1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920 As a person, I tend to try to follow the rule, to try to do what's right. 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:06,920 For instance, I wear my... 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,920 I think it's pretty much the law everywhere. 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:11,120 At least it was in Illinois. 5 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:12,920 You have to wear your seat belt. 6 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:13,920 You know, there's a law. 7 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,000 You can get a ticket if you don't click it. 8 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Click it or ticket. 9 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:18,000 They have a type of thing. 10 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,800 So I wear my seat belt almost all the time. 11 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:23,960 You know where that might be headed? 12 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,720 Almost all the time. 13 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,440 One day, a long time ago, back in college, I didn't. 14 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:31,440 I was riding... 15 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,440 Usually I was, you know, drove by myself everywhere. 16 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,960 So it was just kind of getting the car clunking and there it goes. 17 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,920 But with my friend, I just jumped into the car and we ran off to somewhere. 18 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,600 And of course you might know what happens after that. 19 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,480 Because we were college students and drove fast and everything like that. 20 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:48,200 When you got close to the stop light, it turned yellow. 21 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,640 And what do you do when the light turns yellow? 22 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,440 Yeah, punch it. 23 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:53,440 He punched it. 24 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:57,520 It's a good old car and somebody else decided they'd try it too and turn left right in front 25 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:58,520 of us. 26 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,520 So I got this bump on my nose from that very thing. 27 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:03,680 I didn't have my seat belt on. 28 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,000 The much greater loss is his wonderful car was destroyed in a total. 29 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,080 And he had a clunker after that. 30 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:16,680 But anyway, yes, seat belts don't do any good if we don't use it. 31 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:17,680 It was right there. 32 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:18,680 I'm sure the thing worked awesome. 33 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:19,680 Boom. 34 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:20,680 It was great. 35 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,720 But I didn't use it, so I didn't get the benefit out of it. 36 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:25,360 They aren't like airbags. 37 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,120 This would have been like a long time ago in the 80s when I was in college. 38 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,440 They didn't have airbags back in those days. 39 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,240 So they didn't have that advantage. 40 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:34,920 Airbags just work. 41 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,040 Whether you think about them or remember them or not. 42 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,120 I'm just guessing that my car has airbags in it. 43 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,920 I don't even know for sure. 44 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,320 I guess there's a little sign somewhere that says it because maybe you're not even thinking 45 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:47,800 about them either. 46 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,560 We like things to be like airbags. 47 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:51,760 They just work. 48 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,320 We don't have to think about them. 49 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,320 We can just go on with our life and do whatever we hop in our car and drive around. 50 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,640 And they pop out only when they're needed. 51 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:01,640 That's nice. 52 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:02,640 We like it that way. 53 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,440 And God's grace and love are like that. 54 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:07,880 They're always there when we need them. 55 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:08,880 Totally undeserved. 56 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,400 Even if we're not thinking about them, they're there. 57 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:13,320 But that's great. 58 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:14,320 We love that. 59 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,440 God's love and grace are like that because boy, I'm certainly not thinking about God 60 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,640 or anything like that every minute of my day. 61 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:26,880 And so it's great that God has that undeserved protection and care that he has. 62 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:35,240 But other things in Christian life do require our participation, our involvement. 63 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:36,240 We have to be present. 64 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,680 We have to be there, our effort. 65 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:40,880 There is some effort to the Christian life. 66 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,520 Not to achieve our salvation. 67 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:43,520 That's already been done. 68 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,600 We've got that in grace in Jesus Christ. 69 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,200 But Christian life does sometimes take some effort. 70 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,240 We have to show up for them and be actively involved. 71 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,200 Things like our family life. 72 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,600 That doesn't just happen by accident. 73 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:57,360 Christian growth and maturity. 74 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,600 That's something that we have to be involved in. 75 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:05,400 Our Christian influence and witness to others, people. 76 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,320 And most importantly, our relationship with God. 77 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,360 We still have to have some active involvement with it, just like we have to have that active 78 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:18,120 involvement with any other relationship that we have. 79 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:22,320 The armor that God provides in Paul's letter works the same way. 80 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,360 It only protects if we're wearing it, if we're involved in it. 81 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:31,600 I pray that we can learn the importance of what God provides for us for our protection 82 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,640 and that we daily put them into practice. 83 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,160 Now a person can say, well, why do we need this armor of God? 84 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,360 I mean, aside from the fact that God tells us that we need it through Paul in this letter, 85 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,680 a Christian could say, I really didn't know about this armor of God. 86 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,400 I had never heard about this before. 87 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:52,400 And my life is fine. 88 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,520 I've just seen people who have been fine without it. 89 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:55,520 I'm not in jail. 90 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:56,520 I still have a job. 91 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,280 I have a family, friends, et cetera, et cetera. 92 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,840 I have all this kind of stuff. 93 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,120 So is it really all that important? 94 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,640 I can tell you personally, as someone who has known a long time, you have to learn about 95 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,360 these kind of things when you go to the seminary. 96 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,240 I even before then learned about them through reading the Bible and Bible studies and so 97 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:16,240 forth. 98 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,520 But I saw I've known about it most of my life. 99 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:25,440 But I very often, even probably two days ago, or actually this whole week I've been writing 100 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:26,440 this sermon, guess what? 101 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:30,000 I probably remember most of the time then as I was working on this. 102 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:31,800 But the week before that, who knows? 103 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,440 I might have not been thinking about it as much too. 104 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,320 And so that happens more times than I care to admit. 105 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:45,880 But the point is, I can see the difference in my life when I'm conscious about it and 106 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,280 when I'm just kind of doing whatever I'm doing. 107 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:52,200 It does make a difference when I do or I don't. 108 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,640 You may be you've heard we can sometimes be our own worst enemies. 109 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,840 But really truly, that's not the case because there is a real enemy. 110 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:08,480 And that real enemy, our best, our worst enemy is the devil and his gang, his crew. 111 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,360 Paul talks about them in this letter. 112 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,440 He's very serious about it. 113 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:18,560 Paul encountered resistance from the devil and those guys on a day-to-day basis. 114 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:25,760 And so he describes them in terms to be taken seriously, not like the little red guy with 115 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,520 a tail and a pitchfork and all that kind of silliness. 116 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:34,960 But he calls them things like, they're not flesh and blood. 117 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:35,960 That's important. 118 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:36,960 They're spiritual. 119 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:42,560 But the important point from that is that they're not flesh and blood, is that people, 120 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,160 people are not our enemies. 121 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:45,560 Yeah, they may act like it. 122 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:46,760 They may do things we don't like. 123 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,800 We may have trouble with somebody at work or family or neighbors or who knows. 124 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,600 You might have somebody that kind of gives you some grief. 125 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,800 But that person, however they are acting, is not truly the enemy. 126 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:06,200 They're basically just serving without realizing it, probably, the real enemy. 127 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,080 They're just in some ways kind of a puppet. 128 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,720 They don't realize what they're doing a lot of times. 129 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,640 And that's why Jesus even said, as he was being nailed in the cross, Father forgive 130 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,880 them for they know not what they do. 131 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,560 Because he know who the real enemy was in that situation. 132 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,520 And so Paul describes things in terms, is serious. 133 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:31,400 They are rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil. 134 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:32,400 That's serious stuff. 135 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,120 Somebody not to be taken for granted. 136 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,520 And so it stacks up like this, basically. 137 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,560 If we go up against them on our own, because I think I'm pretty smart. 138 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,640 I'm an actuary if you have any idea what in the world that is. 139 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:45,440 I'm a professional smart person. 140 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,440 So yeah, I can do that. 141 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,240 I can play 3D chess with the enemy God. 142 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,760 I don't play chess with anybody, no one 3D. 143 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:56,480 But anyway, I can go up. 144 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,200 I'm a good person. 145 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,400 I've been a Lutheran my whole life. 146 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,920 And I went to church since I was ever. 147 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,000 So yeah, I can do this. 148 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:11,920 But if we go up against them on our own, we're going to fail. 149 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:13,600 Not all the time maybe, but we're going to fail. 150 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:14,920 In the long run, we're going to fail. 151 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:15,920 We're not going to do well. 152 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,200 If we are strong in the Lord and use what He has given us, we stand. 153 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,640 That doesn't mean we're going to be perfect all the time. 154 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:23,720 No, not at all. 155 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:25,600 But we'll do much better. 156 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,200 And that does have a real consequence in our day to day life. 157 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,560 Like I said, I can see it in my family life. 158 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,760 My wife, my two sons are sort of in college now. 159 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,840 It's a story in and of its own. 160 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,760 But the life that we have and everybody else that I interact with, 161 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:42,400 it makes a difference. 162 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,760 I can see how that works with them. 163 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,560 We are told in the Bible, no weapon formed against us 164 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,360 will prosper if we're walking in the Lord. 165 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:52,720 So here are the items. 166 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:53,920 Six things. 167 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,440 Some people say, if you remember, three Bs and three Ss. 168 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:02,720 B on belt, breastplate, and boots, that's one. 169 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,280 Then shield, helmet of salvation. 170 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:06,760 You have to cheat a little bit on that. 171 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:08,760 You have to use this S for salvation. 172 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,040 And then sword of the spirit. 173 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:12,560 So three Bs and three Ss. 174 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,840 The belt of truth. 175 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,880 A belt holds everything together. 176 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:18,880 It's a good thing to have. 177 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:20,360 It's the belt of truth. 178 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,880 It's important as Christians for us 179 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:27,080 to realize that truth is not a concept. 180 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,360 Truth is a person. 181 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,400 And what person is truth? 182 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:33,760 The church answer. 183 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:35,080 Jesus. 184 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,240 The children's sermon answered everything. 185 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:37,800 Jesus. 186 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:39,520 And there's a good reason for that. 187 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:40,600 It's a person. 188 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,840 It's not what is the truth. 189 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,160 It's rather who is the truth that matters. 190 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,600 Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 191 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:52,640 How do we know what's true? 192 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:54,160 God's word. 193 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:55,080 God and His word. 194 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:56,720 They are the measure of what's true. 195 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,120 The straight edge that you work off of. 196 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,400 That Jesus is faithful in truth. 197 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,880 He always keeps His word. 198 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,400 He's always dependable, straight, and simple. 199 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,600 On the other hand, lies are complicated. 200 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:14,600 They're crooked. 201 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:15,920 They're fabricated. 202 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,200 One lie requires another. 203 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,800 And another, and another. 204 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,840 What a tangled web we weave when we first 205 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:24,880 decided to deceive. 206 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:26,320 That's not exactly quite right now. 207 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,960 But you get the point. 208 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,760 And my life has definitely exhibited that as a kid. 209 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,120 Sometimes I would do something. 210 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,600 I was always running around my little small town 211 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,160 with my buddy getting into trouble 212 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,280 that my mom mostly didn't know about, which was a good thing. 213 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,840 But yeah, sometimes a lie, a lie. 214 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:45,520 Then you have to kind of remember your lie. 215 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,640 Because it's easy to remember what actually happened. 216 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,720 But when you've told somebody something different, 217 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:51,960 you have to remember it then. 218 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,520 And then another lie, another lie. 219 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:54,880 And it just kind of works that way. 220 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:56,640 It's definitely not fun. 221 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,400 And I've got myself caught in lies 222 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,560 because I didn't keep them all straight. 223 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:02,120 That's not great. 224 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,440 The thing is, the devil is the father of lies. 225 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,720 Jesus even said, when the devil speaks a lie, 226 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,240 he's speaking his native language. 227 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,240 He's a liar from the very beginning. 228 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,520 And it all started all the way back in the Garden of Eden 229 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,320 when he said, you will not surely die if you eat from the tree. 230 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,120 And of course, what happened? 231 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:21,560 They ate it. 232 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:23,600 And then they eventually died. 233 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:24,800 They didn't die right that day, though. 234 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:26,240 Although, yes, they did. 235 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,240 They died in their relationship with God. 236 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,480 And that was the most important thing. 237 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,600 So lies are the devil's greatest and only weapon. 238 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,720 But they have sort of served him well over time. 239 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:40,680 It's easy to cause a lot of trouble. 240 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:44,720 It's important to know God's truth. 241 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,960 And to believe, speak, and hold fast to God's truth. 242 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,320 To line ourselves up with it. 243 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:51,920 That's that belt right there. 244 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,040 To be people of truth, integrity. 245 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,120 That what we say and what we do is consistent. 246 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,960 And despite my checkered past as a kid and whatever, 247 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,720 I've learned over time the importance of consistency, 248 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,640 especially as a father. 249 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,520 I've learned it because, boy, if there's anything, 250 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:11,000 kids are good. 251 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,040 They're good at smelling a fake. 252 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:14,520 They're good at smelling inconsistency. 253 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,960 But you said, it's like, yeah, 20 billion. 254 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,080 You don't remember which day for breakfast this morning. 255 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,200 But you remember whatever I said. 256 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,040 And now you're calling me on it. 257 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,120 So it's important that integrity. 258 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,160 And kids are not the only one that catches it. 259 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,360 People know somebody who is what they call authentic. 260 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,320 That is, they're genuine. 261 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,320 What they say and what they do match up. 262 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,160 They're not one person here. 263 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,560 And in private, they're a different person. 264 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,320 They're the same no matter where they go. 265 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:50,800 It's important that we be honest. 266 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,840 And part of being honest, we've already done today. 267 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,920 We were honest with God in the confession of our sins. 268 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,080 That's part of our being consistent. 269 00:11:58,080 --> 00:11:59,160 Yeah, we're not perfect. 270 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:00,280 We never will be. 271 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:01,400 But we can be honest. 272 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,000 And that's why I have to be honest with my sons, my family. 273 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,400 And when I fail, and they may not like it so much, 274 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,600 but at least they know that I'm being straight with them. 275 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:16,000 The more that we know what is genuine, 276 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,040 the less we will be fooled by what is fake. 277 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,000 An interesting thing that I learned from, of course, 278 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,200 sometimes the internet is good for things, most of the time not. 279 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,760 But in this case, the Treasury Department, 280 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,400 when they're trying to deal with counterfeit bills, 281 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:30,320 that's part of what they do. 282 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:31,600 Me, you know, these counterfeit bills, 283 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,680 I actually had some counterfeit bills. 284 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:35,640 I didn't make them, but I found out 285 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,840 that they were counterfeit later on. 286 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:39,960 And fortunately, I just found them. 287 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,840 I didn't even pay with them and then lost the money. 288 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,120 But anyway, the way they figure out, 289 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:46,800 the way they learn about counterfeits, 290 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,040 they don't study counterfeit bills. 291 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,880 They study the real dollars. 292 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,400 They study the real currency and study them and study them. 293 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,040 They know that the genuine article is so well 294 00:12:58,040 --> 00:12:59,720 that they can always see the fake. 295 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:00,720 And that's the thing. 296 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,520 We know the genuine article in Jesus Christ 297 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,760 and we study him and focus on him. 298 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,360 But something doesn't smell quite right, 299 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:08,640 something isn't quite right. 300 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,120 We're much more likely to be able to sniff it out 301 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,640 and avoid the trouble that's caused by it. 302 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,400 The blessed breastplate of righteousness. 303 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,160 Yes, righteousness. 304 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,920 You know, the righteousness God gives us 305 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:23,880 protects our heart. 306 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,120 Righteousness means being in right standing. 307 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:27,920 You know, it's a thing. 308 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,080 He's a real righteous dude, 309 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:31,160 or whatever I'm showing my age. 310 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:32,760 I was like back in the 80s. 311 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:34,400 But you know, the idea of being righteous, 312 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,840 somebody's good and solid. 313 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,320 And then in reality, our righteousness, 314 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,000 how good is our righteousness? 315 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:42,840 Not good. 316 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,840 I mean, yeah, that's again, what we confess. 317 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:45,840 What I see in the mirror. 318 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,280 You know, what my kids remind me of, whatever, however. 319 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,440 Our righteousness is always like filthy rags. 320 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,440 That's what I believe in says. 321 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,120 But the righteousness that God gives to us, 322 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,120 that is perfect. 323 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,080 The one constant area, one of the constant areas 324 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,040 that the devil likes to attack people is, 325 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,800 is our sins and failures. 326 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:07,200 Because we know we got them. 327 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,200 We may try to hide them and hope the people 328 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:10,560 don't find out about them. 329 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,240 Or you know, kind of live that facade, that front. 330 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,440 Like, yeah, we're a good church family. 331 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,760 It's kind of a joke that the worst things happen 332 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:20,600 with families on the way to church. 333 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:21,600 The big arguments come up. 334 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,600 Everybody's all dressed up and try to go to church. 335 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,600 Or a good Christian family go to church. 336 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,600 And all that stuff happens. 337 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,600 You know, that's again, that's reality. 338 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:30,600 That's life. 339 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,600 But the righteousness that God gives us 340 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,120 is more solid than that. 341 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,600 So anyway, he likes to, the devil loves to tempt us. 342 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:40,600 To do something. 343 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,600 And then once he's got us to do it, then he attacks us. 344 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:45,600 He kind of rolls it up and starts whacking it. 345 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,600 What kind of person are you? 346 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,600 You know, you did this and you did that. 347 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,600 That's the thing that he does all the time. 348 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,600 Beats us up over and over again. 349 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:58,600 As long as we keep the focus on us. 350 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,600 And how good we are, or whatever, or not good we are, 351 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,600 he can keep us down. 352 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:06,600 Because we know that we're not as good as we should be. 353 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,600 As good as we want to be. 354 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,600 As good as we want people to think that we are. 355 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:12,600 And we're never going to be. 356 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,600 But the good news is, this isn't about us. 357 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:18,600 It's about God. 358 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,600 And His grace to us and Jesus Christ. 359 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,600 That's what it's about. 360 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,600 So while I try to be a good person in general terms, 361 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:27,600 I realize that that's not the focus. 362 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,600 My focus should be on Christ and His righteousness 363 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,600 that covers me. 364 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,600 And that pray that by basically soaking in it, 365 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,600 that it will rub off on me, that it will show in my life. 366 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,600 Not that I'm perfect, but that I worship somebody that is. 367 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,600 And that his life is lived through me. 368 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,600 We'll always be imperfect in this world. 369 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,600 There's no qualification about it. 370 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,600 But Jesus is always perfect. 371 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:55,600 That's what God sees in us. 372 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,600 When God looks at us, he doesn't see the stinky things that I did 373 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,600 when I was six years older, the stinky things that I did six minutes ago. 374 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:04,600 Or six seconds ago. 375 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:09,600 He sees the righteousness and the pureness and holiness of Jesus Christ. 376 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:17,600 We can live with the humble confidence that we are secure in God's love and forgiveness. 377 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:23,600 That security is a strong place for us to show grace and love to others in their failing. 378 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,600 When I know that I'm not a perfect person and God loves me, 379 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,600 it helps me to have patience with other people. 380 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:31,600 Who guess what? 381 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,600 They're not perfect either. 382 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:38,600 Whether it's my boys, whether it's my wife, whether it's my mom, Parkinson's and whatever. 383 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,600 That's not her fault and that's not sin. 384 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,600 But I mean, this is an example of the people in my life. 385 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,600 My sister who's taken care of me who gets kind of aggravated sometimes 386 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,600 because of the difficulties that she has to deal with. 387 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,600 And I'm 700 miles away, or 800 or however far it is. 388 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:54,600 I'm not there. 389 00:16:54,600 --> 00:17:01,600 So yes, it's a strong place for us to deal with and show grace to others in their failings as well. 390 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,600 The next one, I would say, if this is going to be smart out, 391 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:06,600 okay, this is the one the ladies will like. 392 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:07,600 It's about shoes. 393 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:09,600 But us guys, we like shoes too. 394 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:11,600 Boots, whatever. 395 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:16,600 Good shoes, good boots help a soldier to be steady on their feet. 396 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:21,600 Paul, because he says elsewhere, he's an ambassador in chains. 397 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,600 Paul knew a lot about Roman soldiers and their gear, 398 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:26,600 because that's what he's writing about. 399 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,600 He was not in the military, never was, 400 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:34,600 but he was chained to a guy who was for about two or three years in a house arrest situation. 401 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,600 So he had a good chance to study and look at it and even ask questions 402 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,600 about all their different gear that they had. 403 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:40,600 And so he uses that. 404 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:47,600 So yes, that makes them steady, able to react to anything to go almost anywhere they need. 405 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:52,600 And it's what is our footwear, the readiness of the gospel of peace. 406 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:58,600 The peace that we have with God through Jesus is a solid foundation, 407 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,600 a solid footing to handle anything in life that the enemy would throw at us. 408 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:09,600 We know that no matter what, we are always still God's children, no matter what. 409 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,600 No matter if it's storms, job loss, whatever it could be. 410 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,600 He will never leave us or forsake us. 411 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,600 Like a cat, we can always land on our feet knowing that God's got this. 412 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:25,600 That peace gives us an opportunity, the readiness, the opportunity to share with others 413 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,600 and wonder how can we be so calm and troubling times. 414 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:34,600 In my financial world that I worked in, I worked for, you know, it's called core bridge. 415 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,600 Talking about things shifting and changing. 416 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,600 I worked for AIG, you know, it was core bridge, whatever. 417 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:40,600 Maybe you've heard it, seen the building, whatever. 418 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,600 But I've been laid off twice in there. 419 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,600 Once was two months before I was getting married to my wife. 420 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:52,600 We were house in Springfield, Illinois, and then the Memorial Day Massacre happened. 421 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,600 That's when one of the guys at work called, he had a sense of humor. 422 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,600 But I think, of course, he didn't get laid off. 423 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:04,600 But you have to know Steve Wielander, he's quite a character. 424 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,600 But anyway, people are standing around talking about it. 425 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,600 What are you going to do? 426 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,600 Oh, you're going to be married in two months. 427 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,600 Oh my gosh, yeah, that was, it set off a whole domino of different things. 428 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,600 But hey, I'm here today. 429 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,600 Whatever it was, my wife, you know, it was a bumpy way to start our marriage. 430 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,600 But God got us through it, and my wife's a good, solid Christian also. 431 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:26,600 We help each other. 432 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,600 But that was the thing, you know, it's like, how can you be so calm? 433 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:30,600 What are you going to do? 434 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,600 And I said, I don't know what I'm going to do. 435 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:38,600 But God's taking care of me all this time, and he's going to take care of me now. 436 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,600 And then when I got laid off about 10 years ago, it was the same thing. 437 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,600 You know, what's going to happen? 438 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:45,600 I don't know. 439 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:46,600 I didn't even have to move that time. 440 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,600 I worked in Houston, I still here in Houston. 441 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,600 God took care, he provided something. 442 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:56,600 That's, and the point is, is the peace that we have, people notice it. 443 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:02,600 And sometimes, that's why he puts us Christians in difficult situations. 444 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,600 Not because he's not happy with us, not because we did something wrong, blah, blah, blah. 445 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:10,600 Sometimes it's because by the way we handle the difficult situations in life, 446 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,600 I don't know if you want to name them off, you're familiar with different things that happen. 447 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,600 The way we handle them is a witness to people. 448 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,600 And I don't just kind of go around and say, hey, do you know Jesus is your same? 449 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:23,600 Do you know Jesus is your same? 450 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:24,600 I don't do, maybe I shouldn't. 451 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,600 No, no, it's actually, I know I shouldn't just be doing that. 452 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,600 But that's not a way you reach out to people. 453 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,600 But by living a Christian life, that again, I'm not trying to blow Trump, 454 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,600 look at me, look at me, type of thing, and neither should you. 455 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,600 But despite not consistently living the Christian life, people will notice, 456 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,600 even if they don't understand and ask questions. 457 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:45,600 What's this all about? 458 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:50,600 I have a very good friend at my church, and he's like the plant manager 459 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,600 in one of the plants in Baytown over there. 460 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:57,600 And his workers come up to him, and they got problems and ask him. 461 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:01,600 He doesn't go to talk to them and say, I'm a Christian, I'm your manager, I'm a Christian. 462 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:06,600 We have come from an office, but they just see something different in him, and they come. 463 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,600 And he shares the stories with me. 464 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,600 And quite honestly, I get kind of jealous sometimes. 465 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,600 Wow, we should be able to come to me. 466 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,600 So again, living that peace provides an opportunity. 467 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:24,600 And so as I go through work, I pray for, of course now I don't see people at work anymore, 468 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,600 because we all work remote and all that garbage. 469 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,600 I don't miss driving, but I do miss that opportunity. 470 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,600 But I would pray for the opportunity, and even now I pray for that opportunity, 471 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,600 wherever it might come from, neighbors or whatever else. 472 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,600 So that's those good shoes. 473 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,600 And then the shield. 474 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,600 The devil likes to throw fiery darts, you know, arrows that were on for them. 475 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,600 Put them in tar and light them on fire. 476 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:48,600 Shoes, those. 477 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,600 He likes to throw fiery darts that they give heartburn and worry, you know. 478 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:53,600 Are those things real? 479 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:59,600 Do people have anxieties, worries in their life, Christians or not? 480 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,600 You know, there are some people that kind of live on antacids. 481 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:04,600 You can get them by them in big jars. 482 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,600 These antacids, alchemy, whatever they are, I think we have some in our cabinet. 483 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:10,600 You know, they're there. 484 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,600 And tranquilizers, I used to know the various names of them, 485 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,600 Xanax and different things that people would be on. 486 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,600 I watch a lot of old people TV, but I just don't pay attention. 487 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:23,600 So I don't, I can't remember the names anymore, all the different drugs they got on TV, commercials. 488 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:24,600 But that's very real. 489 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:25,600 It's a part of life. 490 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,600 The enemy likes to place doubts. 491 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,600 Will God really take care of me? 492 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:31,600 Will He really provide for me? 493 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,600 Have I lived a good enough life? 494 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:34,600 What's the answer to that? 495 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,600 Have I lived a good enough life? 496 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,600 You don't even know me, but here, tell them listen to my story. 497 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:39,600 Have I lived a good enough life? 498 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,600 No, not at all. 499 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:46,600 You know, I don't, I don't look down on anybody, because I know where I've been and what I've done. 500 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:51,600 And while it's pretty, I think of a polite word for kind of white bread, but still, 501 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:53,600 I've been kind of a stinker at various times. 502 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:58,600 As a Christian, as a matter of fact, my friend who wasn't a Christian, he has more of an excuse. 503 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,600 He wouldn't follow in Jesus and he was just believing in his life how he was. 504 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:07,600 But I am going to church since I was like, couldn't even walk, you know, the day I was born, basically, 505 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,600 and doing some of the stuff that I was doing. 506 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,600 But, you know, I haven't lived a good enough life. 507 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,600 But I know that that's not what matters. 508 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,600 What matters is Christ is what matters. 509 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:18,600 You know, does God exist? 510 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,600 You know, does God really exist? 511 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,600 We talk about God all the time, but when was the last time any of us ever seen God? 512 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,600 You know, I haven't in my entire life, but I do know he exists from the experiences I've had. 513 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:31,600 Does God really care about me? 514 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,600 Okay, a lot of people throughout history believed that they're God, they're God or God's, 515 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,600 but that they really care about us, you know. 516 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:39,600 We know in Christ that God does. 517 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:45,600 Faith in the many promises of God fulfilled in Jesus extinguishes those doubts and fears. 518 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,600 You know, knowing, believing, and trusting the promises. 519 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:53,600 The faith in trusting God protects us from those attacks and lets us sleep at night. 520 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:55,600 I sleep pretty good at night, all in all. 521 00:23:55,600 --> 00:24:01,600 That's not right, it's just the truth, because of trusting in God, not because of anything about me. 522 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,600 You know, God has always taken care of me and my family. 523 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:11,600 Even now that we have high prices, I have teenage drivers, that's my confession. 524 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,600 If I had anything I'd get nervous about is my two sons. 525 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,600 They each did start real great. 526 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,600 I think that's kind of a thing these days from what I've talked to other parents. 527 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,600 But so my insurance rates aren't necessarily the greatest. 528 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:30,600 So yeah, when they're driving back to college station and my other guy has to drive three days a week to Houston, 529 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:34,600 that's about an hour, anyway, he's driving, all this driving they're doing, I'm just coming out. 530 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:40,600 And of course, there's a confession, I'm not really worried about them, I'm worried about the cars. 531 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:48,600 If I thought about it through, I would be worried about them too. 532 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:55,600 But it's like, man, we get the rates go up, we're out without a car, we're already kind of short on cars as it is. 533 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,600 With all the kids, people needing cars. 534 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,600 So anyway, college expenses, whatever, whatever, whatever. 535 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,600 It can get a bit tight at time, finances wise, but I know God's got it. 536 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:07,600 It's not that big a deal. 537 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:12,600 He'll take care of us, it may not be to the level that maybe I want, 538 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,600 but we always have enough to wear and eat and everything else. 539 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,600 So that's that shield of faith, trust, trust that God's got us. 540 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,600 Salvation, two more to go. 541 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,600 This is about our eternal security with Christ. 542 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:32,600 Do you think most people live thinking, how I live today determines where I go after I die? 543 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,600 Do you think they're like, wow, how I live today is going to determine where I go after? 544 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,600 Do you think most people think that when they're living their daily lives? 545 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,600 No, not at all. 546 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:46,600 Now, the world would probably be a better place if they did do so. 547 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:52,600 But is it true, is it true that how I live today determines where I go after I die? 548 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,600 Is that true? 549 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:55,600 That's true or false? 550 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:56,600 That's the first thing. 551 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:57,600 What am I supposed to say? 552 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:58,600 Should I say that? 553 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,600 Yeah, which way is it? 554 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,600 You can't get in trouble with church for having a wrong answer, 555 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,600 but I can understand that it's kind of, it's like, this is a trick question? 556 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,600 Yeah, probably so. 557 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,600 But anyway, the answer to that is no. 558 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:17,600 How I live today does not determine where I go after I die. 559 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,600 If it did, guess where I would go? 560 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,600 Yeah, no. 561 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,600 What determines where we go after we die? 562 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:26,600 Christ. 563 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:31,600 His sacrifice for us on the cross received in faith. 564 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:32,600 That's where it is. 565 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,600 Now, how about this? 566 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:40,600 Knowing where I go after death, this is, I already know that, I got that, I know that. 567 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,600 How does that affect how I live today? 568 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,600 That's a different question. 569 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,600 Since I know where I'm going, since I know where that's going to happen after I die, 570 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,600 how does that change how I live today? 571 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,600 And I just say the short answer is it doesn't change as much as it should, 572 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,600 but I do try to think about that. 573 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,600 Eternal life has already begun for us. 574 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,600 And what happens when we die is just a change of location. 575 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,600 We already had eternal life in Christ. 576 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:13,600 It began when we came to faith in Christ, usually for most people, it's our baptism. 577 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:18,600 And so when we're faced with the uncertainties of life, the world we live in, 578 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:23,600 we know that in the end who wins? 579 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:24,600 God. 580 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:25,600 Exactly. 581 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:26,600 There's no doubt. 582 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,600 There's a lot of doubt when it comes to this and that going on in the world, 583 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,600 who's going to get elected president, does it matter, 584 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,600 all that kind of stuff. 585 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,600 It does matter in some manner or fashion it does, 586 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,600 but I've probably even heard, I don't want to get into the specifics of anything. 587 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,600 I actually heard, I'll just tell you this, 588 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,600 some people have said, this is not the first cycle this has been set. 589 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:49,600 You know who I want as president? 590 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:50,600 Jesus. 591 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,600 Jesus for president. 592 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:57,600 Because everybody we're offered is usually, guess what, an imperfect person. 593 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,600 So sometimes people get really upset, 594 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:01,600 whichever side of the aisle you want to sit on, 595 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,600 well if that other person gets all things going to be terrible, blah blah blah blah blah blah. 596 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,600 You know, I've read the end of the book, Revelation Young Things, 597 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,600 we'll probably get bad before Jesus comes again, 598 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:13,600 but guess what happens after? 599 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:14,600 Good stuff. 600 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,600 You know, that's the helmet of salvation, right, the eternal security. 601 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,600 No matter what, Jesus will be king. 602 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,600 I don't know when that date is going to be, actually I do know. 603 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,600 He is already king of the universe. 604 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,600 That happened at his death and resurrection. 605 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:34,600 He's already the king, and eventually he'll be so that everybody will know it for sure. 606 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,600 That's the day I don't know. 607 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,600 But our future is secure, and our present is also secure in him. 608 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:41,600 That's the helmet of salvation. 609 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:47,600 When we remember that, it's easy to, what if the stock market falls, what if this, what if that, 610 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,600 what if a meteor strikes us, what if dinosaurs come back and you know, 611 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:54,600 just come up with the wildest, craziest whatever situation. 612 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:59,600 And it's like, there is, there isn't, yeah, it would be different, you know, 613 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,600 if there is a, the society collapses, that would be kind of bad. 614 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:09,600 But guess what? Jesus is still king. Guess what? He's still coming back. 615 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,600 Guess what? We'll still be in heaven forever. 616 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,600 So it's not like I don't care, but I don't let it bother me. 617 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,600 And I am one of those people, confession time, that used to spend way too much time on the Internet, 618 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,600 agonizing about this and that. 619 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,600 And the person gets elected, and if this vlog gets passed, and this, and sending, 620 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:30,600 I almost became one of those people that you may have, I mean, that's the 20 year, 621 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,600 people sending you emails about all the bad things that are happening. 622 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,600 You can get your inbox flooded with emails from cousins or whoever, you know, 623 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,600 talking about, you got to sign this petition because this is going to, you know, 624 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,600 and I believe in being active in our world. 625 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,600 But then again, Jesus is coming. That's what matters. 626 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,600 All right, last I go on too much longer. 627 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:54,600 Last is an offensive weapon, the sword of the spirit, the word of God. 628 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:56,600 And in this case, it's the spoken word. 629 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,600 There's three different kinds of words for word in the Bible, and this is the spoken out loud word. 630 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,600 God spoke, and the universe came into existence. 631 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,600 In his temptation and in the wilderness, Jesus spoke the word of God, 632 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,600 recorded in Deuteronomy to defeat Satan's lies. 633 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,600 He didn't use his own head, even though he was omniscient God. 634 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:18,600 He used the word. The word is our weapon, our arsenal in the Christian life. 635 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:23,600 Do Christians know enough of God's word to use it? 636 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,600 Just generally speaking, not you of course, but just other Christians. 637 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:34,600 I don't know. Can Christians learn enough to use the word? Absolutely. Absolutely. 638 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,600 Now, I'll just give one quick example. 639 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,600 As I am getting to be an old person, you probably could tell, 640 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,600 but I am getting to be an older person. 641 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:48,600 And so a couple of years ago, I'd get these night anxieties. 642 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,600 Like, what if I, you know, this happens like a two or three in the morning. 643 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,600 I don't know where does this come from, but I get these anxiousness. 644 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:59,600 What if I become paralyzed and I can't speak, but my brain is still active 645 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,600 and I can't communicate with anybody, and I'm just there for years, 646 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:04,600 like people in a coma or whatever. 647 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:06,600 Where did that come from? 648 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,600 But it would really get me worked up in the middle of the night. 649 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,600 And I just, after it happened a time or two, I just said, okay, enough of this. 650 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:18,600 And so I used, you know, the word, you know, I said, you know, in Christ we are all more than, 651 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:20,600 you know, basically different passages from Romans. 652 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,600 Let's look at whatever I can remember at three in the morning. 653 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:28,600 Spoken out loud, you know, you know, God makes all things work for the good of those who love Him. 654 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,600 You know, Romans chapter eight is a very good chapter for this sort of thing, you know. 655 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:34,600 You know, in Christ there is no condemnation for us. 656 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,600 So whatever, I haven't speak those out. 657 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:42,600 I haven't had any of those in years now, but, you know, it's good to know the scriptures so that we can use them. 658 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:45,600 And it's also good when we're trying to encourage other people in need, 659 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:50,600 so we don't just kind of go there, there, you know, we actually have something positive to say to them. 660 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,600 And the best thing to say is from God's word. 661 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:53,600 All right. 662 00:31:53,600 --> 00:32:00,600 So, in closing, in medieval times when a squire, that was the step right before you became a knight, 663 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,600 when a squire was about to become a knight, 664 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,600 next morning he was going to get, you know, dubbed as a knight, 665 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:13,600 they would often times stay up the night before, the entire night before, in the castle chapel in prayer, 666 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,600 you know, pouring their heart out to God, because it was a very serious deal to be a knight. 667 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:19,600 Your life was basically on the line. 668 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,600 You're out there marching, you know, riding around and all that kind of stuff. 669 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:26,600 And so the squire, the ex-squire would have his whole armor there in the chapel, 670 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:32,600 and he would pray over each piece of his armor as he depended upon God for his courage 671 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,600 and his survival. 672 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:36,600 And so that's an awesome picture. 673 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:42,600 So it would be good for us to prayerfully consider each piece of God's armor that he has given to us 674 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,600 and how we can use it each day, you know, and in the morning. 675 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:50,600 And I try to remember myself to think about, you know, the armor of God, 676 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,600 because that's what I have, and it makes a difference in my day, 677 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:57,600 is I go look at the belt, you know, the sword, the helmet, you know, 678 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,600 you don't have to get them in the right order, that's not that important. 679 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,600 But just remembering, because it's comforting, you know, of what God has given to us 680 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:07,600 and put them on one by one, you know. 681 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:12,600 Thank God that he does protect us, even when we forget our armor of grace. 682 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:19,600 But that he would more and more help us make use of all the things that he has given to us 683 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,600 for our good and for those in our care, because, you know, it's not all about us. 684 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:25,600 It's about the people around us, too. 685 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,600 You know, God has given us that charge, especially for parents 686 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,600 or, you know, have other people in life. 687 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,600 Therefore, I'll leave you with Paul's words, 688 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,600 put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, 689 00:33:37,600 --> 00:34:03,600 you may be able to stand your ground, and after you've done everything to stand. Amen.