would notice it was one of the most important pieces of a soldier's armor if not the most important piece you see the loin belt held the three major major pieces of armor together in fact the loin belt is what kept the breastplate from flapping when you ran and coming back from slapping you with each step because the breastplate was made like a poncho it was a long coat of mail with the slit in the middle for the head and you would put it on just like a poncho in fact use this as an example I didn't have time actually I looked online for a coat of mail and you can't find that can you believe that I guess there's no use for that anymore so what I did was I took an old tablecloth and I cut it up but I want you to understand that if you were cold to be in the army and here's how the Roman army worked when they defeated another nation then you were required based upon the population of your nature nation to provide so many soldiers now they wouldn't allow those soldiers to serve in their own land they would make up a legion and they would put them in another land in fact many times they would put you in the land of your enemies but the reason they did that is because they didn't want to create this legion of soldiers and they're in their own nation and then they turn around and they rebel against Rome but what Rome would do is he would they would take all of the men who were fighting age from the nation that they had conquered and they would come in and they were draft so many of them and say you're going to be a soldier someone you pulled up and you went to the place you were supposed to be and you came out and said okay I'm supposed to be a soldier the first thing they did was they measured you they measures the top of your shoulder all the way to the top of your knees and then they would measure your shoulders and then they would measure your waist and based on that they would get you a coat of mail and it would be shaped like a rectangle just like this but the slit in the middle for your head and you would put it on just like the poncho you would come in and you would slip it over yourself just like that but it wouldn't stay in place without the loin belt so what you did you guys like my coat of mail you would have a lot loin belt and you would put the loin belt over it just like this and you would come in and snap it actually it was made it wasn't actually a snap there was a latch to it but you would take the front in the back and the front would actually attach itself to the loin belt and so with the back and that's what kept it in place the Lorne belt was also used to attach the scabbard for your sword because you didn't want to walk around all the time with your sword in your hand right though you know you get your sword and you're not you're walking around and everywhere you're talking to someone and you go for groceries and you stab it and put it in your back no you didn't do that when you weren't using your sword you put it in its scabbard but you wanted to be able to get to it so the scabbard was attached to the loin belt it was also where you put your shield because there was a clip on the loin belt that you could hang your shield on and if you want to get technical you actually had this clip on both sides of the loin belt and I'll explain why in just a minute so as you can see the loin belt was a very important piece of equipment it held everything together with the exception of the helmet and the shoes it held the breastplate in place had also held the sword in the shield plus it served the same function as an athletic Cup for soldiers me and you know the importance of an athletic Cup right I want you understand this is not a long bout if it was a long belt and you've seen this before there would be these strips of leather that comes about right here and it would go down to about this point and they're attached together what most people don't know right where the man's gentle to this there's also a piece of metal right behind that that was your athletic cup so it was one of the most important pieces of armor if not the most important now the same thing holds true for the armour of God the loin belt is one of the most important pieces of armor if not the most important in fact I believe that it is the most important now turn back to Ephesians chapter 6 verse number 14 and I'll show you why I believe that and yes I'm going to preach with this on because I have some illustrations with it so I know it looks real cool but let's keep going notice what it says verse 14 stand therefore having your loins Girt about with truth do you see that you're to gird your loins with truth and that's why it's called the loin belt of truth but what is truth well Jesus said in John chapter 17 verse number 17 that God's Word is truth so the loin belt is God's Word yeah and people it's what holds the breastplate of righteousness in place and it's also what holds the sword of the Spirit until it's ready for use and the shield of faith when the battle Kame fierce now let me explain how roman soldier would clip their shields of the loin belt if they were being a public parade or if they were in the ceremony or if you were guarding a prisoner or if you were in town and you really didn't think there would be a battle you just needed your presence to be known if you're right-handed your scabbard was attached to the left side of your loin belt on the right side it was also a little clip so if you had an ass because you're not going into battle you didn't have a thorough Yass the big one for combat you had the one for show it's called an aspis you had a place that you slipped your forearm through and then you would grab hold of it this place where you had your forearm was quite long it's about six to eight inches long and on it was a little place where you could attach it to the loin belt the reason you did that is because if you're standing in place it doesn't matter if it only weighs 15 pounds how many you've ever tried to just look 15 pounds around all day you didn't want to do that so you would attach it to your loin belt now here's the great thing about the loin belt because the breastplate is attached to it it's kind of like suspenders so when you put the shield to it you don't have to worry about the loin belt working its way down and the reason you don't is because the breastplate is attached to it and it goes around your shoulders so your shoulders is holding all the way so you could stand for 8 10 11 hours a day with your shield standing right there against it because the loin better your shoulders is carrying it now if you were going into battle you didn't use an ass but she used 230 offs it was long and rectangular and it was much heavier if you're a right-handed the scabbard was on your left side cause you wanted to be able to grab it easy you didn't we'll have to do this and pull it up you did this and you pulled it out so you actually had on the left side on the scabbard was also another clip for your sword over your shield so what you would do is once you've had your 30 offs in your right hand if you're right-handed when you get ready to go into battle you switch it to your left hand you pull out your sword and then you attach it to that clip when you get ready to run you run into battle and then you throw it up and it's a tall shield and you throw your shoulder into it just like a football player and you want to knock them off balance and then when they get their balance you keep on - you're always making contact and then you pivot and stab pivot and staff but you're not having to hold it up your loin belt is doing all of the work so listen to me without the loin belt there would be no place to hang your sword or your shield or to keep your breastplate from flapping as you ran and that's why it's the very first piece of equipment that Paul mentions in this list without it people you're in trouble in fact this is the only piece of armor that has taken a physical form yeah every other piece of God's armor is spiritual in other words you cannot see it you might be here today and I can't tell whether you have on the breastplate or not because I don't know whether you're righteous or not just because you come to church doesn't mean you're righteous I can't tell whether or not you have faith so I don't know whether you have the shield of faith I can't see it perfect you can tell me you have faith all day long I know James says you say you have faith show me your faith I'll show you my faith by my works now I can look at your works but sometimes you can even just do a show so I don't know whether you really have faith I don't know whether or not you really received the Rhema from God so I don't know whether you have the sword but there is one piece of armor that we can actually physically see and it's tangible and visible to the eye and people that is the loin belt because it's the loin belt of truth which is the Word of God it has been written down for us you see the Word of God is so important so valuable that God allowed His divine word to actually pass from the spiritual realm into this physical realm and now we can hold our hands on it and it's this the Bible now listen to me because this is very important just as the landlord belt was placed in the midsection or the center of a soldier's body this is the midsection right so maybe you have a problem with your midsection I have a problem my midsection it's bigger than my chest I have a furniture disease my chest is sunk down into my drawers but anyways this is the midsection this is the center but the loin belt holds everything together the major pieces and hopes the breastplate in place it hopes the scabbard for the sword of the Spirit it hopes the shields when I'm in battle but here's the things that you need to understand just as that is placed on the Roman soldier in the midsection of the center of his body the Word of God must also be placed in the center of your life and given a dominant robe in order to hold all the different facets of your life together in fact let me ask you a question how many of you feel like you just don't have it all together anyone ever made that comment I feel like I don't have it all together well you know why you feel that way you feel that way - cause God's Word is not in the center of your life and you're not allowing it to play the dominant role that it's supposed to if you would do that everything in your life would come together and be held in place in fact the more you grow as a Christian the more you understand God's Word the more you understand your role as a husband and as a father the more you understand your role as a child of God and as an employer or employee all the decisions begin to be made for you and your life begins to come together you know how to balance work with family you know how to balance all of these different things that you do everything that you don't feel like you have together starts coming together when the Word of God becomes the center of your life and it plays the dominant role that it's supposed to in fact let me show you something interesting turn with me if you would to the book of Hebrews chapter 5 verses 12 and 13 I love this passage of Scripture but it explains why some of you your life is a trainwreck listen to what it says for when for the time you ought to be teachers and if you're a parent you should be a teacher because your child is the pupil in your home and you're the teacher but it says for when for the time ye ought to be teachers you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the Oracles God and our become as such that had need of milk and not of strong meat now this is where it gets good notice this for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a bank now do you see what verse 13 is saying it's saying that everyone that's not into the meat of God's Word but as on the milk of God's Word is unskillful in the word of righteousness in other words when you don't know the Word of God you lack a basic understanding of what righteousness is all about you're an immature babe and that's why you're doing the things you shouldn't be doing and you're not doing the things you should be doing it's because you're not digging into the meat of God's Word you're still on meal Romans chapter 12 tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we might be able to prove what is the good acceptable and perfect will of God that's a horrible translation that word prove is translated from the Greek word deeakron now when it means to make a distinction you should be able to when you become mature and you get in the meat of the word you should be able to tell the difference between you should be able to make a distinction between the acceptable will of God the good will of God in the perfect will of God but you didn't know how to make a distinction you didn't know how to distinguish between God's acceptable will of their Christian you know God says don't marry any one's not a Christian so they're a Christian that's god's acceptable wheel what's his good will his good will is that someone who loves him like Christ loves and loves their spouse like Christ loves the church but it doesn't mean that they're the perfect will the perfect will of someone who exhibits the fruit of the Spirit and the characteristics of love but the reason you didn't know or you didn't have the ability to make a distinction between acceptable will the good will and the perfect will it's because you're on the milk of God's Word you're not in the meat everyone with me that's a good teaching pastor Alan now since we're talking about righteousness let's talk about the relationship between the Lord built the truth and the breastplate of righteousness as I told you the loin belt was designed to hold the breastplate in position by attaching the front and the back of it to the belt now without the loin belt the breastplate would flap when you ran and it would go from side to side as you were coming in and you were finding the M&E enemy and it would also cause you to become very clumsy and leave you open let's just take the loin belt off and I'll show you what I'm talking about if you started to run without the loin belt this thing would flap and come back and slap you and if you had to go to one side or the other it's leaving you very vulnerable but knowing that because it's heavy I'm here to tell you it's going to throw you off balance so in order for you to have this breastplate on right you've got to have a loin belt and then that that breast plate has to be attached to it everyone with me so there is a spiritual analogy here that I want to show you and this is the spiritual analogy if you're taking notes write this down if you have your phone take a picture of this here it is just as the lorne belt kept the breastplate properly wrapped around the soldier the Word of God keeps you properly wrapped in righteousness let me say that again and then only explain what it means just as the loin belt kept the breastplate properly wrapped around a soldier this is improperly wrapped and the reason it's not it literally would need to be attached the front and back to the loin belt and it would keep it in place but just as the long belt kept the breastplate properly wrapped around the soldier the Word of God keeps you properly wrapped in righteousness you see the loin belt went over the breastplate and you couldn't take off the breastplate until you took off the loin belt in other words it's impossible to take off the breastplate as long as the loin belt is still on and the same holds true in the spiritual realm as long as you're walking in the Word of God and you're doing what it says you remain clothed and the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and you don't have to worry about whether you're clothed in righteousness or not it can't come off because the Word of God keeps it on it it's only when you stop walking in the word of got in doing what it says that the loin belt comes off because it's the Word of God and you stop doing it and now when you stop doing that you start doing things you shouldn't and guess what the breastplate comes off now that brings us to the next piece of armor that we want to study it's the second on the list and it's the breastplate of righteousness so turn back to fiche in chapter 6 verse 14 stand therefore having your loins Girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness now the breastplate was the heaviest piece of armor that the soldier wore in fact it was common for a breastplate to weigh about 40 pounds in fact that's probably the average when they averaged when they came in and they measured you from the top of your shoulder at the top of your knee the size of your shoulders the size of your belly and they gave this to you the average weight was 40 pounds but a breastplate could weigh up to 75 pounds if you were a big guy and you had big shoulders and a big belly I want you to understand to be properly clothed with that breastplate it could weigh as much as 75 pounds and believe it or not the Bible says that Goliath's breastplate weighed 125 pounds did you know that yeah look at First Samuel chapter 17 verse 5 knows what it says he wore a bronze helmet in his bronze coat of mail weighed a hundred and twenty-five pounds how many of you lift weights an Olympic bar with spin collars I don't know thank you Spurs any more weighs 45 pounds put two 45s on it you now have a hundred and thirty-five pounds it would be like taking an Olympic bar with two 45 pound plates on each side and that is your best plate that's how much is press plate weight and of course the weight of the breastplate actually slowed the soldier he wasn't as fast with it but people it was worth the sacrifice because it protected all the vital organs in fact the word breastplate is translated from the Greek word thorax and as you might have guessed our English word thorax is actually transliterated this Greek word now the word thorax refers to the area between the neck and the waist or what we would call the chest cavity that's why a surgeon who does open-heart surgery is called a thoracic surgeon why is he called a thoracic surgeon because he operates in the chest cavity the thorax but my point is this the breastplate was designed to protect the heart and people the same holds true when it comes to the armor of God the breastplate is designed to protect your heart not physically but spiritually in fact turn to proverbs chapter 4 verse 23 and I'll show you something interesting notice what it says in fact this is one of my favorite verses and Lisa and I have talked about this many times if I could go back and raise my children again they would memorize proverbs 4:23 and I would have them either memorize it in the NIV or the NLT because it uses the word guard but that's what the original Hebrew means notice what this is guard your heart above all else Wow guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life now do you see that last part for it talking about the heart determines the course of your life in other words it determines what you're going to do what you're going to say or how you're going to act it determines whether you're good or bad whether you're sweet and kind or mean and nasty it determines whether you're positive or negative it determines whether you forgive or you hold a grudge and become bitter it determines whether you're merciful or judgmental so it truly does determine the course of your life and people that's why we're supposed to guard it we're supposed to protect it but how do you protect it well we guard our heart by putting on the breastplate of righteousness and we keep the breastplate on by walking in the Word of God and doing what it says because as long as the loin belt of truth is on it's impossible to take the breastplate off but that's also why the devil wants you out of the Word of God that's also why he wants you so busy that's also why when you're tempted with something you don't want to read the Word of God that tells you you shouldn't be doing that and he tells you don't read that and he wants you to justify because if you'll stop with the Word of God then the breastplate can come off and your heart is no longer protected people do you want to know why so many Christian leaders have fallen do you want to know why there are so many moral failures within the church it's because they didn't guard their heart to be honest with you I'm surprised that there's not more Christian leaders who have fallen or committed moral lapses truly because you'd be surprised the number of pastors who don't walk in the Word of God and once you take off the Word of God once you're not walking you no longer have the loin belt of truth on I want you to understand something we sometimes picture the devil and these demons as coming out and physically assaulting us from the outside and that happens many times but I talked about the way that they attacked you and that's through temptation that's through temptation and what they want to do is they want to injure your heart they want your heart to go from being pure and innocent to dirty and filthy that's how they damage your heart listen to me I don't watch movies with nudity in it I don't care what our culture is like listen to me [Music] nudity in movies is pornography it comes from the word porneia in Greek and the Bible talks about that causes filthiness let me explain something to you your nakedness is for your spouse and their nakedness is for you it's not for anyone else and I don't care if it's just a little part in the movie when Lisa and I get ready to go see a movie would go to IMDB mm-hmm ID be something she does it I make her do it I don't do it and then it tells you if there's nudity in it tell you how many curse words are in it all those things but I don't watch movies with nudity in it I don't see that set up meetings with people of the opposite sex I've had people leave our church especially women they get upset I can't get in to see pastor Allen you can get in to see Pastor Lisa but they don't want to see Pastor Lisa they want to see me they're not too bright you want to know why you want to the leader of the church is the real leader of the church is Lisa I'm I put on the pants but she zips them [Music] do you wanna know who's leaving this church Hey here's how it goes of course we're talking spiritually God Jesus Holy Spirit Lisa Shirley Allen yeah and if you want to see me and you're a woman you're not gonna get to and I'm sorry if you gonna leave Church go in leave go find a church that doesn't practice the Word of God I tell everyone and that's on staff all my mian you don't meet with the opposite sex ever now you get in to see Lisa and she can't help you know what she'll do she'll set up a meeting with me but she sits in on that meeting so you're there I'm here and Lisa's right there she says pastor they came in to see me blah blah blah blah well I shouldn't call me pastor other people call me pastor she calls me honey but anyways but that's the way we do it I don't meet with members of the opposite sex I have clear-cut boundaries when it comes to members AOPA sex and I lay that down for those who are on my staff if they don't follow it they're setting themselves up and many have fallen because of that I don't get on the computer late at night when everyone else is in bed why because I'm a man and all men with normal levels of testosterone are stimulated by their eyesight pornography will always be a temptation so there are certain things that I do and it's called boundaries I did a series on boundaries you don't set the boundary right on the line everyone wants to know what is that line honey in the if you ever drive down a road here's what you'll notice don't have guardrails up but the guardrails are not where's dangerous normally there's more off to the side of the road before it gets dangerous they put it in a safe place because if you hit that guardrail they don't want you going off the cliff so it's not right on the cliff that's over so I put in these guardrails I purposely intentionally guard my heart because I know it determines the course of my life I know that everything I do flows from my heart I know that a good tree cannot produce evil fruit and an evil tree cannot produce good fruit whatever is in my heart that's where the issues of life flow from I have to protect that because eventually what's in my heart will manifest itself you can hide it from others for a while but it will come out think of it like this when you first start dating someone you put your fur your best foot forward you open the door for that lady you pull out the chair for her you don't pass gas in her presence no that happens after you're pretty sure she's yours like that we do the same thing in our spiritual life we put our best foot forward in front of others but pretty soon I want you to understand something eventually what's in your heart will manifest itself now listen to me I'm not talking to a non-christian I'm not talking to someone who's not received Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior because they're a sinner and gods gives mercy and grace Jesus didn't die for us after we cleaned herself up the Bible says why we were yet sinners Christ loved us and gave himself forth in other words Christ died for us why we were yet sinners we don't clean up before we come to God through Jesus Christ we come to Jesus Christ first and then he cleans us up the problem is and this is what most you understand because most you've been Christians a long time the Bible no longer refers to you as a sinner if you've accepted Jesus Christ the Bible refers to you as a saint and nothing is worse than a sinning saint nothing is worse than the sinning saint and you want to know why you have problems you want to know why you haven't grown I'll tell you why it's first with that loan belt you start getting in the Word of God you start getting into the meat of the word and pretty soon you're no longer conformed to this world but you're transformed by the renewing of your mind that you're able to prove that word means to make a distinction here able to distinguish between the good we'll the acceptable will and the perfect will of God you start knowing what it is to be righteous in what you should be doing you know when you first get saved you know oh man I can't smoke anymore I'm not saying you can't do that you still do that if you want to but your body's temple the Holy Spirit you shouldn't be doing that but if I'm gonna say that I should all say this shouldn't have the sin of gluttony either shouldn't be over and so the Lord's really convicted me on that but anyways you know you start you start hopefully getting drunk you stop doing things with the opposite set be doing and you start doing the major things but as you begin to grow in the Lord God starts coming in now he's dealing with the things of the heart he starts dealing with your attitude he starts dealing with the little things it was murmuring complaining gossiping and the more you get in the Word of God all of a sudden you don't realize it but you're starting to walk in the righteous of God in Christ Jesus that breastplate automatically comes on remember it's a genitive of source which means it owes its existence to it so when you start walking in the Rice's of God in Christ Jesus the breastplate automatically comes on and because you're walking to work that lawn belts automatically on it it's in place and as long as you stay in the word as soon as you make a mistake let me tell you what happens Holy Spirit convicts you when it convicts you guess what you do Oh God forgive me of that and you start right again walking in the Word of God and doing what it says now let me tell you what you're doing is protecting your heart but when you stop walking in the Word of God when you stop doing what God's Word says your lawn belts off your breastplate goes off and your heart is unprotected and you're gonna fall eventually let's hope it's not a fall that will affect your family affect others but you will fall and this is why if you want to be able to withstand the wiles of the devil then you have to put on the whole armor of God you

Channel: Cornerstone Fellowship

Views: 6,877

Rating: 4.9029126 out of 5

Keywords: armor of god bible study, armor of god bible study videos, armor of god bible project, armor of god bible story, armor of god sermon, armor of god sermon series, armor of god, armor of god explained, armor of god in bible, what is the armor of god, how do you put on the armor of god, what are the parts of the armor of god, why is armor of god important, armor of god allen nolan, angels and demons allen nolan, demons in bible allen nolan, armor of god encouragement

Id: 1Q01uUJVvRc

Length: 40min 36sec (2436 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 23 2020